Skip to main content
Please contact the Booth Family Center for Special Collections for assistance with accessing these materials.

Gerald J. Kernan, SJ Papers

 Collection
Identifier: GTM-200105

Scope and Contents

This collection contains papers related to Fr. Gerald J. Kernan's theater productions at St. Joseph's and Wheeling Colleges; his graduate school work and teaching career; and his spiritual and personal life.

Dates

  • 1929 - 1965

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The Gerald J. Kernan, 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 All unpublished Archives materials dated or bearing solely on events occurring on or after January 1, 1940, shall be open for review upon request subject to a decision by the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).

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 Note

Gerald J. Kernan, SJ (1911-1968) was born in Baltimore to John J. (1883-1939) and Margaret Fitzgerald Kernan (1880-1965) alongside brother John J., Jr. (1924-1958) and sisters Catherine (1913-1993), Margaret (1916-1988), Agnes (~1921-2017), and Mary Jane (1923-2015). After graduating from Loyola High School (now Loyola Blakefield) in 1929, he entered the Society of Jesus at St. Andrew-on-Hudson (1929-1930, Poughkeepsie). He was then stationed at St. Isaac Jogues (1931-1933, Wernersville) and at Mount St. Michael (1934-1936, Spokane), where he received an MA at Gonzaga University (1936). Next he was at St. John’s College (1937-1938, Fordham), St. Peter’s College (1939, Jersey City), and Woodstock (1940-1943). In 1941 he completed a second MA at Fordham and in 1942 he was ordained.

In 1944 he was briefly at St. Robert’s Hall (Pomfret Center, Connecticut) before becoming an English teacher at St. Joseph’s College (1945-1953, Philadelphia), where he was faculty moderator for the Cap and Bells dramatic society. He also completed doctoral work in English at the University of Pennsylvania (1947-1950, 1953-1954) and performed scholarly research in Europe between 1951 and 1952. In 1954 he was a guest professor at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. Fr. Kernan then joined the English department at Wheeling College (1956-1959, West Virginia), where he was faculty moderator for the Caviar Club dramatic society. Next he was at Georgetown University (1960-1967) as an English professor before joining the faculty at the College of Guam (1968, Agana). Fr. Kernan died in 1968.

Extent

1 Cubic Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Latin

Metadata Rights Declarations

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Likely transferred from the Georgetown University Jesuit residence to Special Collections in 2001.

Title
Gerald J. Kernan, SJ Papers
Status
Completed
Author
Aleksandra Kinlen
Date
2024-07
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Georgetown University Manuscripts Repository

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