Aerial view of Saint Joseph's campus

175 Years of Purpose, Progress, and Possibility Saint Joseph's University

Join us throughout the year as we celebrate our 175th anniversary.

SJU 175th anniversary logo

Celebrating 175 Years

For 175 years, Saint Joseph’s University has been building up communities, driving purpose and changing lives in Philadelphia and beyond. What started as a 30-person college in a small rectory on Willings Alley now spans three locations, 250+ programs, over 9,000 students and more than 110K alumni. Join us as we celebrate our birthday by marking the milestones and achievements that made this institution into the nationally recognized University it is today.

 

Barbelin Hall at Saint Joseph's University in the 1970's

This Week in St. Joe’s History

From 1851 to 2026, Saint Joseph’s has been changing lives, driving purpose and building up the communities it's a part of. Join us as we dive into moments and milestones from our past that made us who we are today.

175 Years of Saint Joseph’s University

SJU History In the News

Photograph of 7 historic medicinal products

ArtiPhacts

Take a sneak peek into one of North America’s largest collections of pharmacy artifacts in the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy’s Marvin Samson Museum for the History of Pharmacy.

As Time Goes By...

Front entran ce to Old Saint Joseph's Church on Willings Alley
photograph of felix barbelin 1865
Saint Joseph's College at Seventeenth and Stiles Streets
Group photo of 1928 baseball team and coaches.
Group of student in old-time bathings suits
exterior view of berbelin hall 1939
two student in a horse-drawn cart circa 1939
Group photo of 30 faculty members in 1947
Front view of Saint Joseph's College Field House, 1949.
empty classroom in barbelin hall filled with empty desks
Students in their dorm room 1954
student on a old-time pay phone 1958
Student playing guitar in dorm room
Jack Ramsay instructing players on how to play basketball, 1960.
Chemistry students working in a lab, 1963.
Barbelin Hall and Drexel Library
students listening to lecture in an amphitheater
Bellarmine Hall, 1965.
student adjusting very old fashioned radio equipment, 1968.
Members of men's rowing team with Dad Vail Regatta trophy, 1970.
Student studying in dorm room in King Hall, LaFarge Residence Canter, 1975.
Group photo of women's field hockey team, 1978.
Student in cafeteria, 1980.
Student and professor having a discussion during class, 1980.
Group photo of residents of Bronstein Hall, 1980.
Side view of McShain Hall, 1988.

Front entrance to Old Saint Joseph's Church, Willings Alley, Philadelphia, where Saint Joseph's College was founded in 1851.

Felix J. Barbelin, S.J., founder and first president of Saint Joseph's College, 1865.

Saint Joseph's College at Seventeenth and Stiles Streets.

Group photo of 1928 baseball team and coaches.

Members of the Class of 1931 wearing bathing suits.

Exterior view of Barbelin Hall and surrounding grounds taken by student, L. J. Buividas, 1939.

Two students, J. Lincoln Reinhardt and Gus Carr, driving a covered wagon drawn by a horse to promote a football game against Arkansas as a student booster club/pep rally activity.


 

Group photograph of Saint Joseph's College faculty members in the Barbelin quad, 1947.

Front view of Saint Joseph's College Field House, 1949.

Interior view of classroom in Barbelin Hall, 1950.

Dorm room in Barry Hall, 1956. Pictured are Charles Tymon, Myles McDonald, and William Lynch.

Student resident of Barry Hall talking on a pay phone, 1958.

Student resident of Quirk Hall playing guitar in his dorm room, 1960.

Men's Basketball Coach Jack Ramsey and players, 1960.

Graduate chemistry students working in a science laboratory, 1963.

View of Barbelin Hall and the Drexel Library from Finnesey Field, 1963.

Students listening to a lecture in an amphitheater classroom, 1965.

Bellarmine Hall, 1965.

Student in Radio Club, 1968.

Members of men's rowing team with Dad Vail Regatta trophy, 1970.

Student studying in dorm room in King Hall, LaFarge Residence Canter, 1975.

Group photo of women's field hockey team, 1978.

Student getting a meal in Campion cafeteria, 1980.

Student and professor having a discussion during class, 1980.

Members of Bronstein Residence Hall, 1985.

Side view of McShain Hall, 1988.

1 of 26

Support Our Vision for the Future

Give Today