4.15 Histories of the Houses, 1830 - 1967

Sub-Series

Scope and Contents

This subseries includes materials documenting House histories, much of which was created for the Province’s fiftieth anniversary (Jubilee) celebration in 1883. Some of these documents contain pointed judgments of the ethnic and racial communities that were under the pastoral care of the various Houses of the Province. Materials include Province-wide Historia Domus, Litterae Annuae, and manuscript histories, and items such as newsclippings pertaining directly to the Jubilee. Because the Province itself was evolving, there are some materials on Houses that later separated from the Maryland Province and became part of the New England Province or New York Province.

Litterae Annuae are annual reports written by Superiors that assess the success of each House and its missions. Historia Domus, written triennially, are institutional histories of the Houses. Every year, the Provincial uses these documents to compile a Province-wide Litterae Annuae, which is sent to the Jesuit Superior General in Rome. Please note that this subseries includes Province-level Litterae Annuae and Historia Domus; House-level documentation for many of the Maryland and Pennsylvania Houses can be found in the subseries designated for each House or region (within Series 4 - Records of the Houses).

**Please note: the finding aid contains Scope and Contents notes for each folder. This folder-level description has been imported from an older finding aid. Researchers may encounter outdated or potentially offensive terminology and occasional inaccuracies. If you would like to notify Special Collections of any issues that need correcting, please contact us.**

Conditions Governing Access

Most materials dated 1900 and later have not been digitized. Materials dating 1900-1939 are available for research use at the Booth Family Center for Special Collections. All materials dated 1940 and later are restricted.

Provenance and Arrangement

Materials are arranged chronologically by document type. Materials in this subseries are from the original MPA placed on deposit at Georgetown in the 1970s and the Maryland Province Collection.

Dates

1830 - 1967

Conditions Governing Access

The Maryland Province Archives is on deposit at Georgetown University and is the property of the USA East Province of the Society of Jesus. As stewards of the Archives, the Georgetown University Library’s Booth Family Center for Special Collections is responsible for managing access to the material based on policies set forth by the USA East Province. Researchers may view these materials in the Reading Room of the Booth Family Center for Special Collections. General policies for using Special Collections can be found here.

Access to the Archives is governed by the USA East Province and is subject to all Library and Special Collections policies and procedures in addition to the specific guidelines below. These guidelines are a summary of access policies; the Archives may include materials that fall outside the scope of these general guidelines. For information on access to specific materials, please contact the Special Collections staff.

Guidelines:

1. All Archives materials dated or bearing solely on events occurring before January 1, 1940, shall be open for review unless otherwise restricted, subject to Library policies and procedures.

2. All unpublished Archives materials dated or bearing solely on events occurring on or after January 1, 1940, shall be open for review upon request subject to a decision by the Provincial or someone designated by the Provincial.

3. Researchers may quote from the materials.

4. Researchers may take their own photographs of the material for scholarly and research purposes. Allowing photographs is not an authorization to publish or to deposit the material in another library or archive.

5. Written permission from the USA East Province is required for the publication of substantive portions of any material or publication-quality reproductions of any material.

6. Material not yet processed is not available to researchers; permission will not be granted to access any unprocessed material.

7. Audiovisual, microfilm and other material in the Archives, the original of which is held in another archive, may be consulted and transcribed only. Written permission from the archive holding the original material is required for any duplication, reproduction, or publication of that material.

8. Use the Permission Request Form to request permission (i) to access any restricted processed material or (ii) to publish reproductions or quote substantive portions of the material. Send the completed form by email to the Booth Family Center for Special Collections (speccoll@georgetown.edu).

Extent

From the Collection: 308 boxes (212 regular boxes, 25 oversized boxes, 58 restricted regular boxes, 13 restricted oversized boxes, plus 14 card catalog drawers )