Shaw, Joseph Coolidge, 1821-1851
Dates
- Existence: 1821-01-22 - 1851-03-10
Biographical note
Joseph Coolidge Shaw, a member of the prominent Boston Shaw family and uncle to Robert Gould Shaw, is identified as Boston College's first benefactor. Although he died 12 years before the founding of the University, his will included a bequest of $4,000 to be used in the "establishing a school or college of the Society (of Jesus) in Boston" and his personal library of nearly 2,000 volumes which provided the first library collection in at Boston College. In 1985, Boston College established the Joseph Coolidge Shaw Medal to celebrate the dedication of the Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr. Library.
Social Networks and Archival Context (SNAC) Identifier
Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:
Boston College artifacts collection
This collection documents the history of the American Jesuit university Boston College in the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries through its material culture. The collection includes banners, flags, football memorabilia, groundbreaking shovels, medals, pins, plaques, seals, and signs from Boston College administrators, faculty, and, to a lesser degree, students.
Collection is open for research.
Walter J. Meagher, SJ papers
Collection is open for research.