Edward A. McGurk
President of Loyola College in Maryland | |
|---|---|
| In office 1877–1885 | |
| Preceded by | Stephen A. Kelly |
| Succeeded by | Francis Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 6, 1841 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | July 3, 1896 (aged 54) Fairhaven, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Resting place | College of the Holy Cross Cemetery |
| Alma mater | |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1872 |
Edward A. McGurk
In 1893, McGurk became the president of Holy Cross. He took office during a dispute over the construction of a new building. He oversaw the completion of the building, which required fundraising and the assumption of significant debt. The new building, O'Kane Hall, opened in 1895. McGurk died in office in 1896.
Early life
McGurk was born in
In 1866, McGurk went to Washington, D.C., to begin his philosophical studies at Georgetown University. When the new Jesuit house of studies, Woodstock College, opened in September 1869 in Maryland, he continued his education there as a member of its first cohort. In the summer of 1872, McGurk was ordained a priest at Woodstock.[5]
McGurk was then sent to Boston College for two years.[5] For some of this time, he was vice president of the college.[1] Afterwards, he became the chair of rhetoric at the College of the Holy Cross. In 1876, McGurk went to the Frederick novitiate to complete his tertianship. He then professed his fourth vow on August 15, 1877.[5]
Loyola College
In 1877, McGurk succeeded Stephen A. Kelly as the president of Loyola College in Maryland.[6] At the same time, he became the pastor of St. Ignatius Church,[7] which was attached to the college.[5] When he assumed office, the school was burdened by significant debt, which had accrued during the Civil War. McGurk successfully liquidated some of this debt, which his predecessor had begun to do. He also raised the academic standards of the school and renovated St. Ignatius Church.[5] McGurk remained president and pastor until 1885, when he was succeeded by Francis Smith.[6][7]
Gonzaga College
On July 31, 1885, McGurk succeeded John J. Murphy as the president of Gonzaga College in Washington, D.C. (later known as Gonzaga College High School).[8] At the same time, he became the pastor of St. Aloysius Church.[9] In 1886, he began raising money from parishioners to construct a new residence for the priests and Jesuit scholastics of the church and school. On May 26 of that year, construction began on the new building, which opened on August 1, 1887.[10] Enrollment remained low during his presidency, numbering 87 students during the academic year of 1886 and 1887.[11] That number declined again to just 57 students at the start of the academic year of 1887 and 1888.[12] Eventually, at the start of the 1889 academic year, the school discontinued its upper-level classes.[13] McGurk's tenure as president and pastor came to an end on November 18, 1890, and he was succeeded by Cornelius Gillespie.[14][9]
From 1890 to 1893, McGurk engaged in pastoral work in Boston.[5]
College of the Holy Cross
Dissatisfied with Michael O'Kane's performance as the president of the College of the Holy Cross, the Jesuit provincial superior, Thomas J. Campbell, appointed McGurk in 1893 to replace him,[15] given McGurk's experience as an administrator.[2] During his tenure, he disbanded the college's varsity football team in 1894 because he did not want it to play outside of Worcester.[16]
In 1890, O'Kane had begun construction on a new building, without permission from the Jesuit superiors, to accommodate the school's growing student body.[17] When they discovered this, the superiors ordered that work be paused. During McGurk's presidency, the consultors[b] of the Jesuit province determined that the school would have to take on $150,000 of debt to complete construction. The superiors eventually approved the completion of the exterior only, and work on the building resumed in 1894. McGurk attempted to raise funds for its completion.[19]
Around this time, McGurk's health began to deteriorate, and he took several leaves of absence to recuperate. He spent some time at
During the graduation ceremony of 1895, while trying to resume the exercises indoors after it had begun to rain,[22] McGurk suffered a stroke.[1] He survived the event but remained in very poor health.[22] On July 3, 1896, at approximately 5:50 p.m., McGurk died at St. Theresa's,[4][24] the Jesuit retreat house and villa in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on what is now Pope Beach on Sconticut Neck.[25] He was the first Jesuit to die at that institution. He was buried at the College of the Holy Cross cemetery.[24] John F. Lehy was appointed vice rector of the college until a new president could be chosen.[26]
Notes
References
Citations
- ^ a b c d e "Sudden Death of a Priest". The Baltimore Sun. July 4, 1896. p. 2.
- ^ a b c Kuzniewski 1999, p. 150
- ^ a b "Rev. Edward A. McGurk, S.J." College of the Holy Cross. Archived from the original on August 18, 2023. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
- ^ a b Doonan 1897, p. 480
- ^ a b c d e f g Doonan 1897, p. 481
- ^ a b "Past Presidents". Loyola University Maryland. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
- ^ a b The Catholic Church in the United States of America 1914, p. 67
- ^ Hill 1922, p. 118
- ^ a b The Catholic Church in the United States of America 1914, p. 112
- ^ Hill 1922, p. 123
- ^ Hill 1922, p. 124
- ^ Hill 1922, p. 125
- ^ Hill 1922, pp. 127–128
- ^ Hill 1922, p. 130
- ^ Lapomarda 1977, p. 212
- ^ Kuzniewski 1999, p. 169
- ^ Kuzniewski 1999, pp. 148–149
- ^ Gramatowski 2013, p. 10
- ^ Kuzniewski 1999, pp. 150–151
- ^ Kuzniewski 1999, p. 152
- ^ Kuzniewski 1999, p. 153
- ^ a b c Kuzniewski 1999, p. 154
- Gross Domestic Product deflatorfigures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
- ^ a b Lapomarda 1977, p. 156
- ^ Lapomarda 1977, p. 272
- ^ Kuzniewski 1999, p. 155
Sources
- Doonan, James A. (November 1897). "Obituary: Father Edward A. McGurk". Woodstock Letters. 26 (3): 480–483. Archived from the original on August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023 – via Jesuit Online Library.
- Gramatowski, Wiktor (2013). Jesuit Glossary: Guide to understanding the documents (PDF). Translated by Russell, Camilla. Rome: Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 30, 2023. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
- Hill, Owen Aloysius (1922). "Chapter XV: Rev. Edward a. McGurk, S.J. (1885–1890)". Gonzaga College, an Historical Sketch: From Its Foundation in 1821, to the Solemn Celebration of Its First Centenary in 1921. Washington, D.C.: Gonzaga College. pp. 119–129. OCLC 1266588. Retrieved August 16, 2023 – via Google Books.
- Kuzniewski, Anthony J. (1999). Thy Honored Name: A History of the College of the Holy Cross, 1843–1994. Washington, D.C.: ISBN 978-0-81320-911-1. Archivedfrom the original on March 25, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2023 – via Google Books.
- Lapomarda, Vincent A. (1977). The Jesuit Heritage in New England. Worcester, Massachusetts: The Jesuits of Holy Cross College, Inc. ISBN 978-0960629404. Archivedfrom the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved August 16, 2023 – via CrossWorks.
- The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Vol. 3. New York: Catholic Editing Company. 1914. Archived from the original on March 19, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2023 – via Google Books.
