Occasional Papers

Rev. Charles F. Donovan, SJ, the first University Historian, was the author of The History of B´ÎÔªÌý(1990), a full-length study that traced the history of B´ÎÔª from its origins in 1863 as a small liberal arts college to its status in 1990 as a major national university.

In addition to this official history, Fr. Donovan also inaugurated a series of smaller booklets he called "Occasional Papers," which drew upon historical sources to document little-known aspects of B´ÎÔª's history. Titles include the following:

B´ÎÔª's First Boston Brahmin FriendsÌý(1982)
B´ÎÔª's Classical CurriculumÌý(1982)
B´ÎÔª's Beacon Hill ConnectionÌý(1982)
Nineteenth Century B´ÎÔª: Irish or American? (1982)
The Foster Cadets of B´ÎÔªÌý(1983)
Rules of Gentlemanly ConductÌý(1983)
B´ÎÔª's StreetsÌý(1983)
B´ÎÔª's Move to Chestnut HillÌý(1983)
Student Enrollment at B´ÎÔª in the Nineteenth CenturyÌý(1984)
Joseph Coolidge Shaw: Boston Yankee, JesuitÌý(1990)
B´ÎÔª's Second SpringÌý(1991)
The Spirit Maketh Alive (Early Protestant View of BC) (1991)
B´ÎÔª Remembered: 1891–1900
Debate at B´ÎÔª: People, Places, Traditions (1991)
Gasson's Rotunda: Gallery of Art, History, and Religion (1992)
B´ÎÔª's Boston PriestsÌý(1993)
Fulton of Fulton HallÌý(1995)
St. Patrick in Gasson HallÌý(1995)
Rev. Timothy Brosnahan, SJÌý(1996)
Gerard Manley Hopkins: Original in Hopkins House (1997)
Pioneers at Chestnut Hill: Recollections of the Class of 1917
B´ÎÔª and the Lawrence FamilyÌý(1998)

In 1999, Dr. Thomas H. O’Connor was named to succeed Fr. Donovan as University Historian, and continued to follow the tradition of Occasional Papers with the following titles:

Rev. Charles F. Donovan, SJ, 1912-1998 (2000)
The College and the City: A History of the B´ÎÔª Club (2003)

Copies of these Occasional Papers may be found in the Burns Library or accessed online from the B´ÎÔª University Libraries .