George Holmes Maxwell, class of 1888 and member of the Board of Trustees, was a successful Boston patent attorney, financier, inventor, and shoe manufacturer who believed the best way to promote "intelligent patriotism" in future generations would be to create a fund of $500,000 for SU to establish a "School of American Citizenship." In December 1928 Maxwell made an agreement with Chancellor Charles Flint and Dr. Frederick Davenport to erect a citizenship building.
