Ubiquitously Useful: The Jesuit College of St. Francis Xavier, New York City, 1847-1912

For sixty-five years the College of St. Francis Xavier was one of the largest and most important Jesuit colleges in the United States. It made a much greater contribution to Catholic higher education in New York City than St. John's College (the future Fordham University), producing hundreds of clergy, lawyers, doctors, and businessmen. The Jesuits who ran the college also staffed a busy parish church; served as chaplains in many of the city's hospitals, prisons, and asylums; and founded the Catholic Club of the City of New York, the most important lay Catholic social organization in New York City.