Woodstock College
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Woodstock College, c. 1920 | |
| Motto | ad majorem dei gloriam |
|---|---|
| Type | Seminary |
| Active | 1869–1974 |
| Affiliation | Jesuit |
| Founder | Angelo Paresce |
| Location | , 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.
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] |
