Being Catholic, Being American, Volume 2

The Notre Dame Story, 1934-1952

Robert E. Burns

The Mary and Tim Gray Series for the Study of Catholic Higher Education

The University of Notre Dame, as the pre-eminent American Catholic University, often serves as a mirror of the travails and triumphs of the American Catholic community. Its story is as spirited and compelling as its traditions.

Being Catholic, Being American: The Notre Dame Story, 1934–1952, Volume 2, continues the work of Burns’ first volume and traces the major events under three important university presidencies. It focuses first on the successful period of academic improvement and facilitity expansion during the presidency of Father John F. O’Hara, then on the intrusion of pre-WWII partisanism during the time of O’Hara’s successor, Father J. Hugh O’Donnell, and finally on the academic freedom crisis and the leadership of O’Donnell’s successor, Father John J. Cavanaugh.

In addition to exploring how the controversial career of Father John A. O’Brien during the 1930s forced American Catholic religious authorities to address the questions surrounding the role of theologians in the Church, Burns also describes inside stories on Notre Dame football under Layden and Leahy and celebrates the people who contributed to securing Notre Dame as a major national university in the twentieth century.

Being Catholic, Being American is for historians, teachers, students, alumni, sports enthusiasts, and all those touched by the story of the University of Notre Dame.

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.

He is retired and lives in Sebastian, Florida with his wife.