Shannon, James P., 1921-2003

James P. Shannon was born on February 16, 1921 in South St. Paul, Minnesota to Patrick Joseph Shannon and Mary Alice McAuliff Foxley Shannon. He was the youngest of 6 children in a large Irish Catholic family. Joseph Shannon was born in Ireland, and was the owner of Shannon Cattle Company in South St. Paul. Mary Alice was first married to Fred Foxley, and was widowed with four small children prior to marrying Joseph Shannon and having two children with him, James and his older sister Mary.

James Shannon graduated from St. Augustine's (Catholic) School, South St. Paul, in 1934, attended Cretin High School from 1934 to 1936, and then transferred to St. Thomas Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1938 Summa Cum Laude, as valedictorian of his class. He attended the College of St. Thomas (St. Paul) from 1938 to 1941, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 1941 and was again valedictorian of his class, earning a baccalaureate degree with majors in classics and history.

Shannon attended St. Paul Seminary from 1941 to 1946 and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul on June 8, 1946. He served as an assistant pastor at Cathedral parish in St. Paul (1946-1948) and went on to work as an associate professor of Greek and English at Nazareth Hall Preparatory Seminary (1948-1950). Shannon received a master's degree in English and history from the University of Minnesota (1951) and completed further graduate study at Oxford and Yale universities (1951-1954). Upon his return to St. Paul he was appointed assistant professor of history at the College of St. Thomas. He received his doctorate in American history from Yale (1955) and his dissertation, Catholic Colonization on the Western Frontier, was published in 1957.

In 1956 Shannon was named president of the College of St. Thomas and St. Thomas Military Academy. He served as president of the Academy until September 1965. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of St. Paul (1965) and resigned his position at St. Thomas the following year to become pastor of the Church of St. Helena in Minneapolis. He served as auxiliary bishop and pastor until November 1968.

During this period (1956-1968) Shannon served as a leader in several religious and educational organizations including the National Catholic Educational Association, the Minnesota State Junior College Board, the Association of American Colleges, the James J. Hill Reference Library, the Catholic University of America, and the U.S. Catholic Conference (1966-1969). He also served as assistant episcopal chairman of the press department of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and as press officer at the Conference's semiannual meetings.

Shannon resigned his church post in 1968, primarily due to his disagreement with the Catholic church's teachings regarding birth control. He accepted a position as vice president of St. John's College, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and married Mrs. Ruth Wilkinson (August 1969) which resulted in his automatic excommunication. However, the new code of Canon Law, promulgated in 1983, following the Second Vatican Council, abolished this penalty and applied retrospectively to Shannon's situation. The new code "suspended" him from his apostolic role as a priest, but did not separate him from the Catholic community.

In 1970 he entered the University of New Mexico school of law, and graduated in 1973. He practiced law in Santa Fe until 1974. He apparently was a member of the Sutin, Thayer & Browne law firm, Albuquerque, during this period.

Shannon returned to the Twin Cities and became the executive director of the Minneapolis Foundation, a community support trust (October 1974). After leaving the Minneapolis Foundation (June 1978) he was appointed associate director of the General Mills Foundation (January 1980) and later that year (July 1980) became the Foundation's vice-president and executive director, a position he held until his retirement in 1988.

Shannon died August 28, 2003 of a cerebral hemorrhage and was buried in Holy Name Cemetery in Medina, Minnesota.

Biographical data was taken from the collection.

From the guide to the James P. Shannon papers., 1862-2004 (bulk 1938-2003)., (Minnesota Historical Society)