Main Administration Building, Notre Dame University, South Bend, IN - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

Notre Dame University was founded in 1842 by Rev. Edward F. Sorin, a French missionary and member of the Congregation of Holy Cross. (The recently established Congregation of Holy Cross had an emphasis on education and had sent missionaries from France to several remote parts of the world besides the frontier of Indiana.) Rev. Sorin had received some land with an Indian mission from the Bishop of Vincennes (who had requested the missionaries in the first place) near the small town of South Bend, with the stipulation that a school be built there within two years. The new school was officially chartered by the State of Indiana in 1844 as the “University of Notre Dame du Lac.”

Today, Notre Dame is a large university with a beautiful campus that boasts over 8000 undergraduate students. Among its notable alumni are former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, talk show host Regis Philbin and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana. The postal card, issued in 1992, honored the school’s 150th anniversary and shows its iconic gold-domed administration building.

This administration building once housed the entire school. It was built in less than five months after a fire completely destroyed the previous building in 1879. The new building was designed by architect Willoughby Edbrooke in a style that he described as modern Gothic. The gold dome, which was considered an extravagance, was added in 1882 and two wings were added a couple of years later. Also, around that time, Vatican artist Luigi Gregori decorated the interior with several large murals depicting the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. Of philatelic note, one of these murals was used for the design of the 10c Columbian Exposition stamp issued in 1893. Gregori also painted the allegorical figures that adorn the interior of the dome.

As the campus grew and the main building began to show its age, the school’s trustees considered tearing it down. Twice, this building escaped the wrecking ball: first in 1947 and again in 1960. But now, thanks to a $58 million restoration effort in the late 1990s, it has been returned to its Victorian-era splendor.

Stamp Issuing Country: United States Date of Issue: 15-Oct-1991 Denomination: 19c Color: multicolored Stamp Type: Single Stamp Relevant Web Site: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   04/30/2021 brcross95 visited it