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Edmund A. Walsh, SJ Papers

 Collection
Identifier: GTM-GAMMS239

Scope and Contents

The papers of Fr. Walsh throw considerable light on most aspects of his career: as founder and guiding spirit of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service; as head of the Papal Relief Mission to Russia in the early 1920s; as president of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association; as a representative of the Catholic Church in Mexico; and as an extremely involved consultant at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. Significant correspondents include Herbert Hoover, J. Edgar Hoover, Cardinal Gasparri, Archbishop Cieplak, and Karl Haushofer.

Dates

  • 1885 - 1955
  • Majority of material found within 1920 - 1952

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Most manuscripts collections at the Georgetown University Booth Family Center for Special Collections are open to researchers; however, restrictions may apply to some collections. Collections stored off site require a minimum of three days for retrieval. For use of all manuscripts collections, researchers are advised to contact the Booth Family Center for Special Collections in advance of any visit.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers are solely responsible for determining the copyright status of the materials being used, establishing who the copyright owner is, locating the copyright owner, and obtaining permission for intended use.

Biographical / Historical

Rev. Edmund A. Walsh, S.J. (1885-1956), a noted Roman Catholic priest, author, educator, and geopolitician, was born on October 10, 1885, in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were police officer John Francis Walsh and Catherine Josephine Noonan.

Walsh's early education began in schools in Boston and Dorcester. Thereafter, he studied at Boston College High School where he excelled adademically and athletically as part of the track-and-filed squad.

Walsh undertook rigorous religious training. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1902 at the novitiate in Frederick, Maryland. Next, he received an undergraduate degree from Woodstock College in Maryland in 1909. Then, Walsh taught at Georgetown Prep in the nation's capital. In time, he studied at the National University at Dublin and London University. He began theological studies at Innsbruck, Austria in 1913, but World War I forced him to return to the United States, where he received an M.A. from Woodstock College. Walsh was ordained a priest in 1916.

In 1918, Walsh was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgetown University. He became part of the board of the Students' Army Training Corps. In 1919, Walsh founded the prestigious School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He played a major part in the School of Foreign Service for decades. In 1924, Walsh was named vice-president of Georgetown University.

In 1922, Walsh led the efforts of the Papal Relief Mission to Russia to combat a famine there. At that time, he also was the Vatican representative to study the treatment of the Roman Catholic Church in the Soviet Union. It was there that Fr. Walsh began to see the persecution of priests and the animosity of the Soviets towards religion. As a result, Fr. Walsh began to develop his anticommunism.

Walsh became a leading opponent of communism. He developed courses at the School of Foreign Service which focused on Russian history, politics, and culture. In 1928, he penned his first book: "The Fall of the Russian Empire." In 1931, his book entitled, "The Last Stand" analyzed the Soviet five-year plan, was published.

Walsh became involved with other aspects of international affairs, too. For example, he served as president of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association. In addition, he was part of a special mission to Mexico to improve relations between the church and the state. Moreover, he helped organize Baghdad College, a Jesuit school in Iraq. Walsh even served as a consultant to the War Department. At the Nuremberg war crimes trials, Fr. Walsh was a civilian consultant to Robert H. Jackson, the lead U.S. counsel. In 1947 and 1948, Fr. Walsh functioned as visitor general to the Jesuits in Japan.

Fr. Walsh published a number of other books. He examined the Nazis in his 1949 book "Total Power." In 1951, he wrote about the Soviets in "Total Empire."

Continuing his role as a leading educator, Walsh created the Georgetown University Institute of Languages and Linguistics in 1949.

Rev. Edmund A. Walsh, S.J. died on October 31, 1956. Georgetown University renamed the School of Foreign Service after him in 1958.

[Sources]:

- "Biography Resource Center" online.

- "Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement 6: 1956-1960." American Council for Learned Societies, 1980.]

Extent

22.5 Linear Feet (15 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Metadata Rights Declarations

Title
Edmund A. Walsh, SJ Papers
Status
Completed
Author
Kathleen Colquhoun and Nancy Fallgren
Date
1987-11-23
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2023-11: Edited for DACS compliance by John Zarrillo
  • 2023-11: Series arrangement updated by John Zarrillo

Repository Details

Part of the Georgetown University Manuscripts Repository

Contact:
Lauinger Library, 5th Floor
37th and O Streets, N.W.
Washington DC 20057