The George H. Dunne, S.J., Collection of Articles and Pamphlets consists of works by and about this well-known Jesuit advocate for civil rights.

Father George H. Dunne, S.J., (1906-1998) was a pioneer Catholic voice for civil rights in the United States, a voice ably expressed in numerous essays on the topic. Dunne earned his masters from Gonzaga University in 1932 and spent several years in the mid-1930s in China as a Jesuit missionary. He returned to the United States and earned a doctorate in international relations in 1944 from the University of Chicago. His first academic position was at the University of St. Louis, but his criticism of the policies of racial segregation at the university resulted in his dismissal. He was transferred to Loyola University (Los Angeles), where he was dismissed again, in this case because of his support of a strike of the stage employees union. Father Dunne eventually served at Georgetown University and became the director of the university’s program at Fribourg, Switzerland, until he retired in 1985, after which he lived at the Jesuit community at Loyola Marymount University. Dunne’s article “The Sin of Segregation” was published in the journal Commonweal in 1945 and represented his opening salvo against racial prejudice. The essay made him among the first Catholic clerics to label prejudice a sin and was only the first of many essays condemning racism. Dunne also wrote a play (“Trial by Fire”) on the bombing of an African-American family who had just moved to an all-white neighborhood. His best scholarly work was his study of Jesuits in China, “Generation of Giants” (1962). Dunne’s autobiography “King's Pawn: The Memoirs of George H. Dunne, S.J.” was published in 1990.

4 archival document boxes (1.8 linear feet)

Materials in the Department of Archives and Special Collections may be subject to copyright. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, Loyola Marymount University does not claim ownership of the copyright of any materials in its collections. The user or publisher must secure permission to publish from the copyright owner. Loyola Marymount University does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or of publication rights held by the original author or artists or his/her heirs, assigns, or executors.

Collection is open to research under the terms of use of the Department of Archives and Special Collections, Loyola Marymount University.