| Pioneer
Days in Idaho County: Volume 1 Reprinted
TheHistorical Museum at St. Gertrude is proud to announce that it has received another reprint of Volume 1 of Sister Alfreda Elsensohn’s Pioneer Days in Idaho County. Out of print for several years, this fourth printing of the volume will complement the copies of Volume 2 that are still available. Sister Alfreda’s two-volume work is still considered the authoritative history of early Idaho County. In this 535-page volume she sought to discover through historic and geographic associations the origin of the place names in the county, and to establish through primary sources a complete history of each of its settlements. Included are the personalities who played principal roles in many of the stories. Sister Alfreda Elsensohn, nee Edith M. Elsensohn, was born in Grangeville in 1897, daughter of Lewis and Mary Elsensohn. Her father was the first county superintendent of schools in Idaho County. Her early education was received in the public and private schools of Grangeville and Pomeroy, Washington. In 1915 she entered the Order of St. Benedict at St. Gertrude’s Convent (today the Monastery of St. Gertrude), Cottonwood, Idaho, and was professed November 26, 1916, under the name of Sister Mary Alfreda. She was graduated from Lewis-Clark Normal School, today Lewis Clark State College, in 1924. She attended Washington State University and Gonzaga University where she received her B.S. in 1927. Her Master of Science degree was granted by the University of Idaho in 1939. Sister Alfreda was a teacher for some 45 years and was the foundress of the Historical Museum at St. Gertrude. The museum is now in its 77th year, making it one of the longest, continuously operating museums in the Northwest. The sisters of the Monastery of St. Gertrude decided to reprint the volume in honor of their upcoming 100th anniversary in Idaho. Both volumes are available in the museum store at the Historical Museum at St. Gertrude. Individual volumes sell for $45 each or $80 for the two-volume set. For more information contact the museum at (208)962-2050. |
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