Edward J. Flanagan

Edward Joseph Flanagan ( born July 13, 1886 County Roscommon in Ireland, † May 15, 1948 in Berlin) was a Catholic priest. He is the founder of perhaps the most celebrated American youth welfare institution which bears the name of Girls and Boys Town ( "Girls and Boys town " ), originally Boys Town only ( " Young City " ), near the city of Omaha in Nebraska. The place is not about a simple orphanage, but a center for needy children and adolescents.

Life

Flanagan was born in 1886 in County Roscommon, was in 1904 in the United States and was naturalized in 1919. He attended Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where he graduated in 1908. He then continued his studies in the Seminary of St. Joseph 's Seminary in Dunwoodie continued (New York) and then in Canisianum in Innsbruck and Italy. His first pastorate was in the town of O'Neill, Nebraska, in the parish of St. Patrick 's (the patron saint of Ireland ). As a result, he moved to Omaha, the largest city in Nebraska, where he initially served in another church of St. Patrick's and then the parish of St. Philomena 's headed.

In 1917 he founded in Omaha a ' shelter for homeless boys '. Since the premises in the city center turned out to be quite unsuitable, he founded four years later, in 1921, the " city boy " Boys Town, 16 km west from the city limits of Omaha. Under his leadership, the " Young City " was able to a large community with private underage mayor, schools, chapel, a post office, farms, a sports complex and other facilities where boys between 10 to 16 years receive instruction and learn a trade.

1938 was created under the title Boys Town (English title: Daredevils ) a movie about the life of Edward Flanagan with the actors Spencer Tracy in the role of the priest ( he received an Oscar ) and the then 17 -year-old Mickey Rooney. A sequel, entitled Men of Boys Town was established in 1941.

Edward Flanagan received many honors for his work with youth in need of help boys. He was active in several charities and has written several press articles on the topic. Recognized International, Flanagan traveled in 1947 to Japan and Korea to study local problems of youth services. He undertook a similar journey in the following year to Austria and Germany, during which he on May 15, 1948 in Berlin, died of a heart attack. His grave is located in the Dowd Chapel in the "Girls and Boys Town ."

On the Reception Flanagans in Germany

The effects and influences of Flanagan's " Boys Town " approach in Germany has so far not been studied systematically. Nevertheless, it can be stated that it immediately after the Second World War, various attempts were to transfer Flanagan's " Boys Town " approach to Germany. The initiative for this came from a rule of the U.S. occupation forces, which partly led to fundamental reservations on the German side. The present state of knowledge at the most advanced attempt to transfer this case represents the young city Buchhof founded in Starnberg in 1947, but this was closed for reasons not known today, beginning in the 1960s.

Another assignable attempt to realize the " Boystown " approach in Germany, was undertaken in 1969 with the establishment of the youth village Bökenförde, which continues today under the name Youth Rietberg. Inspired by Flanagan concept was at this boarding school at that time a so-called " Jungenrat " has been introduced.

Moreover, there are in Babenhausen (Hessen) a Edward Flanagan School, which - although the first name is something Germanized - is named in honor of Edward J. Flanagan and Flanaganstraße in the district of Dahlem in Berlin.

Works

• I understand my boys and I raise him right? English: Understanding your boy. 2nd edition. Herder, Freiburg i B. et al 1960