Historical Archives and Museums

To preserve its collection of rich artifacts and commemorate the history of the congregation and the places where they served, the Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph opened archives and museums. Books have also been written about the founders, the history of the communities, and the spirituality of the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph.

Archives of the General Administration of the RHSJ

Archives of the General Administration of the RHSJ
245 Avenue des Pins Ouest
Montreal, Quebec
H2W 1R5
Email: archives.gen@rhsj.org

The Archives Department of the General Administration of the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph serves primarily the Congregation. Reporting to the Secretary General, it is responsible for the conservation, evaluation, sorting, processing, preservation, and historical exploitation of the private archival collections of the General Administration and the Ville-Marie region. It also provides a reference service to external persons interested in the history of the General Administration, the Ville-Marie region, and its local communities.

Among the archival funds preserved are those of the following closed local communities:

  • Arthabaska (Qc);
  • Saint-Joseph Hermitage (Victoriaville, Qc);
  • Saint-Jérôme (Qc);
  • Hauterive (Qc);
  • Pointe-Lebel (Qc);
  • Natashquan (Qc);
  • Port-Cartier (Qc);
  • Marie-de-la-Ferre Residence (Montreal, Qc);
  • Jérôme Le Royer Residence (Montreal, Qc);
  • Saint-Urbain Residence (Montreal, Qc);
  • Marie-Morin Residence 1 and 2 (Qc);
  • Our Lady of Mercy (Qc);
  • Two Mountains (Qc);
  • Villa Maria (Windsor, Ontario);
  • McLennan (Alberta);
  • Whitelaw (Alberta);
  • Fanny Allen (Colchester, VT);
  • Holly Family Convent (Burlington, VT);
  • Jeanne Mance Residence (Burlington, Vermont);
  • Biddeford (Maine);
  • Porto-Novo (Benin);
  • Badjoudè (Benin);
  • Chabicouma (Benin);
  • Huitzilzingo (Mexico).

To submit a research request to the Archives Department:

Archives Department of the General Administration and the Ville-Marie Region
General Administration of the RHSJ
Tel. (514) 735-6585, ext. 251
Email: archives.gen@rhsj.org

Historical archives of the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal community and archives of the Mother House

245 Avenue des Pins Ouest
Montreal, Quebec
H2W 1R5
Email: archives.mm@rhsj.org

The community of the Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph of the Hôtel-Dieu of Montreal, known as the Sisters of the Hôtel-Dieu, was an autonomous community from 1659 to 1949.

The archives are differentiated according to whether they belong to the hospital or the community.

The community archives include textual documents, plans, photographs, sound recordings, film recordings constituting files of the sisters, minutes, circulars of the superiors, obituaries, lists of obediences, annals, registers of entry, profession, deaths, account registers, constitutions, organ and score books, liturgical books, documents relating to the administration of temporal affairs, etc.

The archives of the Hôtel-Dieu include patient registers, accounts, minutes, notarial deeds, plans, photographs, documents relating to the administration of “property and income of the poor”, etc., as well as the archives of the School of Nursing (1901-1971), the School of Auxiliaries (1963-1971) and the Jeanne-Mance Association (1917-2021).

Archives of the Generalate of Montreal (1949-1953)

Archives of the Mother House itself (1949 to today) includes: documents from the superior’s office, the secretariat, the procurator’s office and the infirmary.

Note that the fires at the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal in 1695, 1721 and 1734 reduced to ashes the business papers, the register of investiture, the register of professions and many other documents.

The Archives Department was organized and inaugurated on July 18, 1972. In 1973, all documents of the French Regime were inventoried (4 inventories). The department has been accessible to researchers for research concerning the history of the community and the Hôtel-Dieu since that date.

Sr Nicole Bussières, rhsj, Responsible for the Archives
Marc Lacasse, archivist

Telephone: 514-844-3961, ext. 766
Email: archives.mm@rhsj.org

Archives of the RHSJs of New Brunswick, deposited at the APNB in Fredericton

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick,
Bonar Law Bennett Building, 23 Dineen Drive, UNB Campus
Fredericton, NB E3B 5H1
Tel.: (506) 453-2122
Email: ArchivesNB@gnb.ca

The archives of the closed houses of the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph (RHSJ) in New Brunswick were partially transferred to the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB) in Fredericton on June 18 and September 24, 2019, July 31, 2021 and July 2025. The reference number MC 4274 was assigned to this private archival fonds, which measures approximately 38.9 linear meters of documents preserved in 251 archival boxes in two standard formats and 19 large boxes. These documents include textual, photographic, audiovisual, and digital documents. The dates range from 1868 to 2018.

Prior to depositing with the PANB, the RHSJ archives were fully sorted, classified, and described at all levels: fonds, series, sub-series, and items. An alphanumeric classification framework developed in 1970 for the archives of women’s religious congregations in France was used. In 2004, the decision was made to produce computerized research guides in accordance with the Rules for the Description of Archival Documents (RAD) and the ISAD(G) International Standards. Archivists produced Research Guides for each of the health care and educational homes and institutions established in the northern half of the province of New Brunswick beginning in 1868.

The oldest houses whose archival fonds were donated to Fredericton in 2019 are:

  • Tracadie, NB (1868-2018), including the funds of the RHSJ Community of Hôtel-Dieu, Lazaretto, Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Joseph, Schools of Nursing and of Auxiliaries, RHSJ Community of the Sainte-Famille Academy, Ste-Famille Academy and Accueil Ste-Famille.
  • Chatham, NB (1869-2013), in English: RHSJ Community, Hôtel-Dieu Hospital, St. Michael’s Academy, Mount St. Joseph.
  • Campbellton, NB (1888-2004): Community, Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Joseph, Nursing School.
  • There are also the archives of the RHSJ missions: Peru (1948-2018); Mexico (1985-2018).

When the Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption (NDA) Provincial House in Bathurst closed in November 2019, the remainder of the RHSJ archives were moved to the Hôtel-Dieu Residence in Saint-Basile.

A third installment of RHSJ archives grouped by region of New Brunswick were sent to Fredericton on July 31, 2021. These are:

Bathurst Region, NB: Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes Sanatorium (1920-2021) in Vallée-Lourdes; LaDauversière Pavilion (1948-1972), Foyers St-Camille-de-Lellis and Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes (1930-2015) in Vallée-Lourdes, Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Joseph in Bathurst (1940-2013): Communities and Nursing School in Bathurst.

Northeastern region of New Brunswick: Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Joseph de Lamèque (1947-2009), Enfant-Jésus Hospital of Caraquet (1963-2013) and Brantville (1974-2006).

Northwest Region of NB: Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Joseph in Edmundston (1925-2009), Sanatorium Saint-Joseph (1943-1986) in Saint-Basile and Foyer St-Joseph in Saint-Basile (1972–2015), Grand Falls General Hospital (1952-1993), Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Joseph in Saint-Quentin (1930-2020), Hôtel-Dieu St-Joseph in Perth-Andover (1947-2015). Institutions outside NB: Villa Saint-Joseph in Yarmouth, NS (1930-2016); Hôtel-Dieu St-Joseph in Sorel, Quebec (1930-2009).

A fourth transfer to the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick in Fredericton carried out in 2025 includes the following fonds: the Acadian Generalate (1946-1953), the NDA House (1953-2019) and the Province Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption (NDA) (1953-2000).

A fifth transfer, scheduled for around 2028, includes the archives of the community and works of the Hôtel-Dieu St-Joseph de Saint-Basile, which constitute a sizeable archive dating back to 1873. They include Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Joseph, the first hospital in Madawaska, the orphanage and boarding school, the Academy and Maillet College, the farm, many photographs and a website. The date of their transfer to the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick in 2025 is not known.

Finally, even though their numbers have declined considerably, there are still, in 2025, Religious Hospitallers in New Brunswick and their historical archives centralized in Saint-Basile. These are: the Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Community of the Le Royal residence in Bathurst, the Hôtel-Dieu Community of Saint-Basile, and the Saint-Joseph Community of Tracadie.

Contact for the New Brunswick Archives:
The regional archivist of the Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph,
429, Main Street,
Saint-Basile, NB E7C 1J2
Tel.: (506) 263-9031
Email: bertille.beaulieu@hotmail.fr

Archives of the RHSJs in France, deposited at the ADML in Angers

Departmental Archives of Maine-et-Loire
106, rue de Frémur, 49000 Angers, France
Tel.: 02 41 80 80 00
Email: archives49@maine-et-loire.fr

The archives of the Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph (RHSJ) of France were deposited in three installments at the Departmental Archives of Maine-et-Loire (ADML) in Angers in 2008, 2016 and 2023. The reference code 307 J was assigned to this private archive collection, which measures 65.6 linear meters of documents stored flat in 565 boxes and 20 large Cauchard boxes. The dates covered are 1087-2023.

Before being deposited at the ADML, the archives of the RHSJ houses were fully sorted, classified, and described at all levels: fonds, series, sub-series, and items. As a starting point, the provincial archivist Sister Denise Péron used, from 1980, the alphanumeric classification framework developed in 1970 by Father Charles Molette for the archives of women’s religious congregations. From 1983, the archives of the houses of the Religious Hospitallers were grouped together at La Flèche. In 2004, the decision was made to produce computerized research guides in accordance with the Rules for the Description of Archival Documents (RDDA) and the ISAD(G) International Standards.

The congregation’s archivists have produced 13 catalogues containing inventories or research guides available in both paper and digital formats. The first ten guides bear the names of the cities where the RHSJ served a Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Joseph or a healthcare facility.

These are, in chronological order of their foundation: La Flèche, Sarthe (1636-2021); Baugé, Maine-et-Loire (1650-1991); Laval, Mayenne (1650-2011); Nîmes, Gard (1663-2003); Avignon, Vaucluse (1666-1911), Beaufort-en-Vallée, Maine-et-Loire (1671-1963); L’Isle-sur-Sorgue, Vaucluse (1684-2002); Ernée, Mayenne (1819-2010); Beaupréau-en-Mauges, Maine-et-Loire (1904-2023+); Lobbes, Hainaut in Belgium (1911-1947), Tharon-Plage, Loire-Atlantique (1963-1969). Three other catalogues contain the archives of the Sainte-Famille Province in Angers, Paris and La Flèche (1965-1999): and those of the Sainte-Famille Region (1999-2023).

The sisters of Moulins, in Allier (1650-1793), and Rivières-de-Theyrargues, in Gard (1698-1789), were expelled from their monastery during the Revolution. Their houses were not rebuilt and the archives were lost, except for the Annals of Moulins by Mother Péret, given to the RHSJ in 1874 with the casket of bones of Marie de la Ferre.

A deposit agreement with the ADML was signed in 2008, so that the documentary heritage of the RHSJ is entirely preserved in Angers, except, for the moment, the current archives of the RHSJ of Beaupréau-en-Mauges which will eventually be transferred to Angers. The preservation of the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph archives is now assured in France.

Other contact for information on fonds:
The Archivist of the RHSJ of New Brunswick,
429, Main Street,
Saint-Basile, NB E7C 1J2. Canada.
Email: bertille.beaulieu@hotmail.fr

Archives of the RHSJ Saint-Joseph Region, Ontario

RHSJ St. Joseph Region Archives
Jeanne Mance 6-035-0
Hotel Dieu Hospital
166 Brock St.
Kingston, ON K7L 5G2
Contact person’s email: sj-archives@rhsj.org

The Archives of the Saint Joseph Region of the Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph preserve the documentary heritage of the RHSJ communities that comprised the Saint Joseph Province and its administration, which became the Saint Joseph Region in 2001. It contains documents relating to the English-speaking RHSJ foundations in Ontario, New Brunswick, Illinois, Wisconsin, Montana, and Alberta, which merged in 1953 to form the Saint Joseph Province. The archives of the Hôtel-Dieu de Windsor were included following the transition from Province to Region.

The Saint Joseph Region Archives includes the records of the office of the Provincial Superior, later Regional Coordinator, and other administrative offices; documents relating to the RHSJ communities and their institutions in thirteen locations in three countries; the personal files of more than 160 sisters; as well as collections of religious and historical objects, costumes and textiles, an art collection, and a library of historical volumes and reference materials.

The archives notably preserve the historical documents of the Hotel Dieu of Kingston (founded in 1845), the Hôtel-Dieu de Windsor (founded in 1888) and the Hotel Dieu of Cornwall (founded in 1897), including documents relating to their nursing schools, orphanages and homes for the aged that the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph managed alongside their hospitals.

In 2025, the RHSJ archives of the Saint Joseph Region are currently located at the Hotel Dieu Hospital, Kingston. Archival consultations can be arranged with the archivist by email or telephone.

Archivist’s email: sj-archives@rhsj.org

Phone: 613-544-3400, ext. 2710