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JULY 13,1886

Father Flanagan is born in County Roscommon, Ireland.

 

Aug 27, 1904

Father Flanagan arrives at Ellis Island in New York City.

 

1912

Father Flanagan is ordained and assigned to the Diocese of Omaha. His first parish assignment was Saint Patrick's in O'Neill, Nebraska.

 

Dec 12, 1917

With a borrowed $90, Father Flanagan rents a home at 25th and Dodge Streets in Omaha, Nebraska, and officially opens Father Flanagan's Boys' Home to five young boys assigned to his care by the court.

 

feb 3, 1918

Father Flanagan prints the first issue of Father Flanagan's Boys' Home Journal.

 

JUNE 1, 1918

Father Flanagan moves the Boys Home to the abandoned German-American Home on 13th Street in South Omaha.

 

March 29, 1921

Father Flanagan sends his first letter to Catholic residents in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa appealing for funds to support the Boys Home.

 

May 18, 1921

Father Flanagan purchases Overlook Farm, 10 miles west of Omaha, as the future site of the Boys Home.

 

Oct 22, 1921

The Boys Home residents complete the move to Overlook Farm.

 

Jan, 1926

Father Flanagan begins his weekly radio show with the Boys' Home Band on Mondays at 6 p.m. on WAOW.

 

Feb 14, 1926

Father Flanagan institutes the first student government at the Boys Home. The boys elect their first mayor and vote to officially change the name of Overlook Farm to Boys Town.

 

march, 1938

Father Flanagan meets with J. Walter Ruben and Dore Schary of MGM to review the Boys Town movie script.

 

june 26, 1938

The cast and crew of the movie Boys Town arrive at the campus for 10 days of location shooting.

 

April 7, 1947

At the invitation of the U.S. War Department, Father Flanagan tours Japan and Korea to investigate the need for aid to war orphans and meets with Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

 

July 11, 1947

Father Flanagan reports the findings of his Asian trip to President Harry S. Truman at the White House.

 

may 15, 1948

Father Flanagan suffers a heart attack and dies in Berlin, Germany.

 

may 21, 1948

Following two funeral Masses on campus, his body is entombed at Boys Town.

 

june 5, 1948

President Truman visits Boys Town and lays a wreath on Father Flanagan's tomb.

 

june 14, 1986

The U.S. Postal Service holds the first-day-of-issue ceremony ​for its new four-cent Father Flanagan stamp at Boys Town, 100 years after Flanagan's birth in Ireland.

 

march 9, 2017

The United States Mint opens sales of the 2017 Boys Town centennial ​commemorative coins.