Robert P. Neenan, SJ papers on Jesuit secondary school education

Collection

Identifier: BC-2024-052

Staff Only

Dates

Creation: 1959 - 1975

Scope and Contents

Robert P. Neenan, SJ papers include by-laws, correspondence, minutes, newsletters, reports, and a few photographs from his role as executive secretary of the Secondary Schools section of the Jesuit Alumni Administrators and, later, the Jesuit Secondary Education Association Commission on Planning and Development. Materials also inorporate his correspondence with Jesuit high schools and collected printed materials such as those pertaining to prospective projects and alumni newsletters.

Creator

Neenan, Robert P. (1919-2003) (Person)

Restrictions on access

Collection is open for research.

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 Note: Robert P. Neenan, SJ

Robert Patrick Neenan, SJ was born on February 19, 1919 in Saint Joseph, Missouri, to Emmet Joseph and Mary Helena (Liebst) Neenan. He studied at St. Louis and St. Mary's in Kansas and was ordained June 14, 1951. He taught American history, speech, and religion, and served as a director of dramatics. In 1959 he became the Alumni Director at Creighton Preparatory School, where he launched their Annual Giving program. He served as Executive Secretary of the National Conference of Jesuit Alumni Administrators' (JAA) Secondary Schools section beginning in 1963, and he continued in that capacity when it became Jesuit Secondary Education Commission's (JSEA) Commission on Planning and Development (COPAD) in fall of 1970. He was also elected Regional Secretary for secondary schools for Region IV of the Association of American Colleges (AAC).

Neenan died on October 9, 2003 in Wisconsin.

Sources:

Biographical note, JAA Secondary Schools section newsletter Vol. 1 No. 1, Box 1, Folder 18, Robert P. Neenan, SJ papers on Jesuit Secondary School Education, BC.2024.052, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

"Rev. Robert Patrick Neenan." Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 12, 2003, page 99.

Historical Note: Jesuit Alumni Administrators Secondary Education Section

The National Conference of Jesuit Alumni Administrators (JAA) was established after a 1954 meeting of Jesuit fundraisers at the Association of American Colleges (AAC). By 1963, JAA membership expanded to include enough secondary school administrators that it formed a section focused on the topic, complete with its own executive secretary, annual meetings, and workshops.

In December 1969, the Jesuit Educational Association's (JEA) Secondary Schools Commission proposed merging with the JAA's secondary school section. This coincided with a restructuring of JEA into two separate organizations: the Jesuit Secondary Education Association (JSEA) and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU). During early 1970, by-laws for the new secondary school alumni group were drafted, alongside a new constitution for JSEA.

By late summer 1970, the membership approved the changes, and JAA's secondary school alumni section became part of the newly-formed JSEA's Commission on Planning and Development (COPAD). The executive secretary of the JAA's secondary school alumni section was appointed as the executive secretary of COPAD.

Sources: "Historical Background of COPAD," JSEA Board minutes for 1970, Box 40, Folder 20, Robert P. Neenan, SJ papers on Jesuit Education, BC2024-052, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Extent

3.5 Linear Feet (4 containers)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Papers documenting the leadership of twentieth-century American Jesuit academic administrator Robert P. Neenan, SJ on three inter-related associations: the Jesuit Alumni Administrators (JAA); the Jesuit Secondary Education Association (JSEA); and the Commission on Planning and Development (COPAD), a subordinate body to the JSEA. Neenan's papers include correspondence, minutes, and newsletters of the associations, as well as printed materials from Jesuit high school alumni programs. These materials look at the role of alumni support in Jesuit secondary education, as well as the restructuring of these associations in response to changes in education in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Arrangement

Organized in four series: I. Jesuit Alumni Administrators (JAA); II. Jesuit Secondary Educational Association (JSEA); III. Commission on Planning and Development (COPAD); and IV. High School Alumni Programs.

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. However, correspondence on file indicates that the materials were acquired by Boston College University Archivist Paul Fitzgerald, SJ in the late 1970s or early 1980s to complement the Jesuit Educational Association records (JA.2015.001) held at John J. Burns Library.

Related Materials

Jesuit Educational Association records, JA.2015.001, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Jesuit Association of Student Personnel Administrators, JA.1995.001, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Processing Information

These papers were incorporated with the Jesuit Educational Association records (JA.2015.001); in 2024, the papers were identified as not part of those organizational records and were separated.