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Please contact the Booth Family Center for Special Collections for assistance with accessing these materials.

George V. Coyne, SJ Papers

 Collection
Identifier: GTM-200211

Scope and Contents

The George V. Coyne, SJ Papers consist of materials from his Jesuit formation, undergraduate coursework, and doctoral program in astronomy.

Dates

  • 1951 - 1965

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

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 All unpublished Archives materials dated or bearing solely on events occurring on or after January 1, 1940, shall be open for review upon request subject to a decision by the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

George V. Coyne, SJ (1933-2020) was born in Baltimore to Frank V. (1903-1976) and Elizabeth A. Brune (1905-1975) Coyne. After graduating from Loyola High School (now Loyola Blakefield) in 1951, he entered the Society of Jesus at Wernersville (1951-1955). Next he completed his licentiate in philosophy (Shrub Oak, 1956-1958) and received a bachelor’s in mathematics (Fordham, 1958); afterwards, he entered the doctoral program in astronomy at Georgetown University (1959-1962) where he received a PhD (1962). Fr. Coyne then studied theology at Woodstock (1963-1966) before working as a professor, research fellow, and associate director at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (UALPL, 1966-1977). His connection to the University of Arizona astronomy department continued while he was astronomer and later director (1978-2006) of the Vatican Observatory. After his retirement from that position he spent a sabbatical year as an associate pastor at St. Raphael’s in Raleigh, North Carolina (2007), and then he rejoined the staff of the Vatican Observatory and served as president of the Vatican Observatory Foundation (2008-2011). Between 2012 and 2020 he was the McDevitt Chair of Religious Philosophy at Le Moyne College in Syracuse (2012-2020). He died in 2020.

Extent

0.15 Cubic Feet (7 folders)

Language of Materials

English

Metadata Rights Declarations

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Likely transferred from the Georgetown University Jesuit residence in 2000 or 2002.

Title
George V. Coyne, SJ Papers
Status
Completed
Author
Aleksandra Kinlen
Date
2024-09
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