Francis W. Sweeney
virtual exhibit fall 2004 - burns library
Introduction | Background | Predecessor | Friends | Guests | Related | Conclusion
Though Sweeney invited lecturers who explored Catholic-oriented themes, he did not shy away from writers who explored other aspects of creative expression. The general public, over the years, may have been surprised to see listed on the calendar names such as Maya Angelou, John Ashberry, John Barth, Donald Barthleme, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Bly, Gwendolyn Brooks, Anthony Burgess, Amy Clampitt, Lucille Clifton, Gregory Corso, Robert Creeley, E.E. Cummings, James Dickey, Ralph Ellison, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Lillian Hellman, Denise Levertov, Adrienne Rich, W.D. Snodgrass, Gary Snyder, Susan Sontag, Kurt Vonnegut and C.K. Williams. He also invited academics and theologians who presented ideas of a dynamic and changing Catholic Church. Such speakers included Brother Antoninus, O.P. (William Everson), Daniel Berrigan, S.J., Sidney Callahan, Hans Küng and Karl Rahner, S.J. Prominent academics in fields other than poetry, literature and theology also lectured as part of the Humanities Series. These speakers included classicists Peter D. Arnott, Hugh Lloyd-Jones, H.D.F. Kitto, historians Bruce Catton and Henry Steele Commager and economist John Kenneth Galbraith.
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Photo credit: Humanities Series - Director's Files, Burns Library, Boston College. |
Pulitzer-prize winning historian Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison is pictured signing the Library's guest book just prior to his December 2, 1958 lecture on Christopher Columbus. Standing behind him are Judge John E. Swift (Class of 1899) and Weston M. Jenks, Jr. (Class of 1945). Swift was the lecture's benefactor and Jenks introduced the noted historian.
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Photo credit: Humanities Series - Director's Files, Burns Library, Boston College. |
Scottish-born journalist James "Scotty" Reston lectured at Boston College in seven Humanities Series lectures. Reston was a columnist and editor for The New York Times and was considered to be one of the most influential American journalists of the time. He is pictured here as a special guest in a course taught by Government Professor Paul Heffron on October 2, 1962. Sweeney often arranged to have the lecturers speak to an individual class just prior to or following a lecture.
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Photo credit: Humanities Series - Director's Files, Burns Library, Boston College. |
Hans Küng, a Swiss Roman Catholic theologian, questioned church dogma, emphasized the need for reform within the church, and sought reunion with other Christian groups. He lectured at Boston College on two occasions as part of the 1963 Candlemas Lectures and 1966 Humanities Series. Sweeney managed his 1963 Lecture tour of the United States and is pictured here with Küng.
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Photo credit: Humanities Series - Director's Files, Burns Library, Boston College. |
Photograph of popular novelist T.H. White (The Once and Future King) during his October 3, 1963 lecture.
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Photo credit: Humanities Series - Director's Files, Burns Library, Boston College. |
Photograph of the noted classicist H.D.F. Kitto lecturing sometime between 1966-1972 at one of his three Humanities Series lectures. Kitto first spoke at Boston College in 1963 at a lecture sponsored by the Classics Department.
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Photo credit: Humanities Series - Director's Files, Burns Library, Boston College. |
Reproduction of the poster advertising Kurt Vonnegut's October 9, 1969 lecture entitled "Enlightened Self-Interest."
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Photo credit: Humanities Series - Director's Files, Burns Library, Boston College. |
Photograph of acclaimed poet Maya Angelou reading her poetry to a capacity audience at Robsham Theater Arts Center on March 22, 1984. The event was sponsored by the Humanities Series with support of the Women's Resource Center and the Office of the University Chaplain. Introduction | Background | Predecessor | Friends | Guests | Related | Conclusion