Hyattsville, Maryland Historical Summary

St. Gemma’s (Hyattsville, Maryland)

In 1915, the Passionists attempted to establish a foundation in Washington, D.C., to benefit from the importance of the city and The Catholic University of America. World War I postponed acquisition of property until 1932. The residence on five acres at Riggs and Chillurn Road, Hyattsville, Maryland, ten miles from the university, closed in 1947. Approximately 20 student-priests, including Scripture scholar and ecumenist Father Victor Donovan, ecologian and international thinker Father Thomas Berry, as well as past president of Catholic Theological Society and The Sign magazine editor Father Augustine Paul Hennessy had lived there. The property was sold in 1954.