Edward J. Flanagan
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- For the state senator from Vermont, see Ed Flanagan.
The Reverend Fr. Edward Joseph Flanagan (July 13, 1886 – May 15, 1948) was a priest of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. He was the founder of what is arguably the most famous orphanage, the present-day Girls and Boys Town in Nebraska. Originally called Boys Town, the campus is not just an orphanage anymore but rather now a center for troubled youth.
Father Flanagan was born in Ballymoe, County Roscommon, Ireland. He attended Summerhill College, Sligo, Ireland. He came to the USA in 1904, and became a US citizen in 1919. He attended Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where in 1906 he received a bachelor of arts degree and a master of arts degree in 1908. Father Flanagan studied at St. Joseph's Seminary in Dunwoodie, New York. He continued his studies in Italy and at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, where he was ordained as a priest in 1912. His first parish was in O'Neill, Nebraska where from 1912 he served as an assistant pastor at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. He then moved to Omaha, to serve as an assistant pastor at St. Patrick's Church and later at St. Philomena's Church.
In 1917, in Omaha he founded a Home for Homeless Boys. Because the downtown facilities were inadequate, he established Boys Town, ten miles west of Omaha, in 1921. Under Father Flanagan's direction, Boys Town grew to be a large community with its own boy-mayor, schools, chapel, post office, cottages, gymnasium, and other facilities where boys between ages 10 and 16 could receive an education and learn a trade.
A 1938 movie called Boys Town was produced on the life of Father Flanagan, starring Spencer Tracy, who played Father Flanagan and won an Oscar for his role, and Mickey Rooney. Some scenes from the movie were filmed at Boys Town, and Father Flanagan reviewed the script prior to the filming. A sequel also starring Tracy, Men of Boys Town, was released in 1941.
Father Flanagan received many awards for his work with delinquent and homeless boys. He served on several committees and boards dealing with the welfare of children, and was the author of articles on child welfare. Internationally known, Father Flanagan traveled to Japan and Korea in 1947 to study child welfare problems. He made a similar trip to Austria and Germany and while in Germany, died on May 15, 1948 of a heart attack. He was buried in the Dowd Chapel at Boys Town.
In 1986 the United States Postal Service issued a 4c stamp commemorating Father Edward J. Flanagan. The stamp is still widely in use today.
Father Flanagan is a member of the Nebraska Hall of Fame.
