What Makes Education Catholic?
BC STM Professor Thomas Groome鈥檚 new book explores the essence of a Catholic education.
Construction on the Recitation Building鈥攍ater renamed Gasson Hall鈥攂egan on June 19, 1909.聽
Photo: Burns Library
Bringing BC's History to Life
Clough Millennium Professor Emeritus of History James O鈥橳oole on his new book about the history of Boston College.
Summer 2022
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To University Historian James O鈥橳oole 鈥�72, Ph.D.鈥� 87, the story of Boston College is first and foremost about people. For his new book, , O鈥橳oole conducted twelve years of research on the students, alumni, faculty, administrators, and staff who have shaped BC since its founding in 1863. We asked him about the process of writing this social history.
What sparked the idea for this book? It grew out of the lead-up to BC鈥檚 sesquicentennial anniversary in 2013. As we thought about how to mark 150 years, the idea arose to do something expressly historical. University President Father Leahy is a historian by training, so I must say, it was kind of an easy sell.
How did you decide to focus this history on people? People say they don鈥檛 like history, and I鈥檓 sympathetic to that, because there鈥檚 a lot of historical writing and teaching that鈥檚 just 鈥渢his happened, then that happened.鈥� Over the course of my career, I鈥檝e come to think history is valuable precisely because it connects to the stories of real human beings. The field as a whole has moved toward social history, too.聽What are the actual people doing, not just in the president鈥檚 office, but on the ground?
What is something readers might not know about BC鈥檚 history? When BC moved to Chestnut Hill, then-president Father Gasson arranged for a bill to be filed in the state legislature to redraw the line between Boston and Newton along what is now College Road. The bill never passed, but the motive was clear: Boston College wanted to stay in Boston. I was also constantly impressed by what I learned about Newton College of the Sacred Heart. Newton College has often been overlooked, but the women who went there got an outstanding education.
Why is it important to reflect on the University鈥檚 history? Well, one way in which it鈥檚 important has to do with the Catholic identity. Though BC welcomed non-Catholics from the beginning, it didn鈥檛 originally have to think about that identity鈥攊t was walking around campus. Over time, the school has had to be more deliberate and conscious.
As society changes, how does the institution change, while still holding on to the essential values that make it what it is? And what can that history teach us about the future? It鈥檚 easy for people in any institution to think, This is the way the institution is, and it鈥檚 going to stay this way. History teaches us that isn鈥檛 true. The larger circumstances will change and make new demands鈥攕ome we foresee, and many more we can鈥檛. BC will always have to keep asking itself how the education it provides addresses society鈥檚 needs. But history also shows us the values that have persevered since the beginning. To this day, students here talk about service and the common good. You don鈥檛 have to ask. They volunteer it.
How did you decide where to end this book? The anniversary Mass at Fenway Park in the fall of 2012 seemed like a fitting cap to BC鈥檚 third half-century. In many ways, Fr. Leahy鈥檚 presidency isn鈥檛 history yet鈥攊t鈥檚 the ongoing present. In fifty more years, another historian will look back and put it into context.聽
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