The year 2014 marks the 225th anniversary of the founding of Georgetown University. In celebration, the Georgetown University Archives presents this online exhibition featuring a sampling of images of documents, photographs, and objects relating to Georgetown's long and storied history. Many of these 225 items can viewed here online for the first time.
Fund raising letter for an Academy at George-Town, Patowmack-River, Maryland, from Fr. John Carroll
March 30, 1787
Letter from Georgetown President William DuBourg, S.S., to a leather merchant
November 11, 1796
The letter reads in part "Sir, Wanting for the use of the college of Georgetown to the administration of which I have been lately, a quantity of good soale and upper leather I am confident I cannot place our custom in better hands than yours . . . But I must observe I cannot offer ready money, and a credit of four or five months is made necessary by the circumstances of the house . . ." (William DuBourg Papers)
![Prospectus for Georgetown College [Fragments, in Spanish]](/sites/default/files/1798%20-%20fragments%20of%20prospectus%20in%20Spanish.jpg)
Prospectus for Georgetown College [Fragments, in Spanish]
1798
Prospectus for Georgetown College
1798
Excerpt of a letter from Archbishop John Carroll to Georgetown President John Grassi (Archives of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus)
September 30, 1814
The letter addresses the possibility that Congress might ask to meet in Old North, the largest undamaged structure in the area, after the burning of Washington, D.C. by the British. ". . . I cannot believe, if the Congress move at all, that it will be to George Town; since if the British get reinforced, the government will be so little more safe there, than at Washington, that they will seek some safer refuge . . ." (Archives of the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus)
Prospectus for Georgetown College
1814
Program from Georgetown College's first commencement showing the names of graduates Charles and George Dinnies of New York
1817
Program from Georgetown College commencement
July 21, 1821
Excerpt from student rule book
1829
"18. It is rigorously prohibited to any student to have money in his possession - but whatever may be given him by his parents for his private expenses must be deposited in the hands of the Superior from whom he may receive from time to time whatever is necessary for any reasonable expenses."
Philodemic Society medal
ca. 1831
Georgetown College campus with the South Building to the left and the North Building to the right
1831
Card from Georgetown students announcing the end of the 1850 student rebellion
February 2, 1850
During the rebellion, sixty students decamped to a local hotel following refusal of permission for a Sunday evening Philodemic Society meeting.
Bread recipe of the College baker Brother Thomas Gavan
ca. 1855
"Proportions. To a barrel of flour, a gallon of yeast. Take a bucket of potatoes, boil them skins and all . . ."
Program from Dramatic Association of Georgetown College performance of Hamlet and Robert Macaire
May 31, 1855
Proceedings of the Philodemic Society.
October 13, 1860
" . . . The Society proceeded to debate the question Whether the Union will be dissolved in the case of the election of Lincoln as President of the U.S."
Copy of Notice of Occupation by the Sixty-Ninth New York Regiment
May 4, 1861
"The 69th Regt. N.Y. is authorized to occupy Georgetown Heights and the College, until further orders." (Rev. John Early, S.J. Papers)
Letter to Georgetown President John Early, S.J., from the Surgeon General’s office, requisitioning campus buildings "for Hospital accommodation" (Rev. John Early, S.J. Papers)
August 31, 1862
Georgetown College expenses
1862
Paroled prisoner pass issued at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, to Augustine W. Neale C1860
April 10, 1865
Faculty of the Georgetown Medical Department. Photograph by A. Gardner
ca. 1867
Poem by student Warren Chism complaining about the quality of campus food
1867
With explanatory notes added by Georgetown Archivist Francis Barnum, S.J., in 1899.
Page from baseball score book for the Quickstep Base Ball Club of Georgetown College
October 26, 1869
Program from Dramatic Reading Association of Georgetown College's Evening with Favorite Authors
March 7, 1869
Program from the first Annual Commencement of the Law Department of the University of Georgetown
June 4, 1872
Program from the Fifty-Fifth Annual Commencement of Georgetown College
June 27, 1872
Founders of Georgetown College Journal: William C. Niblack, George P. Fisher, William H. Dennis, Thomas Ewing Sherman, J. Percy Keating, and John Sumner, S.J.
1872
Georgetown College Boat Song, composed by the editor of the College Journal (John Agar?)
ca. 1876
Ticket to the first Annual Banquet of the Alumni Association of Georgetown University
January 13, 1876
Description of the selection of Blue and Gray as "appropriate colors" for the crew team
June 1876
From the Georgetown College Journal.
Building permit for Healy Hall
November 12, 1877
Architectural sketch for Healy Hall by J.L. Smithmeyer & Co
November 1877
“A Reminiscence of the War” by an “Old Student”
December 1878
From the Georgetown College Journal. George Gibson Huntt (C1849), a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Cavalry, relates how in May 1861, while tasked with selecting camping sites around the district, he visited his alma mater in order to use the upper floors of its buildings to locate suitable sites on the Virginia side of the river.
Law School announcement for 1878-1879
1878
Circular letter from the Society of Alumni soliciting donations to fund the completion of Gaston Hall and to pay off the building debt associated with Healy Hall
November 1881
Plat showing College property
1888
Document recording the gift of a day's work by carpenters and laborers working on Healy Hall
December 24, 1888
Trinity Church and school
1888
Invitation to Centennial Celebration
February 20-22, 1889
Freshman course of studies
1890
Observatory and surroundings
ca. 1890
North end of Healy Hall and Old North
1890
Senior Physics examination questions
December 23, 1890
Advertisements in the Georgetown College Journal
December 1891
John Vinton and Elizabeth Drexel Dahlgren
ca. 1891
Laying of the cornerstone of Dahlgren Chapel with Mulledy Hall and the South Building seen in the background
May 1892
Bridge on the College Walks
1892
Menu from dinner held after the consecration of the Chapel of the Sacred heart (Dahlgren Memorial Chapel)
June 9, 1893
Rules for student use of Riggs Library
ca. 1893
Campus in the snow
1893
The Quadrangle
after 1893
Solicitation letter for the Georgetown University Hospital
February 25, 1897
Georgetown Prep football team
1898
Baseball team
1899
Football schedule
1899
Special and postgraduate students on the steps of Old North
1900
Intercollegiate Regatta program
1900
Undergraduate class schedule
1900-1901
Program from a benefit concert held to fund trip to the 1900 Paris Olympics by three Georgetown sprinters: Arthur Duffy/Duffey, William Holland, and Edmund Minahan
April 1900
Program from the 1900 Paris Olympics brought back by Georgetown sprinter Arthur Duffy/Duffey
July 14-15, 1900
Invitation to the Medical School commencement
May 22, 1900
Varsity boathouse and varsity crew
1901
Pictured in the Georgetown College Journal. The boathouse, located at the foot of 32nd Street on government property, was used between 1901 and 1904.
Junior Yard [Athletic Association] posed on the steps of Healy Hall
1901
Application by Lillian Neale Welker to the Georgetown University Hospital Training School for Nurses
November 22, 1903
Ryan Hall and Prep athletic field with handball court in the foreground to the right
ca. 1904
Calendar for Georgetown College and Georgetown College Preparatory School
September and October 1904
Textbook List
Spring 1904
Demerit system
1906
Songsheet from Georgetown v. Virginia football game
November 10, 1906
Baseball team
1908
Sign protesting refusal of President David Buel, S.J. to agree to a student request that St. Patrick's Day be given as a holiday
March 17, 1908
Football team on the steps of Healy Hall
1909
Georgetown v. Carlisle football game
March 25, 1911
Georgetown and Virginia mascots meet
1911
Account for the John Carroll Statue
July 23, 1912
Sophomore newsletter, "The Soph. Dope"
1912
Invitation to the dedication of the E. Francis Riggs Memorial Maternity Department of the Georgetown University Hospital
May 1, 1912
Tickets to Georgetown v. Virginia football game
November 16, 1912
Dental infirmary
1913
Student room in Old North
1913
Interior of Old North
ca. 1913
Tennis Association
1913
Ticket to view Woodrow Wilson's inaugural procession
March 4, 1913
Campus as seen from Virginia
1913
Advertisements in the Georgetown College Journal
June 1914
Class of 1914
1914
Dance card for Freshman Dance in Ryan Gymnasium
May 6, 1914
Old North and Dahlgren Chapel
1914
Letter from Lieutenant W. G. McNulty (A.B. 1914), Somewhere in France
October 12, 1917
Published in the Georgetown College Journal, January 1918.
Student Army Training Corps on the steps of Healy Hall
1917
Red Cross Advertisement in the Georgetown College Journal
November 1918
Freshman rules
ca. 1919
First class in the School of Foreign Service
1919
Edmund A. Walsh, S.J., is seen standing to the right.
Announcement for the Georgetown University Hospital Training School for Nurses
ca, 1919
The Hoya, Vol. 1, No. 1
January 14, 1920
Menu from Georgetown College New Year Welcome Banquet held in Ryan Hall
January 15, 1922
Baseball team
1922
Endowment Association brochure
1922
Showing an early design for Copley Hall.
Endowment Association membership certificate for Miss Janet Richards
1922
Memorial Tribute to Ivan Jones White who was killed in the Knickerbocker Theater disaster
1922
From Ye Domesday Booke.
Program from Mask and Bauble Club production of Julius Caesar
1922
Stubby, the Georgetown mascot
1923
Pictured in Ye Domesday Booke.
Philippine Georgetownians
1924
Pictured in Ye Domesday Booke.
New North under construction and Dahlgren Chapel
ca. 1925
Graduating Class of Georgetown Hospital
1925
Junior Prom and Diplomatic Ball at the Mayflower Hotel
December 17, 1925
Pictured in Ye Domesday Booke.
Fourth Annual Banquet of the Pierce Bulter Law Club at the Carlton Hotel, Washington, D.C.
April 13, 1928
School of Foreign Service students on a visit to New York
1928
Club Hispano Americano
Pictured in Ye Domesday Booke.
Copley Hall under construction
October 2, 1930
Copley Hall and St William Chapel under construction
October 2, 1930
The Quadrangle with Old North and an ivy-covered Dahlgren Chapel
1930s
Aerial view of campus and the surrounding area
1931
Obituary for track star and Olympian Robert Legendre
January 28, 1931
From The Hoya.
White-Gravenor under construction
December 2, 1932
School of Foreign Service classroom in Healy Hall
after 1932
Healy Hall
ca. 1935
Architectural sketch for a new gymnasium by Emile G. Perrot
1936
Account of Gene Krupa's performance at the Senior Ball
May 11, 1938
From The Hoya.
Georgetown cheerleaders
1939
Pictured in Ye Domesday Booke.
Sideline pass for the Orange Bowl
1941
Georgetown football team in Miami, Florida, for the Orange Bowl
1941
Announcement of the appointment of Richard C. Law, S.J. as Chief Air Raid Warden for Campus
February 3, 1942
Baseball game
1942
Carroll Quigley
1943
Pictured in Ye Domesday Booke.
Kehoe Field
ca. 1945
Nursing students in the lab
1947
Cartoon advertising The Hoya
March 28, 1947
Fordham mascot after its kidnapping by Georgetown students
October 10, 1947
Boxing team
1948
Old North
ca. 1948
College Class of 1949 on the steps of Healy Hall
1949
Football players (Bob Noppinger, Bugs, Thompson, Bill Fisher, John McGinn, Gino Pagluicia, Frank Mattingly, Bill McCarthy, Dick Losh)
1950
Swimming team
1950
Architectural sketch for St. Mary's Hall by Leon Chatelain, Jr.
ca. 1954
Basketball player Bill Bolger
1951
Dahlgren Chapel, covered in ivy, as seen from Healy Hall
before 1953
Honorary degree citation for Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of the German Federal Republic
April 7, 1953
Inaugural Ball in honor of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower held in McDonough Gymnasium
January 20, 1953
Ticket to Inaugural Ball in honor of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower held in McDonough Gymnasium
January 20, 1953
Mascot Hoya IV with cheerleaders
1955
Basketball team
1956
Faculty Christmas party with President Edward B. Bunn, S.J. (second right)
1957
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower unveils a bust of Edmund A. Walsh, S.J., at the dedication of the Walsh Memorial Building, while Georgetown President Edward B. Bunn, S.J., looks on
October 13, 1958
New South under construction
ca. 1958
Memo from the Vice President for Medical Center Affairs William Maloney, S.J., re permission to marry for Nursing students
December 16, 1959
Advertisement for Vaseline Hair Tonic
1960
From The Hoya.
Diplomatic Ball
February 12, 1960
President Edward B. Bunn, S.J.
1961
Pictured in Ye Domesday Booke.
Cover of handbook for women students, Miss G Goes to Georgetown
1962
Campus map
1962
From handbook for women students, Miss G Goes to Georgetown.
College of Arts and Sciences Dean Joseph A. Sellinger, S.J.
1962
Poster for Calliope IV try-outs
1963
Expenses
1963-1964
Jesuit Community Cemetery and Reiss Science Building
1963
Basketball team
1963-64
Frank L. Fadner, S.J.
1964
Junior Prom Committee
1964
175th anniversary version of University seal
1964
Advertisement for 1789 restaurant
1964
Georgetown University Shop advertisement from The Hoya
February 20, 1964
Letter from President Edward B. Bunn, S.J., to members of the senior class with reference to the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and the celebration of the University's 175th anniversary
May 15, 1964
Harbin Hall
1964
Hoya's carry out menu from The Hoya
May 15, 1964
Tribute to U.S. President John F. Kennedy in the Caduceus (the School of Nursing yearbook)
1964
U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson at the inauguration of Gerard J. Campbell, S.J., as University President
December 3, 1964
Program from dedication of Darnall Women's Residence Hall
March 28, 1965
Women's basketball team
1965-1966
Poster for Johhny Mathis concert in McDonough Gym
March 5, 1966
Football team
1966
Cheerleaders
1966
Georgetown University Hospital
1967
Poster for Kick-Off Dance introducing mascot Jack II
November 3, 1967
Campus as seen from N Street
1967
Othmar Winkler as pictured in Ye Domesday Booke
1968
Front page of The Hoya
September 14, 1968
Georgetown University News Service release re the appointment of Rabbi Harold White as advisor to the University Chapter of Hillel and as instructor in the Theology Department
September 30, 1968
Advertisement for paper dresses in the student handbook
1969
Field hockey team
1969
Edward B. Bunn, S.J. (left) and Gerard J. Campbell, S.J. (right) with President Robert J. Henle, S.J., on his inauguration day
October 7, 1969
Georgetown University News Service release regarding the admission of men to the School of Nursing
January 30, 1969
Georgetown Voice, Vol. 1, No. 1
March 4, 1969
President Robert J. Henle, S.J.
1969
Campus as seen from O Street
1969
Poster for 1970 Prom with B. B. King
April 25, 1970
Georgetown University News Service release re the wearing of pantsuit uniforms by nurses at the Georgetown University Hospital
November 5, 1970
Poster for speech by President of the National Organization of Women Betty Friedan
November 10, 1970
Healy circle with Lauinger Library seen to the left
ca. 1970
May Day protestors at the main gates
May 3, 1971
The Hoya: "Nixon May Address G.U. Commencement; Students Cry Foul"
January 19, 1973
Expenses
1973-1974
Black Student Alliance as pictured in Ye Domesday Booke
1974
Advertisement for the opening of the Center Pub
February 8, 1974
Georgetown Voice front page: "Ryan Axed; Henle Silent"
April 16, 1974
Flier for Black Awareness Week
April 1975
The Hoya article: "Henle Years Spur Debate"
October 22, 1975
Poster for University Center, Healy Hall Basement
1976
Campus in the snow
1977
Jan Karski as pictured in Ye Domesday Book
1977
President Timothy S. Healy, S.J.
1978
Dalai Lama visits campus
September 2, 1979
Cheerleaders
1980
Honorary degree ceremony for President of Egypt Anwar Sadat in Gaston Hall
1981
Darnall Cafeteria
1982
Honorary degree citation for Mother Teresa Bojaxhiu
May 30, 1982
Mother Teresa Bojaxhiu receives her honorary degree from President Timothy S. Healy, S.J.
May 30, 1982
First MBA graduating class
1983
Interior of Old North
1983
Georgetown Voice cover
April 26, 1983
Georgetown University Football 1984 media guide with drawings of Coach Edward Scott "Scotty" Glacken
1984
Audience for football game
1984-1985
Students walking in front of Copley Hall
1985
Otto Hentz, S.J., on the steps of Dahlgren Chapel
1986
Anti-Apartheid protest at the entrance to White-Gravenor
1986
Baseball field next to the Leavey Center
1991
Poster for Halloweek presented by the Georgetown Program Board
1993
Women's basketball team
1993-1994
Field hockey team
1996
Senior Week poster
May 1996
Graduates in front of Lauinger Library
1999
President Leo J. O'Donovan at commencement
1999
Ballet Folklórico Mexicano de Georgetown
2002
Poster for Club Lau in Lauinger Library
September 5, 2009
Curated by Lynn Conway, University Archivist, and Ann Galloway, Assistant University Archivist