{"id":3125,"date":"2014-04-23T11:30:18","date_gmt":"2014-04-23T15:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.archives.nd.edu\/about\/news\/?p=3125"},"modified":"2014-04-23T11:30:18","modified_gmt":"2014-04-23T15:30:18","slug":"1879-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/1879-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"The Great Fire of 1879"},"content":{"rendered":" <\/a>
<\/div>

Wednesday, April 23, 1879, started out as any other spring day at Notre Dame. \u00a0Taking advantage of the warm day,\u00a0the Minims<\/a>\u00a0were out on their play\u00a0yard. \u00a0Around 10:00am, they\u00a0were the first to notice the smoke rising from the Main Building<\/a>\u00a0and sounded the alarm — “College on fire!”\u00a0 Notification was sent to\u00a0South Bend and a fire engine was dispatched to Notre Dame, but it arrived too late to save five of the campus buildings that were quickly consumed. \u00a0Despite several devastating fires in her past, Notre Dame was ill-prepared for such a large fire. \u00a0Even though the Main Building was equipped with water tanks, they proved futile on this fateful day.<\/p>\n

\"Feature
Feature of the Second Main Building fire published in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, May 24, 1879. \u00a0This image contains\u00a0couple of inaccuracies: \u00a0The first Sacred Heart Church was replaced by the current Basilica of the Sacred Heart, which was blessed on August 15, 1875. \u00a0Also, the winds from the west would have blown the fire in the other direction. The editors of Scholastic<\/em> noticed the error as well. In the 05\/24\/1879 issue, page 579, they noted: “Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper of May 24 contains a well-written notice of the burning of Notre Dame, accompanied by a striking illustration. How the engraver succeeded in uniting the old Church, and the surroundings of twenty years since, with the lately destroyed College building, and yet produced so satisfactory a picture we can hardly understand. It is a case in which the imagination of the artist has happily supplied the absence of actual knowledge. We understand that the engraved plate has been sent for.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The origins of the fire are uncertain, but many theories point to construction work being done on the pitch roof of Main Building. \u00a0As soon as the fire was discovered, students, faculty, and local townspeople scrambled to form a long bucket brigade up the six floors of the\u00a0building. \u00a0Many others desperately tried to save the precious library books, museum artifacts, scientific instruments, furniture, and personal effects. \u00a0They carried many items carefully out of the buildings. \u00a0However, in the chaos, some\u00a0people frantically\u00a0flung things\u00a0out of the windows, destroying them from the fall in an attempt to save them. \u00a0Once the wooden supports of the dome gave way, sending the\u00a0one ton Mary statue plummeting through the center of the building, all chances for further recovery were abandoned. \u00a0The western winds spread the fire from Main Building, additionally destroying the infirmary, St. Francis Old Men’s Home, Music Hall, and the Minims’ Hall. \u00a0Fortunately, Sacred Heart Church (designated a Basilica in 1992) and Luigi Gregori’s murals were spared, as were the Presbytery, the printing presses (home of Ave Maria<\/em> and\u00a0Scholastic<\/em> in what is now Brownson Hall), the kitchens, the steam house, and the first\u00a0Washington Hall (the current one was dedicated in 1882).<\/p>\n

The fire raged for only a few hours and was relatively under control by evening. \u00a0 The South Bend fire engine\u00a0remained on watch for any flare-ups. \u00a0Miraculously, there were no fatalities and only\u00a0a few\u00a0injuries – student PJ Dougherty either jumped or fell from the third story and recovered quickly in a few days. \u00a0Others narrowly escaped falling debris that could have been deadly. \u00a0Main Quad was strewn with items that were salvaged from the burning buildings. \u00a0In all, there was over $200,000 worth of damage, including 25,000 books, 17 pianos and other musical instruments, many valuable scientific specimens, and irreplaceable historical artifacts. \u00a0Insurance only covered about $45,000.<\/p>\n

[photoshelter-img i_id=”I0000mB2wWapbs1A” buy=”1″ caption=”Engraving of campus with the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and Second Main Building\u00a0before the fire, c1870s” width=”600″ height=”432″]<\/p>\n

At 3:00pm, the administration and faculty convened to map out a game-plan for the immediate future of Notre Dame. \u00a0They decided that the school year should terminate early. \u00a0They began making arrangements to send the grief-stricken students home and confer degrees early, but no one believed this was the end for Notre Dame. \u00a0University President Rev. William Corby decided immediately that the University would rebuild and would be ready to accept students at the normal opening day in September. \u00a0Scholastic\u00a0<\/em>writers echoed, “we feel that there is no reason to give way to discouragement. \u00a0No, we cannot bring ourselves to believe that the sun of Notre Dame has set. \u00a0Let the thousands of loving children whom she has sent into the world within the past quarter of a century — let the devoted friends whom she counts in all parts of the country but rally to her relief, and we have every reason to feel confident that the good work which she has been doing in the past will be continued in the not distant future” [Scholastic<\/em>,\u00a0April 26, 1879 issue, page 536].<\/p>\n

\"A
A series of stereoscope views of the Second Main Building and the April 23, 1879, fire aftermath.
Photos by James Bonney.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rev. Edward Sorin<\/a>, founder of the University, was in Montreal at the time of the fire, about to embark on his 36th transatlantic voyage. \u00a0A telegram was dispatched to intercept him, although\u00a0some feared the physical effects of an aging Sorin receiving the news. \u00a0Professor James Edwards left South Bend for Montreal to tell the Superior General his first-hand account in person. \u00a0Both of them returned to Notre Dame on Sunday, April 27th. \u00a0That Sunday morning, thousands of students, faculty, and townspeople packed the Basilica of the Sacred Heart as Sorin preached “Lessons of the Fire,” in which he told them “If it were all\u00a0gone, I should not give up.” \u00a0Professor Timothy Howard recalled many years later that they were “the most sublime words I have ever listened to” (X-4-e, April 14, 1906).<\/p>\n

What might have led other American institutions at the time to fold seemed to only embolden the Notre Dame spirit: \u00a0“Yes, Notre Dame will be herself again in a few months with God’s help, the untiring toil of her children, and the aid of her generous friends who have never failed her in her hour of need. … Notre Dame has so grown into the life of the country that it cannot but live and flourish, notwithstanding the fire. \u00a0Like a vigorous tree which has been burned to the ground, the life is still strong in the great heart beneath, and it will spring from its ashes more glorious and beautiful than ever.” [Scholastic<\/em>, April 26, 1879 issue, page 534].<\/p>\n

Once he returned to campus and surveyed the damage, Fr. Sorin seemed to spring back to his youth, determined more than ever to rebuild Notre Dame into a grander university. \u00a0There was much work to be done and everyone pitched in as they could. \u00a0Scholastic\u00a0<\/em>noted that Sorin\u00a0could “wheel off a load of bricks with great grace and dignity” [May 10, 1879 issue, page 546]. \u00a0Three weeks after the fire, the debris pile still smoldered and smoked. \u00a0Visitors from all over came to see the ruins for themselves.<\/p>\n

\"Engraving
View of Notre Dame campus destroyed by fire, accompanying a letter by Rev. Edward Sorin soliciting donations in France to rebuild Notre Dame after the fire, c1879-1880.
Engraving by Fernique published in “Annales de Saint-Joseph” of the College de Sainte-Croix, Neuilly, France.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

News of the tragedy quickly spread across the country and into Europe. \u00a0Letters and telegrams of support and promises of financial aid poured in. \u00a0Notre Dame administrators, faculty, alumni, and benefactors immediately hit the bricks in raising funds to rebuild. \u00a0Fortunately, their strong networks helped to make the rebuilding of Notre Dame a quick reality. \u00a0Rev. John Zahm solicited specimens for his Museum of Natural History. \u00a0James Edwards solicited books for the Lemonnier Library. \u00a0Sorin solicited funds across the country and in Europe.<\/p>\n

On May 4, 1879, Fr. Sorin blessed\u00a0the cornerstone for the new Main Building, even though official architectural plans were still under consideration. \u00a0By mid-May Chicago architect Willoughby Edbrooke<\/a> was hired out of many architects who submitted their work in the nationwide competition. \u00a0Hundreds of laborers descended on campus and construction worked at a fast pace. \u00a0More than 4,300,000 bricks, mostly made from the marl in the lakes, needed to be laid by September. \u00a0Sorin figured construction cost $1000-1500 a day and the lack of insurance already put them far behind. \u00a0However, Sorin’s complete faith in Divine Providence never faltered. \u00a0He noted to Sister Columba, “our catastrophe, so sudden and so unexpected and so terrible, has been seen as a loss to the whole country, and the American people have marvelously helped us to reverse it” [quoted in O’Connell, page 656].<\/p>\n

[photoshelter-img i_id=”I0000abLeGWAmA2c” buy=”1″ caption=”The New Notre Dame – Engraving of Main Building exterior, 1879.” width=”600″ height=”478″]<\/p>\n

The core of Main Building was complete for the opening school term in September 1879. \u00a0Four months earlier, Notre Dame was regarded as one of the largest and one of the best educational institutions in America, particularly in the West. \u00a0The tragic fire helped bring more national attention to Notre Dame. \u00a0The physical edifices of the “New Notre Dame” indeed were larger, more ornate, and more modern than their predecessors. \u00a0Main Building and her Golden Dome stand today as a testament to the dreams, ambition, determination, hard work, and faith of our forefathers to build one of the greatest universities\u00a0in the world.<\/p>\n

\"Exterior<\/a>
Exterior view of Main Building III under construction, without the Dome and with rolls of sod, c1879.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:
\nScholastic<\/a>
\nA Dome of Learning\u00a0<\/em>by Thomas Schlereth
\nEdward Sorin<\/em> by Marvin O’Connell
\nPNDP 10-AD-02<\/a>
\nGFCL\u00a048\/17<\/a>
\nGNDL 3\/52<\/a>
\nGNDL 6\/16<\/a>
\nUNDR 3\/06<\/a>
\nGTJS 8\/02<\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" <\/a>

<\/div>

Wednesday, April 23, 1879, started out as any other spring day at Notre Dame. \u00a0Taking advantage of the warm day,\u00a0the Minims\u00a0were out on their play\u00a0yard. \u00a0Around 10:00am, they\u00a0were the first to notice the smoke rising from the Main Building\u00a0and sounded the alarm — “College on fire!”\u00a0 Notification was sent to\u00a0South Bend and a fire engine … Continue reading “The Great Fire of 1879”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n ","protected":false},"author":4370,"featured_media":3799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[20,32,36],"class_list":["post-3125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nd-history","tag-buildings-and-grounds","tag-events","tag-fire"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-20 21:12:33","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4370"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/ndarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}