Edward I. Devitt

In 1863, Devitt moved to Washington, D.C., where he became a professor of the classics and mathematics at Washington Seminary (which later became Gonzaga College High School).[4] He was a professor at the school at the time Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, and he marched with the Gonzaga students in the deceased president's funeral procession.[5]

Devitt left Gonzaga in 1869 to complete his studies in philosophy and theology at Woodstock College in Maryland, where he was a member of the first class. He remained at Woodstock for seven years.[5] He was ordained a priest by Archbishop James Roosevelt Bayley on Laetare Sunday in 1875.[6] From 1877 to 1879, he served as prefect of studies at the College of the Holy Cross.[7] On August 15, 1880, he professed his fourth vow.[8]

While Devitt was a professor of philosophy at the College of the Holy Cross, the Jesuit provincial superior, Thomas J. Campbell, paid his annual visit to the college. On January 6, 1891, during his visit, he appointed Devitt as vice rector of Boston College, where he would assume management of the school due to the rector, Robert J. Fulton's, worsening illness. The Jesuits in both Worcester and Boston were surprised by his appointment. Eventually, on September 3, 1891, Devitt's status was changed to rector and president of Boston College by the Jesuit Superior General, Anton Anderledy.[10] During his term, the holdings of the college library were increased by 25%, and the science department was expanded. Boston College's literary magazine, The Stylus, resumed publication in 1893, having been inactive since 1889. Devitt's tenure as president came to an end on July 16, 1894, and he was succeeded by Timothy Brosnahan.[11]

In 1902, Devitt was selected to represent the Maryland-New York Province at the Jesuits' General Congregation of procurators in Rome in 1902.[7]

Devitt also developed a reputation as an authoritative historian of the Catholic Church in the United States and of colonial Maryland. Though his historical interests began as a hobby, Devitt eventually became an editor of the Woodstock Letters, a journal published by the American Jesuits.[7] He became a member of the Columbia Historical Society, the Maryland Historical Society, and the American Catholic Historical Society, the latter of which he was especially active in. While at Georgetown University, toward the end of his life, he received for the university's library one of the most comprehensive collections of books on the history of Maryland. Despite his reputation as an adept historian, his skills in writing were considered lackluster by many of his colleagues.[12] He also served as the curator of Georgetown's historical archives.[9]

Devitt died on January 26, 1920, at Georgetown University, and was buried in the Jesuit Community Cemetery.[13] His largest project, a history of the Maryland-New York Province of the Society of Jesus, remained unfinished at the time of his death. For his historical work, Devitt received the posthumous praise of Bishop Thomas Shahan, the rector of the Catholic University of America and a historian.[12]

• Donovan, Charles F.; Dunigan, David R.; FitzGerald, Paul A. (1990). History of Boston College: From the Beginnings to 1990. Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts: University Press of Boston College. ISBN 0-9625934-0-0. Retrieved February 18, 2020 – via Internet Archive.
• Masterson, Peter V. (December 1920). "The Rev. Edward Ignatius Devitt, S.J. (1840–1920)". Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia. 31 (4): 261–275. JSTOR 44254222.
• Mendizàbal, Rufo (1972). Catalogus Defunctorum [Catalogue of the Dead] (in Latin). pp. 245–274. Archived from the original on February 18, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2020 – via Jesuit Archives.
• "Obituary: Father Edward I. Devitt (1840–1920)" (PDF). Woodstock Letters. 50 (1): 58–64. February 1921. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 18, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2020 – via Jesuit Archives.