Art has long been an important offering in the curriculum at Notre Dame. “Drawing and painting have been always favorite studies at Notre Dame, and improvements will be made to render these studies more attractive during the coming year [1870-1871]. Casts, busts, and valuable paintings will be procured for the use of the drawing class, directed by Prof. C.A.B. Von Weller and Bro. Albert” [University catalog, 1869-1870, page 71].
Art class posed outside with their paintings and drawings, c1860s-1870s
Notre Dame has also been able to attract notable artists to the faculty, such as Luigi Gregori, Rev. Anthony Lauck, CSC, and Ivan Mestrovic, whose works continue to adorn campus.
Rev. Anthony Lauck teaching an Art Sculpture Class in a studio in the Main Building, Spring Semester 1953
Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh and Ivan Mestrovic in an Art Studio, c1960s
Notre Dame also has a long history of collecting art since the 1800s. In 1917, University President Rev. John Cavanaugh, CSC, obtained 136 paintings from Monseigneur Marois of Quebec. Charles Wightman added another 108 masterpieces and became benefactor of the Wightman Memorial Gallery, housed in the University Library (now Bond Hall).
In 1932, the University hired Dr. Maurice H. Goldblatt as director of the Art Gallery. He was a prominent authority on identifying originals from forgeries by examining chemical compositions of the paints and by using such tools as ultraviolet rays, x-rays, spectographs, and lightoscopes. He worked on many high-profile international cases, including forgeries of the Mona Lisa.
Dr. Maurice Goldblatt, Director of the Wightman Art Collection, beside the fireplace of Francisco Borgia II in the Frederick H. Wickett Memorial Collection, c1933
The Snite Museum of Art was dedicated in 1980. Notre Dame continues to collect and preserve important works and host traveling exhibits, including student work. As such, the Snite Museum of Art is a valuable resource to the University and to the broader community.
The University Archives, along with all other Notre Dame administrative offices, will close for the Christmas Celebration on December 24th and reopen on Monday, January 3rd.
CAZA 40/01: Christmas Card to Dr. Albert Zahm from the Wrights of Dayton, Ohio
(a certain Orville and Wilbur), 1909.
Dr. Zahm was a physics professor at Notre Dame from 1883 to 1892. He was a pioneering figure in the development of aviation and aeronautics. His relationship with the Wright brothers, however, deteriorated when he testified against them in favor of Glenn Curtiss in a patent lawsuit in the early 1910s.
John Farley arrived to Notre Dame in the fall of 1897. He came to study for the priesthood, but also had a penchant for athletics. He won nine varsity monogram letters in football, baseball, and track, and was heralded as one of the great Notre Dame athletes for years to come. For over thirty years after his graduation, Farley became a beloved fixture among Notre Dame students as he served as a rector for three dorms.
Letter from John F. Farley to University President Rev. Andrew Morrissey, CSC, requesting information about attending Notre Dame as a student studying for the priesthood, 1897/0202.
In August of 1899, Farley wrote to University President Rev. Andrew Morrissey, CSC, with a dilemma — return to Notre Dame and continue his studies toward becoming a priest or attend Seton Hall, which was closer to home so he could better care for his mother and family [UPEL 75/11]. Morrissey’s response does not exist in the University Archives, but Farley decided to return and ended up spending most of the rest of his life at Notre Dame.
John Farley, Captain of the 1900 Varsity Football Team
Ordained into the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1907, Farley spent around thirty years as a rector of three dorms at Notre Dame: Corby Hall, Walsh Hall, and Sorin Hall, where he reigned as “king.” With his keen athleticism, Farley regularly coached interhall teams to championships. He was gruff, but genial, and in counseling the students, he quickly earned the paternal nickname “Pop.”
Corby Hall Interhall Coaches – Al Feeney, “Pop” Farley, and Knute Rockne, c1913
Rev. John “Pop” Farley, CSC, distributing mail on the exterior steps of Walsh Hall, c1915
In 1937, Pop Farley suffered a stroke, which resulted in the amputation of one of his legs. He spent the rest of his life in the Holy Cross community infirmary and died in 1939. At Farley’s funeral, Rev. Eugene Burke, CSC, said “For over thirty years, wherever Notre Dame students gathered, Father Farley was in the midst of them, always as a cheerful leader or companion. For all those years this kindly prefect, whose work was with and for the students, loved that work as dearly as a scholar ever loved his books, and through it won the respect and admiration of thousands of students.” [PNDP-02-Zz-01; South Bend Tribune, 01/17/1939]
In 1946, Notre Dame honored Pop Farley by naming a new dormitory after him. Farley Hall became a women’s dorm in the second year of co-education (1973). In 1976, the University created the Rev. John “Pop” Farley, CSC, Award, which “is given annually to honor distinguished service [of a faculty member] to student life at the University of Notre Dame.”
[photoshelter-img i_id=”I0000osVERwYpdNU” buy=”1″ caption=”Farley Hall exterior, c1950s.” width=”576″ height=”481″]
During the past several decades, interest in parish histories has grown considerably in America. Throughout the United States, pastors and parishioners have become more keenly aware of the need to preserve the history of their parishes in written form. Consequently, the publication of parish histories has flourished.
Saint Mary’s Church Diamond Jubilee Parish History of Annapolis, Maryland, 1928
The Parish History Collection represents a specialized resource in the holdings of the Archives of the University of Notre Dame. The core collection was originally formed through the dedicated and persistent efforts of Francis P. Clark (1936-1979). The collection includes occasional items which are not strictly parish histories, as, for example, histories of schools, religious congregations, and some diocesan histories. It should be noted that the University Archives holds works on priests, religious orders, lay organizations, dioceses, and schools often affiliated with the parishes as separately organized subject collections. It should also be noted that the University Archives generally does not have the actual parish records and that the parish histories seldom contain much information about individual parishioners.
The parish history collection in the Archives contains information on more than 2000 parishes throughout the United States. The major portion of the Archives collection documents parishes in the Midwest and the Ohio River Valley. The microfilm segment of the Archives collection sometimes duplicates printed items.
Parish History of St. Francis Seraph in Cincinnati, Ohio, 1884 (in German)
The Theodore M. Hesburgh Library, a separate entity from the University Archives, also holds a number of parish histories in their Catholic Americana Parish History Collection. The Library collection contains printed parish histories, and some newspaper accounts, of more than 1300 Catholic parishes throughout the United States and other countries. The Library collection continues to expand through solicitation, purchase, and gifts received.
Both collections contain books, pamphlets, newspapers clippings, and ephemeral materials which frequently describe the history of the parish from its inception to the date of publication of the work. Frequently parish histories celebrate the anniversary of the founding of a parish or the dedication of a church. Also included are jubilee celebrations, financial statements, invitations, general histories, directories, bulletins, and some photographs, which are mainly from the Indiana and Kentucky region. Most items in the collection reflect activities of parishes beginning in the mid-nineteenth century. Rarely do items pertain to parishes prior to 1800.
Cover of the Souvenir of the Centennial Celebration of St. Patrick’s (Old Cathedral),
New York, New York, April 23, 1909
Parish histories also are found in other collections in the University Archives, including the following collections:
Grover Miller was the photo editor of the 1916 Dome yearbook. Like many other students at the time, Miller kept a scrapbook of the photos he took and collected and various ephemera he collected. However, unlike other students, Miller’s position with the Dome meant that he collected photographs beyond his sphere of friends and interests. Fortunately for us today, this scrapbook richly documents student and campus life at Notre Dame in the mid-1910s.
Students working on the Dome yearbook –
unidentified, Ray Humphrey, and Grover Miller, c1915
Photography was also progressing technologically, making it easier and more practical to capture action, candids, and interiors. This technology allowed for the people’s personalities to show through the photographs. This was more difficult to achieve in the 1800s with long exposure times and complicated chemical processes.
Two students setting wooden pins in the Walsh Hall Bowling Alley, c1915
Grover Miller donated his scrapbook to the University Archives in the 1970s and it continues to be a valuable resource as it gives a very unique insight into life at Notre Dame around 1915.
A group of students, including Frank Rydzewski, George Waage, and Ray Miller,
eating Chinese food in a dorm room?, c1915
Notre Dame’s relationship with the military also extends to the athletic fields. Many Notre Dame traditions and myths were born out of football games with Army. In 1912, newly appointed Athletic Director Jesse Harper contacted West Point about arranging a football game for the 1913 season, which began a long and fierce rivalry.
Contract between Notre Dame Athletic Director Jesse Harper and West Point football team manager H.F. Loomis for the Notre Dame vs. Army football game, 1913
While Notre Dame was certainly the underdog, her team was far from untalented and struggling. Notre Dame had already begun to make a name for herself on the football field with players like Louis “Red” Salmon (1903 third-team All American) and the 1909 Western Champions. From 1906-1913, Notre Dame lost only three games, tied five, and won fifty-one. The 1913 season would give Notre Dame an opportunity to showcase her talent outside of the Midwest, with formidable opponents such as Army, Penn State, and Texas.
Football team members and boosters in Kingston, New York, en route to West Point, 1913/1101. Includes Ray Eichenlaub, Charles (Gus) Dorais, George (Hullie) Hull, Art (Bunny) Larkin, Keith (Deac/Deak) Jones, Joe, Gush (Fred Gushurst?), Em (Emmett Keefe?), Charles (Sam) Finegan, Paul (Curly) Nowers, Allen (Mal) Elward, Knute Rockne, and Mike Calnon
Notre Dame took Army off-guard with plays using the newly-developed forward pass. While this technique had been used in other games by other schools, Quarterback Gus Dorais and Knute Rockne often receive credit for its invention because of this high-profile opponent.
Football Game Scene – ND vs. Army, 1913/1101. Caption: “The completion of one of the startling ‘[Gus] Dorais to Rockne’ passes which beat the Army in 1913 and modified the entire game of football. Here’s Knute making a touchdown.”
After the 1924 Army game, sports writer Grantland Rice forever changed the name of Don Miller, Harry Stuhldreher, Jim Crowley, and Elmer Layden to “The Four Horsemen.”
Dome yearbook 1925, page 291: Reprint of Grantland Rice’s famous article after the 1924 ND vs. Army football game
Student George Strickler, who worked as a press assistant for the Athletic Department, actually had put the bug about the nickname of the Four Horsemen into Grant’s ear in the press box. After the game, Strickler arranged to have these four players photograph taken on top of actual horses, thus producing one of the most widely recognized photographs in sports history.
The Four Horsemen posed on horses — Don Miller, Elmer Layden, Jim Crowley, and Harry Stuhldreher, 1924
Much lore surrounds the 1928 Army game when Coach Knute Rockne took a losing team into the locker room at halftime and gave a rousing speech, summoning the memory of George Gipp, which turned the tide for Notre Dame. No one really knows what was said in that locker room or between Gipp and Rockne in 1920, but Rockne later published his “Win One for the Gipper” speech in Collier’s magazine. Over the years it became ingrained in American culture, strengthened by its presence in the media, particularly Ronald Reagan’s portrayal of George Gipp in the 1940 movie Knute Rockne All American.
Collage of Notre Dame Players and the Army Mule after the 1928 Army Football Game
After 1947, Notre Dame and Army met less often on the football field, only a handful of times per decade. Saturday November 20, 2010, the two teams will meet again in Yankee Stadium, which was the venue for this rivalry every year from 1925-1946, with the exception of playing at Soldier Field in 1930.
Notre Dame has had a long military tradition. The administration organized student military units early on as a means of encouraging physical activity, leadership, and discipline. In 1859, a company of students were organized under the name “Continental Cadets.”
Dome yearbook 1917, page 133: “Notre Dame at War” drawing featuring soldiers in World War I loading a cannon
During the Civil War, many Holy Cross priests, brothers, and sisters served as chaplains and nurses. Most notable of these was Rev. William Corby, who gave absolution to the troops of the Irish Brigade before battle at Gettysburg. Rev. Edward Sorin worked hard to make sure the Holy Cross clerics weren’t conscripted into actual fighting and gained support from Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant. Not only did bearing arms conflict with the vocation of the religious, Notre Dame could ill afford to loose so many clerics and still remain functional as a university. While the Notre Dame company did not serve as a whole unit, many individual students and alumni took up arms in the Civil War — most for the Union, but some for the Confederacy.
Notre Dame Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Post 569 Veterans, c1894-1897. Seated (left to right) Brother Leander (James McLain), Lieutenant Colonel W.A. Olmstead, Rev. William Corby, CSC, Rev. Peter Paul Cooney, CSC, Brother John Chrysostom, CSC (Mark A. Wells) Standing (left to right): Brother Benedict, CSC (James Mantell?), Brother Ignatius, CSC (Ignace Meyer), Colonel William Hoynes, Brother Raphael, CSC, Brother Cosmos, CSC (Nicholas A. Bath), Brother Eustachius, CSC (John McInerny)
After the Civil War, interest in student military organizations on campus ebbed and flowed. In the 1880s, the a company in the senior department organized under the name “Hoynes Light Guards,” while the junior department were called “Sorin Cadets.”
Student Jose Gallart wearing a Sorin Cadet military uniform, c1900
In 1898, two-hundred and fifty students organized to be prepared to volunteer for the Spanish-American War. Often drilling with the military units, “The university band will also be prepared to go.” [PNDP 30-Mi-02; Catholic News, NY, NY, 04/03/1898]
In 1910, the United States War Department sent retired Captain R.R. Stogsdall to Notre Dame to officially teach military tactics and instruction on campus. This appointment moved Notre Dame toward having more professionally organized military companies. Boys under the age of 17 were required to participate in such companies, while it was voluntary for collegiate-level students.
The onset of World War I brought about much militarist patriotism among Notre Dame students, faculty, and clergy. Participation among students still remained voluntary, yet the companies swelled in number. Rev. Matthew Walsh and Rev. Charles O’Donnell, both later University Presidents, served as chaplains. O’Donnell’s helmet hangs in the War Memorial entrance to the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
Student Military Company C at rifle practice in trenches on campus with the Log Chapel and Old College in the background, 1915-1916. This photo was published in the 1916 Dome yearbook, page 184.
Notre Dame’s relationship with the Navy began in 1927 and strengthened when University President Hugh O’Donnell “offered all of the facilities of this institution to the government. In April of 1943 the V-7 Indoctrination School was created and the first group of 900 men, all college graduates enlisted for one month as apprentice seamen.” [PNDP 30-Mi-02; “Notre Dame’s Naval ROTC Unit,” Notre Dame, Fall 1959]. The relationship with the Navy helped to sustain Notre Dame at a time that was economically dire for the entire country.
Naval training units in ranks on South Quad during World War II
After World War II, such intense military training ended at Notre Dame. In the 1950s, the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) was established at Notre Dame. However, student sentiment towards the military heated up with the rest of the country during the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s.
Anti-Vietnam war protesters at the annual ROTC military review, May 1968
Notre Dame’s relationship with the military, its supporters and detractors, have historically reflected national sentiment and will probably continue to do so. Notre Dame is one of a few universities with a ROTC program currently represented by all branches of the military — Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force. Today we honor those veterans who have served our great country, particularly the sons and daughters of Notre Dame.
Army ROTC training with a helicopter on campus, August 2002
Sources:
Dome yearbook PNDP 30-Mi-02, including the following articles:
—St. Joseph County Forum, June 18, 1859
–Letter to Abraham Lincoln from Fr. Sorin, September 28, 1863
—Catholic News, NY, NY, 04/03/1898
–“US Army Man to Drill Notre Dame Students,” South Bend Tribune, July 9, 1910
–“Notre Dame Classes Largest in History,” South Bend Times, September 20, 1910
–The Army Reserve Officer Training Program: A Century’s Development at Notre Dame,” Notre Dame, Summer 1959
–“Notre Dame’s Naval ROTC Unit,” Notre Dame, Fall 1959
–“Notre Dame and the Draft,” by Virgil L. Levy, Lincoln Herald, Summer 1977 “God? Country? Notre Dame?,” by John Monczunski, Notre Dame Magazine, Spring 2001 GFCL 49/20 GSBB 2/07 GMIL 1/09 GDIS 22/49 GNDL 8/41 GMDG 12/34
For more information about Notre Dame in the Civil War, see also Blue for the Union and Green for Ireland: The Civil War Flags of the 63rd New York Volunteers, Irish Brigade, by Peter J. Lysy, Archivist, University of Notre Dame; as well as the blog and new book by James M. Schmidt: http://notredamecivilwar.blogspot.com/
During the summer of 1976, student Paul Linehan made his senior art project a reality before heading off to Harvard for graduate school. The University implemented Linehan’s design to beautify the quad enclosed by Nieuwland Science Hall, LaFortune Hall, Crowley Hall, and the Hayes Healy Center. The deign included brick-paved walkways and an hexagonal brick fountain.
Student Paul Linehan looking over plans for Crossroads Park, 1976
The Freshman Basketball Team gathered around the Crossroads Park Fountain, 1977
On May 11, 1980, Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh rededicated the Crossroads Park as the Joseph W. Evans Memorial Crossroads Park in honor of the late philosophy professor. Evans “was the founding director of the University’s Jacques Maritain Center and was the first recipient in 1969 of the Sheedy Award for Excellence in Teaching in the College of Arts and Letters” [press release in PNDP 10-Ev-1].
Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh rededicating Crossroads Park as the Joseph W. Evans Memorial Crossroads Park, 1980/0511.
In the late 1990s to early 2000s, the University re-landscaped this quad and the fountain was removed. The plaque honoring Professor Evans has since moved to outside of Malloy Hall.
Students gathered in Crossroads Park with Crowley Hall in the background, c1970s
Early in the 1880’s Professor James F. Edwards, librarian of the University of Notre Dame, aware that irreplaceable items pertaining to the history of Catholicism in America were constantly in danger of being lost through neglect, carelessness or willful destruction, began to implement a plan which he had conceived for establishing at Notre Dame a national center for Catholic historical materials. The frail but hard-working Edwards set about acquiring all kinds of relevant items, including relics and portraits of the bishops and other missionary clergymen, a reference library of printed materials, and an extensive manuscript collection. Notre Dame’s ambitious scheme for an official American Catholic archives had to be given up in 1918 when Canon Law was changed to require each bishop to maintain his own archives.
James Edwards acquired the The Archdiocese of New Orleans Collection in the 1890s and it remains a very important collection in the University Archives. The first two items in the collection are dated 1576 and 1633 and are two of the oldest documents in the University Archives. There are a number of items for the period from 1708 to 1783, but the great bulk of material pertains to the years 1786 through 1803. Consulted mainly by historians of the Catholic Church, this collections also proves useful also to secular historians because of the close connection between Church and State which existed during both the French and Spanish colonial regimes in Louisiana and Florida.
1633 De Perea, el Padre Fray Estevan, Guardian of the Province of New Mexico
to Very Rev. Francis de Apodaca, Commissary General of all New Spain,
of the order of St. Francis.
In the 1960s, with the aid of a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the University Archives microfilmed the Records of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas, 1576-1803, containing the early documents from the New Orleans collection. A digital edition is now available to researchers online with abstracts in English summarizing the original Spanish, French, and Latin documents. The online guide gives extensive information on the provenance of the collection, the history of the diocese, and the explanation of how to use the collection. Researchers can browse by date or name or can search by keyword. For more information, please contact the Archivist and Curator of Manuscripts.
<img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.archives.nd.edu/mano/0002/00000045.gif" alt="" width="434" height="549" 1719 Feb. 14 Nepuouet, Galpand, notary in the court of Montreuil Bellay and Arpairteur sworn resident at the royal seat of Senechaussee de Saumur and Andre Hullin, notary royal. Rochettes, (France)
A marriage agreement between Perrine Bazille widow of Jean Douet, laborer, mother and guardian of Marie, Perrine, Francoise and Anne Douet her children and those of the deceased on the one side; and on the other side Gille Beaumont, laborer. The parties live at Rochettes, parish of Concourson. Property arrangements were made. (This document was drawn up in France).
The growing student population in the 1920s created demand for a new dining hall, a place where the entire student body could gather in one place on campus. The result was the South Dining Hall in the space formerly occupied by the Notre Dame Farms on South Quad. Planning for a new facility began around 1925 after the fire of the horse stables.
South Dining Hall was completed in 1927 and soon became an important part of student life at Notre Dame. Previously, students would eat in the refectory in Main Building, in the Badin Hall cafeteria, or at off-campus establishments. The new dining hall would be a place for students to bond in fraternity and a place for guests of the University to dine. In addition to the two wings, there was a cafeteria in the center (the old Oak Room, which was removed during the renovation in the late 1990s), and a faculty dining lounge on the second floor.
In 1928 The Hotel Monthly wrote an incredibly detailed report on the new dining hall at Notre Dame. The page above talks about the methodical lunch hour, with students taking their cues from flashing lights and ringing bells. Student waiters served the students, who were allowed seconds and thirds, if they desired, something that was virtually unheard of at other institutions.
Interior view of the East Wing of South Dining Hall with place settings at every seat, c1927.
Notre Dame has long used students workers to help with the many tasks in the dining hall to earn money for tuition and room and board. In the 1930s, football players also worked in the dining hall.
Football players James (Jim) McGoldrick and Harry Stevenson working as waiters in South Dining Hall, c1936-1938.
Years ago, students were assigned seats. Today, students sit where they please, but as part of human nature, they tend to gravitate to their usual tables. You can often hear students give their friends directions as to where they’ll be sitting once they get through the chaos of the food stations. For instance, “right/right” means the West Hall on the northern end.
Dining Hall pass belonging to Lawrence S. Palkovic for the East Hall, 1932.
According to this 1940 pass, theft of dining hall items could result in suspension or dismissal from the University:
Below was a typical weekly menu for the dining hall around the time it opened in 1927 along with statistics of the daily usages of common items.
Sources:
“History, Tradition, and the New Dining Hall,” Notre Dame Alumnus, November 1927
“The New Dining Hall, Architecturally,” by Professor Francis Kervick, Notre Dame Alumnus, November 1927 PNDP 10-So-02: “Impressions of University of Notre Dame Dining Halls,” by John Willy, The Hotel Monthly, 1928 CNDS 1/23 GBBY 45F/2067 GNDL 7/38 GSOL 1/10
Art class posed outside with their paintings and drawings, c1860s-1870s
Rev. Anthony Lauck teaching an Art Sculpture Class in a studio in the Main Building, Spring Semester 1953
Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh and Ivan Mestrovic in an Art Studio, c1960s
Dr. Maurice Goldblatt, Director of the Wightman Art Collection, beside the fireplace of Francisco Borgia II in the Frederick H. Wickett Memorial Collection, c1933
Students working on the Dome yearbook –
1633
