Though one of the newer districts of the Institute - it dates from 1995 - the roots of the Midwest District reach back to the earliest permanent foundations of the Christian Brothers in the United States. In 1849 three Brothers arrived in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, to open a Lasallian school on the banks of the Mississippi River. This institution, started only a few years after the Brothers came to the United States from Canada, demonstrated their faith and optimism concerning the future of Catholic education in the Middle West.

From that first school the work of the Brothers spread to some major urban centers of the nation's heartland. Besides St. Louis, cities that saw new schools open in the following decades included Minneapolis and St. Paul (Minnesota), Chicago (Illinois), Kansas City (Missouri), Memphis (Tennessee) and numerous smaller cities as well. In 1870 the St. Louis District was created to administer this fast growing part of the Institute.

By the mid-twentieth century rapid expansion in both numbers of schools and Brothers had reached the point where the St. Louis District required division into smaller units. The final solution was a three way split beginning in 1963 with the northern third of the St. Louis District becoming the Winona District (later called the St. Paul-Minneapolis District). The middle third of the St. Louis District for the central states was established as the Chicago District in 1966. The remaining schools to the south continued under the St. Louis District.

Over the next twenty years these three districts continued their traditional school apostolates and introduced many new projects designed to help the poor. Problems presented themselves, however, with the declining number of Brothers and increasing demands on their material resources. Inter-district cooperation was initiated in the 1980s and proved so successful that by 1995 a great majority of the Brothers expressed their desire for a merger of the three districts. Thus was created, not a continuation of the old St. Louis District, but a new entity in the Institute called by a new name - the Midwest District.

At the start of the twenty-first century there are over 200 Brothers in the Midwest District. They conduct three universities: Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, Lewis University outside Chicago, and Christian Brothers University in Memphis with a total undergraduate enrollment of over 6,000 students. Sixteen secondary schools are also part of their ministries extending from Minnesota and Wisconsin in the north to Tennessee and Oklahoma in the south. The total enrollment of these high schools numbers over 12,000 students.


The District sponsors three retreat houses: Christian Brothers Retreat Center in Minnesota, La Salle Manor Retreat Center outside Chicago, and La Salle Institute Retreat Center near St. Louis. Auxiliary enterprises located in the District that support the Lasallian mission and assist other Catholic institutions include Saint Mary's Press, Christian Brothers Youth Home, and the Lasallian Tutors Program. Christian Brothers Services and Christian Brothers Investment Services, although not established by the District, are located near Chicago. In recent years seven elementary and middle schools have been started that provide direct service to the poor and come under the general title of San Miguel Schools. They are found in poor neighborhoods and enroll minority students who would likely not succeed in a regular school setting. These new domestic initiatives have not lessened the Midwest's District's commitment to the overseas apostolates. Brothers continue to serve in the Holy Land and in other countries where they are needed.

In all these endeavors the Brothers are aided by their lay partners in Lasallian education who share the same commitment of providing a Christian and human upbringing to all the students under their care. Each year a group of Lasallian Volunteers, recent university graduates, joins the Brothers and their colleagues in the work of teaching. For a year they experience the rewards and challenges of service to needy students in the San Miguel Schools and other ministries that serve the poor. Service opportunities to aid the under privileged are provided to those in high school by way of the Lasallian Youth groups, and for those on the university level through the Lasallian Collegians.

All of these works clearly indicate that the Christian Brothers and their associates in the Midwest District are accomplishing great good. Together they carry on the tradition of faith and zeal of St. John Baptist de La Salle into a new century.

For more information about the Midwest District, visit http://www.cbmidwest.org.