STM celebrates one-hundred years of Catholic chaplaincy at Yale University . This celebration includes a series of archival exhibits in Riggs Study throughout the year, focusing on STM's one-hundred years of Catholic ministry throughout the decades. Exhibits will be paired with a blog each month. Be sure to read along and come visit Riggs Study throughout the school year!

The 1950s at More House was a time of settling in after the war and further establishing ties with Yale University. As Fr. Edwin O’Brien ꞌ31 stated in his Chaplain’s Report from April 1950, Saint Thomas More was becoming “a vital factor in religious life at Yale.” This was achieved through an active Catholic presence at the Chapel’s masses and through courses in Yale College. In 1950, Fr. Edwin O’Brien was asked by Yale University to teach two weeks on Catholicism in the Yale College course, “Religion at the University.” This was the first time in Yale’s history that Catholicism was officially presented to students for academic credit.

During the 1950s, Yale admitted smaller undergraduate classes, due to the mass influx of WW II veterans returning to finish their degrees. On average, Yale admitted 150 Catholic undergraduates per year. Even with this small influx of new Catholic students every year, the percentage of graduating Catholic undergraduates had risen from 6.7% in the 1920s to 11.5% in the 1950s. Fr. O’Brien quipped to his Board of Trustees in his October 1951 Chaplain’s Report that “The last [Sunday] Mass on football weekends we could fill the Chapel twice [with students and their guests/dates].”

The early 50s witnessed the creation of Archdiocese of Hartford, which elevated the Bishop of Hartford, Henry J. O’Brien, to Archbishop of Hartford. Then as now, the Archbishop of Hartford sits on STM’s Board of Trustees.

The mid 50s saw a decline in finances for the Chapel. This was due to both the need of Chapel repairs and the focusing alumni gifts on a capital campaign for a new wing of the Chapel. Fr. O’Brien, with input from both graduates and undergraduates, moved away from taking a weekly Sunday collection (students hated carrying donation envelopes in their pockets) and began asking students to pay a “subscription” to Chapel upkeep before they began classes in the fall. This was very successful and by 1957, the Chapel was on much steadier financial ground.

STM began its first official choir in 1956. It was started by Johannes Somary, a Swiss student who attended Yale School of Music. By the late 50s, the choir had thirty-five members—all undergraduates.

Catholic ministry in the 1950s was centered around Mass, small group lectures, saying the rosary (especially during Lent) and retreats. STM also hosted socials with other area schools for women including Smith, Vassar, Mount Holyoake and Manhattanville. It would not be until the late 60s that Yale would begin co-education.

The 1950s was also a time of continued ornamentation and building for the Chapel. The final two Chapel windows were etched with saints and installed: one of the Venerable Bede, given by an anonymous donor in 1950, and one of St. Damian and St. Cosmos, donated by Howard F. Kane in 1953. The late 50s into the very early 60s saw the building of the Chapel’s second wing—a residency area for the Chaplain and rooms for small meetings. This second wing, also designed by William Douglas, was the completion of the Chapel’s physical presence on Yale’s campus—and, as the collateral from the capital campaign stated, “the completion of [Fr. Riggs’s ꞌ10] dream.” A dream Fr. Riggs began to invest and cultivate relationships for when he was officially appointed Yale’s Catholic Chaplain in 1922.

Fr. James Healy ꞌ49 succeeded Fr. O’Brien in 1960 and became the third Catholic Chaplain at Yale.  In the 1960s, Catholic presence was smaller than in the 1950s. But, Fr. Healy left a mark both on students and the university alike. Fr. Healy was beloved by students and would arrange to meet with them—especially first-years and seniors—throughout the school year. Students of the time fondly remember him as a good listener and open to the changes that were beginning to move through the Church in the form of Vatican II. Fr. Healy would often bring speakers to campus to speak about the work this council was currently doing in Rome. Fr. Healy also established Yale Catholics Abroad—a campus group that focused on summer service projects in Mexico.

Fr. Healy also further brought Catholicism and university intellectualism together through the start of the More House Lecture series. The inaugural lecture was delivered by Fr. John Courtney Murray, S.J., on “The Problem of God.” It was also under Fr. Healy’s tenure that on December 14, 1963, Yale appointed Stephen Kuttner as the first to hold the T. Lawrason Riggs Chair in Roman Catholic Studies. Funded by generous alumni who knew and admired Fr. Riggs, Yale was the first sectarian school to have such a chair.

The Yale Edition of the Works of St. Thomas More, which was begun in 1958, brought many Catholic brothers and priests into town during the 1960s. And they would often ask Fr. Healy for a place to stay. Fr. Healy would either host them in the new Residency or find places for them to stay around New Haven—either in Yale housing or with local religious orders.

Fr. Healy stepped away from the Chapel in 1966 for a sabbatical to study psychoanalysis, leaving his Assistant Chaplain, Fr. Richard R. Russell, as Acting Chaplain. Fr. Healy resigned from his post officially in 1968 and Fr. Russell became the fourth Catholic Chaplain at Yale.

You can learn more about Fr. O'Brien from the QR code under his portrait in the Riggs Study or by viewing it online.

You can also learn more about Fr. Healy from the QR under his portrait in the Riggs Study or by viewing it online. 

Works Referenced:

Horowitz, Daniel. On the Cusp: The Yale College Class of 1960 and a World on the Verge of Change. University of Massachusetts Press, 2015.

Kelley, Mather. Yale: A History. Revised Edition. Yale University Press, 1999.

O'Brien, Edwin. "Chapel Rectory Fundraising Booklet." c. 1958.

Saint Thomas More Corporation. Board Meeting Minutes, 1950-1959.

Saint Thomas More Corporation. Board Meeting Minutes, 1960-1969.