The Archives of the Religious Hospitallers of Saint Joseph (RHSJ), who founded the Hôtel-Dieu in Saint-Basile, are private archives going back to the arrival of the Sisters at Madawaska in 1873.
The mission of the Archives is to preserve documents created and received by the Sisters relating the works they accomplished at Hôtel-Dieu Saint-Joseph:
In Education: orphanage and boarding schools for girls and young boys, public school, college for young women;
In Health Care: first hospital in the region, residence for persons of private means and nursing home.
The Archives contain information on the Sisters’ life style and their contribution to the progress of the Madawaska region. They contain documents of historical, medical, educational, religious, financial, social and cultural interest.
The Archives and the Heritage Room (Museum) of the Religious Hospitallers are located on the first floor of the Hôtel-Dieu. The Heritage Room has its own entrance under the chapel and is open to the public year round, from Monday to Friday.
This site was created in 2002 to make available for research a virtual exhibitions of 424 old photographs.
Gallery 1 History of Hôtel-Dieu in Saint-Basile, New Brunswick (1873-1935)
A second virtual exhibition of 502 old photos was placed on line in 2003.
Gallery 2 Sense of belonging and taking roots into Greater Madawaska (1860-1960)
Sections have been added to the Menu since 2014 to communicate information on the Sisters of Saint-Basile and their works in health care at the Hôtel-Dieu and education at the Academy and College Maillet. Visitors may easily consult Pages of History on Hôtel-Dieu, the Theme Song «Salut à toi», Biographies of sisters and people related to their history, archival Documents transcribed or digitized, presentations of Illustrated History, excerpts of the Annals of the community, Monuments and Plaques, data on the Sisters buried in the Sisters’ Cemetery, as well as information on Hôtel-Dieu and the Sisters.
The Department of Canadian Heritage Funds have contributed in part to the creation of this Web site and the digitization of photos for two virtual exhibitions. Financial support was granted by the Canadian Council of Archives, through the Canadian Archival Information Network, in the Cost Shared Cooperative Assistance Programme, in 2002 and 2003.
The Web site of the Archives of the Religious Hospitallers in Saint-Basile, New Brunswick, is hosted free of charge on the server of the Université de Moncton Edmundston Campus, New Brunswick, since 2003.
A grant from the Congrès Mondial Acadien held in 2014 has contributed to the upgrading of the site in order to facilitate consultation.