Elizabeth Delene, Diocesan Archivist
347 Rock St, Marquette, MI 49855 
(906) 227-9117
Research by appointment only!

The archival collection contains nearly 2000 letters of Frederic Baraga’s correspondence and several artifacts which belonged to our first Bishop as well as our succeeding bishops. 

Bishop Baraga is a candidate for Sainthood in the Catholic Church, and much focus has been put on his life including several biographies. He wrote an Ojibwa dictionary and several other books in native languages which are part of our collection. 

Our collection encompasses our current Diocese - the Upper Peninsula of Michigan - as well as other parts of Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota and parts of Europe such as Slovenia. 

We have parish histories, parish files, and entities owned and run by the diocese, such as the Assinins Orphanage and the Holy Family Orphanage. While the main focus of our book collection is Catholic Church history, we also have materials on other religions. The collection includes: Catholic Directories from 1870 to present, the records of the Leopoldine Society, letters of Father Francis Pierz, Father Edward Jacker and other early missionaries, the Propagation of Faith, Detroit Catholic Vindicator, Ludwig Mission Verein Documents. 

Many records were collected from various archives, such as Notre Dame and are available on microfilm. Records on microfilm include history of the Great Lakes region. For example: Office of Indian Affairs Records, French Fur Company Papers, Henry R. Schoolcraft papers, Mackinac Agency etc. Our archives include closed stacks of rare books on the Catholic Church, history of the area and Native Americans.

We have over 1500 photographs, mostly of churches and buildings. Topics vary from men in forests to Men’s retreats at Camp Plagens and Diocese celebrations. In 1906, Msgr. A. J. Rezek wrote the “History of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie – Marquette.” Many images in our photograph collection are from this two volume history.

Because we are private archives, not all records are available to the public, nor are all records indexed. We are always looking for new acquisitions, especially for the Bishop Baraga School, or history from 1950 to present, as we have very little on this subject. We also are in need of volunteers to help us organize our holdings.