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Painting renovations in the
Healy Hall Parlor Corridor, July 1987.
In honor of Georgetown University’s sixth annual Jesuit
Heritage Week ( January 29 - February 5, 2006), the Library presented
the exhibit Highly Decorated: The Work of Brother Francis
C. Schroen, S.J. in the Kerbs Exhibit Area in Lauinger Library.
Celebrating the artwork of Brother Francis C. Schroen, S.J. (1857-
1924), the exhibit featured photographs and documents from the
University Archives and the Virginia M. Keeler Papers, and illustrated
Brother Schroen’s decorative artwork in Healy Hall. Photographs,
old and new, of Gaston Hall, Carroll Parlor, and Hirst Reading
Room were included.
In the illustration photograph (above) included in the exhibit,
an expert artisan works to restore the original paintings of
Brother Schroen. In addition to the ceiling and borders of the
entrance hall, Brother Schroen decorated adjacent rooms, including
Carroll Parlor and the offices now used for Campus Ministry.
According to Virginia M. Keeler, whose thesis topic was an in-depth
study of Brother Schroen’s work, he carved the leaves freehand
into the plaster. In her thesis she quotes Father Patrick Cormican,
S.J., who explains that the decoration of the hall was an “introduction
of the foliage of the most predominant species of trees which
are the pride of the renowned college walks — the beech,
the oak, the sycamore, the chestnut.” The walls of the
hallway are now painted white, a change from the original blue,
but the decorative paintings have all been preserved and restored.
Born in Bavaria, Francis C. Schroen, S.J. was brought to Baltimore
by his parents as an infant. His father was a tailor and wished
Francis to enter the same field. However, after Francis left
school, he worked as a house painter, earning a reputation as
a skilled decorator who specialized in the use of plastics. After
a series of tragedies — the death of two of his children
and then of his wife in childbirth — and financial setbacks,
he applied for admission as a Jesuit lay-brother. Continuing
his decorating work as a member of the Jesuit order, he became
one of the most noted church decorators and painters of his time.
He lent his talents at Georgetown, Fordham, and Boston College,
in the Cathedral of Kingston, Jamaica, and in the Church of the
Holy Name of Jesus on the Loyola campus in New Orleans, among
other places. Brother Schroen is buried in the Jesuit Community
Cemetery on campus.
Virginia “Ginny” Mary Keeler (1932–2004) began
working for Georgetown in 1953. She advanced to the position
of Secretary of the University, the post which she held until
her retirement in 1997. Seven years before she retired, she earned
her master’s degree in liberal studies. Her chosen topic
for her thesis was Brother Francis C. Schroen, S.J., the artist
who decorated the building in which she worked. In her project
proposal she stated, “It would be the focus of my project
to endeavor to collect on slides what survives of his work, and
to explore his life.” After her death, her research papers,
including 150 slides of Schroen’s work, were donated to
the Special Collections of Georgetown University Library where
they now reside as part of the Manuscripts Collection. The exhibit
was on display in Lauinger Library from January 30th – March
31st, 2006. A complete online version of the exhibit can be seen
at: www.library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/kerbs/schroen_06/.
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