[Secretary of State Frank Kellogg, in cap and gown, being honored with the Degree of Doctor of Laws, by Georgetown University, standing with three other men]

The 1646 defeat of the Royalists in the English Civil War led to stringent laws against Roman Catholic education and the extradition of known Jesuits from the Province of Maryland that was founded by Jesuit settlers from England in 1634. Jesuits conducted Catholic schools secretly until the end of the American Revolution that allowed for the free practice of religion. Following Benjamin Franklin's recommendation, Pope Pius VI appointed former Jesuit John Carroll as the first head of the Roman Catholic Church in America, even though the papal suppression of the Jesuit order was still in effect. Carroll began meetings of local clergy in 1783 near Annapolis, Maryland and published his proposals for a school at Georgetown in 1787. On January 23, 1789, Carroll finalized the purchase of the property in Georgetown. Future Congressman William Gaston was enrolled as the school's first student on November 22, 1791, and instruction began on January 2, 1792.

During the administrations of Presidents Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover, the National Photo Company supplied photographs of current news events in Washington, D.C., as a daily service to its subscribers. It also prepared sets of pictures on popular subjects and undertook special photographic assignments for local businesses and government agencies. The bulk of the images were created between 1909 and 1932. The photographic files of the National Photo Company, including an estimated 80,000 images (photographic prints and corresponding glass negatives), were acquired by the Library from its proprietor Herbert E. French in 1947.