My Time with 'The Providential Man': Observations on John McElroy, S.J., Founder of Boston College
Seth Meehan
Associate Director, Academic Programming and Special Projects, Boston College Libraries
Date: Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Time: 12 - 1:00pm
Location: 24 Quincy Road, Room 101
In the final years of founding a Jesuit college in Boston -- a 16-year endeavor he completed at the age of 81 -- John McElroy received orders from his religious superior in Rome to settle a dispute between Jesuits in New York and their local bishop. The superior knew the old priest was otherwise occupied, but he saw no one else capable of resolving the situation, writing that McElroy was "l'homme providentiel." McElroy would have agreed. This luncheon colloquium will consider some moments in his long life that BC's founder would have recognized as evidence of providence's designs, a recognition that helps us understand what he did and how he did it and why one Jesuit observed that, though “Fr. McElroy may be respected more than any clergyman in Boston, he is not loved.” This colloquium is based on a forthcoming biography of BC's founder.
Seth Meehan is the associate director of academic programming and special projects at Boston College Libraries. He received a bachelor's degree in theology from Georgetown University and master's and doctorate degrees in history from Boston College. His work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, Catholic Historical Review, Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu, Journal of Jesuit Studies, Theological Studies, and Boston College Magazine, where he was a contributing editor. His scholarship has been recognized with awards from the American Catholic Historical Association, the Catholic Library Association, and other organizations. Currently, he is writing a biography of one nineteenth-century Jesuit, John McElroy, and editing a volume on a second, Salvatore Brandi.
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Boston College, 1863-1938: A Pictorial and Historical Review Commemorating the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Founding of the College. Chestnut Hill, MA: Boston College, 1938.
Connolly, John. “Father John McElroy SJ: ‘First’ Catholic Chaplain of the United States Army.” Clogher Record 20, no. 3 (2011): 535–40. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41412265.
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O’Brien, Michael. “Boston College High School Renames Building as Part of Its Commitment to Antiracism.” America Magazine. October 12, 2023. https://www.americamagazine.org/magazine/2023/10/12/bchigh-jesuit-schools-antiracism-mcelroy-246240.
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As many Jesuit schools have begun to reckon with their ties to slavery, Boston College High School renamed an academic building originally named after its founder, John McElroy, who is also the founder of Boston College. An America Magazine article highlights the decision of BC High and other Jesuit high schools and universities to rename buildings to acknowledge ties to slavery, as well as the decision of Boston College not to change the name of McElroy Commons. It offers a glimpse into McElroy's complicated legacy, which Meehan begins to unpack in his luncheon colloquium.
Seth Meehan discusses Fr. John McElroy, founder of Boston College.
Photo Credit: Christopher Soldt, MTS
On Wednesday, November 1, 2023, the Boisi Center hosted a luncheon titled “My Time with ‘The Providential Man’: Observations on John McElroy, S.J., Founder of Boston College.” Seth Meehan, the associate director of academic programming and special projects at Boston College Libraries, led the event. It was a timely conversation, as Boston College High School recently announced that it would change its main building’s name from McElroy Hall to St. Ignatius Hall due to McElroy’s involvement with slavery. The luncheon explored the life of McElroy and evaluated his contributions to Boston College as well as the United States’ Catholic community at large.
Meehan began the luncheon by providing background on McElroy. In 1782, McElroy was born in Northern Ireland, but he moved to Baltimore when he was 21. Meehan commented on the luck of this timing, as McElroy traveled to Baltimore just one day before a new maritime law was enacted that would have prevented people in McElroy’s social class from being able to afford the trip. After living in Baltimore and then D.C., McElroy was sent to Frederick, Maryland, a rural town with a small Catholic population. Meehan described McElroy’s extraordinary impact on the community, as he built a free school for girls, an orphanage for girls, a school for boys, and a beautiful church. At age 65, McElroy moved to Boston, where he was tasked by the Bishop with building a college. Meehan discussed how significant it was for McElroy to be able to establish a Catholic school in Boston during the 1850s and 1860s, a time when anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiments existed throughout the city.
The luncheon then transitioned to an enriching question and answer session. One individual asked about McElroy’s initial vision of Boston College. Meehan described how McElroy prioritized creating a school and church that mutually enriched one another. He also mentioned that although only men could attend BC, the school’s initial charter did not limit BC to only educating Catholics. Another interesting topic discussed during this portion of the luncheon was how the greater community of Boston and other local universities perceived BC. Meehan highlighted Harvard Law School’s declaration that BC graduates could not be admitted to their institution in the late nineteenth century. After BC’s advocacy about the high quality of its education, this policy was changed in the early twentieth century. The luncheon’s rich discussion about the life of McElroy allowed us to better understand the founder of BC and the school’s Jesuit tradition while simultaneously encouraging us to reflect on how the school has changed since its conception.