The James Clark, SJ Papers contain spiritual writings as well as correspondence predominantly related to the various positions he held in educational administration. Also included are materials regarding his years at West Point and in the US Army.
The James Clark, SJ Papers are on deposit at Georgetown University and are 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 All unpublished Archives materials dated or bearing solely on events occurring on or after January 1, 1940, shall be open for review upon request subject to a decision by the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).
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.
Fr. James Clark (1809-1885) was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania, to William (1774-1851) and Sarah Patterson Clark (1784-1842). He attended West Point (1825-1829) before being promoted to the rank of brevet second lieutenant and assigned to the 4th Infantry Regiment at Fort St. Philip, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, where he was Acting Assistant Commissary of Subsistence (1829-1830). In the fall of 1830 he resigned from this position and, in 1834, converted to Catholicism and became a seminarian at Mount St. Mary’s College In Emmitsburg (1834-1837). Fr. Clark then taught at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore (1837-1844) before entering the Society of Jesus at Frederick (1844).
He was stationed at Georgetown College (1845-1861), where he was treasurer (1854-1857) and vice president (1859-1861), and at the College of the Holy Cross (1849-1850). Fr. Clark was next rector of the College of the Holy Cross (1861-1867) before briefly returning to Georgetown in 1868 again as vice president and treasurer. Between 1869 and 1875 he was rector of Gonzaga College (Washington, DC), where he was instrumental in the school’s relocation to Swampoodle, and served as pastor of St. Aloysius Church. Returning to Georgetown in 1875 he continued teaching until he suffered a stroke in 1879. He died in 1885.
0.4 Cubic Feet (1 box, 1 oversize item)
English
Latin
The collection was previously part of the University Archives (prior to 1970).
Part of the Georgetown University Manuscripts Repository