Patrick Francis Healy: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:FrancisPatrick.jpg|160px|thumb|Patrick Francis Healy]] |
[[Image:FrancisPatrick.jpg|160px|thumb|Patrick Francis Healy]] |
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Father '''Patrick Francis Healy''' (February 27, 1830 – January 10, 1910) was the first [[ |
Father '''Patrick Francis Healy''' (February 27, 1830 – January 10, 1910) was the first [[mulatto]] to earn a [[PhD]], the first to become a [[Jesuit]] priest, and the first to become president of a major university in the [[United States]]. At the time, his ancestry was little known as he was of majority European ancestry. |
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Patrick, as he was known, was born in [[Macon, Georgia]] to [[Irish-American]] plantation owner Michael Healy, of the [[Healy family of Georgia]], and [[bi-racial]] [[slavery|slave]] Mary Eliza. His brothers James and Michael also achieved notable firsts for |
Patrick, as he was known, was born in [[Macon, Georgia]] to [[Irish-American]] plantation owner Michael Healy, of the [[Healy family of Georgia]], and [[bi-racial]] [[slavery|slave]] Mary Eliza. His brothers James and Michael also achieved notable firsts for mulattos during the second half of the 19th century. |
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Patrick was the third son of Mary Eliza and Michael Morris Healy, who joined in a [[common law marriage]] in 1829. After Patrick's father Michael bought his mother Mary Eliza, he fell in love with her and made her his common-law wife.<ref>Biography.com</ref> Due to discriminatory laws in Georgia which prohibited the education of slaves and required legislative approval for [[manumission]] of slaves, Healy arranged for his children to leave Georgia and move to the North to obtain their educations. |
Patrick was the third son of Mary Eliza and Michael Morris Healy, who joined in a [[common law marriage]] in 1829. After Patrick's father Michael bought his mother Mary Eliza, he fell in love with her and made her his common-law wife.<ref>Biography.com</ref> Due to discriminatory laws in Georgia which prohibited the education of slaves and required legislative approval for [[manumission]] of slaves, Healy arranged for his children to leave Georgia and move to the North to obtain their educations. |
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Healy sent his older sons first to a [[Quaker]] school in [[Flushing, New York]]. Despite the Quaker's emphasis on equality, Patrick met some discrimination throughout his grade school years, not only because of his race, but also his Irish heritage and the fact that his father owned slaves, which the Quakers considered unforgivable. <ref>library.georgtown.edu/dept/speccoll/pfhealy.htm</ref> When Michael Healy heard of a new [[Jesuit]] college, the [[College of the Holy Cross]] in [[Worcester, Massachusetts]], he sent his four oldest sons, including Patrick, to study there in 1844. They were joined at Holy Cross by their younger brother Michael in 1849. |
Healy sent his older sons first to a [[Quaker]] school in [[Flushing, New York]]. Despite the Quaker's emphasis on equality, Patrick met some discrimination throughout his grade school years, not only because of his mixed race, but also his Irish heritage and the fact that his father owned slaves, which the Quakers considered unforgivable. <ref>library.georgtown.edu/dept/speccoll/pfhealy.htm</ref> When Michael Healy heard of a new [[Jesuit]] college, the [[College of the Holy Cross]] in [[Worcester, Massachusetts]], he sent his four oldest sons, including Patrick, to study there in 1844. They were joined at Holy Cross by their younger brother Michael in 1849. |
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Following Patrick's graduation in 1850, he entered the [[Jesuit]] order and continued his studies. The order sent him to [[Europe]] to study in 1858, as his "[[Race (classification of human beings)|race]]" had become an issue in the United States. He attended the [[University of Leuven]] in [[Belgium]], earning his [[PhD|doctorate]], becoming the first American of openly acknowledged |
Following Patrick's graduation in 1850, he entered the [[Jesuit]] order and continued his studies. The order sent him to [[Europe]] to study in 1858, as his "[[Race (classification of human beings)|race]]" had become an issue in the United States. He attended the [[University of Leuven]] in [[Belgium]], earning his [[PhD|doctorate]], becoming the first American of openly acknowledged mixed race descent to do so. During this period he was also ordained to the priesthood on September 3, 1864. In 1866 he returned to the [[United States]] and taught [[philosophy]] at [[Georgetown University]] in [[Washington, DC]]. Eight years later in 1874, he became its twenty-ninth president. |
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Patrick Healy's influence on Georgetown was so far-reaching that he is often referred to as the school's "second founder," following Archbishop [[John Carroll (priest)|John Carroll]]. Healy helped transform the small nineteenth-century college into a major [[university]] for the twentieth century. He modernized the [[curriculum]] by requiring courses in the sciences, particularly [[chemistry]] and [[physics]]. He expanded and upgraded the schools of [[law]] and [[medicine]].He also broke the color barrier in Catholic education by becoming one of the most renowned |
Patrick Healy's influence on Georgetown was so far-reaching that he is often referred to as the school's "second founder," following Archbishop [[John Carroll (priest)|John Carroll]]. Healy helped transform the small nineteenth-century college into a major [[university]] for the twentieth century. He modernized the [[curriculum]] by requiring courses in the sciences, particularly [[chemistry]] and [[physics]]. He expanded and upgraded the schools of [[law]] and [[medicine]].He also broke the color barrier in Catholic education by becoming one of the most renowned mulatto Jesuit priests of his time.<ref>www.blackpast.org</ref> The most visible result of Healy's presidency was the construction of a large building begun in 1877 and first used in 1881, a building named in his honor as [[Healy Hall]]. |
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[[Image:MichaelAHealy.jpg|right|160px|thumb|[[Michael A. Healy]]]] |
[[Image:MichaelAHealy.jpg|right|160px|thumb|[[Michael A. Healy]]]] |
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Healy left the College in 1882 and |
Healy left the College in 1882 and traveled extensively through the United States and Europe, often in the company of his brother [[James Augustine Healy|James]]. In 1908 he returned to the campus infirmary, where he died. He was buried on the grounds of the university in the Jesuit cemetery. |
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==Children of the Healy family== |
==Children of the Healy family== |
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In part aided by their father's wealth and their own education, the Healy sons were accepted into U.S. Catholic society as "White" Irish Americans. The daughters achieved education and status outside the United States, where people may have been less concerned about their ancestry. According to James M. O'Toole, the biographer of Coast Guard Captain Michael Healy: |
In part aided by their father's wealth and their own education, the Healy sons were accepted into U.S. Catholic society as "White" Irish Americans. The daughters achieved education and status outside the United States, where people may have been less concerned about their ancestry. According to James M. O'Toole, the biographer of Coast Guard Captain Michael Healy: |
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<blockquote>He repeatedly referred to white settlers [in Alaska] as "our people," and was even able to pass |
<blockquote>He repeatedly referred to white settlers [in Alaska] as "our people," and was even able to pass his majority white racial identity on to a subsequent generation. His teenage son Fred, who accompanied his father on a voyage in 1883, scratched his name into a rock on a remote island above the Arctic Circle, proudly telling his diary that he was the first "white boy" to do so.</blockquote> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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Revision as of 04:21, 14 May 2010
Father Patrick Francis Healy (February 27, 1830 – January 10, 1910) was the first mulatto to earn a PhD, the first to become a Jesuit priest, and the first to become president of a major university in the United States. At the time, his ancestry was little known as he was of majority European ancestry.
Patrick, as he was known, was born in Macon, Georgia to Irish-American plantation owner Michael Healy, of the Healy family of Georgia, and bi-racial slave Mary Eliza. His brothers James and Michael also achieved notable firsts for mulattos during the second half of the 19th century.
Patrick was the third son of Mary Eliza and Michael Morris Healy, who joined in a common law marriage in 1829. After Patrick's father Michael bought his mother Mary Eliza, he fell in love with her and made her his common-law wife.[1] Due to discriminatory laws in Georgia which prohibited the education of slaves and required legislative approval for manumission of slaves, Healy arranged for his children to leave Georgia and move to the North to obtain their educations.
Healy sent his older sons first to a Quaker school in Flushing, New York. Despite the Quaker's emphasis on equality, Patrick met some discrimination throughout his grade school years, not only because of his mixed race, but also his Irish heritage and the fact that his father owned slaves, which the Quakers considered unforgivable. [2] When Michael Healy heard of a new Jesuit college, the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, he sent his four oldest sons, including Patrick, to study there in 1844. They were joined at Holy Cross by their younger brother Michael in 1849.
Following Patrick's graduation in 1850, he entered the Jesuit order and continued his studies. The order sent him to Europe to study in 1858, as his "race" had become an issue in the United States. He attended the University of Leuven in Belgium, earning his doctorate, becoming the first American of openly acknowledged mixed race descent to do so. During this period he was also ordained to the priesthood on September 3, 1864. In 1866 he returned to the United States and taught philosophy at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Eight years later in 1874, he became its twenty-ninth president.
Patrick Healy's influence on Georgetown was so far-reaching that he is often referred to as the school's "second founder," following Archbishop John Carroll. Healy helped transform the small nineteenth-century college into a major university for the twentieth century. He modernized the curriculum by requiring courses in the sciences, particularly chemistry and physics. He expanded and upgraded the schools of law and medicine.He also broke the color barrier in Catholic education by becoming one of the most renowned mulatto Jesuit priests of his time.[3] The most visible result of Healy's presidency was the construction of a large building begun in 1877 and first used in 1881, a building named in his honor as Healy Hall.
Healy left the College in 1882 and traveled extensively through the United States and Europe, often in the company of his brother James. In 1908 he returned to the campus infirmary, where he died. He was buried on the grounds of the university in the Jesuit cemetery.
Children of the Healy family
While more than half white by ancestry, Patrick Francis Healy and his siblings were among many successful Americans of the early 19th century to openly acknowledge partial African or "black" ancestry. Patrick Francis was the first known American of acknowledged African ancestry to earn a PhD, the first to become a Jesuit priest, and the first to become president of a major university in the United States.
His brother James Augustine Healy became Bishop of Portland, Maine. His brother Michael A. Healy joined the United States Revenue Cutter Service, becoming a celebrated sea captain, the sole representative of the U.S. government in the vast reaches of Alaska. His brother Alexander Sherwood Healy also became a priest, director of the seminary in Troy, New York, and rector of the Cathedral in Boston. Two of his sisters became nuns, and one advanced to become a Mother Superior of an order in Montreal, Canada.[4]
In part aided by their father's wealth and their own education, the Healy sons were accepted into U.S. Catholic society as "White" Irish Americans. The daughters achieved education and status outside the United States, where people may have been less concerned about their ancestry. According to James M. O'Toole, the biographer of Coast Guard Captain Michael Healy:
He repeatedly referred to white settlers [in Alaska] as "our people," and was even able to pass his majority white racial identity on to a subsequent generation. His teenage son Fred, who accompanied his father on a voyage in 1883, scratched his name into a rock on a remote island above the Arctic Circle, proudly telling his diary that he was the first "white boy" to do so.
See also
Additional reading
- Passing for White: Race, Religion, and the Healy Family, 1820-1920, By James M. O'Toole, Published by University of Massachusetts Press, 2003, ISBN 1558494170
- Passing for Who You Really Are, by A.D. Powell, Palm Coast, 2005, ISBN 0-939479-22-2
Footnotes
References
- Richard Newman. Healy, Patrick Francis. American National Biography Online Feb. 2000.
