Edward J. Kowach collection on Father Alexander Diomedi, 1977-1998

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Kowach, Edward J.
Title
Edward J. Kowach collection on Father Alexander Diomedi
Dates
1977-1998 (inclusive)
Quantity
0.2 linear feet
Collection Number
WCMss.084
Summary
Father Alexander Diomedi S. J. was born in Italy on May 10, 1843 and spent most of his life as a Catholic missionary in the Pacific Northwest between 1874 and 1929. The materials in the collection were produced between 1977 and 1998 and describe his life and work in the Pacific Northwest from 1874 to 1932.
Repository
Whitman College and Northwest Archives
Whitman College and Northwest Archives
Penrose Library, Room 130
345 Boyer Avenue
Walla Walla, WA
99362
Telephone: 5095275922
Fax: 5095264785
archives@whitman.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Father Alexander Diomedi was born in Italy on May 10, 1843. He studied both in both Rome and at St. Beuno's Jesuit Spirituality Center in Wales between 1861 and 1874, during which time he was ordained. Following his ordination, he was sent to America as a volunteer for the Rocky Mountain Indian Mission along with two other Fathers. The trio landed in New York and proceeded to travel to St. Louis, Missouri, where they purchased the printing press that would become the first to be used in the Rocky Mountain Missions. When Father Diomedi arrived in what is now St. Ignatius, Montana, the location of his first mission, he found he had a proclivity for the local language, Kalispel, and had soon overseen the printing the first complete Kalispel dictionary. In 1875 he was transferred to the Sacred Heart Mission near Cataldo, Idaho, where he was appointed as the Superior of the Mission. When the U.S. government acted to remove the local Coeur D'Alene tribe from their rightful lands to a reservation, Father Diomedi used his familiarity with the tribe to influence them to move against their will. By 1885 he had been transferred to Lewiston, Idaho, where he established the first Catholic school in the town. He was then transferred around Idaho and Montana several times before being appointed as the Spiritual Father at Gonzaga College in Spokane, Washington, in 1895, and then as the Superior of Seattle. In 1899 he was sent to the mission in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to establish a Jesuit college, where he stayed for three years. He then returned to the Pacific Northwest and California for several more years until, in 1929, he was allowed to retire and sent to Port Townsend, Washington, where he passed away on December 31, 1932.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection consists of a photocopy of "Sketches of Indian Life in the Pacific Northwest" by Father Diomedi and edited by Edward J. Kowrach, "Sketches of Modern Indian Life" by Father Diomedi, as well as a photograph of Father Diomedi, and notes compiled about the life and work of this Jesuit priest in the Pacific Northwest from 1874 to 1932.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Materials found in collection; provenance is unknown.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top