President: 1853-58 & 1866-70
Fr. Bernard Maguire, S.J., served as Georgetown's 25th and 27th president from 1853 to 1858 and 1866 to 1870. Georgetown adopted its blue and gray colors during Fr. Maguire's second presidency to mark unity between the students from the North and South in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Early Academic Career
Fr. Maguire joined the Society of Jesus in 1837 in Frederick, and studied rhetoric from 1839-1840 and then philosophy from 1840-1841 at Georgetown. He then taught mathematics in the college at Frederick before returning to Georgetown to teach first grammar, geometry, and French in 1845 before becoming first prefect in 1846. Fr. Maguire was ordained in 1851, and returned to Georgetown shortly thereafter to assume the office of the President.1
First Presidency (1853-1858)
During his first term, beginning January 25, 1853, Georgetown flourished. Fr. Maguire continued the process of separating the preparatory department from the college, which had begun two years prior. At the time, students first studied the preparatory Rudiments, Third Humanities, and Second Humanities before transitioning to the more senior classes which included First Humanities, Poetry, Rhetoric, and Philosophy. As a result, the age of the student body ranged from eight to twenty-eight. In 1851, for both financial reasons and concerns about the older students’ negative influence on the younger students, the decision was made to separate the preparatory students. In June of 1854, Georgetown began constructing a building for the junior students which contained a playroom, public hall, classrooms, study hall, and dormitory. By 1855, the building was completed and known as the Preparatory Building. Today, the Preparatory Building is known as Maguire Hall.2
Fr. Maguire was also a strong proponent of the literary and dramatic societies. In 1853, the Dramatic Association was organized and put on performances of “Damon and Pythias” that March which was followed by “Hamlet” that May.3
Reputation and Departure
As a president, Fr. Maguire was idolized, but also feared and respected. When students fought back against the disciplinary efforts of the prefect by throwing stones and inkwells at the windows, Fr. Maguire appeared at breakfast the following morning and “made so telling and terrifying an address that the uprising was brought to an end.” The monthly reading of the marks by Fr. Maguire were equally well remembered, “what sarcasm for delinquents, what praise bestowed on the meritorious! The refrain was, ‘you are students of Georgetown College; you must so act that you may be an honor to this institution, and to your parents who think it no ordinary matter for their sons to be graduated here.’”4 During his first term, the number of students at Georgetown nearly doubled, rising from 176 to 333.
In 1858, Fr. Maguire was succeeded by Fr. John Early, and he transitioned to pastoral work at St. Joseph’s Church, Baltimore and then St. Aloysius’ Church in Washington, before returning again to the role of President of Georgetown on June 1, 1866.
Second Presidency (1866-1870)
Fr. Maguire returned to a Georgetown that had seen the majority of its students rush off to join the Civil War, and the campus had served as both a hospital and barracks for the Union army during the war. Fr. Maguire described the campus to which he returned as “nearly ruined,” and set out to rebuild and restore. Under his leadership, buildings were repaired and enlarged, the campus was re-greened with new landscaping, and playing fields were expanded. Students, predominantly veterans, returned to campus quickly, and classes resumed in September of 1866 with 180 boarding on campus. By the following fall in 1867, the student body had grown to 250.
Fr. Maguire noted the changed nature of the student body, “They were more studious, more 'obedient and they all felt the necessity of hard work. Many of them had spent some years under military discipline and now came to devote themselves to hard work. The (College) Military Companies were again organized and . . . officers took charge of this familiar exercise. We could not depend on the South, now ruined by the reverses of war, and the students were every section of the country, perfectly united and marching again under the old flag.” During his second tenure as president, Georgetown officially adopted the school colors of blue and gray to signify the reunification of the North and South.5
During Fr. Maguire's second term, Georgetown established a Department of Law in 1870, with Justice Miller of the United States Supreme Court as a Professor of Constitutional Law and Equity.6
In 1870, after Fr. Maguire’s health had begun to deteriorate, he was again replaced by Fr. Early.
- 1“Father Bernard A. Maguire, A Sketch.” Woodstock Letters, Vol. XVI, No. 1, 1887, pp. 3-10.
- 2Emmett Curran, Robert. “The Bicentennial History of Georgetown University: From Academy to University, 1789–1889.” 1993, p.158.
- 3Easby-Smith, James. “Georgetown University in the District of Columbia, 1789-1907, Its Founders, Benefactors, Officers, Instructors and Alumni.” Vol. 1, 190, p.94.
- 4“Father Bernard A. Maguire, A Sketch.” p. 7.
- 5Miles O’Brien, “History of the Hilltop At War.” The Hoya. 2 March 1979, p. 10.
- 6Georgetown University (Washington, DC), Ye Domesday Booke, 1939, p.38.
