At the conclusion of the wars against Britain, settlers from the east and the north began pouring in to the unincorporated territories beyond the Appalachian mountains, setting up with them the foundations of growing communities: courthouses, government buildings, and universities. A good education system was though as much of a necessity for thriving communities as anything else, and most of these systems were set up by various religious orders. In the state of Indiana, a 28 year-old French missionary, Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C, was granted land to create one of the most enduring universities.

On this day, November 26, in 1842, Sorin and seven companions, all members of the newly-formed Congregation of the Holy Cross, founded the L’Université de Notre Dame du Lac” (The University of Our Lady of the Lake).

That the university survived at all is largely an outcome of Sorin’s efforts. In 1879 the university – all one building of it – was gutted by a fire. Sorin could have given up the experiment at the point – and only a few dozen students attending would have cared – but he felt a calling for the university to exist, and ordered a rebuilding.