Daniel E. Power, SJ Papers

Collection

Identifier: GTM-200205

Request

Scope and Contents

The Daniel E. Power, SJ Papers predominantly hold material created and collected while Power was vice president of and involved with GWETA (the Greater Washington Educational Television Association), the parent organization of WETA-TV channel 26. The papers also include items that reflect his personal and spiritual life.

Dates

Creation: 1922 - 1976

Creator

Power, Daniel E., 1904-1976 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

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 All unpublished Archives materials dated or bearing solely on events occurring on or after January 1, 1940, shall be open for review upon request subject to a decision by the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

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Daniel E. Power, SJ (1904-1976) was born in New York City to James Martin (1864-1933) and Katherine Couch Power (1870-1939), one of seven children. The family moved to Oceanport, New Jersey, in 1907 and later settled in Red Bank in 1914. After attending St. James’ Parochial School, Power graduated from St. Peter’s High School (Jersey City) in 1922. That same year he entered the Society, completing his novitiate and juniorate at Woodstock-on-Hudson (Yonkers, 1922-1923) and Shadowbrook (West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 1923-1926). He studied philosophy at Weston College, earning a BA (1928) and MA (1929) in history. Power spent his regency at Fordham University (1929-1932), teaching European history and political theory, and had his theology at Woodstock College (1932-1936), where he was ordained in 1935. His tertianship followed at Ancienne Abbaye in Tronchiennes, Belgium (1936-1937).

Returning to the US, Power joined the faculty at Georgetown University as professor of history and government (1937-1943) while also completing further graduate studies at Fordham (1938-1939). In March 1932 he entered the US Army Chaplain Corps, attending the Harvard Chaplain School before serving at Fort Washington, Maryland; Fort Belvoir, VBirginia; and in the Pacific, including at the 133rd General Hospital in Leyte, Philippines. He attained the rank of captain and was released from active duty in August 1946. Power then returned to Georgetown, resuming his teaching post (1946-1956) and helping to establish the Georgetown University Forum, where he served as program director (1946-1972). He later became director of public relations and news service (1956-1966) and subsequently director of public affairs (1966-1972).

Beyond the university, Power was vice president of the Greater Washington Educational Television Association (GWETA, 1953-1970), the organization that sought and secured the license for Washington's public broadcasting station WETA-TV (Channel 26) after the FCC’s 1952 allocation of non-commercial frequencies. Before the station’s 1961 debut, GWETA produced educational programming for WMAL-TV and WTTG. After his vice presidency, Power continued to serve GWETA as a member of its executive committee and as a public trustee. He died at Georgetown University in 1976.