January Friday History: Maternity of Mary
At the end of 1949, Kraus-Anderson applied for a permit to build a church and school at the intersection of Arlington and Dale in St. Paul.
As well as a turning point in the history of Kraus-Anderson, Maternity of Mary Catholic Church and its school also represent an interesting chapter in the history of St. Paul. In February of 1949, not long before construction began on their church, the congregation of the Maternity of Mary met for the first time in the home of one of its parishioners.
From these humble beginnings, an ambitious church, rector, and schoolhouse would spring in just over a year. The school opened in 1950. Four Benedictine nuns constituted the faculty.
Benedictines in Minnesota
Benedictine nuns played a crucial and largely uncelebrated part in the history of St. Paul and Minnesota generally. Traveling from Bavaria by way of Pennsylvania, nuns of St. Benedict, along with their brother monks, created, in Minnesota, the largest Benedictine community in the world. In 1996, the Minnesota Historical Society placed a roadside marker acknowledging the role that the Benedictine order played in the history of Minnesota. Listing the contributions takes up much of the plaque: “They created important academies, schools of higher education, hospitals, orphanages, homes for the aged… they are pioneers in establishing public radio… educational publishing… the development of a world-renowned library.”
Benedictine Sisters and oblates continue the tradition at St. Paul’s Monastery, near the campus of Hill-Murray.
Maternity of Mary is important for the history of Kraus-Anderson because it was the first major project KA had in St. Paul. In the Twin Cities, in the middle of the twentieth century, construction companies couldn’t freely operate on both sides of the river. To compete for St. Paul jobs, KA had to purchase a St. Paul construction company and maintain an office in St. Paul. Maternity of Mary was the first major project to come out of this, KA’s first satellite office.
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Thank you Matt for another insightful history lesson.