Event, Exhibit Commemorate Chesterton’s 1930 Visit to Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – The G.K. Chesteron Society of Worcester and the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at the College of the Holy Cross will present “Chesterton in America and at Holy Cross,” Thursday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the Rehm Library. The event is free and open to the public.

The evening, which celebrates the 80th anniversary of famed British writer and Catholic convert Gilbert Keith Chesterton’s visit to Holy Cross, will feature presentations from Rev. Ian Boyd, C.S.B., founder and editor of The Chesterton Review, and Dermot Quinn, professor of history at Seton Hall University. Both scholars are associated with the G.K. Chesterton Institute for Faith and Culture at Seton Hall.

Chesterton authored more than 100 books and was a literary and social critic, historian, playwright, novelist, Catholic theologian and apologist, debater, and mystery writer. He was the world’s most famous Catholic convert at that time. In December 1930, on his second tour of the U.S., Chesterton visited Holy Cross, where he addressed the College and was adopted as an “Honorary Crusader.” Following the speech, Chesterton planted a white cedar tree, since known as the “Chesterton Tree,” in front of O’Kane Hall.

Fr. Boyd is an internationally recognized Chesterton scholar and the author of The Novels of G.K. Chesterton (London, 1975). He is a professor of English and president of the G.K. Chesterton Institute for Faith & Culture at Seton Hall University.

Quinn is on the board of advisors of the G. K. Chesterton Institute for Faith & Culture and a member of the editorial board of The Chesterton Review.  He has written extensively on Chestertonian themes and has authored three books: The Irish in New Jersey: Four Centuries of American Life (Rutgers University Press, 2004); Patronage and Piety: The Politics of English Roman Catholicism, 1850-1900 (Stanford University Press/Macmillan, 1993) and Understanding Northern Ireland (Baseline Books, Manchester, UK, 1993).

In conjunction with the event, the Holy Cross Department of Archives and Special Collections has mounted an exhibit of archival photographs of Chesterton’s visit and rare editions of his books in the Library’s Main Reading Room. Co-curated by Robert Dornfried ‘11 and Rebecca Camargo ‘12, the exhibit can be viewed during normal library hours.

To learn more about this program and other Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture events, visit www.holycross.edu/crec. About The Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture:

Established in 2001 and housed in Smith Hall, the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture provides resources for faculty and course development, sponsors conferences and college-wide teaching events, hosts visiting fellows, and coordinates a number of campus lecture series. Rooted in the College's commitment to invite conversation about basic human questions, the Center welcomes persons of all faiths and seeks to foster dialogue that acknowledges and respects differences, providing a forum for intellectual exchange that is interreligious, interdisciplinary, intercultural, and international in scope.  The Center also brings members of the Holy Cross community into conversation with the Greater Worcester community, the academic community, and the wider world to examine the role of faith and inquiry in higher education and in the larger culture.