Woodstock College

Woodstock College was a 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 New York City, where it operated in cooperation with the Union Theological Seminary and the Jewish Theological Seminary.

The school closed in 1974. It was succeeded by the Woodstock Theological Center, an independent, nonprofit Catholic research institute located at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

History

After unsuccessful efforts to establish a divinity school in Boston, New York, and Washington D.C., 249 acres were purchased in Woodstock in 1866, where construction of Woodstock College soon followed. The college was originally located along the Patapsco River in Woodstock, Maryland, west of Baltimore. It incorporated in 1867, and opened on September 22, 1869. At the time, the college was the only Jesuit seminary in the United States and was intended to be where the majority of all American Jesuit priests would be trained in the future.

In the 1960s, the college began considering affiliating with an urban university.

The argument to move the school into a city and place it in affiliation with a broader network of institutions of higher learning received decisive support from the newest ideas of theological education and priestly formation emerging from the Second Vatican Council and the Jesuits' own Thirty-First General Congregation. New Haven, Washington D.C., and New York City were considered for the college's relocation. In consequence, the college closed its original campus and moved to New York City in 1969 where it operated in cooperation with the Union Theological Seminary and the Jewish Theological Seminary. Controversies over the merits of the move into the city, specific controversies arising over the lifestyle of the Jesuits in training in New York, and a general desire of the order to consolidate its theology schools nationally led to the school's closure in 1974.

It was succeeded until 2013 by the Woodstock Theological Center, an independent, nonprofit Catholic research institute located at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The theological library retains its independence through an affiliation with the library at Georgetown University, where it is still housed.

Campus

The original campus buildings in Woodstock, Maryland are now used as a Job Corps Center, while the campus grounds are part of Patapsco Valley State Park.

Rectors and presidents NameYears1 1869–18752 1875–18813 1881–18834 1883–18905 1890–18936 1893–18977 1897–19018 1901–19079 1907–191210 1912–191811 1918–192112 1921–192713 1927–193314 1933–193915 1939–194516 1945–195117 1951–195718 1957–196319 1963–196520 1965–196921 1969–1974

Notable people

See List of people associated with Woodstock College

Woodstock College

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