Patrick Francis Healy
Encyclopedia
Patrick Francis Healy (February 27, 1830 – January 10, 1910) was the 29th President of Georgetown University
known for expanding the school following the American Civil War
. He was accepted as and identified as Irish-American. Healy Hall
, a National Historic Landmark
, was constructed during Healy's tenure and is named after him. In the 1960s his ancestry became more widely known, and Healy was recognized as the first American with African ancestry to earn a PhD
, the first to become a Jesuit priest; and the first to be president of a predominantly white college.
to the Irish-American plantation owner Michael Healy and his bi-racial slave
Mary Eliza. Because of the law of slavery that children took the status of the mother, by the principle of partus sequitur ventrum
, Patrick and his siblings were legally considered slaves, although they were three-quarters or more European in ancestry.
Patrick was the third son of Mary Eliza and Michael Morris Healy, who had 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. The law prohibited their marriage, but they lived together all their lives. Discriminatory laws in Georgia prohibited the education of slaves and required legislative approval for their manumission
, so Michael Healy arranged for all his children to leave Georgia and move to the North to obtain their educations and have opportunities in their lives. They were raised as Irish Catholics. Patrick's brothers and sisters were nearly all educated in Catholic schools and colleges, and they also achieved notable firsts for Americans of mixed-race ancestry during the second half of the 19th century, making the Healy family of Georgia
a notable one.
Healy sent his older sons first to a Quaker school in Flushing, New York. Despite the Quakers' emphasis on equality, Patrick met some discrimination during his grade school years, chiefly because his father owned slaves, which the Quakers considered unforgivable. As an Irish Catholic, he also met some resistance in the school. 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. (It had high school-level classes as well.) 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 African ancestry had become an issue in the United States, where tensions were rising over slavery. He attended the University of Leuven in Belgium
, earning his doctorate
, becoming the first American of openly acknowledged part-African descent to do so. During this period he was also ordained to the priesthood on September 3, 1864.
In 1866 Healy returned to the United States
and taught philosophy
at Georgetown University
in Washington, DC. Eight years later in 1874, he was selected as its twenty-ninth President.
for the twentieth century, likely influenced by his European education.
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 became one of the most renowned Jesuit priests of his time in that role. 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.
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 Sherwood Healy also became a priest and earned a doctorate at Saint-Sulpice
in Paris. He became director of the seminary in Troy, New York
, and rector of the Cathedral in Boston. Two of the Healy sisters became nuns. Eliza, Sister Mary Magdalen, advanced to become a Mother Superior
of the Villa Barlow Academy and convent in St. Albans, Vermont
, run by her order in Montreal, Canada.
Aided by their father's wealth and their own educations, the Healy sons were accepted into U.S. Catholic society as Irish Americans. The daughters achieved education and status first in the Catholic Church in Canada, where people may have been less concerned about their mixed ancestry, especially given the many Catholic Métis
in the Montreal area.
The Coast Guard Captain Michael Healy married an Irish Catholic woman and had a family with her. James M. O'Toole, his biographer, wrote about him:
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
known for expanding the school following the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. He was accepted as and identified as Irish-American. Healy Hall
Healy Hall
Healy Hall is the historic flagship building at the main campus of Georgetown University. The building was listed on DC Inventory of Historic Sites in 1964, on the National Register of Historic Places on May 25, 1971, and as a National Historic Landmark on December 23, 1987.-History:The building...
, a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
, was constructed during Healy's tenure and is named after him. In the 1960s his ancestry became more widely known, and Healy was recognized as the first American with African ancestry to earn a PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
, the first to become a Jesuit priest; and the first to be president of a predominantly white college.
Biography
Patrick, as he was known, was born into slavery in Macon, GeorgiaMacon, Georgia
Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
to the Irish-American plantation owner Michael Healy and his bi-racial slave
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
Mary Eliza. Because of the law of slavery that children took the status of the mother, by the principle of partus sequitur ventrum
Partus sequitur ventrum
Partus sequitur ventrem, often abbreviated to partus, in the British North American colonies and later in the United States, was a legal doctrine which the English colonists incorporated in legislation related to definitions of slavery. It was derived from the Roman civil law; it held that the...
, Patrick and his siblings were legally considered slaves, although they were three-quarters or more European in ancestry.
Patrick was the third son of Mary Eliza and Michael Morris Healy, who had joined in a common-law marriage
Common-law marriage
Common-law marriage, sometimes called sui juris marriage, informal marriage or marriage by habit and repute, is a form of interpersonal status that is legally recognized in limited jurisdictions as a marriage even though no legally recognized marriage ceremony is performed or civil 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. The law prohibited their marriage, but they lived together all their lives. Discriminatory laws in Georgia prohibited the education of slaves and required legislative approval for their manumission
Manumission
Manumission is the act of a slave owner freeing his or her slaves. In the United States before the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished most slavery, this often happened upon the death of the owner, under conditions in his will.-Motivations:The...
, so Michael Healy arranged for all his children to leave Georgia and move to the North to obtain their educations and have opportunities in their lives. They were raised as Irish Catholics. Patrick's brothers and sisters were nearly all educated in Catholic schools and colleges, and they also achieved notable firsts for Americans of mixed-race ancestry during the second half of the 19th century, making the Healy family of Georgia
Healy family of Georgia
The Healy family of Georgia became notable in U.S. history because the siblings achieved much in the second half of the nineteenth century, most within the Catholic Church. They were born in Jones County, Georgia to Mary Eliza, a mulatto slave, and her common-law husband, Michael Morris Healy, an...
a notable one.
Healy sent his older sons first to a Quaker school in Flushing, New York. Despite the Quakers' emphasis on equality, Patrick met some discrimination during his grade school years, chiefly because his father owned slaves, which the Quakers considered unforgivable. As an Irish Catholic, he also met some resistance in the school. When Michael Healy heard of a new Jesuit college, the College of the Holy Cross
College of the Holy Cross
The College of the Holy Cross is an undergraduate Roman Catholic liberal arts college located in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA...
in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
, he sent his four oldest sons, including Patrick, to study there in 1844. (It had high school-level classes as well.) 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
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to study in 1858, as his African ancestry had become an issue in the United States, where tensions were rising over slavery. He attended the University of Leuven in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, earning his doctorate
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
, becoming the first American of openly acknowledged part-African descent to do so. During this period he was also ordained to the priesthood on September 3, 1864.
In 1866 Healy returned to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and taught philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
in Washington, DC. Eight years later in 1874, he was selected as its twenty-ninth President.
Georgetown University 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 universityUniversity
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
for the twentieth century, likely influenced by his European education.
He modernized the curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
by requiring courses in the sciences, particularly chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
and physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
. He expanded and upgraded the schools of law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
and medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
. He became one of the most renowned Jesuit priests of his time in that role. 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 Hall
Healy Hall is the historic flagship building at the main campus of Georgetown University. The building was listed on DC Inventory of Historic Sites in 1964, on the National Register of Historic Places on May 25, 1971, and as a National Historic Landmark on December 23, 1987.-History:The building...
.
Healy left the College in 1882 and traveled extensively through the United States and Europe, often in the company of his brother James
James Augustine Healy
James Augustine Healy was the first African-American Roman Catholic priest and the first African-American Roman Catholic bishop in the United States...
. In 1908 he returned to the campus infirmary, where he died. He was buried on the grounds of the university in the Jesuit cemetery.
Honors
- 1969, the Alumni Association established the Patrick Healy Award to recognize people, although not alumni, who have "distinguished themselves by a lifetime of outstanding achievement and service to Georgetown, the community and his or her profession."
Children of the Healy family
Three-quarters European in ancestry (as their mother was mixed race and their father Irish), and identifying as Irish-American Catholics, Patrick Francis Healy and his siblings were among many successful mixed-race Americans of the early 19th century to acknowledge their African or "black" ancestry. But, according to James O'Toole, who wrote about all the Healy family, it was not until the 1960s that the Healys' mixed-race ancestry was widely known. Patrick F. Healy was then recognized as the first American of African ancestry to earn a PhD, to become a Jesuit priest, and to become president of a predominantly white college.James Augustine Healy
James Augustine Healy was the first African-American Roman Catholic priest and the first African-American Roman Catholic bishop in the United States...
became Bishop of Portland, Maine
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
. His brother Michael A. Healy joined the United States Revenue Cutter Service
United States Revenue Cutter Service
The United States Revenue Cutter Service was established by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in 1790 as an armed maritime law enforcement service. Throughout its entire existence the Revenue Cutter Service operated under the authority of the United States Department of the Treasury...
, becoming a celebrated sea captain, the sole representative of the U.S. government in the vast reaches of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. His brother Sherwood Healy also became a priest and earned a doctorate at Saint-Sulpice
Saint-Sulpice
-People:*Sulpicius Severus, known as Saint Sulpice , who wrote the earliest biography of Saint Martin of Tours.*Sulpitius the Pious, known as Saint Sulpice, who died around 646 AD...
in Paris. He became director of the seminary in Troy, New York
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
, and rector of the Cathedral in Boston. Two of the Healy sisters became nuns. Eliza, Sister Mary Magdalen, advanced to become a Mother Superior
Mother Superior
A mother superior is an abbess or other nun in charge of a Christian religious order or congregation, a convent or house of women under vows.Mother superior may also refer to:*Mother Superior , a rock band who became ¾ of Rollins Band circa 2000...
of the Villa Barlow Academy and convent in St. Albans, Vermont
St. Albans, Vermont
Places named St. Albans, Vermont:*St. Albans , Vermont, town in Franklin County, Vermont, established in 1763**St. Albans Raid, 1864*St. Albans , Vermont, city in Franklin County, Vermont, established in 1902...
, run by her order in Montreal, Canada.
Aided by their father's wealth and their own educations, the Healy sons were accepted into U.S. Catholic society as Irish Americans. The daughters achieved education and status first in the Catholic Church in Canada, where people may have been less concerned about their mixed ancestry, especially given the many Catholic Métis
Métis people (Canada)
The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
in the Montreal area.
The Coast Guard Captain Michael Healy married an Irish Catholic woman and had a family with her. James M. O'Toole, his biographer, wrote about him:
He repeatedly referred to white settlers [in Alaska] as "our people," and was even able to pass this 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 CircleArctic CircleThe Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
, proudly telling his diary that he was the first "white boy" to do so.
Further reading
- Richard Newman. "Healy, Patrick Francis", American National Biography Online Feb. 2000.
- James M. O'Toole, Passing for White: Race, Religion, and the Healy Family, 1820-1920, University of Massachusetts Press, 2003, ISBN 1558494170
- A.D. Powell, Passing for Who You Really Are, Palm Coast, 2005, ISBN 0-939479-22-2