Healy Hall

This guide highlights primary and secondary sources available in the University Archives for research on Healy Hall. Many of these sources relate to the construction or design of the building.

Work began on Healy Hall in late 1877.  It was to have space for the laboratories and new library needed for Father Patrick F. Healy, S.J., who was the driving force behind the building’s construction, to enact curricular reforms. It was also to house classrooms, dormitory rooms, and a meeting area for alumni. The firm of J.L. Smithmeyer & Company who also designed the main building of the Library of Congress drew up the plans. Their product, massive in scale, is 312 feet long and 95 feet wide, with a clock tower that rises 200 feet. With Healy Hall’s opening, the University doubled the total square footage of its buildings. Healy Hall was the first of the University's buildings to face the city rather than the river and it has been suggested that Father Healy deliberately oriented it as a signal that Georgetown should be viewed, from that point on, as an educational institution of national importance.

Most of the resources in the University Archives focus on the building's construction or design. Where these resources are available online, this is indicated. However, researchers should anticipate spending much more time working with physical records than with digital surrogates. Use the links to the left to navigate through the content of this guide. Information about records relating to Father Patrick F. Healy is provided in this LibGuide.

The University Archives are part of the Booth Family Center for Special Collections and are found on the 5th floor of Lauinger Library. The Booth Family Center is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Reference inquiries may be made in person, by telephone (202-687-7631) via our email form. University Archives staff are very happy to discuss research projects and to direct researchers to resources both within and outside the Archives.