The John F. and Kathleen L. Gibbons Family Endowment in American Catholic Studies was established in 1993. John F. “Jack” Gibbons (’63) is a member of the Hesburgh Libraries Advisory Council. He and his wife, Kay, a graduate of Saint Mary’s College, have six children. All of them are graduates of Saint Mary’s and Notre Dame.

The Catholic Americana Collection dates back to the founding of the University in 1842. It is one of the oldest and strongest resources of the Hesburgh Libraries and focuses largely on works relating to the history of the Roman Catholic Church from its founding to the present.

The Gibbons Endowment supported recent acquisitions including 250 books and serials encompassing subjects such as the history of American Catholic involvement in hospice care, biographies of American saints, and fiction for Catholic youth in the nineteenth century. Also acquired have been rarities such as the earliest American Catholic imprint in the Hesburgh Library – a prayer of St. Bernard printed in Boston in 1744. Faculty, graduate students, undergraduates, and scholars from all parts of the world use these books extensively for classes, independent study, and research.

Other endowments supported by the family include the James and Helen Moore & Thomas and Rosemary Gibbons Library Endowment, the John F. and Kathleen L. Gibbons Endowment for the Enrichment of Studies in American History, and the John F. and Kathleen L. Gibbons Family Endowment in Irish Studies.