Subseries 16 - Fargo, North Dakota, USA

The first SOS mission outside of Canada was opened at the request of Bishop Aloysius Muench of Fargo, a friend of Father George Daly’s. Three Sisters established the Catholic Mission Centre, began parish visiting and teaching religion classes to the children attending public schools. They also taught crafts and organized a Marian Club for Working Girls.

For 23 years starting in June 1940, the Sisters travelled to summer religious vacation schools in the rural areas to complement the mission’s principal work of the religious correspondence school, which opened in October 1940. Like in Edmonton and Regina, the school’s courses prepared children to receive the sacraments. Beginning with 134 pupils, the enrolment increased to more than 900 by the middle of the 1950s. In addition to the correspondence courses, Sister Lydia Tyszko worked as a staff member (1946-1949) of the Catholic Welfare Bureau. Sister Domitilla Morrison was engaged as supervisor of St. Anthony’s Parish School of Religion, which opened on September 29, 1962 with 317 students, 34 teachers, volunteers, secretaries and interested parents. The correspondence school officially closed at the end of April 1963 as part of the Sisters move two months later to Grand Fords, North Dakota.

Subseries consists of administrative records and reference materials from the SOS mission in Fargo, North Dakota. File types include: correspondence, reports, newsclippings, histories, annals, and correspondence school materials.

Created by F Rousselle Dec 15, 2025.
Revised by F Rousselle Dec 16, 2025.

Mission history by SOS archivist, MC Havey, inherited upon transfer to USMC.