The Hesburgh Library and the Word of Life mural

1963 – 1987

The building: The 14-story Memorial Library opened on September 18, 1963 — the third building to house the university's main collection — anchoring a new research quadrangle on the campus's north side. Hesburgh had drawn the idea of its mural from a mosaic he had seen at the National University of Mexico's central library in 1955.

The mural: The stadium-facing south wall is covered by the Word of Life, a mosaic mural by the American artist Millard Sheets: a procession of Christian saints, scholars, teachers, and writers rising to the figure of Christ the Teacher at the top. It measures 134 feet high by 68 feet wide and is built of more than 6,000 pieces of granite and stone from quarries around the world, set in panels — the counts of the panels differ between accounts, 324 and 342 both appearing in the literature. The work cost a reported 200,000 dollars, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Howard V. Phalin of Winnetka, Illinois; it was installed in the spring of 1964, and the library was formally dedicated on May 7, 1964.

The name it carries: From Notre Dame Stadium the figure's raised arms read as a referee's touchdown signal, and the mural is popularly known as "Touchdown Jesus" — a nickname recorded everywhere the mural is described, including the university's own pages; the stadium's 1996 expansion later covered the mural's lower part from some seats. In 1987, on Theodore Hesburgh's retirement from the presidency, the Memorial Library was renamed the Hesburgh Library in his honor.

Sources:

1. University of Notre Dame Archives, "Memorial Library Dedication 1964" (sites.nd.edu) — the September 18, 1963 opening, the May 7, 1964 dedication, the 1987 renaming, the mural's 6,000-plus stones.
2. SAH Archipedia, "Theodore Hesburgh Library" (sah-archipedia.org) — the 1963 completion, the 1955 Mexico inspiration, the mural's dimensions and panel count of 342.
3. "Hesburgh Library" — the September 18, 1963 opening as Memorial Library; the mural at 134 by 68 feet and 324 panels; the Phalin gift and 200,000-dollar cost; the 1987 renaming.
4. Hesburgh Libraries, "Word of Life Mural" (library.nd.edu) — Sheets's design and the procession of saints and scholars.