Reverend Theodore Hesburgh held hands with Martin Luther King Jr. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and 16 presidential appointments. He served as president at the University of Notre Dame for 35 years and was featured on the cover of TIME Magazine. And he was born in Syracuse.

Hesburgh will be memorialized on a postage stamp next year, to honor the many accomplishments achieved during his lifetime. The United States Postal Service will issue the stamp on Sept. 1, 2017, which would have been his 100th birthday.

While Hesburgh’s accomplishments have had national and global impacts, he started his life just a stone’s throw from campus. He grew up on 609 Charmouth Dr. in Syracuse, where his parents remained until their death.

Hesburgh attended Most Holy Rosary School for his 12 years of primary and secondary schooling. Today, it still exists as a K-6 school. In a 1972 article in the Catholic Sun, a teacher described Hesburgh as “an all around normal boy, who skipped school as well as being the most popular at school and who was a joy to teach.”

Hesburgh described the school as “good, solid, and Catholic,” and claimed to have a “basket full of memories” from his childhood in the city.

Over the years, Hesburgh did not visit his hometown often. When he did, it made many of the local newspapers.

His most famous return trips were for the local “Notre Dame night” in both 1957 and 1978. In 1978, he spoke at his grammar school before the dinner, discussing issues ranging from celibacy to female priests.

Hesburgh also returned to Syracuse for his father’s funeral in February 1960 and for other speaking engagements in October 1983 and November 1996. Additionally, he was awarded an honorary degree from Syracuse University in 1973, one of over 150 honorary degrees he would receive.

In a 1991 Post-Standard article, Hesburgh said he could not recall knowing or seeing any black people in his Syracuse upbringing. This, he said, was a strong example of segregation and drove some of his social activism. This activism, which led to his position as chairman of the United States Commotion on Civil Rights, factors into his postage stamp nomination.

According to the United States Postal Service website, the USPS works with the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee to select stamp subjects. They use specific criteria, including “extraordinary and enduring contributions to American society, history, culture or environment” and “significant impact on American history, culture or environment.” Subjects also can not be living.

In the official announcement of Hesburgh’s commemorative stamp, the USPS described him as an “educational, religious and civic leader” and “a champion of causes ranging from education to immigration reform to the plight of underdeveloped nations.”

Published on October 5, 2016 at 10:53 pm

Contact: mcbuck01@syr.edu