BUREAU OF CATHOLIC INDIAN MISSIONS
Record Group 1 of Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Records
Historical Note: Notable People
BCIM Historical Note Scope and Content
The roots of the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions began in 1873 with the appointment of a Catholic Commissioner for Indian Missions. The purpose of that office, which was incorporated the following year as the Office of the Catholic Commissioner for Indian Missions and later renamed the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, was to protect, promote, and administer the interests of the Catholic Church with respect to missions and evangelization among the Native Americans in the United States. In so doing, it advocated for and raised funds for Catholic missions and related Native American social and cultural issues in general.
Notable People: Officers and personnel of the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions and notable allied fund raising raising organizations.
Notable Events: Notable events regarding the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions and Catholic evangelization of Native Americans in the present-day United States.
Notable Evangelization: Selected Native American missions, schools, parishes, and ministry programs supported by the Black and Indian Mission collection and the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions.
Pictorial History: "The Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions: 140 Years of Action", presented at the 75th annual Tekakwitha Conference in Fargo, North Dakota, July 24, 2014.
Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions/ Office of Catholic Commissioner for Indian Missions
Biographies/ More biographical information: Click on their names below; for interviews of Msgr. Lenz and Rev. Zuern, S.J., see Series 17.
Portraits: For Gen. Ewing, Capt. Mullan, and the first five executive directors, see the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions Digital Image Collection.
Commissioners
1873-1883 | (1835-1883) Note: Link to website of Catholic University of America Archives |
1883-1884 | Captain John Mullan (1830-1909) |
Executive Directors |
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Introduction | |
1879-1884 | Reverend John Baptist A. Brouillet (1813-1884) |
1885-1901 | Reverend Joseph A. Stephan (1822-1901) |
1901-1921 | Monsignor William H. Ketcham (1868-1921) |
1921-1935 | Monsignor William M. Hughes (1880-1939) |
1935-1976 | Reverend John B. Tennelly, S.S. (1890-1981) |
1976-2007 | Monsignor Paul A. Lenz (1925-2017); priest of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown; Vice-Postulator of the Canonization Cause of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, 2006-2012 |
2007-2015 | Reverend Wayne Carroll Paysse (1960-); priest of the Archdiocese of New Orleans |
2015- | Reverend Maurice Henry Sands (1956-) (Ojibwa-Ottawa-Potawatomi); priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit |
Assistant or Associate Directors / Administrative Assistants/ Director of Business and Finance/ Secretaries, Treasurers
1874-1928 | Charles S. Lusk (1851-1928), Secretary |
1876-1879 | Reverend John Baptist A. Brouillet (1813-1884), Treasurer |
1879-1881 | Reverend Felix Barotti, Treasurer |
1881-1884? | Reverend Charles S. Jones, Treasurer |
1880s-1890 | Reverend George L. Williard, Secretary |
1880s | Reverend Jacob A. Walter, Treasurer |
1905-1913 | Reverend Charles Warren Currier (1857-1918), Assistant Director |
1910-1925 | (1854-1925), Treasurer |
1912 | Reverend William M. Hughes (1880-1939), Assistant Director |
1921 | Reverend William Quinn |
1926-1935, 1937-1976 | Reverend John B. Tennelly, S.S. (1890-1981), Secretary-Treasurer; Acting Secretary-Treasurer |
1928-1920s | Reverend John S. Woods, Secretary |
1928-1935 | Eugene J. Welsh, Secretary |
1936 | George J. Widman, Secretary |
1937 | Reverend John M. Cooper, Secretary |
1979-1987 | Reverend Theodore (Ted) F. Zuern, S.J. (1921-2007), Assistant Director |
1995-2001 | Reverend Theodore (Ted) F. Zuern, S.J. (1921-2007), Legislative Assistant |
1990s-2011 | Patricia O'Rourke, Administrative Assistant, 1990s-2007; Assistant Secretary-Treasurer, 2007-2011? |
2011-2014 | Dawn Alexander, Director of Business and Finance |
Presidents of Board of Directors/ Committee of Prelates
1884-1896 | Bishop Martin Marty, O.S.B. (1834-1896), Bishop of Sioux Falls, South Dakota |
1896-1921 | James Cardinal Gibbons (1834-1921), Archbishop of Baltimore |
1921-1951 | Denis J. Cardinal Dougherty (1865-1951), Archbishop of Philadelphia |
1951-1967 | Francis J. Cardinal Spellman (1889-1967), Archbishop of New York |
1967-1988 | John J. Cardinal Kroll (1910-1996), Archhbishop of Philadelphia |
1988-1989 | Archbishop William D. Borders (1913-2010), Archbishop of Baltimore |
1989-2000 | John J. Cardinal O'Conner (1920-2000), Archbishop of New York |
2000-2003 | Anthony Joseph Cardinal Bevilacqua (1923-2012), Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia |
2003-2007 | William H. Cardinal Keeler (1931-), Archbishop Emeritus of Baltimore |
2007-2009 | Edward Michael Cardinal Egan (1932-2015), Archbishop Emeritus of New York |
2009-2011 | Edwin Frederick Cardinal O'Brien (1939-), Archbishop of Baltimore, Resigned |
2011-present | Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan (1950-), Archbishop of New York |
Editor, The Indian Sentinel
1916-1932 | Inno McGill |
1933-1935 | Reverend Arthur E.J. Reilly |
1935-1962 | Reverend John B. Tennelly, S.S. (1890-1981) |
Field Missionaries
1910s | [Nicholas (Nick)] Black Elk (Oglala) (1860s-1950) |
1920s | Reverend Albert Negahnquet (Potawatomi, 1874-1944) |
1920s | Reverend Philip B. Gordon (Ojibwa, 1885-1948) |
Field Lecturers
1901-1920s? | Reverend Henry G. Ganss |
1910-1916 | Monsignor William M. Hughes (1880-1939) |
1921-1925 | Reverend William Huffer |
1922-1926 | Reverend John S. Woods |
1924-1925 | Reverend William Flynn |
Legal Advisors
1909-1910s | Charles Joseph Bonaparte (1851-1921) |
1940-1940s | Austin F. Canfield |
Associated Fund Raising Organizations
1875-1887 | Catholic Indian Missionary Association and Catholic Indian Mission Fund, Washington, D.C. |
1884-ongoing | Commission for the Catholic Missions among the Colored People and the Indians, Washington, D.C. |
1885?-1975? | Association de la Sainte Enfance (Pontifical Society of the Holy Childhood), Paris, France |
1885?-1921? | Leopoldine Stiftung (Leopoldine Society), Vienna, Austria |
1885?-1975? | Society for the Propagation of the Faith, Lyon, France |
1901-1922 | Society for the Preservation of the Faith Among Indian Children, Washington, D.C. |
1904-1991 | Marquette League for Catholic Indian Missions, New York City |
1906-ongoing | Catholic Church Extension Society, Chicago |