Catching up on various bloggery this Sunday, this item from Patrick McNamara caught my eye — and might raise an eyebrow or two.

As Washington prepares to welcome the country’s first African-American president, it seems the city had another African American president in the 19th century — at Georgetown University. He was Fr. Patrick Healy:

In 1874, he was appointed president. Over the next eight years, Healy turned Georgetown into a national university by modernizing the curriculum, expanding the law and medical schools, fundraising drives, creating an alumni association, and major construction projects. After Georgetown he served in various parishes until his death. Of his three brothers, one became a bishop, another was rector of Boston’s cathedral, and a third a Coast Guard captain; two sisters entered religious life. The Healys were an impressive family, but few knew that their mother was African-American and had been a slave on their father’s plantation. In fact, their ancestry didn’t become public knowledge until the 1950’s. Professor James O’Toole at Boston College has written a fascinating book about the family titled Passing for White: Race, Religion and the Healy Family, 1820-1920. One final tidbit is worth noting. In 1872, Father Healy received former First Lady (and ex-slaveholder) Julia Gardner Tyler (1820-1889) into the Catholic Church.