The fonds testifies to the activities carried out by the Holy Cross Mission of Wiikwemkoong since its transfer to the Jesuits in 1844 and until 2004, and provides information on the history of Manitoulin Island, Wiikwemkoong and other communities of Northern Ontario. It provides information on the activities of the parishes Jesuit missionaries served via administrative and financial records, as well as sacramental registers that compiled data on the members and families of the communities. Thus, in addition to documenting the activities of the Holy Cross parish and missionaries, the fonds contains records concerning the parishes of Gore Bay, Little Current, Killarney, Batchewana, M’chigeeng, Sheshegwaning, Spanish River and Lake Huron North Shore, among others. It also contains records testifying to the Jesuits’ interest and implication in schools in Batchewana, Kaboni, Killarney, Sheguiandah, Spanish, and Wiikwemkoong.

The fonds contains diaries and notes taken by Jesuit priests concerning the activities of the missions and certain events. It also contains correspondence, parish communications, work documents and history notes, Status Animarum, Historia Domus, manuscripts, two publications, a prospectus, programs, architectural drawings and maps, as weel as photographs that document the different mission points, landscapes, church buildings, Catholic celebrations, events, and parish members and families.

The Spanish Residential School fonds contains records that pertain to the establishment, administration, operations, and eventual closing of the Spanish Residential School. It also contains records that pertain to the day school in Wiikwemkoong, which preceded the Spanish school. The schools were administered by the Jesuit fathers of the Upper Canada Province, initially named Independent Mission of Canada (1887-1907), Province of Canada (1907-1924), then Vice-Province of Upper Canada (1924-1939).

The fonds is organized into five series: Administration and Financial Records; Student Affairs and Community Life; Spanish Residential School Buildings; Jesuit Personnel and School Staff; Spanish Residential School Photography Laboratory. It contains correspondence, diaries, newspaper clippings, financial statements, student registers, and student publications. The fonds also contains photographs associated with the schools’ cultural and sports programs, including hockey and football, photographs of the schools’ buildings and Jesuit personnel, and photographs of the Spanish community. Notably, the fonds also contains photographs produced by the students themselves in the school’s photo laboratory, established by Fr. William P. Maurice, S.J.

The fonds contains documents pertaining to his religious life including his baptism certificate, a Latin letter from Father Dufresne confirming his ordination, photocopies of mission dates and information, an Upper Canada Province newsletter featuring him, and prayer cards. Additionally, the fonds contains a number of photograph portraits of Father Howitt at various missions, many which feature Indigenous community members, and one negative. A number of correspondence can also be found in the fonds, most of which was produced from the 1920s to 1940s at Spanish, Ontario, as well as Cape Croker, Port Arthur, and Nipigon, and which reports on his mission work.