Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church Immanuel Deaconess Motherhouse and Training School

See also AUG 42 Administrative History.

Starting in 1893, the Immanuel Deaconess Association began publishing an almanac. This publication featured topical articles about general deaconess work, persons involved in the deaconess cause, specific work of the motherhouses in the United States, the history of the Immanuel Deaconess Institute (IDI), the IDI constitution, and statistics and general information about Lutheran motherhouses in the United States as well as Europe. Known as Dorkas: Kalendar f₄r Qvinlig Diakoni Och Barmhertighetsverksamhet which roughly translates to "Dorkas: Calendar of Female Diaconate and Works of Mercy," was first published by the Augustana Book Concerns Tryckeri, Rock Island, Ill. The publication only kept the title description of calendar for its first issue. For the second and third issues published in 1910 and 1911, the title changed to Dorkas: En Julh⁴lsning fran Diakonissanstalten I Omaha Af Anstaltens Pastorer och Systrar, which translates to Dorkas: A Christmas Greeting from Deaconess Institute of Omaha and Pastor and Sister Associations. The title changed again with the fourth issue dropping the "Jul," or Christmas portion of the title. For the fifth, sixth, and seventh issues, the title was shortened to Dorkas: En H⁴lsning fran Diakonissanstalten I Omaha

In addition to title changes, it appears that with the second, third, and fourth issues Dorkas began citing on its cover page the publishing imprint of "diakonissenstaltens forlag" or the deaconess association publishing house. But on the following page it included a cite for the Augustana Book Concern, Rock Island, Ill., so that it was published by the deaconess association, but printed at the Augustana Synod's publishing house in Rock Island. The last three issues did not include a citation for the Augustana Book Concern, so it is unclear where the publication was printed. It is not certain when the greeting stopped publishing. There is a strong likelihood that the 1919 issue was the last one. In 1921 the IDI began publishing a serial titled Diakoniss-Baneret, or "Deaconess Banner." Many of the features that had been in Dorkas were found in issues of Diakoniss-Baneret.