You may also be looking for Edward S. Flanagan, a state senator from Vermont.

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.

Flanagan was born in Ballymoe, County Roscommon, Ireland, 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. Flanagan studied at St. Joseph's Seminary in Dunwoodie, New York, and then continued his studies in Austria and Italy. His first parish was in O'Neill, Nebraska where from 1912 he served as an assistant pastor at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. Then he 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 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 Flanagan, starring Spencer Tracy, who played Flanagan and won an Oscar for his role, and Mickey Rooney. A sequel also starring Tracy, Men of Boys Town, was released in 1941.

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, 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 Edward J. Flanagan. The stamp is still widely in use today.

Father Flanagan is a member of the Nebraska Hall of Fame.

Sources

• Girls and Boys Town official site

1886 births | 1948 deaths | American Roman Catholic priests | Irish-Americans

Edward Flanagan | Edward Flanagan | エドワード・ジョゼフ・フラナガン