its origins in a boarding school founded in Bismarck, Dakota Territory, in 1878 by Benedictine sisters. In 1885, the sisters founded St. Alexius Hospital, adding a College of Nursing in 1915. In 1944, the sisters formed the Convent of the Annunciation, independent of the motherhouse in St. Joseph, Minnesota. The convent was renamed Annunciation Priory in 1947.
=== First buildings ===
In the early 1950s, the sisters requested that celebrated Bauhaus architect Marcel Breuer design a new priory building. At the time, Breuer was finishing the new abbey and several university buildings at Saint John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. In 1955, he accepted the commission only after visiting the site, meeting the sisters, and being "overwhelmed by the power and presence of the landscape setting and the mission." Breuer's designs used native granite prairie stone, complex concrete shapes, and a juxtaposition of light and shadow. The first buildings were a convent, dining hall, and classrooms. The school was officially …
