Digital Collections
Notre Dame Collections
Circular Letters of Rev. Edward Sorin, CSC, 1845 - 1893
Father Sorin's letters as superior at Notre Dame, as head of the Indiana Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross, and as Father General of the Congregation (1868-1893), including images of the original circulars and images of pages from the volume of collected letters. We have also digitized Father Sorin's personal letters.
Notre Dame Commencement Programs, 1845 - 2022
Programs for graduations at the University of Notre Dame. The number of commencements per year varies. The content of programs also varies, but they generally provide information about graduating students, speakers, related events and ceremonies.
Notre Dame Annual Catalogues or Bulletins, 1850 - 1914
Notre Dame's catalogues or bulletins included descriptions of courses, programs, curricula, facilities, and faculty. They generally listed students and provided information on graduation ceremonies, degree recipients, and academic prizes won by students.
Guide to Notre Dame and Saint Mary's, 1865
A friendly introduction to the Notre Dame and Saint Mary's of 1865.
Notre Dame Scholastic (student magazine), 1867 - 2011
The Scholastic, a student weekly, began in 1867 as The Scholastic Year. For most of its history it provided news about Notre Dame as well as feature articles, literary works, essays, and alumni notes.
Silver Jubilee of the University of Notre Dame, June 23rd, 1869
Joseph A. Lyons' early historical sketch of Notre Dame, articles on early faculty and alumni, programs documenting the festivities, orations, poems, dramatic productions, and at the end pages on Saint Mary's Academy.
A Brief History of the University of Notre Dame (Golden Jubilee Book, 1895)
A Brief History of the University of Notre Dame Du Lac Indiana from 1842 to 1892 Prepared for the Golden Jubilee to be Celebrated June 11, 12 and 13, 1895
Notre Dame Football Review, 1901 - 2010
The Notre Dame Scholastic published reviews of the football season starting in 1901. In 1910 a separate publication covered the "Gridiron Season" and from 1919 to 1921 a Football Review provided competition for the Scholastic. From 1924 to 1932 the Football Review prevailed as the Scholastic provided little or no commentary. In later years the Scholastic generally published its own special issue on the football season, though Irish Eye took over for a time in the 1980s.
Bagby Glass Plate Negative Collection (Notre Dame Sports), 1920s - 1930s
The Bagby company, a South Bend photographic studio, took pictures of athletes for Notre Dame. The digitized Glass Plate Negative Collection is part of a larger Bagby collection.
Notre Dame Religious Bulletin, 1921 - 1965 and 1984 - 1989
During a mission at Notre Dame at the end of October, 1921, Fr. John F. O'Hara, C.S.C., issued a daily mimeographed sheet called the Mission Bulletin. After the retreat, starting in November of 1921, he started to publish a similar periodical called the Religious Bulletin, in which he encouraged religious devotion among Notre Dame students, criticized them for their failings, asked for their prayers, and reported statistics of attendance at Mass and numbers of students receiving Communion. The Religious Bulletin continued for decades after O'Hara became a bishop during World War II and eventually the Cardinal Archbishop of Philadelphia.
Notre Dame Directories, 1922 - 1974
Lists of Notre Dame officers, administrators, rectors, prefects, faculty, post-doctoral research fellows, and students. The alphabetical list of faculty generally indicates academic department, campus address and home address. The alphabetical list of students gives major subject or academic program, dorm or local address, and home address.
Notre Dame Alumnus (alumni magazine), 1923 - 1971
The Alumnus, published by the Alumni Association from January of 1923 until December of 1971, provided news and feature articles of interest to Notre Dame graduates. Notre Dame Magazine replaced it starting in 1972.
Notre Dame Daily (student newspaper), 1923 - 1924
The Notre Dame Daily first appeared on the twentieth of May, 1923. It published thirteen issue in its first volume, concluding at the end of the academic year on the sixth of June. Its second and final volume covered the 1923-1924 academic year in 128 issues beginning on the twenty-third of September and ending on the fifteenth of June.
Notre Dame Schedule of Courses (Hours of Instruction), 1928 - 2016
Booklets providing information on class schedules, often with both preliminary and revised versions. In the twenty-first century, these booklets have generally been called The Hours of Instruction. Digital images courtesy of the Notre Dame Registrar's Office.
Notre Dame Alumni Directories, 1928 - 1935
Lists of Notre Dame alumni.
Capstan, 1943 - 1945
During World War II, the United States Navy trained many officers at Notre Dame. The naval program published its own yearbook, called Capstan.
Notre Dame Press Releases, 1947 - 1971
These press releases came from 1947, 1953-1967, and 1969-1971. Most of them came from microfilm, and the gaps in coverage reflect gaps on the microfilm. We will continue to scan press releases, but for the time being, in spite of the gaps, we hope that this collection will provide some help for researchers interested in Notre Dame history. We also have an index of press releases that covers 1994-2003. Press releases on the Notre Dame News website date back to 1997.
Notre Dame: A Magazine, 1948-1965
The Notre Dame Foundation published this quarterly magazine, which includes much of general interest to anyone studying Notre Dame in the middle of the twentieth century.
Notre Dame President's Newsletter, 1958 - 1971
Examples of the President's Newsletter scanned from microfilm. This collection includes the last issue of 1958 and the first of 1959; the last issue of 1967; and most issues from 1969 through 1971.
Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival Programs, 1960 - 2010
The Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival, an annual event since 1960, emphasizes jazz education and performance. It is one of the oldest collegiate jazz festivals in the United States.
Notre Dame Voice (student newspaper), 1963 - 1966
The Voice of Notre Dame, predecessor of the more familiar daily Observer, appeared somewhat irregularly every week or so between 1963 and 1966, though issues were sometimes printed as little as two days apart.
The Observer (student newspaper), 1966 - 2015
The Observer started providing news for the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College starting in the fall of 1966, first as a weekly, then bi-weekly, and soon as a daily newspaper. Starting with the issue of October 10, 2009, the Notre Dame / Saint Mary's Observer appeared online (http://ndsmcobserver.com/).
Insight: Notre Dame, 1966 - 1971
Insight: Notre Dame proposed to "cultivate a sharper perception of this particular university, focusing on segments of the educational programs, penetrating the maze of campus research and development, and narrating the University's involvement in world problems." A colorful magazine that included many photographs and eye-catching typographical designs, Insight: Notre Dame lasted until 1971.
Notre Dame Report, 1971 - 2008
The Notre Dame Report serves as the official record of University business and includes minutes of select University committees, other documentation issued by the University, faculty and committee rosters, and information on faculty and administrator's honors, activities, and publications.
Manuscript Collections
Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas, 1576 - 1803
The Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas, established in 1793, took in all the territory from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico except the territory of the Diocese of Baltimore (i.e., territory belonging to the United States). Before 1793 Louisiana had been under the juristiction of the Diocese of Santiago de Cuba, before 1762 under the authority of the Diocese of Quebec.
The collection contains chiefly papers of bishops Luis Penalver y Cardenas; other correspondents include the Capuchin bishop, Cyril Antonio Sieni, better known as Bishop Cyril of Barcelona, who was the first resident bishop to have jurisdiction over Louisiana, 1784-1793; Rev. Thomas Hassett, administrator of Louisiana, 1801-1803; and Father Antonio de Sedella, auxiliary vicar and pastor of the parish of St. Louis, New Orleans, who was a leader in the power disputes that plagued the new diocese in the first years of the 19th century.
William Tecumseh Sherman Family Papers, 1808 - 1891
The William Tecumseh Sherman Family Papers, deposited in the University of Notre Dame Archives by Miss Eleanor Sherman Fitch, the granddaughter of General Sherman, prior to her death in 1959, consist of correspondence, clippings, photographs, scrapbooks, diaries, various legal papers and documents, cancelled checks, bank books, financial ledgers, drafts for and copies of articles, speeches and military orders, and explanatory notations. This material ranged from 1808 to 1959 and consisted of originals, photostats, microfilm, typewritten copies and handwritten copies.
This digital collection is based on the microfilm edition, sponsored by the National Historical Publications Commission, completed in 1967. Original items belonging to the period up to and including the year 1891 -- the year of General Sherman's death -- have been included.
Correspondence of Rev. Edward Sorin, CSC, 1839 - 1893
Letters written and received by Edward Sorin, founder of the University of Notre Dame, elected Superior General of the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1868; correspondents include Vicar General Augustus Mary Martin at Terre Haute, Indiana, and Saint Theodore Guerin, Mother Superior of the Sisters of Providence at St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana, and bishops and clergy especially members of the Congregation of Holy Cross. In French and English.
Soldiers of the Cross Manuscript by David Power Conyngham
Subtitled "Heroism of the Cross, or Nuns and Priests of the Battlefield," this manuscript tells the story of religious men and women who served as chaplains and nurses during the Civil War. We have digitized the original manuscript and the typewritten transcription.
Julius A. Nieuwland Correspondence, 1879 - 1936
Father Julius A. Nieuwland, CSC, inventor of neoprene (synthetic rubber), was a professor of botany and organic chemistry at the University of Notre Dame, 1904-1936. The Julius A. Nieuwland Papers include the correspondence digitized here along with other material such as notebooks, manuscripts, pamphlets, patents, receipts, clippings, and writings about Nieuwland.
Theodore M. Hesburgh Speeches, 1947 - 1991
Work in Progress: We are digitizing Father Hesburgh's speeches. Speeches from his time as Notre Dame's Executive Vice-President and President are available here, with a few from his early years as President Emeritus.
Catholic Peace Fellowship Bulletin, 1965 - 1978
Records of the Catholic Peace Fellowship, one of several Catholic peace collections in the University of Notre Dame Archives, include Manuscripts of talks and articles, organizational material for protest activities, newspaper and magazine clippings, press statements, photographs, and letters, with correspondence with Daniel and Philip Berrigan, Thomas Merton, James Forest, Dorothy Day, Thomas Cornell, George McGovern, and Robert F. Kennedy. The CPF published a bulletin, and we have issues dating from 1965 to 1978 available here.
Conference of Major Superiors of Women Sisters' Survey of 1967
Sister Marie Augusta Neal (1921-2004) of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur started her teaching career at Emmanuel College in 1953. She received a doctorate in sociology from Harvard University in 1963. In 1965 she became Director of the Research Committee for the Conference of Major Superiors of Women (later renamed The Leadership Conference of Women Religious). In 1967 she directed a survey of all members of congregations of women religious to study changes in their lives and attitudes after the Second Vatican Council.
History of Women Religious - News and Notes, 1988 - 2011
From the Conference on the History of Women Religious we have papers delivered at the triennial conferences, the History of Women Religious News and Notes (1988-2011), and a small quantity of background information and mailing lists. We have made the News and Notes available here.