Collection: James L. Harley, SJ Papers | Georgetown University Archival Resources

Scope and Contents

The James L. Harley, SJ Papers contain materials surrounding his work as a military chaplain; his studies and teaching career; and his spiritual life in the Society of Jesus. Also included is extensive ephemera from working as a chaplain on cruise ships and a small number of personal papers.

Dates

1893 - 1989

Creator

Harley, James L., 1903-1990 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

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 All unpublished Archives materials dated or bearing solely on events occurring on or after January 1, 1940, shall be open for review upon request subject to a decision by the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

James L. Harley (1903-1990) was born in Philadelphia to parents John (1866-1936) and Susan Meehan Harley (1869-1939, m. 1892) alongside siblings Marion H. (1899-1982) and Hugh J. (1893-1973). He completed school work at the Gesu School (1916) and graduated from St. Joseph’s Preparatory School (1920) before entering the Society of Jesus at the Woodstock-on-Hudson (Yonkers) novitiate in 1920. After two years of study there, he went to St. Andrew-on-Hudson (Poughkeepsie) for his juniorate (1922-1924) and completed his philosophical studies at Weston College (1924-1927, BA 1926, MA 1927). His regency was spent at St. Joseph’s Prep (1927-1930) while his theology was at Woodstock (1930-1934), where he was also ordained in 1933. After Fr. Harley’s tertianship at St. Andrew-on-Hudson (1934), he taught science at Gonzaga College High School (1935-1941) and completed graduate studies in biology at Fordham (1941-1942, MS 1948).

While teaching at the University of Scranton (1942-1944), he was appointed to the Army (4-8-1944) and attended Harvard Chaplain School (4-30 – 6-7-1944). His military career continued with the 201st Infantry Regiment at Camp Carson, Colorado, where he was regimental chaplain (6 – 9-1944). Fr. Harley was then stationed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina (8-1944 – 2-1945); Camp Rucker, Alabama (3-1945), where he was promoted to the rank of Captain; Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania (4-1945), and Camp Anza, California. He was sent overseas to Kanchrapara, India with Replacement Depot #3 on the USS General W. F. Hase (6-15 – 7-6-1945). In India he became chaplain of the 199th Ordnance Battalion in Makum, Assam (7-8-1945 – 3-16-1946). Outside of duties for his own troops at Makum, he said Mass for units at Ledo, Panitola, Chabua, and scattered units north of Sadiya in Assam. In late 1945 he also performed Mass for units in Tagap and Shingbwiyang, Burma. Returning to the US upon the SS Marine Cardinal, he was at Camp Stoneman, California, and Fort Dix, New Jersey, before being reverted to inactive status (6-1-1946).

Fr. Harley went back to the University of Scranton while on reserve until he was recalled to active duty in 1950. He was assigned to the chaplain schools at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania (10-28-1950 – 3-15-1951) and Fort Slocum, New York (3-15-1951 – 3-27-1952), where he was a member of the faculty. He was once more reverted to inactive status (3-27-1952) and returned to the University of Scranton (1952-1953, 1957-1959) with a period at Loyola College (Baltimore, 1953-1957). Between 1952 and 1959 he was on reserve until eventually transferred to retired reserve; during this time he was also promoted to the rank of Major (10-1-1953). Next he was a professor at Georgetown University (1959-1970) and, upon his retirement in 1970, assisted at parishes in the Washington, DC, area and served as chaplain on various cruise lines. He died at Georgetown in 1990.