Shea, John Gilmary, 1824-1892

John Dawson Gilmary Shea was born in 1824 in New York City. He attended law school before joining the Society of Jesus in 1848. He then studied at St. John's College (Fordham, NY) and St. Mary's College (Montreal, Canada). Shea left the order in 1852 to pursue a career as a historian. He married Sophie Savage in 1854. During his lifetime, Shea wrote or edited over 250 titles. His most popular works included Discovery and Exploration of the Mississippi Valley (1852), History of the Catholic Missions among the Native American Tribes of the U.S., 1529-1854 (1854), and the four-volume History of the Catholic Church in the U.S. (1886-1892). Shea's articles on Catholic history appeared in U.S. Catholic Magazine, the Catholic World, and the American Catholic Quarterly Review, among others. He was one of the founders of the U.S. Catholic Historical Society, and the first editor of the United States Catholic Historical Magazine. He received honorary degrees from Fordham University and Georgetown University, and was the first recipient of Notre Dame's Laetare Medal in 1883. Shea died in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1892.

From the guide to the John Gilmary Shea papers, 1683-1890, 1853-1890, (University of Dayton)

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