Boston College - Sub Turri Yearbook (Boston, MA)

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il J £ St. Mary ' s Hall

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He was followed by the Reverend Robert Fulton, S.J. who, because of his literary attainments and forceful energy is considered by many, as the founder of the college. In the year 1888 the increased enrollment of students necessitated ex- pansion; at the cost of a quarter of a million dollars a new addition was built which doubled the classroom accommodation. The cares and worries of oflBce had taken their toll from Father Fulton and one year later, he was forced to withdraw. He had been the most distinguished president of the college thus far; and his memory is immortalized to this day in one of the most popidar and successful extra-ciu-ricular student activities, the Fulton Debating Society. Father Fulton was succeeded by the Reverend Edward I. Devitt, S.J., who was appointed to complete the work begun by his predecessor in office. In 1894 he was succeeded by the Reverend Timothy Brosnahan, S.J., famed for his refined refutation of Charles W. Eliot ' s theory of electivism directlj attacking scholastic education in general and Boston College in particular. Expansion was again imperative. The addition of another year in philos- ophy made by the Reverend W. Read Mvillen, S.J., sviccessor to Father Brosnahan, increased the necessity of separating the high school from the college. To Father Gasson, S.J., who may justly be considered the second founder of Boston College, special tribute must be given for his vision of con- ceiving the present college. The first step in the realization of his wish was taken on December, 1897 when the trustees of the college acquired the present site of University Heights. To erect buildings that would harmonize with the natiu-al beauty of the site Father Gasson announced competitive bidding for plans of the buildings, which was entered into by a dozen of the most prominent architectural firms of the East. The board of judges awarded the contract to the firm of Maginnis and Walsh who strictly adhered to the English Collegiate Gothic design. The first sod was turned by Father Gasson on June 1909 and on March the twenty- eighth 1913 the new college was formally opened by the Rector in the pres- ence of Mayor Hubbard and other dignitaries. Following a policy of rotation in office Father Gasson was succeeded by Rev. Charles W. Lyons. Under his direction Saint Mary ' s Hall, the resi- dence for Jesuit members of the faculty was constructed. With the help of Father Matthew L. Fortier, S.J., a faculty member , Father Lyons under- [14]

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took the establishment of an Extension school which soon numbered students in the hundreds. The Rev. William Devlin, S.J., who had been a member of the faculty for many years succeeded Father Lyons. He began his office by conducting a drive to obtain two million dollars to construct more buildings, in order that the college might enroll the hundreds of students seeking admission. With the aid of His Eminence, William Cardinal O ' Connell, Archbishop of Boston, the college ' s most distinguished alumnus, and with the aid of the clergy of the archdiocese together with hundreds of citizens, a sum sufficient to construct the Science Building was procurred. The Science building was formally opened in September, 1924. On May fifth, of the same year, Father Devlin began work on a Library building but lack of funds caused postponement of construction. The Rev. James A. Dolan, S.J., an alumnus, was the next President; he determined to carry out the plans for the erection of the Library Building. The completion of the Library, the most beautiful of the college buildings, with its graceful towers is a lasting token of Father Dolan ' s zeal and ardor. But he did not rest here; under his inspiration a new school of Law was opened on Septem- ber twenty-six, 1926, in the Lawyers Building at Eleven Beacon Street, Boston. Three years after its establishment the School was rated as an Approved Law School by the Council of Legal Education of the American Bar Association; at present it boasts a record unexcelled among the law schools of the nation. Not content with these scholastic augmentations, Father Dolan opened a Jvmior College at the down-town center, to extend the opportunity for Jesuit education to many who could not attend the day sessions at the Heights. It was under the leadership of Father Dolan that the college developed outwardly and inwardly as never before in a similar span of years. Father Dolan was succeeded by the Rev. Louis J. Gallagher, S.J., who had previously been Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at George- town LTniversity. It was a period of world depression which found its reflec- tion in collegiate circles and elsewhere. But such conditions did not weaken Father Gallagher ' s characteristic energy and faith in the future of the college. Under his direction a stadium was built, and the athletic field developed. At this time, the college obtained another piece of property, the former resi- dence of Dr. Moore on Commonwealth Ave. below the Philomatheia Club- house. But the most important development made by the college luider the presidency of Father Gallagher was the opening of a New School of Social Work in September, 1936. It was conceived to meet the increasing need for [16]