Monsignor Joseph L. O'Brien papers

Joseph Laurence O'Brien, a Roman Catholic priest, author, and educator, was born in 1884 in Avoca, Pennsylvania, to Thomas F. O'Brien and Sarah A. Morahan. O’Brien was the oldest of five children. His brother, Reverend William O’Brien was a priest for the Diocese of Brooklyn, in New York. His sister, Mary Gerald, was a nun with the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Greenville, South Carolina. In 1910, O’Brien earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and in 1912, a Master of Arts degree from the International Catholic University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He was ordained in Fribourg, in 1912. Originally, O’Brien was a seminarian for the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania. However, Bishop Henry Northrop adopted O'Brien to the Diocese of Charleston in 1910 and he came to Charleston in 1914. O'Brien served at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Charleston, South Carolina, from 1914-1929. Along with Father James J. May, O’Brien founded Bishop England High School (BEHS) in Charleston, and served as its rector from its beginning in 1915 until 1947. He was responsible for the original construction of the BEHS Calhoun Street campus, the construction of a brick parochial school building on St. Philip Street for St. Patrick Parish, and renovation of St. Patrick church and rectory. In 1930, in recognition of his work in Catholic education, O’Brien was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, and earned the nickname “Doc.” He was made a domestic prelate by Pope Pius XI in 1934. O'Brien served St. Patrick Parish, Charleston, from 1929 until his death in 1952.

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