Open to qualified researchers. Certain collections have access restrictions due to protection and privacy acts (copyright) and are subject to restrictions or semi-restrictions. Fees are determined per hour/per page unless a member of the Order.

The Franciscans of the Province of the Sacred Heart trace their roots back to Germany. In 1858, responding to the invitation of the Bishop of Alton, Illinois, nine Franciscan friars (three priests, five brothers, and one tertiary) from the Holy Cross (Saxony) Province arrived in the German-speaking parish of St. Francis in Teutopolis, Illinois. They came to care for the people of Teutonic ancestry and language. The friars came as exiles expelled from their native land by religious persecution called the Kulturkampf. In 1862 the American Mission became a dependent commissariat of the Holy Cross Province in Germany. In 1875, Bismarck, the Chancellor of Germany, suppressed all religious communities. On April 26, 1879, the Minister General in Rome, the leader of the entire Order, established "a new independent Province of the Sacred Heart of Jesus."

Since the arrival of the Franciscans Friars in the 1850s they have served as parochial ministers, educators (both secondary and university levels), as missionaries in China, Africa, Brazil, Holy Land, and Alaska, as preachers in parish missions, retreats, for Native Americans (Arizona, California, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin) and Black missions and in social services with peace and justice and the poor and marginalized. They have developed special ministries in areas such as: sculptors, doctors, media publications, lawyers, bricklayers, architects, nurses, musicians, editors, historians, prison and military chaplains. Over the years the friars have established themselves in: Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Tennessee, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arkansas, Arizona, Texas and California.

1. Early Franciscan Records (1858-present)
2. China Records (1918-1950, 1992-present)
3. Native American Records (1878-present) 43 microfilm rolls; English-Chippewa Dictionary; volumes 1-4; Repertorium of Chippewa words and expressions.
4. Franciscan Missionary Union Collection (1902- present) 10.8 lin. ft.
5. Franciscan Herald Press Collection (1914-1991), index to FHP publications by author and title, 4,000+ halftones
6. Institutional Records: churches, missions, friaries, and schools (1858-present) 500.49 lin.ft.
7. Personal Papers and Manuscripts Collection (diaries, memoirs, journals, histories, biographies) 400+ entries
8. Secular Franciscan Order Collection, 48 microfilm rolls, 42 lin. ft. *
9. Photograph and Slide Collection (338 portraits of active friars on CD from 1998-1999 directory; 100 churches and 25 Franciscan activities on CD)
10. Audio/Visual Collection; indexed * Repository for the Secular Franciscan Order since 1998.

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