Tag: student life

Football Game Watches

As the Irish football team has another road game this week, those not traveling to the game will have to catch it somewhere else.  In this day and age, football fans have a variety of media options to follow the score through television, radio, and the internet, making it virtually possible to get updates in every corner of the planet with decent reception.

In the early 20th century, students and fans heard the news from telegraph wires reporting the score.  They would gather in downtown South Bend at popular hang-outs such as Jimmie & Goat’s Cigar Store, the Palais Royale, and the Oliver Hotel, to hear the play-by-play action.

Football Game Day – Notre Dame vs. Army, 1915/1106 Students and fans gathered outside of Jimmie & Goat’s Cigar Store getting a wired play-by-play report of the game, updated on a chalkboard on the street.

By the 1920s, Notre Dame offered game watches to students and the local community inside the Fieldhouse with the full fanfare of the Marching Band.  If the Band happened to join the team on the road, a local orchestra might fill-in to provide musical entertainment.  In 1924, Notre Dame acquired an electric Gridgraph, which used lights to demonstrate the play-by-play account.  Various student organizations ran the Gridgraph and covered its operation cost by charging an admission fee, generally under twenty-five cents.  The University Archives of Michigan and Missouri have good examples of what an electronic Gridgraph looked like.

The 1922 homecoming game versus Indiana at Cartier Field was the the first Notre Dame game broadcast by radio and was aired on South Bend’s WGAZ (later WSBT).  However, “it is unknown whether anyone even heard this broadcast.”  As radio was a brand new medium, few households actually owned radios and there were no ratings reports at the time.  In 1923 and 1924, New York stations broadcasted the Notre Dame versus Army and Princeton.  The first Notre Dame home game to be broadcast outside of South Bend was the 1924 game versus Nebraska at Cartier Field on Chicago’s WGN [Gullifor, pages 4-6].  This new medium would revolutionize game “watching,” bringing fans closer to the action, and eventually making the Gridgraph obsolete.

Unlike other schools in the 1930s and 1940s, Notre Dame did not give any one radio network exclusive rights to broadcast the football games.  Instead, the field was open to many different broadcasters around the country.  This in turn helped strengthen Notre Dame’s unique position of having a nationwide fan base, whose groundwork was started even before Knute Rockne.  This open broadcasting policy also had some seemingly eternal consequences for Notre Dame:  “fan expectations for national championships and … the Irish football coach work[ing] in a fishbowl” [Sperber, page 453].

Football Program Cover:  Notre Dame vs. Syracuse, 1961/1118 Ted Drake drawing of radio announcer Joe Boland.

Former Irish football player Joe Boland established the Irish Football Network on the radio through WSBT in 1947.  Boland grew the coverage to include 190 stations, including the American Armed Forces Network, which broadcasted the games worldwide.  The Mutual Broadcasting System “outbid the Irish Football network for exclusive rights to the 1956 home season.”  Despite Boland’s tireless work to grow the Irish Football Network and dedication to his alma mater, Mutual could offer Notre Dame more revenue and broader coverage on over twice the number of radio stations [Gullifor, page 51].

Also during this time, fans could see game highlights as part of new reels at the movie theater.  Fans in select cities could watch the entire game in theaters for weeks after the game took place.  For instance, the 1927 Notre Dame versus Southern California football game, held at Soldier Field in Chicago, was filmed and screened days afterwards at the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium.  On a special “USC night,” three days after the game had been played, an audience of 4500 came to watch the game film, complete with the USC band providing musical accompaniment (spoiler alert:  ND won the game 7-6)  [Los Angeles Times, “Film Show Delayed by Union Row,” 11/30/1927].

The first televised game was home against Iowa in 1947.  University President Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh and Athletic Director Edward “Moose” Krause had dreams of having regular national television coverage of Notre Dame football games.  However, they were deterred by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), who banned “individual deals by member schools” [“Prime Time” by Richard Conklin, Notre Dame Magazine, Autumn 1991].

Notre Dame Closed Circuit Football Network brochure announcing game watches, 1955

From the 1950s-1980s, Notre Dame worked within the NCAA’s restrictions regarding the number of nationally broadcast games a year.  Regional coverage was an option, as was closed-circuit networks.  In 1955, Notre Dame offered a live closed-circuit television network, which broadcast three games to select hotel ballrooms across the country.  The lucky cities to receive coverage were Baltimore, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Rochester (NY), St. Louis, and Washington, D.C.

A 1984 US Supreme Court decision overturned the NCAA’s stronghold over national television contracts with individual schools.  In 1990, Notre Dame became the first college to sign an exclusive television contract with a national broadcast company (NBC) to televise the home games.  More recently, other conferences and schools have brokered similar deals by creating their own presence on cable and the internet, including the Big Ten Network and Texas’ Longhorn Network.  Notre Dame also offers exclusive content online, and is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years.  As technology advances and as more people demand 24 hour content from their favorite school, it is clear that there is a lot of potential for the fan experience to continue to evolve and expand.

Football Game Day – Notre Dame vs. Michigan, 1982/0918 (Notre Dame’s first home night game) Portable devices offer access to extended game coverage, even while in the stands.  A woman is watching the game on a portable television, while the man in front of her is listening to it on a transistor radio.


Sources:
The Fighting Irish on the Air:  The History of Notre Dame Football Broadcasting by Paul Gullifor
Shake down the Thunder by Murray Sperber
Los Angeles Times, “Film Show Delayed by Union Row,” 11/30/1927
PNDP 3020-B-01
PNDP 3020-G-01
GMIL 1/08
PATH Football Programs
PATH Closed Circuit Television Network
GRMD 11/42

Jewish Students at Notre Dame

The student population at Notre Dame has always consisted of religions and denominations other than Catholic, including Jewish.  Statistics of ethnic and religious backgrounds of Notre Dame students have not always been maintained, so exact numbers and percentages over the years are difficult to ascertain.

In 1878, Scholastic reported that the few Jewish students at Notre Dame celebrated Pasch:  “It was remarked that all, even the youngest, kept a strict fast on the eve.  They had recreation the the festival itself, and a fine day to enjoy it” [Scholastic, 04/2/1878, page 554].  In 1933, Scholastic reported that there were thirty-four Jewish students at Notre Dame out of 2547 total students [Scholastic, 10/20/1933, page 8].

Football Team outside of Sorin Hall, 1896.
Back row: Patrick E. Reardon, Angus D. McDonald, Trainer Housler, Thomas J. O’Hara, and William A. Fagan
Middle row: John (Jack) Mullen, Frank Hanley, Thomas T. Cavanaugh, Francis Lyons, Jacob Rosenthal, Frederick J. Schillo, John C. Murphy
Front row: Charles Moritz, Robert Emmett Brown, Michael T. Daly, Frank E. Hering, William C. “Vic” Kegler

The University Presidents Letters Collection contains much correspondence between parents of students at Notre Dame and the University Administration.  Among those letters are a handful from Jewish parents inquiring about Notre Dame’s policy of attending Catholic religious services.  In 1905, University President Andrew Morrissey responded that while students are required to attend Catholic services, they are not obliged to participate.

Jacob Rosenthal (pictured above) may have been Notre Dame’s first Jewish football player.  The University Presidents’ Letters contain a number of letters from Rosenthal, his father Samuel, and his brother (possibly Moses, who also attended Notre Dame).  We learn from Rosenthal that after graduating from Notre Dame, he attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania and later worked for Catholic and Jewish hospitals.

Unfortunately, levels of discrimination and harassment are often inevitable when peoples of different cultures and religions coexist.  In 1903, Mr. Bromberg removed his sons George and Louis from Notre Dame after allegations of mistreatment because of their Jewish faith [UPEL 106/16].

Athletic Director, Football and Track Coach Knute Rockne, a Norwegian Protestant who later converted to Catholicism, “had many Jewish friends” and “was a Judeophile, often speaking before Jewish groups and for Jewish causes, and also recruiting Jewish players for the Fighting Irish.”  Among his athletes with Jewish backgrounds were Clarence Kaplan, Abie Zos, Norm Herwit, and Marchmont (Marchy) Schwartz.  “As the master coach always said, not all Fighting Irish hailed from Ireland.” [Sperber, pages 299, 415, 561].

Football Players Frank Carideo, Joe Savoldi, Marchmont (Marchy) Schwartz, and Marty Brill, c1929-1930

The first known Notre Dame graduate to become a Rabbi was Albert Plotkin.*  Plotkin graduated in 1942 and continued his studies at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, where he was ordained.  Throughout Plotkin’s career, he became known for promoting interfaith dialog and understanding.

National Summa Fundraising Kickoff Luncheon, c1967-1968
Professor Frank O’Malley (left) and Rabbi Albert Plotkin (right)

Plotkin credits his education at Notre Dame for instilling students with “a feeling that religion must become part and parcel of one’s entire being.  It cannot be put away in a small corner and opened up once a week and then closed.  It must become a way of life and a way of thinking which inspires one to feel one’s moral responsibility to one’s community.  Going to a Catholic University made me rethink my own faith — the power it must play and the function it must use in my own life.”  He continued, “I shared in exchange of ideas, of faith and of knowledge which was important to my inner security and to my understanding of my fellow Catholics.  I learned to appreciate many of the profound qualities of their faith, and an understanding of their heritage and the realization of the bridge between Judaism and Christianity” [Plotkin, Notre Dame, Winter 1961, pages 4-5, 18].

* Updated 12/19/2016:  Digitizing the Commencement programs has uncovered a few men who were already Rabbis at the time their graduate degrees were conferred:  Rabbi Philip Shraga Greenstein (MA 1930), Rabbi Maurice Noah Stiskin (MA 1932), and Rabbi Hyman Jacob Coehn (MS 1943).

Sources:
PNDP 05-Je-01
PNDP 83-Nd-3s – “What Notre Dame Means to Me…” by Rabbi Albert Plotkin, Notre Dame, Winter 1961, pages 4-5, 18
UPEL 71/01
UPEL 93/09
UPEL 106/16
UPEL – Rosenthal correspondence
Scholastic
Shake down the Thunder by Murray Sperber
GBBY 81G/02
GBBY 81F/0491
GNDM 1298

Notre Dame Summer School

Notre Dame established a summer school program in 1918 “to help Religious teachers to make their work more interesting and more effective” [UPWC 41/44].  On a deeper level, the summer school program had a few other important side effects.  The program was open to both men and women and offered undergraduate and graduate coursework.  For decades, the majority of students were clergy from various congregations across the country:  primarily sisters along with priests and brothers.  These women were among Notre Dame’s first female students and alumnae.  Many of the summer school students were high school teachers and would promote Notre Dame to their college-bound male students.  Additionally, the Summer School program became a cornerstone in the foundation of the Graduate School.

“The first class of doctoral students in chemistry and the largest contingent in the newly created 1918 Summer Session for Advanced Studies,” including Rev. Julius A. Nieuwland, CSC (front row, center). (Caption from Schlereth, page 184)

From the beginning, coursework was available in most areas of study, including business, science, and liberal arts.  Since most of the students were secondary educators, the summer school program also offered specialized courses such as education and library science that were not normally offered during the regular school year.

Nuns and other students in a classroom (probably in Main Building) with audio-visual equipment during Summer School at the University of Notre Dame, c1950

In 1960, “One out of sixty-five nuns in the United States is improving her skills as a teacher or administrator at the University of Notre Dame this summer” with a total of 1373 nuns enrolled.  “The sisters, whose religious garb contrasts sharply with the Bermuda shorts and sports shirts of Notre Dame’s lay students, constitute the largest block of the 2877 summer school enrollment.  The student body currently numbers 268 priests, 79 seminarians, 163 Brothers, 904 lay men, and 90 lay women.”  Four-fifths of the summer session students were graduate students in 1960. [PNDP PR 60-55]

Two pages from a scrapbook “Sisters’ Summer Session at the University of Notre Dame,” by Sr. M. Madeline Dosmann, 1961

As time went on, demand for the summer school program declined.  The program was “originally intended to provide an opportunity for religious teachers to finish their baccalaureates in order to meet certification requirements then being imposed by many states” [Schlereth, page 161].  Its function perhaps was not as needed in later years as the numbers of clergy, particularly sisters, declined and the numbers of people with college degrees increased.  Summer sessions still exist today, but are primarily composed of regularly enrolled Notre Dame students.

For more information regarding the summer school sessions, the University Archives holds a number resources, including press releases, informational bulletins, course schedules, and newsletters.

Sources:
PNDP 30-Su-1
 PNDP 40-Su-1
UPWC 41/44
Notre Dame Press Releases
The University of Notre Dame:  A Portrait of Its History and Campus, by Thomas Schlereth
GTJS 5/09
GPHR 45/1274
GHJC 50/40

 

 

Boating Club and Crews

Notre Dame students have always found the lakes prime summer recreation spots for swimming, boating, and fishing.  The St. Joseph’s Boating Club organized on April 21, 1867,  “for the physical, as well as the mental education of its members, both the art of Rowing and Sailing” [Annual Catalog for the Academic Year 1866-1867, page 21].  Rev. Auguste Lemonnier, CSC, nephew of Rev. Edward Sorin and University President 1872-1874, was director of the Club.  When Lemonnier tragically died in 1874 at the age of 35, the Boating Club was renamed in his honor.

Boating Club on the lake, c1867-1874.
Rev. Auguste Lemonnier, CSC, is at the far right.

 

Notre Dame garnered a number of boats in the second half of the 19th century, with such names as Nina (staff boat), Pinta, Santa Maria, Hiawatha, Minnehaha, Montmorency, Yosemite, Evangeline, and the Golden Jubilee and Silver Jubilee.

Crew of the Silver Jubilee, 1896
Arthur Chase, Charles Neizer (Niezer), Edward Gilmartin, Jenaro Davila,
Captain John Mullen, Coxswain George McCarrick, Lucian Wheeler

 

The popularity of the Boating Club quickly made it necessary for the construction of a Boat House to store all of the equipment and provide for lounge space for the members of the Boating Club.  While probably not the first, the Boat House which still exists today was built in 1873.

Students around the Boat House on St. Joseph Lake, 1893

 

The Boating Club would occasionally take trips up to Niles, Michigan, on the St. Joseph River.  Crews raced at least twice a year on St. Joseph’s Lake — for the Feast of St. Edward and for Commencement.

Freshman (Class of 1916, upper-left), Sophomore (Class of 1915, lower-right), Junior (Class of 1914, upper-right), and Senior (Class of 1913, lower-left) Class Crew teams who competed in the 1913 Commencement races.  The Freshmen defeated the Sophomores, and the Juniors, with Knute Rockne on the team, defeated the Seniors.

 

Competitive crews clubs at Notre Dame continue to exist today and Women’s Rowing became a varsity sport in 1996.

Postcard of a boat rowing crew practice on St. Joseph’s Lake with Main Building and Sacred Heart Church Basilica in the background, c1910

Women’s Varsity Crew team rowing on St. Mary’s Lake with the Main Building Dome, Hesburgh Library, and Basilica of the Sacred Heart in the background, 1999-2000

 

Sources:
Scholastic
Dome yearbook 1914
Annual Catalog for the Academic Year 1866-1867
GSBA 2/01
GMLS 7/04
GNDL 4/20
GNDS 28/34 (William Edward Cleaver Scrapbook)
GNDS 9/01 (Warren Baldwin Scrapbook)
GPHR 9/34

The Minim Department

For nearly ninety years, Notre Dame consisted of three departments:  Senior (collegiate, ages 17+), Junior (preparatory, ages 12-17), and Minim (grammar school, under the age of 12).  It was possible to arrive at Notre Dame at the age of six and not leave until after graduating from the Senior Department at the age of twenty-two.  Or, as in the case of Jimmy Edwards, some never left.  For some years, the University Bulletins listed the ages of students enrolled at Notre Dame [see the Student Index].  The earliest age listed is Roscoe Clarke of Denver, Colorado, at 3 ½ years old in 1893.

Lay women were in charge of the education and care of the Minims until the Sisters of the Holy Cross took over in 1863.  During the 1860s-1870s, the number of students in the Minim Department generally hovered around thirty to forty students.  With growing numbers, St. Edward’s Hall became their home in 1882.  In 1883, the number of the Minim Department finally reached an enrollment of one hundred students and was the cause of much celebration at Notre Dame.  With no coincidence, the celebration was planned for November 24, the forty-first anniversary of the arrival of Rev. Edward Sorin, CSC, at Notre Dame.  Fr. Sorin looked fondly upon the boys and their accomplishments and enthusiasm.  He often spoiled them with special treats such as oranges and candy and they heartily honored Fr. Sorin on Founder’s Day.

Rev. Edward Sorin, CSC, with a group of Minims, the “Princes of St. Edward’s Hall,” c1880s-1890s

The three departments of students at Notre Dame operated mostly independently of one another.  However, on such a small campus, they were quite aware of each others’ activities.  In 1867, its first year of publication, Scholastic had the following comments about the Minim Department:  “They are now fully organized, and apparently depend on none of their Senior associates except for regular meals, which they continue to take with the Juniors. … [O]therwise they have literally nothing to do with the other students.  They would not allow anyone to infringe upon their grounds or rights…  They are at times rather a noisy little nation, especially since music is taught them upon their own premises; the splendid piano which as been placed there for their exclusive use, is seldom silent” [Scholastic, 09/21/1867, page 4].  Teasing the Minims on their favored status with Fr. Sorin, the author of the column joked that if the boys acted up, they could be sent to another boys school in Indiana.

Cornet Band with a few Minim members, 1869

Sports and physical activities played an important part in all of the students’ lives, and the Minims were no exception.  They played most of the same sports as their older counterparts, including football, baseball, and track.  They also held gymnastic expositions and participated various races around campus.  They had their own play halls, fields and equipment.  However, the Minims often proved to be valiant opponents against the Junior Department and area teams such as South Bend Junior High.

[photoshelter-img i_id=”I00001vd7HlXCTq4″ buy=”1″ caption=”Minim students with bicycles on Main Quad with Main Building Dome in the background, 1892..Photo by Rev. Alexander Kirsch, CSC)” width=”576″ height=”367″]

 

The Minim football team, 1911

 

When not playing themselves, Minims were known as the most spirited fans and eternal optimists of Notre Dame athletics — “the hearty embodiment of the Notre Dame spirit.”

1912 Dome yearbook feature page on the Minims

 

With the influence of the vision of Rev. John Zahm, CSC, Notre Dame began to move toward the more modern model of a university at the beginning of the twentieth century.  This modern plan did not include boarding schools for boys.  The Junior Preparatory Department was eliminated in 1922 and the Minim Department ended in 1929.  Upon the closing of the Minim Department, Scholastic issued this parting tribute:  “No more will [St. Edward’s Hall] be the haven of the youngsters who have been in such close touch with the University since the beginning of its existence.  No more will the Sophomore Hallers be treated to the sight of aspiring embryonic All-Americans staging their gridiron battles on the Minims’ field.  The school has been done away with; the Sisters have taken up their work in other parts of the country; and old Brother Cajetan who had charge of St. Edward’s is dead.” [Scholastic, 09/20/1929, page 10].

 

Sources:
Scholastic
Dome yearbook
GNDL 20/05
GSBA 1/14
GGPP 2/04
GNDS 9/01

 

 

An Tostal

An Tostal at Notre Dame began in 1967 by students Jimmy Brogan, David Ryan, and Ron Mastroni [Scholastic 1988/0414, page 14].  Its name comes from the spring festivals held in Ireland during the 1950s.  At Notre Dame, it is a student organized event through the Student Union Board, and thus the events vary from year to year, but it is generally a week-long festival of games, prizes, music, and food.  Other events such as the Fisher Hall Regatta and the Bookstore Basketball Tournament are held in conjunction with An Tostal.

An Tostal program cover featuring a leprechaun, 1970.  The Hall Presidents’ Council (HPC) and the Saint Mary’s College (SMC) Social Commission organized the event.
Map of some of the events near St. Mary’s Lake from the An Tostal Program, 1970
An Tostal April 1973 – A student wearing a suit of armor and riding a horse

List of Scheduled Events from the An Tostal Program, 1992

Events have included movies, concerts, picnics, pie-throwing contests, kissing marathons, tug-o-war contests, mattress races, chariot races, and lots of mud…

An Tostal Chariot Races through a mud pit near Stepan Center, Spring 1978
An Tostal Tug-o-War, c1970s
An Tostal Pig Chase, c1970

Sources:
Scholastic
PNDP 70-An-02
GRMD 5/39
GPHR 20/09
GNDL 33/11
GPUB 13/01

Y’er Out!

April 24-26, 1912, Notre Dame played Arkansas in a series of three baseball games.  Notre Dame won the series 2-1 “in one of the most remarkable games ever played on Cartier Field” [see South Bend News clipping below].  The series was tied 1-1 and the third game was decided in the ninth inning nail-biter with Notre Dame winning 10-9.

Baseball Game Scene – ND vs. Arkansas, April 1912. Hinton of Arkansas coaching on first base
Baseball Game Scene – ND vs. Arkansas, April 1912. View of the field from the grandstand

After the wins, the Notre Dame students celebrated with a snake dance through campus. The student celebrations continued even after University President Rev. John W. Cavanaugh, CSC, “issued an order that there be no further demonstrations of any kind.”  Cavanaugh stuck to his guns and expelled about twenty students for their continued celebrations.

The Snake Dance on campus after Notre Dame won the Baseball series vs. Arkansas, April 1912. “Dummy” Smith leading, Brussard second, Brennan third — the fellows expelled for the celebration demonstration
South Bend News clipping (04/29/1912) regarding the twenty or so students who were expelled from Notre Dame after celebrations of the victories of the baseball games vs. Arkansas

Baseball Game Scene – ND vs. Rose Poly, 1912.  View of the empty grandstand and bleachers after a number of students were expelled for celebrating the previous series vs. Arkansas — the students refused to honor any athletics


Sources:
GNDS 9/19 (Warren Baldwin Scrapbook)
Dome yearbook 1913
PNDP 04-Di-01

Ahoy, Cap’n!

Many parents deny their children sugary cereals on a daily basis.  Perhaps for this reason, the wide variety of cereal available in the dining halls has long been popular among the students, who are no longer under their parents’ watchful eyes.  In February 1983, a couple dozen students protested the lack of Cap’n Crunch, the sugary cereal of choice, during dinner at South Dining Hall.  This spurred Lee Brossard and his sophomore class running mate to make a campaign promise to hold a Cap’n Crunch party if elected.

The Quaker Oats’ mascot Cap’n Crunch meeting a fan at Notre Dame, October 1983

The sophomore class officers initially contacted Quaker Oats for just a few boxes of cereal for their party; however, Quaker Oats was intrigued by the idea.  After some back and forth between Quaker Oats and the Notre Dame Administration, a week-long Cap’n Crunch festival was scheduled, which included a visit by the Cap’n himself, treasure hunts, and cereal eating contests.

Notre Dame Press Release regarding Cap’n Crunch week at Notre Dame, 10/05/1983

A student participating in the Cap’n Crunch eating contest where neatness counted, October 1983.

This was one of the first major corporate-sponsored events at Notre Dame.  Notre Dame is often approached by corporations to hold such events and the administration often denies such attempts.  Crunch Fest became a reality because the students were so enthusiastic about the idea.  This particular event itself was reigned in a bit as Fr. John Van Wolvlear, President of Student Affairs, eliminated Quaker Oats’ original idea to have the Cap’n bid the students farewell from a boat-shaped float in the Stadium during the USC game.  No events were scheduled for that Saturday home football game day, nor was the Stadium a venue for any part of Crunch Fest.

Wall Street Journal newspaper article regarding the 1983 student protest over the lack of Cap’n Crunch cereal in South Dining Hall; published in Parade magazine, 01/29/1984

Sources:
Observer, Fall 1983
UDIS 81/10
GFNS

Badin Bog

In early spring, the snow begins to melt and the rains can be heavy, often creating soggy spots on campus.  One known area in front of Badin Hall became known as “Badin Bog.”  Comprising of the area between Badin and Walsh Halls, Badin Bog was the site of many pick-up and interhall football and baseball games and later Bookstore Basketball games.

Students playing baseball in front of Badin Hall (formerly known as St. Joseph’s Hall, before the addition of the wings), c1910s

In the 1920s, the area was purposely flooded and used as a hockey rink.

Hockey Players Brennan, Holland, and Burns on an outdoor ice rink with Badin Hall and Lemonnier Library (now called Bond Hall) in the background, 1926
Dome yearbook 1941 – Profile of Badin Hall:  “Badin on the bog. / It reaches back to the days of old Notre Dame / A self sufficient world. / Undermined by – / Brother Bookstores swindles and / Barber Bills / Here the Laundry shows its results / In brown-wrapped packages … / Humble home of Soph Grid Greats — / Proud of its oozy quagmire lawn / Badin …. / Fresh white porch on dingy grey / Mellowed interior dark by day / Touch-football games in full sway.”

The construction of the Hammes Bookstore on South Quad in 1955 (later replaced by the Coleman Morse Center in 2001) helped alleviate the flooding problems.  However, the Bullfrog mascot of Badin Hall continues to hearken back to the famous soupy surroundings.

Sources:
Dome yearbook
Scholastic
GNDS 9/09 (Warren Baldwin Scrapbook)
GBBY 57G/0479
Badin Hall History

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Skimming the entries for St. Patrick’s Day in a search of the finding aids and the Calendared collection, as well as some articles in Scholastic, it is apparent that St. Patrick’s Day in America was more than an ordinary saint’s feast day.  St. Patrick’s Day celebrations could also be patriotic and political.

Postcard sent to James Edwards from Gene Melady, 1909

In 1846 the Society of the Friends of Ireland in New York sought “to improve the condition and degraded state of their countrymen both in America and in Ireland” [I-3-h, 1846 Mar. 2].  In 1847 they canceled their annual celebration in reverence to those in Ireland suffering from the great famine and diaspora [I-3-h, 1847 Mar. 2].

In 1892, J.M. McDonald stated in his Columbian oration, “To-day however we celebrate an anniversary that brings to Irishmen sorrow as well as joy; for we commemorate the name of the redeemer of a land that is not yet free. … surely, the recital of a struggle for human freedom will ever retain a peculiar charm to allure the American heart” [Scholastic, 03/19/1892, page 474]

Here at Notre Dame, it is said that Fr. Edward Sorin discouraged St. Patrick’s Day celebrations “in the interest of Americanism” [Notre Dame:  100 Years by Rev. Arthur J. Hope, CSC, page 140; however, no citation of source].  If this sentiment was true, Fr. Sorin was not very successful in squashing St. Patrick’s Day festivities as they became quite elaborate and popular in the second half of the 19th century.

The tradition of celebrating the University President’s feast day necessitated celebrations on St. Patrick’s Day for Revs. Patrick Dillon and Patrick Colovin, CSC [click here for the list of University Presidents].  An increase of students and faculty with Irish backgrounds, as well as the involvement of  Notre Dame personnel including Rev. William Corby, CSC, in the Irish Brigade during the Civil War, probably also brought St. Patrick’s Day celebrations to prominence at Notre Dame.

Below is an 1883 letter from student Louis Pour to his parents, recounting the St. Patrick’s Day festivities at Notre Dame.  Beneath the letter is the program of events hosted by the Columbian Literary and Orpheonic Societies from the same year.

Transcription:  “Notre Dame, Ind., March 28, 1883.  Dear Parents.  I take the pleasure of writing to you those few lines to let you know that I am well at present and I hope those few lines will find you the same.  The weather at present is not cold but it is snowing mostly ever day and melting nearly as fast as it falls.  Dear Parents, I will tell you that we had reck [recreation] on St. Patrick day and the boys had a very lively time in the morning we went to church in which one of the fathers preached about 1 ½ hours on the life of St. Patrick and [page 2] The history of Ireland and when church was over the boys commenced playing the band in front of the college and in the afternoon Randolph and myself and four other boys went asked one of the Brothers to take us up in the steeple [of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart] to see the Bells which he did immediately so when we got up their three or four of the boys tapped to see how loud it would sound the bell weighs seventeen thousand pounds and, it takes four men to wring it and after he’d played two or three tones by chains.  And still St. Patrick was not over yet in the evening they all assembled in the Rotunda of hear some of the boys speak in which George Clark delivered a very fine piece of poetry he is the best speaker of the students of Notre Dame and is a resident of Cairo, Illinois.  This is all for the present, so when you receive this letter I suppose you will answer it with more latitude than the last, for I suppose that time are not so hard.  Best regards,
L. Pour.”

In 1941, John Lynch wrote an article for Scholastic, lamenting the lack of activities at Notre Dame for St. Patrick’s Day in comparison with those in the 19th century:

Lynch eventually got his request for a day off — because of the potential raucous nature of current St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, it is probably no coincidence that in recent history March 17th has fallen over Notre Dame’s spring break.

Sources:
Calendar Collection
Scholastic
Notre Dame:  100 Years by Rev. Arthur J. Hope, CSC
CEDW [XI-2-l]
CNDS 7/32
PNDP 70-Co-01