Healy Hall is a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...
and the flagship building of the main campus of
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...
in
Washington, D.C. Constructed between 1877 and 1879, the hall was designed by
Paul J. Pelz
Paul Johannes Pelz (18 November 1841 – 30 March 1918) was a German-American architect, best known as the main architect of the Library of Congress in Washington DC.
Life and career
Paul J. Pelz was born November 18, 1841, in Seitendorf (now ...
and
John L. Smithmeyer
John L. Smithmeyer (1832–1908) was an American architect.
Biography
He was born in Vienna, Austria in 1832 and came to the U.S. in 1848. He studied architecture in Chicago and began an architectural practice in Indianapolis. After serving in ...
, both of whom also designed the
Thomas Jefferson Building
The Thomas Jefferson Building is the oldest of the four United States Library of Congress buildings. Built between 1890 and 1897, it was originally known as the Library of Congress Building. It is now named for the 3rd U.S. president Thomas Jef ...
of the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...
. The structure was named after
Patrick Francis Healy, who was the President of Georgetown University at the time.
Healy Hall serves as the main administrative and reception venue of Georgetown, with some portions still being used as classrooms. The building includes Riggs Library, one of the few extant
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuri ...
libraries in the nation, as well as the elaborate
Gaston Hall
Gaston Hall is an auditorium located on the third and fourth floors of the north tower of Healy Hall on Georgetown University's main campus in Washington, D.C. Named for Georgetown's first student, William Gaston, who also helped secure the univ ...
.
History
Motivation
In 1873,
Patrick Francis Healy became the
president of Georgetown University. Soon after entering office, he articulated to the
Superior General
A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while t ...
of the
Jesuit order
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
,
Peter Jan Beckx, his vision of transforming Georgetown from a
college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...
into a true
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
.
This coincided with prominent Catholics calling for the creation of a great Catholic university in the United States, on par with other large American universities established around this time. Healy's transformation involved broadening the school's curriculum and raising the standards of the
Law School
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, ...
and
School of Medicine.
Both Healy and the
provincial superior of the
Jesuits
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders = ...
'
Maryland Province, Joseph Keller, agreed in 1874 that the school's most pressing need was to expand its physical facilities.
The two planned for the construction of several new buildings, which would contain classrooms,
laboratories
A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physi ...
, a library, a
chapel
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...
, and a
dormitory
A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or universi ...
for the older students. However, Beckx withheld approval of any new construction until Healy could demonstrate that Georgetown had the means to finance such a project. As time passed, the initial plan for several new buildings developed into a plan to build one grand building.
Construction
Healy initially consulted
Patrick C. Keely, a church
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
from
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, about designing the new building. However, he decided it was better to hire an architect closer to Georgetown, and in fall 1874, he selected
John L. Smithmeyer
John L. Smithmeyer (1832–1908) was an American architect.
Biography
He was born in Vienna, Austria in 1832 and came to the U.S. in 1848. He studied architecture in Chicago and began an architectural practice in Indianapolis. After serving in ...
and his associate,
Paul J. Pelz
Paul Johannes Pelz (18 November 1841 – 30 March 1918) was a German-American architect, best known as the main architect of the Library of Congress in Washington DC.
Life and career
Paul J. Pelz was born November 18, 1841, in Seitendorf (now ...
, who would later design the
Library of Congress Building.
Smithmeyer, who was the chief architect, designed the plan and elevations of the structure, while Pelz designed its porches and interior rooms, including Gaston Hall, Riggs Library, and the parlors.
Healy chose a site located between
Old North and the Preparatory Building, now known as Maguire Hall. This was the first building on Georgetown's campus that would face the city of
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, rather than the
Potomac River
The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...
.
Plans for the building were first submitted in December 1875.
Keller objected to the construction of a single, large building because it would have lacked sufficient dormitory space for the
Jesuit scholastics, who he sought to relocate from
Woodstock College
Woodstock College was a Jesuit seminary that existed from 1869 to 1974. It was the oldest Jesuit seminary in the United States. The school was located in Woodstock, Maryland, west of Baltimore, from its establishment until 1969, when it moved to ...
to Georgetown. However, Keller acquiesced to Healy's plan in May 1876.
The designs were tweaked before being sent to the Superior General in Rome for approval in January 1877.
They called for a building measuring in length and in width.
Beckx considered the planned building too large and ornate, and thought the projected cost was an underestimate. Nonetheless, he approved the project that year, on the condition that total expenses not exceed $100,000,
equivalent to $ in .
In April 1877, ground was broken on the
foundation
Foundation may refer to:
* Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization
** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S.
** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...
, which was completed in October.
The construction of the building, from 1877 to 1879, dramatically increased the amount of classroom and living space—at the time, it was also used as a dormitory—of what was then a small
liberal arts
Liberal arts education (from Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as La ...
college
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offerin ...
. Prior to its construction,
Old North housed most of the college's classrooms, dormitories, and other facilities. The construction also left the university deeply in debt and in possession for years of an enormous pile of dirt as a result of the excavation, with no funds to remove it. As a result of the debts, the
Gaston Hall
Gaston Hall is an auditorium located on the third and fourth floors of the north tower of Healy Hall on Georgetown University's main campus in Washington, D.C. Named for Georgetown's first student, William Gaston, who also helped secure the univ ...
auditorium could not be completed until 1909.
The building was listed on
District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites
The District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites is a register of historic places in Washington, D.C. that are designated by the District of Columbia Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB), a component of the District of Columbia Govern ...
in 1964, on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
on May 25, 1971, and as a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...
on December 23, 1987. In addition, it is a
contributing property of the
Georgetown Historic District, which was listed as a National Historic Landmark District on May 28, 1967.
The building was brought to national attention in 1973 when it acted as a prominent background for the film ''
The Exorcist
''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty ...
''. In 1990 the interior hall and also the second story of the building featured in ''
The Exorcist III
''The Exorcist III'' is a 1990 American psychological horror film written and directed by William Peter Blatty. It is the third installment in the ''Exorcist'' series, an adaptation of Blatty's ''Exorcist'' novel ''Legion'' (1983), and the f ...
''.
Architecture
The architecture of Healy Hall has been described as both
Neo-Romanesque
Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...
and
High Victorian Gothic
High Victorian Gothic was an eclectic architectural style and movement during the mid-late 19th century. It is seen by architectural historians as either a sub-style of the broader Gothic Revival style, or a separate style in its own right.
Promo ...
in style.
Of this latter style, it is considered one of the last large scale examples in the United States.
Built in a Neo-Medieval style that combines elements of
Romanesque, Early Gothic, Late Gothic and Early Renaissance, the building contains the Office of the President; Georgetown's Department of
Classics; the
Kennedy Institute of Ethics
The Kennedy Institute of Ethics (also known as Joseph and Rose Kennedy Institute of Ethics) is one of the most prestigious bioethics institutes in the world. Located at Healy Hall, it was established at Georgetown University in 1971 as a bioethi ...
; and the
/bioethics.georgetown.edu Bioethics Research Library
Notable rooms in Healy include Riggs Library, one of the few extant
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuri ...
libraries in the nation; the Philodemic Room, the meeting room for the
Philodemic Society, one of the oldest collegiate
debating
Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...
clubs in the nation; the grand Hall of Cardinals; the historic Constitution Room; and the Carroll Parlor, which houses several notable pieces from the university's art collection.
Perhaps the grandest space in the building is
Gaston Hall
Gaston Hall is an auditorium located on the third and fourth floors of the north tower of Healy Hall on Georgetown University's main campus in Washington, D.C. Named for Georgetown's first student, William Gaston, who also helped secure the univ ...
, Georgetown's "Jewel in the Crown", the 750-seat
auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...
which has played host to multitudes of world leaders. Gaston Hall, located on the third and fourth floors and named for Georgetown's first student,
William Gaston
William J. Gaston (September 19, 1778 – January 23, 1844) was a jurist and United States Representative from North Carolina. Gaston is the author of the official state song of North Carolina, "The Old North State". Gaston County, North Carolin ...
, is decorated with the
coats of arms of the
Jesuit colleges and universities and rich
allegorical
As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory t ...
scenes painted by notable Jesuit artist Brother
Francis C. Schroen
Francis C. Schroen, SJ, (1857–1924)Robert F. Meade and Joann M. Kump.The Centennial History of Loyola School:1900-2000 (New York: elf-published 2000), p.4-5. was a Jesuit brother, who was an interior designer and painter principally of Roman C ...
. Schroen also created the intricate paintings found in the Carroll Parlor and on the ceiling of the Bioethics Reference Center's Hirst Reading Room.
Healy Hall rises to a height of , making it the tied with
700 Eleventh Street
700 Eleventh Street is a high-rise building, and is the second tallest commercial building in Washington, D.C.
The building is a twin building to Metro Center I, which is one block away. The building stands at 199 feet (61 meters) with 13 floors ...
as the sixth tallest building in Washington, D.C.
Clock hands
The hands of the Healy Clock Tower have been subjected to many thefts, as per the university tradition. Historically, students would steal the hands and mail them to the person they wished to visit the campus, most notably sent to the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
, where they were blessed by
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
and then returned to the university. One such incident caused significant damage to the clock mechanism, however, and security has been increased as a result in recent years, decreasing the incidence of the theft. These measures have not prevented students from successfully obtaining the hands however, as they are captured every five to six years, such as in the fall of 2005 by Drew Hamblen (SFS ’07) and Wyatt Gjullin (COL ’09). The hands were stolen once again during the evening between April 29 and April 30, 2012, and supposedly sent to
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
but the hands ended up lost in the mail. More recently, the clock hands were stolen during the evening between December 9th and December 10th, 2014, and again sometime during the night of April 30, 2017.
Dean M. Carignan (SFS '91) has written of his stealing the clock hands during his freshman year. On April 1, 1988, Carignan and a fellow student accessed the clock through "a metal plate set into the roof at the base of the clocktower." Eventually tracked down by campus security, Carignan and his Georgetown accomplice were sentenced by a university discipline panel to "an $800 fine, a 40-hour work sanction,
nda year of probation."
The writer
Joseph Bottum has also published an account of stealing the clock hands. In the Fall of 1977, Bottum joined Stan DeTurris, Dave Barry, and Pat Conway (all freshmen in the class of ’81) to climb through a trap door on the north peak of Healy, above
Gaston Hall
Gaston Hall is an auditorium located on the third and fourth floors of the north tower of Healy Hall on Georgetown University's main campus in Washington, D.C. Named for Georgetown's first student, William Gaston, who also helped secure the univ ...
, and steal the hands from the east face of the clock, returning them at the end of the school year to the university president,
Fr. Timothy Healy, S.J. The next year, Bottum writes, he and DeTurris found another way into the attics of Healy Hall, crawling through the ducts above Riggs Library to steal the minute hands from both the east and west clock faces.
Riggs Library
Riggs Library was the main
library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
of
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...
from 1891 to 1970, until being replaced by
Lauinger Library
The Joseph Mark Lauinger Library is the main library of Georgetown University and the center of the seven-library Georgetown library system that includes 3.5 million volumes. It holds 1.7 million volumes on six floors and has accommodations for ...
. It is housed in the south tower of Healy Hall, on the third floor. Riggs Library is one of the few extant
cast-iron
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...
libraries in the nation. The library still serves its original function of storing books despite its primary use as a formal event space. The library's construction was funded by E. Francis Riggs as a memorial to his father and brother, and was supervised by architect
Paul Pelz, who designed Healy Hall and the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...
, although Riggs did not open until a full decade after Healy Hall opened for use.
Image gallery
File:Healy hall georgetown.jpg, South side of Healy Hall
File:Healy Pink.jpg, Healy at Sunset
File:Healy hall gtu.JPG, Healy from the main entrance
File:gaston hall.JPG, Gaston Hall
File:Georgetown Spires.jpg, Healy among other spires
File:Philodemic Society of Georgetown University, debating room, circa 1910.jpg, The Philodemic Society Room in 1910
File:Healy Hall 1904.jpg, Healy Hall in 1904
File:November 1969 LOOKING NORTH AT STACK LEVELS, RIGGS LIBRARY - Georgetown University, Healy Building, Thirty-seventh and O Streets, Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC HABS DC,GEO,118-24.tif, Riggs Library in 1969
See also
*
List of tallest buildings in Washington, D.C.
This list of tallest buildings in Washington, D.C. ranks high-rises in the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C. The tallest structure in the city, excluding radio towers, is the Washington Monument, which rises and was completed in 1884. The str ...
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
{{Portal bar, Architecture, Education, United States
Georgetown University buildings
National Historic Landmarks in Washington, D.C.
Skyscrapers in Washington, D.C.
Romanesque Revival architecture in Washington, D.C.
Bell towers in the United States
Clock towers in Washington, D.C.
School buildings completed in 1879
University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C.
Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)
Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Washington, D.C.
Riggs Library
1879 establishments in Washington, D.C.
National Historic Landmark District contributing properties