This series comprises records of the Lutheran Deaconess Motherhouse at Milwaukee (LDMM), primarily after the time of its incorporation in Wisconsin in 1927. The dates of these records range from 1898-1964, with the bulk dating from 1918-1935. Types of records include legal and financial records, annual reports, resolutions, minutes, correspondence, topical reports, worship schedule, pamphlets, leaflets, articles, news clippings, and other materials. Most of the records are printed or typewritten, but some are handwritten. Condition of materials ranges from fair to good. The history and legal documents are followed by materials dealing primarily with the deaconesses which are arranged alphabetically: admission and training of deaconesses, biographical information about individual deaconesses, deaconess work, promotion and interpretation of the diaconate and LDMM, and special events in the motherhouse, such as investitures, installations, dedications, and anniversary celebrations. These are followed by three subseries, Reports and Resolutions, Henry Warren Roth Estate, and Milwaukee Hospital, "the Passavant." There are also six black and white photographs and eighteen picture postcards. The photographs are not identified, but there is also a photocopy of a photograph of the Milwaukee deaconess community of 1948, in which the deaconesses and pastors are identified. Reports and Resolutions. This subseries includes reports and resolutions about five significant events in the history of the Milwaukee motherhouse. The paper in the first folder, written by J. F. Ohl upon his resignation as the first pastor of the motherhouse, is of interest not only because it throws light upon conditions in the motherhouse at the time, but because of the defense he makes of his vision of a motherhouse. He makes many quotations in German in the paper; these are not translated. The next three folders are shed light upon the history of the motherhouse. The last folder, on long-range planning, shows some of the steps taken by the motherhouse to develop a closer relationship with The American Lutheran Church (TALC). The deaconesses did not succeed in this aim, and the result was almost immediately the effective demise of the motherhouse, as it gave up its congregational status, stopped publishing Deaconess Annals, and stopped taking probationers in 1975. In this subseries, the records have been arranged chronologically. Henry Warren Roth Estate. This subseries comprises papers regarding the estate of Henry Warren Roth, a member of the Board of the Institution of Protestant Deaconesses from 1870 until his death in 1918, serving as vice-director, secretary, and treasurer during his tenure. When he died, he left his estate in trust to the Institution of Protestant Deaconesses, with the stipulation that the net income was to be used to support his wife, Elizabeth Houston Roth, and his niece and adopted daughter, Marietta Gertrude Roth, as long as they lived. When the Institution of Protestant Deaconesses of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania ceased to exist in 1930, the trusteeship of the estate was transferred to the Lutheran Deaconess Motherhouse at Milwaukee. The materials in this subseries were given to Dr. Robert Fischer, Professor Emeritus of Church History at Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. He inventoried but did not copy them and left them, he said, "with only minor rearrangement" from the way he received them. They have been left as he delivered them to this archive. These records are in fair condition; many are fragile and should be handled carefully. Milwaukee Hospital, "The Passavant." This subseries comprises materials related to the Milwaukee Hospital, which was incorporated under the same charter as the motherhouse until 1931, when the hospital was given it own charter, but it was still under the effective control of the motherhouse because its corporate members were the deaconesses and the motherhouse board. The series includes histories, legal papers, special events, and examples of publications. The history of this hospital is particularly well documented, with official histories published on anniversaries in 1913 (fiftieth), 1938 (seventy-fifth), 1963 (one hundredth), and 1993 (one hundred thirtieth). In addition there are two articles from 1953 and 1974. The materials in this subseries are in good condition.
