Father Theodore Hesburgh is an author, educator, and advocate for justice who served the University of Notre Dame for over three decades. Among his many actions, he served under Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon on the U.S. Commission for Civil Rights. 

In 2009, the day before the inauguration of the first African American President, he shared stories from his life and his work with the University of Notre Dame’s Dr. Richard Pierce, and Indiana University South Bend Development Director Dina Harris. 

Learn more about South Bend’s history from the photographs and documents that helped create it. Visit Michiana Memory at http://michianamemory.sjcpl.org/. 

Title music, “History Explains Itself,” from Josh Spacek. Visit his page on the Free Music Archive, http://www.freemusicarchive.org/.