Christmas Eve 1912

It is the evening of December 24th, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twelve. In the parish of Saint Ignatius Loyola on Park Avenue, parishioners have gathered in the chapel of Loyola's school for midnight mass.

Just before mass began, a woman dressed in black was welcomed by the pastor, the Reverend David Hearn of the Society of Jesus. As they exchanged greetings, she discreetly slipped him an envelope. A witness to the exchange would have thought that the envelope contained a small Christmas offering. Who would have imagined that this particular gift was anything but small?

It was, in fact, the beginning of an extraordinary endeavor, an undertaking that would change the lives of thousands of young men: the advent of a Catholic institution that today ranks among the premiere secondary schools in the United States.


Above: a scan of Rev. David Hearn S.J.'s ledger. The entry, dated December 25, 1912, notes the gift provided at the Christmas midnight mass in Loyola Chapel.


The story of Regis High School of New York city is one of vision and selfless generosity that stretches across the 20th Century. The story began with the gift from Mrs. Hugh Grant on that now distant Christmas Eve. It is a story that is still being written today as Regis continues to offer a rigorous, tuition-free education to Catholic young men.

The Foundress was the widow of Hugh J. Grant, who became Mayor of New York City in 1888. Mayor Grant was elected as a reformer, trusted by all as an honest man in a dishonest era. He served the city well. After two consecutive 2-year terms in City Hall, he became a real estate investor, but died suddenly in 1910 at the age of 58. His widow was left to raise three children—Hugh Jr, Edna, and Julia—in their home on 72nd Street.

An inheritance enabled the Foundress to pursue charitable works, of which Regis High School was to become her family's greatest legacy. Her initial gift of $1.5 million was sufficient to purchase land, construct a building, and establish funds for the support of a high school for Catholic boys.

Regis admitted its first students in September of 1914. Through the decades that followed, the support of the Founding Family became a model of Christian giving. Under a veil of absolute confidentiality, the Foundress—and after her death, her children—contributed essentially all the funds required to support Regis through its first several decades of growth.
Whenever and whatever the need, the family responded without reservation.

With the last members of the Grant family now having gone to their heavenly reward, Regis has become the elite center for academic excellence that the Foundress envisioned.

After honoring the family's wish for confidentiality since 1912, we believe the time has come to recognize those who first created the remarkable gift that Regis was and is for all who walk its halls. In so doing, we salute their embodiment of the Magis, the Ignatian ideal of seeking always to do more for the greater glory of God.

The Magis built Regis, and carried us through our first century. That same spirit now lives on in the generosity of Regians whose regular contributions to the Annual Fund have grown steadily since the 1970's and whose special gifts have helped build our endowment.

Fellow Regians, in a real sense we are all children of the Foundress. Regis today is widely recognized as having one of the most challenging courses of secondary study in the United States. Our graduates go on to pursue their studies at leading colleges and universities, and to become men for others pursuing distinguished careers in law, medicine, government service, academia, the church, and many other fields of endeavor.

The Founding Family's legacy has truly become the legacy of the entire Regis family: our alumni, our students, our parents and friends. It is our privilege to ensure that Regis has the vision and resources required for a second century of success.

As we approach our centennial, I invite our entire family to join me in a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the gift that Regis has been and will continue to be.