The Society of Jesus, a Catholic religious order, was founded by Ignatius of Loyola in 1540. Ignatius encouraged his followers, known as Jesuits, to “find God in all things,” and to dedicate themselves to the “greater glory of God” and good of all humanity. The Jesuits founded educational institutions throughout the world, including Boston College.

Guiney was first introduced to the Society of Jesus as a young child. She attended Mass with her family at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, the church affiliated with the Jesuits and Boston College in Boston’s South End. She regarded a number of Jesuit priests as not only spiritual leaders but friends. She corresponded with Boston College president, Robert Fulton, SJ, and collaborated with other Jesuits on writing projects.

Boston College Jesuits

When the Guiney family started attending Masses at the Jesuit Church of the Immaculate Conception, Boston College was in its formative years. Established by the Jesuits in 1863, it is one of 28 Jesuit colleges and universities currently operating in the United States. The school, originally located in Boston’s South End, opened in 1864 with three teachers and 22 students. It shared quarters with Boston College High School until it relocated to the suburban district of Chestnut Hill in 1913.

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The Church of the Immaculate Conception welcomed local families such as the Guineys. In his letters, Boston College president, Robert Fulton, SJ, called Guiney’s mother a heroine for the volunteer work she did for the church. He offered more nuanced praise for Guiney’s books: “I like everything about your prose: I like only somethings [sic] in your poetry.”

Robert Fulton, SJ, was born in Virginia. While a student at Georgetown University, he discerned his vocation to the priesthood. He was ordained in 1857. As president of Boston College from 1870-1880, Fulton was liked and respected by fellow Jesuits, the college community, and the citizens of greater Boston.

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Fulton praised Guiney as a writer, and acknowledged her status as a celebrity, yet cautioned: “I wonder (again)—if the little girl that I knew to be so pious, now growing into a famous woman, in the culture of the intellectual part, improves equally the moral and religious part.”

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Thomas Ignatius Gasson, SJ, was born in England. He converted to Catholicism, entered the Society of Jesus, and was ordained in 1891. He became a professor at Boston College, and later its president. As president, he led the move of the college to its current Chestnut Hill location.

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Guiney considered Thomas Gasson, SJ, a friend, and, in a 1906 letter, called him “a great friend of my Mother’s.” Aware of Guiney’s friendships with English Jesuits and lectures that she had helped them plan, Gasson asked her to arrange for them to visit Boston

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Stained Glass Window

By the time Guiney died in 1920, Boston College had outgrown its urban setting and moved to Chestnut Hill. A master plan for the campus was designed by the Boston architectural firm Maginnis and Walsh, which favored the neo-Gothic style championed by Ralph Adams Cram. Guiney counted Cram and then Boston College president Thomas Gasson, SJ, among her friends

James H. Dolan, SJ, served as president of Boston College from 1925 to 1932, during which time he oversaw completion of the college library (now Bapst Library), an addition to St. Mary’s Hall (the main Jesuit community residence), and the establishment of the law school.

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The opened cover of Guiney’s A Roadside Harp reveals a check-out card pocket, date due slip, and barcode label—artifacts showing how librarians at Boston College tracked circulation over the years. The date due slip lists Francis Sweeney and Daniel Dwyer, Jesuits who taught in Boston College’s English department.

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Francis W. Sweeney, SJ, was born in Massachusetts and earned degrees at both the College of the Holy Cross and Boston College. A poet and essayist, he was appointed to teach English at Boston College in 1951. He founded the Humanities Series, now known as the Lowell Lecture Series.

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Daniel N. Dwyer, SJ, was born in 1914 in Medford, Massachusetts. He entered the Society of Jesuit in 1932. He attended Weston College, Fordham University, and Yale University. He taught English at the College of the Holy Cross before coming to Boston College in 1947.

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When James Dolan, SJ, became president of Boston College in 1925, construction of the college library building, now called Bapst Library after BC’s first president, had been paused. Dolan raised the additional monies required and selected, with the help of a committee, the themes for its stained glass windows, which were designed by Earl Edward Sanborn.

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The library director’s office featured portraits of two dozen prominent American statesmen, orators, and writers—among them only two women: Agnes Reppelier, a devout Catholic and essayist from Philadelphia, and Louise Imogen Guiney.

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