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Woodstock College

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Woodstock College, c. 1920
Woodstock College, c. 1920
Motto Ad majorem Dei gloriam
Type Seminary
Active 1869–1974
Affiliations Jesuit
Founder Angelo Paresce
Location Woodstock
,
Maryland
,
U.S.
39°20′08″N 76°52′12″W / 39.33556°N 76.87000°W[1]

Woodstock College was a seminary that existed from 1869 to 1974. It was the oldest Jesuit seminary in the United States.[2] The school was located in Woodstock, Maryland, west of Baltimore, from its establishment until 1969, when it moved to New York City, where it operated in cooperation with the Union Theological Seminary and the Jewish Theological Seminary.

The school closed in 1974.[3] It was succeeded by the Woodstock Theological Center, an independent, nonprofit Catholic research institute located at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

History

After unsuccessful efforts to establish a divinity school in Boston, New York, and Washington D.C., 249 acres were purchased in Woodstock in 1866, where construction of Woodstock College soon followed.[4] The college was originally located along the Patapsco River in Woodstock, Maryland, west of Baltimore. It incorporated in 1867, and opened on September 22, 1869.[5] At the time, the college was the only Jesuit seminary in the United States and was intended to be where the majority of all American Jesuit priests would be trained in the future.[4]

In the 1960s, the college began considering affiliating with an urban university.[6][7]

The argument to move the school into a city and place it in affiliation with a broader network of institutions of higher learning received decisive support from the newest ideas of theological education and priestly formation emerging from the Second Vatican Council and the Jesuits' own Thirty-First General Congregation. New Haven, Washington D.C., and New York City were considered for the college's relocation.[8] In consequence, the college closed its original campus and moved to New York City in 1969[9] where it operated in cooperation with the Union Theological Seminary[10] and the Jewish Theological Seminary. Controversies over the merits of the move into the city, specific controversies arising over the lifestyle of the Jesuits in training in New York, and a general desire of the order to consolidate its theology schools nationally led to the school's closure in 1974.[3]

It was succeeded until 2013 by the Woodstock Theological Center,[11] an independent, nonprofit Catholic research institute located at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The theological library retains its independence through an affiliation with the library at Georgetown University, where it is still housed.

Campus

The original campus buildings in Woodstock, Maryland are now used as a Job Corps Center, while the campus grounds are part of Patapsco Valley State Park.

Rectors and presidents

No. Name Years Ref.
1 Angelo Paresce SJ 1869–1875
2 James Perron SJ 1875–1881
3 Joseph E. Keller SJ 1881–1883
4 Pierre O. Racicot SJ 1883–1890
5 Edward V. Boursaud SJ 1890–1893 [12]
6 Joseph Jerge SJ 1893–1897
7 Burchard Villiger SJ 1897–1901 [13]
8 William P. Brett SJ 1901–1907
9 Anthony Maas SJ 1907–1912
10 Joseph Hanselman SJ 1912–1918 [14]
11 William Clark SJ 1918–1921 [15]
12 Peter Lutz SJ 1921–1927
13 Vincent McCormick SJ 1927–1933
14 Francis Keenan SJ 1933–1939
15 David Nugent SJ 1939–1945
16 Ferdinand Wheeler SJ 1945–1951
17 Joseph Murphy SJ 1951–1957
18 Edward J. Sponga SJ 1957–1963 [16]
19 Michael F. Maher SJ 1963–1965
20 Felix Cardegna SJ 1965–1969 [17]
21 Christopher F. Mooney SJ 1969–1974 [18][19]

Notable people

See List of people associated with Woodstock College

See also

References

  1. Back to citation "Feature Detail Report: Woodstock College". Geographic Names Information System. U.S. Geological Survey. 1979-09-12. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
  2. Back to citation "A Death in the Family". TIME. 1973-01-22. Archived from the original on November 1, 2008.
  3. Back to citation occurrence 3.0 Back to citation occurrence 3.1 Blau, Eleanor (1973-01-09). "Woodstock Jesuit College Here, Experimental Seminary, to Shut". The New York Times. p. 1.
  4. Back to citation occurrence 4.0 Back to citation occurrence 4.1 "Woodstock Is Oldest Jesuit School In U. S.". The Ellicott City Times. p. 6.
  5. Back to citation "Leading Catholic Seminary". The Times (Ellicott City). 31 March 1965.
  6. Back to citation Fiske, Edward B. (1966-12-16). "Jesuit Seminary Weighs Urban Tie". The New York Times. p. 52.
  7. Back to citation Doty, Robert C. (1967-09-02). "Jesuit Seminary May Move to City". The New York Times. p. 15.
  8. Back to citation Holland, Cella. "Two Senators And An Editor Came From Modest Woodstock".
  9. Back to citation Fiske, Edward B. (1968-02-28). "Jesuit Seminary From Maryland To Move to Morningside Heights". The New York Times. p. 16.
  10. Back to citation Lissner, Will (1969-10-23). "Protestants Greet Jesuits Here". The New York Times. p. 49.
  11. Back to citation "Jesuit College Plans Transfer". The New York Times. 1973-12-02. p. 105. “Woodstock College, the Jesuit theology school being phased out here, will transfer some of its resources and assets to a new Jesuit research center to be established in Washington.”
  12. Back to citation Obituary: Father Edward V. Boursaud 1902, p. 279
  13. Back to citation "PROMINENT JESUIT VERY ILL; The Rev. Burchard Villiger of Philadelphia Not Expected to Recover". The New York Times. 1902-11-04. p. 1.
  14. Back to citation "Presidents - Hanselman". College of the Holy Cross.
  15. Back to citation Admin, ARSI (2022-06-28). "Catalogs of New Society of Jesus - Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu". Retrieved 2025-04-16.
  16. Back to citation "What I Wanted as a Person". TIME. 1968-07-26. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008.
  17. Back to citation "The Jesuits' Search For a New Identity". TIME. 1973-04-23. Archived from the original on January 10, 2008.
  18. Back to citation "Mooney Is New Head Of Woodstock College". The New York Times. 1969-10-18. p. 9.
  19. Back to citation Saxon, Wolfgang (1993-09-28). "C. F. Mooney, 68, Religion Professor And Noted Author". The New York Times.

Bibliography

Sources

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