Gonzaga College High School

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File:Gonzaga College High School - Washington, D.C..JPG

Gonzaga College High School is a private Catholic college-preparatory high school for boys in Washington, D.C. Founded by the Jesuits in 1821 as the Washington Seminary, Gonzaga is named in honor of Aloysius Gonzaga, an Italian saint from the 16th century. Gonzaga is the oldest boys' high school in Washington, D.C.<ref name=sketch>Template:Cite book</ref>

History

Template:More citations needed Gonzaga was officially founded by Template:Abbr Anthony Kohlmann, a Jesuit, in 1821, though there is some evidence the school began a few years earlier. It is the oldest educational facility in the original federal city of Washington and was at first called Washington Seminary, operating under the charter of Georgetown College (now Georgetown University and Georgetown Preparatory School respectively), which was becoming too crowded for its space at the time.<ref name=sketch /> Gonzaga's original location was on land offered to the Society of Jesus by William Matthews<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> on F Street near 10th Street, N.W., in a building adjoining Saint Patrick's Church. The purpose of this school was to train seminarians, but soon after opening, it began admitting lay students.<ref name="reform">Template:Cite book</ref> The school was immediately popular among Catholic families and was well enough known in its early years to attract the attention of President John Quincy Adams, who visited the school to test the boys' Latin and Greek. However, there were financial problems that caused the Jesuits to withdraw in 1827: their order prohibited the charging of tuition at a day school for youth. It continued to be run by laity until the Jesuits returned some twenty years later (with the ordinance regarding tuition changed); President Zachary Taylor presided at the commencement exercises in 1849.

In 1858, Gonzaga was granted its own charter by Congress as a college empowered to confer degrees in the arts and sciences, which accounts for its name (Gonzaga College) to this day. Although some students did receive bachelor's degrees in the 19th century, Gonzaga no longer confers degrees, other than honorary doctorates presented to commencement speakers or other notable guests. In 1871, the school moved to a building (now called Kohlmann Hall) in a neighborhood called Swampoodle located just north of the U.S. Capitol. It was located on the same block as St. Aloysius Church – built in 1859 and now on the U.S. Register of Historic Buildings with a high Roman Catholic population surrounding it. Enrollment declined owing to the distance of the new neighborhood from the center, but the Jesuits persevered and by the end of the 19th century the school was once again flourishing. A theater was built in 1896 and a large new classroom building (previously the Main Building and now called Dooley Hall) was opened in 1912.

John Gabriel Smith, Gonzaga's first African-American graduate, entered the school in 1951. He wanted to prepare to be a priest and none of the schools for black children offered the necessary prerequisites, including Latin. When he decided to try out for the varsity football team, the school was unable to schedule games against public schools, which were still segregated at the time. He was ultimately prevented from playing by an injury. He graduated in 1954.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The curriculum of Gonzaga from its founding until the late 20th century was at once rigorously classical and emphatically Catholic. Mastery of Latin and deep involvement in the Catholic religion were at its core. Standards were high, and many hopeful boys who lacked the necessary qualities for success were denied admittance. To this day, Gonzaga admits approximately one third of applicants.

Gonzaga benefited greatly from the fact that the row houses built in Swampoodle were largely occupied by Irish Catholics from the late 19th century on. Although Gonzaga always drew students from other parts of the city as well, the departure of the Swampoodle Irish for the suburbs in the mid-20th century, and more especially their replacement by poorer non-Catholics, brought on another period of difficulties. A decline in enrollment and the great inner-city riot of 1968 led some to suggest that Gonzaga should be closed, or moved to a more affluent area. However, the Jesuits once again persisted and the school survived. In the last years of the 20th century Gonzaga expanded, adding several new buildings and a large playing field and field house. By 2007 Gonzaga had regained its former status and a Wall Street Journal editorial referred to it as "the premier Catholic high school of Washington."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

St. Aloysius

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File:Gonzaga College High School Clocktower.jpg
Clocktower of St. Aloysius Church

St. Aloysius is a parish church physically attached to Gonzaga through the entrance building Dooley Hall. The church was built in 1859. It is used for Masses, concerts, some school assemblies, and graduation. The large painting above the altar is the work of Constantino Brumidi, famous for painting the frescoes on the interior of the United States Capitol dome.

Athletics

File:Peddie at Gonzaga, 2018-09-22.jpg
Gonzaga hosts Peddie School for a 2018 football game

Template:More citations needed section Gonzaga's athletic teams are called the Eagles. Gonzaga fields seventeen different varsity teams,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> most of which compete in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.

Gonzaga Ice Hockey competes in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) and the Mid Atlantic Prep Hockey League (MAPHL).

Buchanan Field is the home field for football and lacrosse and also serves as the practice facility for rugby, soccer and track and field. The Carmody Center hosts basketball and select wrestling matches. Old Gym is the wrestling home match site. The Fort Dupont Ice Arena hosts ice hockey games. Gravelly Point is the home grounds for rugby matches and Long Bridge Park is the home facility for soccer games. The game and practice venue for baseball is located at the Washington Nationals Youth Academy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

List of presidents

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Template:Abbr Name Years Template:Refh
Presidents of the Washington Seminary
1 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1821–1824 <ref name="hill172">Template:Harvnb</ref>
2 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1824–1825 <ref name="hill27">Template:Harvnb</ref>
3 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1824–1848 <ref name="hill33" />
4 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1826–1827 <ref name="hill33">Template:Harvnb</ref>
5 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1848–1851 <ref name="hill40">Template:Harvnb</ref>
6 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1851–1854 <ref name="hill49">Template:Harvnb</ref>
7 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1854–1857 <ref name="hill54">Template:Harvnb</ref>
8 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1857–1858 <ref name="hill582">Template:Harvnb</ref>
Presidents of Gonzaga College
9 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1858–1860 <ref name="hill61">Template:Harvnb</ref>
10 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1860–1861 <ref name="hill73">Template:Harvnb</ref>
11 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1861–1868 <ref name="hill77">Template:Harvnb</ref>
12 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1868–1874 <ref name="hill882">Template:Harvnb</ref>
13 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1874–1881 <ref name="hill97">Template:Harvnb</ref>
14 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1881–1882 <ref name="hill102">Template:Harvnb</ref>
15 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1882–1885 <ref name="hill111">Template:Harvnb</ref>
16 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1885–1890 <ref name="hill119">Template:Harvnb</ref>
17 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1890–1898 <ref name="hill130">Template:Harvnb</ref>
18 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1898–1899 <ref name="hill166">Template:Harvnb</ref>
19 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1899–1907 <ref name="hill174">Template:Harvnb</ref>
20 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1907–1908 <ref name="hill201">Template:Harvnb</ref>
21 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1908–1909 <ref name="hill210">Template:Harvnb</ref>
22 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1909–1915 <ref name="hill215">Template:Harvnb</ref>
23 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1915–1916 <ref name="hill255">Template:Harvnb</ref>
24 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1916–1922 <ref name="hill260">Template:Harvnb</ref>
25 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1922–1927 <ref name="gealesucceedsconniff">Template:Cite news</ref>
26 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1927–1932 <ref name="fitzpatrick">Template:Cite news</ref>
27 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1932–1938 <ref name="kelly">Template:Cite news</ref>
28 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1938–1944 <ref name="wiesel">Template:Cite news</ref>
Presidents of Gonzaga College High School
29 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1944– <ref name="gargan">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1965–1968 <ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
34 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 1994–2010 <ref name="novotny2">Template:Cite news</ref>
35 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 2010–2011 <ref name="goodnewsspring2011">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
36 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 2011–2021 <ref name="goodnewsspring2011" />
37 Template:Sortname Template:Post-nominals 2021–Template:Sort

Notable faculty

Notable alumni

Academia

Arts and entertainment

Athletes

Business

Journalism and publishing

Military

Politics and law

Science

Others

See also

References

Citations

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Sources

Template:Outline of Washington Metro Area Catholic High SchoolsTemplate:DC High Schools Template:Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Template:Boys' schools in DC Template:Jesuit Secondary Education Association Template:Authority control

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