From the late 1940s until the early 1980s, the Notre Dame Mardi Gras celebration at one point ranked “as one of the top three college weekends in the nation.” [South Bend Tribune, 02/21/1963; PNDP 70-Ma-01]
The weekends were student-organized and over the years featured dances, carnivals, and jazz concerts, drawing big names such as Tony Dorset, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and the Four Tops.
Students also sold raffle tickets, whose profits went to support a number of charities, including foreign missions, scholarships for students in countries devastated by World War II, scholarships for Notre Dame students, and a number of Notre Dame social service organizations such as CILA and the Neighborhood Study Help Program.
By selling raffle tickets, students were eligible to win prizes, ranging from desk sets and radio transistors to sports cars and vacation trips.
In the early 1980s, the bishop of the Fort Wayne – South Bend Diocese encouraged Catholic churches and organizations in the diocese to comply with Indiana state law, which banned gambling. Carnival games replaced the casino element in 1982. Because of this and other intangible factors, extravagant Mardi Gras celebrations were no longer an annual campus-wide event at Notre Dame.
In the spring of 1972, Robert (Bob) Calhoun Kersten ran one of more memorable Student Body Presidential campaigns from his office in the fourth floor bathroom of Walsh Hall.
Bob Kersten and others on the sidelines of the ND vs. Purdue football game, 09/30/1972
Kersten’s candidacy was intended satire of student government and he ran under an oligarchy platform. Despite University violations, Kersten’s running mate was Uncandidate the Cat, the “first female Notre Dame poobah” [Observer, 03/03/1972].
Profile and platform of Student Body President candidate Robert Calhoun Kersten [Observer, 02/22/1972]
In an apparent publicity stunt, Kersten was “abducted … from the third floor water closet in Keenan Hall” [Observer, 02/24/1972]
Page of the index of the Observer, maintained by the University Archives, listing some of Kersten’s activities during the 1972 Student Body Presidential elections and his first few months in office, including walking on water, coronation, and declaring martial war
Kersten wins the Student Body Presidential election [Observer, 03/03/1972]
Kersten won the election by the largest margin to date, although he hadn’t planned much for his actual presidency. Student Body Vice President Uncandidate the Cat was replaced by Ed Gray, who was replaced by Dennis Etienne (H-Man) in October 1972. Kersten’s presidency was relatively uneventful as Etienne ran much of the day-to-day activities. Etienne won the following year’s SBP election.
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 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/
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
October 13th is the feast day of St. Edward the Confessor, patron saint of
Rev. Edward Sorin, founder of the University of Notre Dame.
Statue of St. Edward the Confessor, holding a model of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, outside of St. Edward’s Hall, 1978
In the early 1840s, this feast day naturally became a day to honor the University’s most prominent figure and it quickly became one of the highlights of the school year for the students of all ages. The students from Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s Academy celebrated the day, and often the eve as well, with theatrical and musical performances, athletic matches (such as three-legged races, boat races, baseball and football games), and a much anticipated feast in the dining hall.
Students running in a backward race on Cartier Field on Founder’s Day, 1913
Amid the festivities, students, clergy, and other well-wishers sent Fr. Sorin letters, telegrams, and cards, wishing him a happy feast day, expressing their gratitude and affection towards Sorin, of which a number are currently housed with the University Archives in Fr. Sorin’s papers.
Address to the Very Rev. Edward Sorin, CSC, Superior General [of the Congregation of Holy Cross], on his Patronal Festival by the Juniors 1885. The address contained the following excerpt: “It is in this wise dear Father General that St. Edward’s Day has come to be a kind of royal feast day at Notre Dame. For it is your name day and you are the illustrious founder and generous protector and director of our beloved Alma Mater.”
Cover of the hand-drawn card the Novices presented to Fr. Edward Sorin on the feast day of St. Edward, c1880s.
In the 1910s, the Columbus Day celebrations were combined with Founder’s Day. In 1912, the Knights of Columbus Council at Notre Dame organized the Discovery Day celebration. “The celebration [was] partly the result of a country wide campaign by the order to make the day a legal holiday in the various states” [South Bend Times, 10/12/1912, from PNDP 70-Sa-03].
Over the years, the exuberance of the feast day waned. In the 1950s and 1960s, students placed wreaths at the base of the Fr. Sorin statue. Today Mass will be celebrated in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart to honor St. Edward and to give thanks to Fr. Edward Sorin, who, in all of his tenacity, quickly turned a small school in the wilderness of Indiana into a nationally renowned institution.
Students and unidentified priest placing a wreath at Sorin Statue on Founder’s Day, 1960/1013.
Also of interest, AgencyND produced this video in 2008 regarding Founder’s Day, using a number of assets from the University Archives:
In the spring of 1984, English Professor Paul Rathburn organized a Shakespeare Reading Marathon to raise money for Adam Milani, a St. Joseph High School student who was seriously injured in a hockey game the previous December. April 25-29, 1984, on the Fieldhouse Mall, students, staff, and faculty continuously read Shakespeare for 100 hours. Among the campus celebrities who participated were Football Coach Gerry Faust (pictured), Men’s Basketball Coach Digger Phelps, Professor Emil T. Hofman, and the Glee Club. For their efforts, they raised over $5000 for the Milani Fund and earned a Guinness World Record for continuous reading of Shakespeare.
The University publishes its annual catalogs and bulletins to inform prospective students and their families of life at Notre Dame. They often list the faculty, the students, and the academic calendar, and outline activities of the University, such as the available courses, student organizations, and regulations of the University, now known as du Lac.
The 1863-1864 catalog was the University’s twentieth such catalog. Fr. Edward Sorin was president and the Golden Dome didn’t exist. The Thespian Society had fifteen members and the Notre Dame Cricket Club had twenty-two members. Room, board, and tuition was $200. Each student was expected to arrive with six shirts, four towels, one hat, three pairs of shoes, and one setting of silverware, among a few other personal effects. The Christmas holiday was only three days long. Below are the three pages of regulations from the 1863-1864 catalog, which give insight into daily student life at Notre Dame. Fortunately, students are no longer required to bathe in St. Joseph’s Lake.
From the late 1940s until the early 1980s, the Notre Dame Mardi Gras celebration at one point ranked “as one of the top three college weekends in the nation.” [South Bend Tribune, 02/21/1963; PNDP 70-Ma-01]
Students working on the Dome yearbook –
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