The Rev. James Curley, S.J., collection consists of the surviving papers accumulated by Fr. Curley during his nearly 58 years at Georgetown University. The rather small file of correspondence received by Fr. Curley, is supplemented by a few letters written by him. In addition to miscellaneous printed material relating to Curley and Georgetown the collection includes autograph manuscript notes and notebooks on botany, the calendar, chemistry, mathematics, trigonometry, and the teaching of physics at Georgetown. The botanical notebook is titled 'Journal of greenhouse garden' and contains entries dated from 1870 to 1889 recording activities in the university greenhouse, including the time of flowering of plants. The chemistry notebook, 'Interesting chemical experiments 1849', and the physics notebook, 'Journal of the class of physics 1879', both contain illustrative drawings by Fr. Curley. Of paramount interest, however, are the two 'diaries' included in the papers. The first, titled 'Short notices of some of the students of Georgetown College whom I call to mind now in 1875, since the year 1827 when I came to the college' provides brief biographical information for more than 130 students who attended Georgetown during the middle of the 19th century. The second, titled 'Journal of transactions that take place at Georgetown College commencing on July 1st, 1868', records activities and notable events at the university from mid-1868 until Feb. 12, 1889, just six months before the author's death. Also included is a group of photos of the Doyle and Toomey families, both of which numbered Georgetown graduates among their members.
