Administrative/Biographical History
The Local Administration Record Group of the Society of Saint Edmund Archives was originally created to distinguish records created by the general administration of the Society (Superior General Office, General Council, Treasurer General…) from records created by or for a particular house or apostolic work. Over time however, this distinction blurred. Records about a local house created by the Superior General were interfiled with records created by the house itself. Additionally, clippings, travel guides, and other collected materials related to a place were included. In many cases, this interfiling occurred in the Generalate offices themselves, especially as a local house closed or a work ended. Personnel would transfer records back to the Generalate and the Generalate would add their own files to the boxes or vice-versa. Sometimes personnel would bring records to the generalate when they transferred to another apostolate. Due to the complexity of the task, no attempt was made to separate the files when they arrived in the archives. Where possible, files that have large amounts of records created in a local work or with a local house have been identified in the Finding Aid.