When in the 1970s did the Jackson 5 perform at Notre Dame?

By Kirk Mason (mason@wsbt.com)

Tools

South Bend Tribune archives show the Jackson 5 performed at Notre Dame's ACC, now known as the Joyce Center, on October 26, 1974 at 8:30 p.m. (WSBT photo)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Jul 1, 2009 at 3:17 PM EST

Story Updated: Jul 1, 2009 at 4:19 PM EST

Just one week after his death, plans are in the works for a Michael Jackson memorial in his hometown of Gary. Even though his Hoosier ties are miles away, Jackson and his family did have a connection to South Bend.

Multimedia

Remembering Michael Jackson

Nancy Williamson has a Good Question: "I was at a Jackson 5 concern sometime in the 70s at Notre Dame. Do you have the accurate date?"

WSBT's Kirk Mason looked into it.

It's not hard to find video of Michael Jackson performing, or from his early days when performing in the Jackson 5 as a child.

But it is hard to find much record of a Jackson 5 concert at Notre Dame almost 35 years ago.

“Carla & Rick and the Jackson Five live concert @ Notre Dame Athletic & Convocation Center, 1974.”

That's the note Charlotte Pfeifer wrote on the back of a picture of her two children. The former South Bend Common Council member took the picture the night she took them to the concert.

“At that time what was exciting about them was that they were a group of children, they were right from Gary, Indiana, and they were just so wonderful,” Pfeifer recalled. “And everybody had an Afro, y’know!”

The only record at the South Bend Tribune is an advertisement citing the concert's date as October 26, 1974 at 8:30 p.m. The concert was held at the ACC, now known as the Joyce Center.

Charlotte Pfeifer says when the news broke of Michael Jackson's death, her son, now obviously a grown man, wanted to talk and reflect on Jackson's life — both the good and the bad.

“He was our child,” Pfeifer explained. “We saw him grow up. Of course we saw him with his difficulties and we all kind of suffered with him.”

The South Bend Tribune archive system found the Jackson 5 event was part of a great concert run for Notre Dame — just weeks earlier Elvis Presley had also been there.

More Good Stuff

WSBT Weather

Current Temp 49.5

More Weather

WSBT Weather

More Weather

On Demand

iPhone
Get the WSBT News and Irish Sports Report apps for your iPhone! Read more »
On DVD
Order a DVD of a WSBT news story! Read more »
Twitter
Follow us on Twitter! Read more »
Facebook
Connect with us on Facebook! Read more »
WSBT E-News
Daily StormTracker e-mails right to your Inbox! Read more »
Video On Demand
Miss a story on WSBT News? Watch it here! Read more »
CBS Shows
Watch CBS shows and news online, free! Read more »
WSBT Alert
Breaking News & Weather right to your cell phone! Read more »
Mobile
WSBT News on the go for your cell phone or PDA. Read more »
RSS Feeds
Get news and updates as soon as they're published. Read more »

Stock Quotes

YouNews

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.