Hesburgh Libraries

Meet and speak with curators Gregory Bond and Elizabeth Hogan about their exhibit, Notre Dame Football Kills Prejudice: Citizenship and Faith in 1924. Remarks will begin at 3:30pm.

About the Exhibit

“Notre Dame football is a new crusade: it kills prejudice and stimulates faith.”

— Rev. John F. O’Hara, C.S.C., Prefect of Religion, 
Religious Bulletin, November 17, 1924

The 1924 undefeated University of Notre Dame football team beat the best opponents from all regions of the country and won the Rose Bowl to claim a consensus national championship. Off the field, Notre Dame battled an intense reactionary nativist political environment that, in its most extreme manifestation, birthed the second version of the Ku Klux Klan. The “100% Americanism” political movement of the Klan and of fellow nativist sympathizers celebrated white, male, Protestant citizenship and denigrated or attacked groups—including Catholics and immigrants—who challenged their restrictive understanding of American identity. 

The “Fighting Irish” football success, cemented in national memory by Grantland Rice’s “Four Horsemen” column, came during this dangerous and divisive political moment. Notre Dame leaders responded by consciously harnessing the unprecedented popularity and visibility of the 1924 national champion football team to refute surging reactionary nativism and to promote—within the very real political constraints of the era—a more inclusive and welcoming standard of citizenship. 

This exhibit is curated by Gregory Bond, Curator of the Joyce Sports Research Collection, and Elizabeth Hogan, Senior Archivist for Photographs and Graphic Materials. This and other exhibits within the Hesburgh Libraries are generously supported by the McBrien Special Collections Endowment.

All exhibits are free and open to the public during business hours.