James Lawrence Kernan (1838–1912) was a theater manager and philanthropist based in Baltimore, Maryland. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland at the southeast corner of East Pratt and High streets, on July 29, 1838. He was educated at the old landmark buildings of Loyola High School and old Loyola College, then at North Calvert Street, between East Madison and Monument Streets, next to St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church, in the Mount Vernon-Belvedere neighborhood, north of downtown. Later attending Mount St. Mary's College, in Frederick County's Emmitsburg campus.