Gonzaga College High School/Washington Seminary Collection
Collection
Identifier: GTA-000768
This collection consists of papers and records of Washington Seminary (1821-1828, 1848-1858) and its successor Gonzaga College High School (1858-1959). The Washington Seminary records include financial records (1821-1827, 1848-1858), legal documents (1810-1815), a public program notebook (1850-1851), and a school diary (1850-1854). Other materials include loose papers such as correspondence, ephemera, newsclippings, and programs for anniversary celebrations, commencements, and student performances. The financial records and correspondence document the use of enslaved people by the Washington Seminary.
The Gonzaga College High School/Washington Seminary Collection includes documents that establish its historical ties to slavery. Specifically, the financial records and correspondence of the Washington Seminary establish that it hired out several enslaved individuals from enslavers living in or near Washington, D.C.
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.
Gonzaga College High School is the oldest all-boys high school in Washington, D.C. It opened to students in 1821 as Washington Seminary located on F Street between 9th and 10th Streets, N.W., contiguous to St. Patrick’s Church. It operated under the charter granted to Georgetown College in 1815. The Society of Jesus prohibited the acceptance of tuition payments from its schools, so the Washington Seminary closed in 1827 because it could not operate under those terms. More than twenty years later, in 1848, the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus re-opened the Washington Seminary to a high student enrollment (525 students were registered in 1850.)
In January 1858, the Maryland Province applied for a new charter under a new name, Gonzaga College High School, to separate its operations from Georgetown College. In May 1858, Congress granted the new charter. In November 1859, the Jesuits established the seat of their missions in Washington, D.C., at St. Aloysius Church on North Capitol and I streets, N.W. In 1871, Gonzaga College High School moved from its center city location on F Street to a site adjacent to St. Aloysius Church on North Capitol Street, N.W.
1.5 Linear Feet (3 boxes)
English
Part of the Georgetown University Archives Repository