Bernard A. Maguire | |
|---|---|
 Maguire in 1866 | |
| 25th & 27thPresident of Georgetown University | |
| In office 1866–1870 | |
| Preceded by | John Early |
| Succeeded by | John Early |
| In office 1853–1858 | |
| Preceded by | Charles H. Stonestreet |
| Succeeded by | John Early |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1818-02-11)February 11, 1818 Edgeworthstown, County Longford, Ireland |
| Died | April 26, 1886(1886-04-26) (aged 68) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Resting place | Jesuit Community Cemetery |
| Alma mater | |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | September 27, 1851 by John McGill |
Bernard A. MaguireSJ (February 11, 1818 – April 26, 1886) was an Irish-AmericanCatholic priest andJesuit who served twice as the president ofGeorgetown University. Born in Ireland, he emigrated to the United States at the age of six, and his family settled inMaryland. Maguire attendedSaint John's College inFrederick, Maryland, and then entered theSociety of Jesus in 1837. He continued his studies at Georgetown University, where he also taught and wasprefect, until hisordination to thepriesthood in 1851.
In 1852, Maguire was appointedpresident of Georgetown University. His tenure is regarded as successful; new buildings were erected, the number of students increased, andthe preparatory division was partially separated fromGeorgetown College. Upon the end of his presidency in 1858, he engaged inpastoral andmissionary work inWashington, D.C., Maryland, andVirginia, and developed a reputation as a skilledpreacher. In the aftermath of theAmerican Civil War, which devastated the university, Maguire again became president of Georgetown in 1866. The long-plannedGeorgetown Law School was established at the end of his presidency. His term ended in 1870, and he returned to missionary work, traveling throughout the country. He died inPhiladelphia in 1886.
Bernard A. Maguire was born on February 11, 1818, inEdgeworthstown, County Longford, Ireland. He emigrated to the United States with his parents, at the age of six. They took up residence nearFrederick, Maryland, where his father worked on the construction of theChesapeake and Ohio Canal.John McElroy, aCatholic priest, periodically visited the Maguires and other families working on the canal project. He thought Bernard would be suitable for thepriesthood and ensured that he received an education.[1] McElroy enrolled Maguire atSaint John's College in Frederick, aJesuit school of which McElroy was president. Among Maguire's professors there wasVirgil Horace Barber. In school, Maguire and his classmate,Enoch Louis Lowe, were continually at the top of their class, and they participated in oratorydeclamations together.[2]
On September 20, 1837, Maguire entered theSociety of Jesus,[2] and proceeded to the Jesuitnovitiate in Frederick,[3] where he was supervised byFrancis Dzierozynski. He then began his higher education atGeorgetown University; from 1839 to 1840, he studiedrhetoric, and from 1840 to 1841,philosophy.[2] While studying the latter, he also served asprefect of the university. His time at Georgetown was paused during the 1842–1843 academic year, while he taught mathematics and was the prefect at Saint John's College; he also oversaw the school's library and museum. Afterwards, Maguire returned to Georgetown, where he taughtgrammar,mathematics, andFrench; for the academic year of 1845 and 1846, he ceased teaching grammar so that he could again become prefect.[4]
In 1846, Maguire began histheological education for the priesthood. He took leave of his studies during the academic year of 1849–1850 tocatechize the students at Georgetown.[4] During that time, there was an uprising among the students, stemming from a dispute between thePhilodemic Society and the first prefect over when the club were permitted to hold meetings.[5] As tensions escalated, the first prefect,Burchard Villiger,[6] expelled three students, prompting an uproar among the student body.[5] Believing the expulsion applied to all the students involved in the dispute, 40 students left the university and took up residence in hotels in Washington. They wrote the prefect demanding that they be allowed to return without punishment and that the first prefect be replaced by someone new.[7]
After word of this standoff reached the local newspapers, Maguire met with the students to persuade them to peacefully return. Eventually, the students agreed to unconditionally return and issued an apology.[7] At the same time, Villiger resigned as first prefect, and Maguire was selected to replace him.[6] On September 27, 1851, he wasordained apriest byJohn McGill, theBishop of Richmond.[4]
During histertianship from 1851 to 1852, which was supervised byFelix Cicaterri,[4] Maguire was elected to succeedCharles H. Stonestreet as thepresident of Georgetown University in December 1852.[3] Soon thereafter, theJesuit Superior General confirmed Maguire's election by theboard of directors. Maguire officially assumed the office on January 25, 1853. As president, he was well liked by the students, despite having a reputation for being stern.[4] Some students were displeased with the prefect's imposition of discipline and Maguire's declination to overrule him; they staged another uprising, throwing stones andinkwells to break the windows.[8] The rebellion was quickly quashed after a lecture at breakfast the following morning, in which Maguire appealed to the students' sense of honor.[4] Six students were expelled as a result.[9]
Maguire promoted dramatic and literary societies among the students.[10] In April 1853, the university was visited by the Catholic intellectualOrestes Brownson,[11] and thecommencement of 1854 was attended byFranklin Pierce, thepresident of the United States.[12] A fire broke out on December 6, 1854, destroying the shed where the tailor and shoemaker worked. The university's vice president noticed the fire during the night and awoke others who prevented it from spreading to the other buildings.[13]
Despite the construction of new buildings, a significant increase in the number of students left Georgetown pressed for physical accommodations. Therefore, Maguire sought to erect another building, but these plans were rendered untenable by thePanic of 1857.[10] The economic crisis also made it difficult for the university to hire a sufficient number of faculty.[14] Historian Robert Emmett Curran regards Maguire's tenure as being overall successful.[10] On October 5, 1858, his term came to an end and he was succeeded byJohn Early.[15]
Several improvements were made to the university's facilities during Maguire's presidency. The preparatory division (which later becameGeorgetown Preparatory School) was separated fromGeorgetown College in 1851, both to reduce any negative influence of the older students on the younger ones and because the intermixing of ages dissuaded some older students from attending Georgetown's higher education division. The preparatory division was further segregated with the creation of separate housing for the younger students in 1852 and the institution of a separate academic calendar in 1856.[3] This separation was effective in producing a significant increase in the number of college-aged students enrolling.[3]
Construction on a separate building for the preparatory division began in June 1854. The five-story building connected the two buildings to its east and west, and contained a playroom, public hall, classrooms, study hall, and dormitory space.[16] More modest than was originally envisioned several years before, the Preparatory Building cost $20,000 and was complete by the commencement of 1855. It was outfitted with newgas lamps, rather thanoil lamps. The Preparatory Building was later renamed Maguire Hall.[10]
After his first presidency at Georgetown, Maguire was sent to be thepastor at St. Joseph's Church inBaltimore in 1858. His first time engaging in pastoral work, Maguire garnered a reputation as a skilled orator. In 1859, he was transferred toSt. Aloysius Church inWashington, D.C., where his renown as apreacher grew, and hissermons caused manyProtestants toconvert to Catholicism.[15] Maguire left St. Aloysius at the end of 1864 for Frederick, Maryland, from where he traveled as amissionary throughout Maryland andVirginia. This missionary work also produced conversions to Catholicism.[17]
Maguire became the president of Georgetown University for a second time on January 1, 1866.[18] Replacing John Early,[19] he took office in the aftermath of theAmerican Civil War. Enrollment at the university had declined precipitously during the war, and few students remained by the time Maguire took office.[17] From 1859 to 1861, the number of students dropped from 313 to 17.[20] As a result of the decreased enrollment, the university was left in a precarious financial state. By the end of Maguire's term, the number of students had begun to rebound.[21] Georgetown's physical campus also suffered during the war, which Maguire described as being "nearly ruined."[20] Upon the end of the 1866 academic year in July, he immediately began to repair and expand the buildings that were damaged from being used asbarracks and amilitary hospital by theUnion Army.[20] Within three months, the work was complete.[22] To symbolize post-war national unity, Maguire adopted the respective colors of the Union andConfederate Armies, blue and gray, as theschool's official colors.[20]
Discussions about creating alaw school began during Early's presidency but were suspended due to the war. At the suggestion of a future university president,Patrick F. Healy,[23] these discussions resumed and became more concrete by 1869. Eventually, the university's board of directors approved the establishment ofGeorgetown Law School in March 1870. Maguire desired the law school to be more integrated with the rest of the university thanthe medical school, which operated largely autonomously. He selected the first six faculty members and announced the creation of the new school at the university commencement in June 1870.[24] The law school's first classes began in October.[25]
PresidentUlysses S. Grant attended the commencement of 1869 and conferred the degrees.[26] That year, the Jesuitscholasticate, which trained Jesuits in their religious formation, was moved from Georgetown toWoodstock, Maryland, becoming the independentWoodstock College.[27] Maguire's health had begun to deteriorate by 1869, and the new provincial superior, Joseph Keller, began considering potential successors, in consultation with the Jesuit superiors inRome.[28] Maguire's tenure came to an end in July 1870,[17] and John Early was again named as his successor.[29]
Following his second presidency of the university, Maguire returned to St. Aloysius Church as the pastor. He preached regularly until retiring from the position in May 1875.[17] He returned to missionary work, preaching in Canada andSan Francisco.[30] He resigned these duties when health prevented him from continuing in 1884.[17]
In April 1886, Maguire led aretreat onPassion Sunday atOld St. Joseph's Church inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, after having just finished leading atriduum for men at theCathedral of the Assumption in Baltimore. On the third day of the retreat, he fell ill and was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he receivedlast rites and died on April 26, 1886.[31] Hisrequiem mass was held at St. Aloysius Church in Washington, and he was buried at theJesuit Community Cemetery at Georgetown University.[32]
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | 25thPresident of Georgetown University 1853–1858 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | 27thPresident of Georgetown University 1866–1870 | Succeeded by |
| Catholic Church titles | ||
| Preceded by – | Pastor ofSt. Aloysius Church 1870–1875 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
