O'Gara Building
The O’Gara Building was erected in 1874, to the west of Gervase Hall. It was razed in 1984 to make way for the Village C dormitory. Originally a wooden barn, it was repurposed as a carpenter shop and store house in the early 1920s. In 1946, after substantial renovation, it was turned into a dorm for students. Later incarnations of the building found it serving as the infirmary and housing the office of the Georgetown Voice. The building was named in 1946 for Martin J. O’Gara, S.J., a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., who joined the Georgetown faculty in 1940 as Assistant Professor of Religion. In 1943, Fr. O’Gara left Georgetown to become a chaplain in the Air Transport Command. He was returning to the U.S. from India to be discharged in 1946 when his plane caught fire, south of the island of Capri. Instead of leaping to safety, he gave his parachute to a fellow serviceman. In all, he helped eight passengers escape before the plane crashed with him on board.