Maurice V. Dullea, SJ papers
Dates
- Creation: 1909-1984
Scope and Contents
Maurice V. Dullea, SJ papers document his early life, professional career at Boston College and as a Jesuit, and his continued legacy after retirement. Materials include correspondence from both World Wars; commemorative ephemera, including from Boston College's Sugar Bowl victory in 1941; awards and honors; Varsity Club materials; and professional notes and research.
The biographical materials contain records of Dullea’s education, military applications, and professional achievements including his ordination and appointment as Moderator of Athletics at Boston College. Also included is a photo album with images of Dullea and family members spanning 1917-1927.
The papers also cover Dullea's time in the athletic department at Boston College, including materials from the 1941 Sugar Bowl such as an oversized menu, correspondence, programs, invitations, and pamphlets. Also included are athletic clubs and awards dinner records, sports cartoons by Bob Coyne, and correspondence and news articles involving the Frank Leahy coaching scandal.
The professional notes and research materials gathered for Dullea's work as a member of the Society of Jesus and as a professor of theology at Boston College include drafts of sermons, homilies and eulogies, notebooks, and a journal. His writings focus on matrimony, canon law, and shared and communal prayer.
The correspondence is primarily incoming, with a small amount of outgoing letters between 1944-1947. Outgoing mail includes many letters with advice and guidance to soldiers on the front during World War II. The collection also contains correspondence from prominent figures such as former Boston College student and NFL coach Mike Holovak and Cardinal and Archbishop of Boston, Richard Cushing.
The papers also contain diaries, certificates, a Boston College button, Dullea's BC Hall of Fame plaque, and scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, ephemera like event programs, score cards for sporting events, and photographs.
Creator
Restrictions on access
Collection is open for research. The four scrapbooks are closed due to fragility, pending conservation review.
Restrictions on use
These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.
Biographical / Historical
Maurice Vincent Dullea, SJ was born on January 3, 1896 in South Boston to Michael and Mary (O’Neill) Dullea. He attended Lawrence Grammar School and Boston Latin School before attending Boston College. He was a BC undergraduate student and member of the football team from 1913-1917, played in the dedication game of the College’s first football field on campus, and was captain of the BC football team in 1916. After graduating in 1917, Dullea applied to the Officers Reserve Corps at Plattsburg Barracks in New York but was not selected. In 1929 Dullea was ordained to the priesthood in the Society of Jesus at Weston College.
Dullea served as Boston College Faculty Moderator of Athletics two terms, 1940-1943 (he left BC in 1943 to work at the Cranwell Preparatory School as Rector) and 1946-1957, and he was a Professor of Theology at Boston College from 1958 until he retired in 1967. During Dullea's first term as Moderator of Athletics, the BC football team won the Sugar Bowl in January, 1941.
He was awarded the Boston College Presidential Bicentennial Award in 1976, and was inducted into the Boston College Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978. “BC President Rev. J. Donald Monan, said, ‘Both in his span of years and in the quiet force of his person, Fr. Maurice Dullea has been one of Boston College’s most revered and beloved Jesuits’” (Boston Globe, Aug 25, 1984). Dullea died in August 1984.
Sources:
"Rev. Maurice Dullea, at 88; former BC athletics moderator." Obituary in Boston Globe. August 25, 1984.
Obituaries and funeral mass, box 1, folder 10, Maurice Dullea, SJ papers, BC.2005.109, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.
Officers Reserve Corps, box 1, folder 2, Maurice Dullea, SJ papers, BC.2005.109, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.
Extent
9.75 Linear Feet (9 containers)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
These papers document the life and work of Boston College athletic director and theology professor Maurice V. Dullea, SJ. Included are materials related to Dullea's early life and family, his experiences during World War I and World War II, his time as a student on the Boston College football team and his accolades as a BC alum, and his work as the BC Athletic Director and in the Society of Jesus. His writings focus primarily on matrimony, canon law, and shared and communal prayer. The collection consists of BC athletic memorabilia, photographs, diaries, correspondence, research notes, manuscripts, vital records, ephemera, scrapbooks, and news clippings.
Arrangement
Arranged into five series: I. Biographical materials, II. Celebrations and events, III. Boston College athletics, IV. Professional work, and V. Correspondence.
Provenance
Because the current accessioning system was not used until January 1986, it is not possible to know exactly the dates of acquisition of materials received before that time.
- Title
- Maurice V. Dullea, SJ Papers
- Subtitle
- 1909-1984
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Molly Ogrodnik
- Date
- 2022
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the John J. Burns Library Repository
John J. Burns Library
Boston College
140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill MA 02467 United States
617-552-4861
library.bc.edu/burns/contact