The Clerics of St. Viator establish a home in Bourbonnais, Illinois and spread from there through the state of Illinois. Efforts in other states are short lived, but Viatorians maintain a presence in South Dakota for nearly sixty years.
Maternity BVM is considered the cradle of the Viatorian community in the United States.
1865: First permanent establishment of the Viatorians in Bourbonnais, Illinois on September 6
Advertisement for St. Viator College in College Journal, November 23, 1883, p. 118
1868: Founding of St. Viator College in Bourbonnais, Illinois (closes 1938)
Cyrille Fournier, First Provincial of the Clerics of St. Viator, Province of Chicago, c. 1908
1882: Founding of Province of Chicago on August 2
St. Viator Church and School, 1890
1888: Founding of St. Viator Parish, Chicago, Illinois (Viatorians leave 2021)
St. George Parish, St. George, Illinois
1898: Viatorians minister at St. George Parish in St. George, Illinois through 1909, then again from 1954 to the present
Columbus College, Chamberlain, South Dakota, c. 1915
1909: Viatorians open Columbus College. Though the college closes in 1921, Viatorians minister as pastors and chaplains in South Dakota until 1980.
Science Lab in Cathedral High School Springfield, Illinois, 1949
1930: Viatorian ministry begins at Cathedral High School (later Griffin and Sacred Heart-Griffin), Springfield, Illinois (Viatorians leave 2003)
Confreres Br. John Ryan and Fr. Roger Drolet from the Chicago Province joined the Canadian-founded mission to China in 1933. L to R: Unidentfied confrere, Br. John Ryan, Fr. Roger Drolet, Br. Oscar Lalonde, Br. Geo. Coulumbe
1930: Mission to China begun (ended 1941)
St. Patrick Church, Kankakee, Illinois
1931: Viatorian ministry begins at St. Patrick Parish in Kankakee, Illinois
St. Patrick High School, Kankakee, Illinois, 1923
1934: Viatorian ministry begins at St. Patrick’s High School in Kankakee, Illinois (now Bishop McNamara High School)
Novices at Lemont (later Fournier Institute), Illinois, 1941
1943: Fournier Institute established on grounds of former Viatorian novitiate (closed 1955)
