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9780268021566

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Reviews

Burns, a teacher and administrator at Notre Dame for four decades, has written an entertaining, useful history of the university from its founding in 1842 through 1934. The first section concentrates on the institution's growing pains, including the debate over hiring lay faculty and the beginnings of the phenomenally successful football program under Knute Rockne. The second section treats the virulent anti-Catholic sentiment of the Ku Klux Klan in Indiana and its influence on the university and its football team, whose national championships gave American Catholics something to be proud of as they moved toward assimilation into the mainstream culture. The third section examines the impact of the Great Depression on the university's finances and enrollment and the effect of Rockne's untimely death in a plane crash in 1931. This book is an important contribution to the history of one of America's most important Catholic universities, a story that often mirrors the history of American Catholics in the 19th and 20th centuries. Highly recommended. -- Pius Murray, Pope John XXIII National Seminary, Weston, MA

“Burns . . . has written an informative, entertaining, and useful history of the University of Notre Dame from its founding in 1842 through the end of Holy Cross Father Charles O’Donnell’s second term as University President in 1934. This book traces Notre Dame’s growing pains along its rise to becoming the pre-eminent American Catholic university that oftentimes reflect the problems of American Catholicism in general during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This book represents an important contribution not only to the history of one of America’s most important Catholic universities . . . but also of the historical context of American Catholicism in the 19th and 20th centuries when American Catholics began to make great strides in being accepted as mainstream in American life and culture. Highly recommended.” —Catholic Library World “Burns, a teacher and administrator at Notre Dame for four decades, has written an entertaining, useful history of the university from its founding in 1842 through 1934. This book is an important contribution to the history of one of America’s most important Catholic universities, a story that often mirrors the history of American Catholics in the 19th and 20th centuries. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal “Being Catholic, Being American provides a history of Notre Dame’s search for academic achievement from 1842–1934, and will interest not only those involved with the school, but those who want to build a general collection of Catholic history. From the institution’s establishment to its foundations in religion and its struggles with lay faculty and idealism, this provides an excellent survey of Notre Dame’s place in Catholic American history.” —The Midwest Book Review “[Being Catholic, Being American] is an impressive first volume on a remarkable institution.” —The Heythrop Journal “Burns makes a contribution to our understanding of Notre Dame’s history and to the development of Catholic higher education in the United States as well. One eagerly awaits his second volume.” —Holy Cross History

""Burns makes a contribution to our understanding of Notre Dame's history and to the development of Catholic higher education in the United States as well. One eagerly awaits his second volume."" —Holy Cross History ""[Being Catholic, Being American] is an impressive first volume on a remarkable institution."" —The Heythrop Journal ""Being Catholic, Being American provides a history of Notre Dame's search for academic achievement from 1842–1934, and will interest not only those involved with the school, but those who want to build a general collection of Catholic history. From the institution's establishment to its foundations in religion and its struggles with lay faculty and idealism, this provides an excellent survey of Notre Dame's place in Catholic American history."" —The Midwest Book Review ""Burns, a teacher and administrator at Notre Dame for four decades, has written an entertaining, useful history of the university from its founding in 1842 through 1934. This book is an important contribution to the history of one of America's most important Catholic universities, a story that often mirrors the history of American Catholics in the 19th and 20th centuries. Highly recommended."" —Library Journal ""Burns . . . has written an informative, entertaining, and useful history of the University of Notre Dame from its founding in 1842 through the end of Holy Cross Father Charles O'Donnell's second term as University President in 1934. This book traces Notre Dame's growing pains along its rise to becoming the pre-eminent American Catholic university that oftentimes reflect the problems of American Catholicism in general during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This book represents an important contribution not only to the history of one of America's most important Catholic universities . . . but also of the historical context of American Catholicism in the 19th and 20th centuries when American Catholics began to make great strides in being accepted as mainstream in American life and culture. Highly recommended."" —Catholic Library World

Author Information

Robert E. Burns came to the University of Notre Dame in 1957 without previous exposure to Catholic education or commitment to it. He remained at the University for 39 years, serving as a teacher, working historian, and administrator of the College of Arts and Letters.

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