18 reels of microfilm.
A reel-by-reel narrative, a calendar in English, and an item list with indexes to personal names, religious orders, dioceses, and geographical locations.
Austrian mission society founded in 1828 by John Frederick Résé, a German missionary who worked in the Diocese of Cincinnati from 1824 until 1833, when he became the first Bishop of Detroit. It imitated the French Society for the Propagation of the Faith: members prayed for and contributed alms to the American missions.
Locally collected funds went to the central office in Vienna and from there to American bishops and congregations of religious. The society published its annual Berichte der Leopoldinen Stiftung im Kaisertume Österreich, which contained letters from missionaries and financial reports. The society survived until 1921.
Correspondence of many Austrians who were active in the American mission field, including St. John Neumann, Bishop of Philadelphia; Frederic Baraga, Bishop of Marquette; Father Caspar Rehrl, founder of the Sisters of St. Agnes; Father Joseph Salzmann, founder of St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee; Father Francis X. Pierz, missionary, especially in Minnesota; Father John Stephen Raffeiner of New York.
Other correspondents include Vincentius Eduard Milde, Archbishop of Vienna; Simon Bruté, Bishop of Vincennes; Edward Dominic Fenwick, Bishop of Cincinnati; Benedict Joseph Flaget, Bishop of Bardstown and Louisville; John Frederick Résé, Bishop of Detroit; and many other members of the American hierarchy. Letters were primarily concerned with conditions in the mission areas and requests for money.
Obtained by Thomas McAvoy, CSC, from the Archdiocesan Archives of Vienna; microfilm of the Berichte (2 reels) obtained from the Library of Congress by Joseph Gregorich in 1946.
In German, Latin and French.