The Little Flower Mission was established by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in 1935 in Bath Street, Alice Springs. The Mission was moved to a new site at Charles Creek in 1937 and a Mission school was established. From 1938 children from the Mission were sent to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Primary School in Alice Springs. In 1942 the Little Flower Mission moved to Arltunga, approximately 100kms east of Alice Springs, and became known as the Arltunga Mission.
The Little Flower Mission was first established by Father Patrick J Maloney, of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, in 1935 in the back yard of the Roman Catholic presbytery in Bath Street, Alice Springs. In 1936 the Northern Territory Administrator granted the church a portion of land at Charles Creek, approximately 1 km from the centre of Alice Springs. The Mission was moved to the Charles Creek site in 1937. A church-school was established at the Mission.
In 1938 three Sisters from the Order of the Daughters of Our lady of the Sacred Heart established a convent school in Alice Springs, which became known as the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Primary School. Children from the Little Flower Mission were sent to the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Primary School.
In 1942, as a result of the influx of military personnel into Alice Springs, the Little Flower Mission moved to Arltunga, approximately 100kms east of Alice Springs and became known as the Arltunga Mission.
1935 - 1942 Little Flower Mission
1942 - 1953 Arltunga Mission
1953 - 1977 Santa Teresa Mission
Sources used to compile this entry: 'Daughters of the Sacred Heart', The Catholic Press (New South Wales), 5 May 1938, p. 30; 'Northern Territory: Protectors /Administration / Welfare Branch reports', in To remove and protect: laws that changed Aboriginal lives, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, 2010, http://aiatsis.gov.au/collections/collections-online/digitised-collections/remove-and-protect/northern-territory; 'Reappraising Aspects Of Mission Activity', in Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, 24 June 2013, https://misacor.org.au/index.php/item/201-reappraising-aspects-of-mission-activity; "A Piece of the Story": National Directory of Records of Catholic Organisations Caring for Children Separated from Families, December 2001, https://cssa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/A-Piece-of-the-Story.pdf; Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 'A Reflection: Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Central Australia, 1929-2007', June 2007, http://web.archive.org/web/20130410023439/http://olshparishalice.org.au/History%20of%20OLSH%20Parish%201929%20-%202007.pdf.
Prepared by: Karen George and Gary George
Created: 7 February 2011, Last modified: 8 May 2014