JULY 31

Patrick Francis Healy was born in 1834 to a black slave mother and her white Irish-American plantation owner common-law husband.  Rules being what they were at the time in Georgia, Patrick was automatically a slave.

His wealthy father, Michael Healy, sent Patrick north to be educated.  He attended the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts with his brothers as Irish-Americans.

Following his graduation, Patrick decided to enter the priesthood as a Jesuit.  He attended Catholic University in Belgium during the Civil War here.  There, he became the first black American to receive a doctorate.  When he returned to the U.S., he taught philosophy at Georgetown University in Washington D.C.

On this date in 1874, Fr. Patrick Francis Healy was named the 29th president of Georgetown University - the very first black college president in the U.S.A.   One-hundred-forty-three years ago today.

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