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[Illustration: UNIVERSITY HALL]
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
BY WILFRED SHAW
General Secretary of the Alumni Association and Editor of The Michigan
Alumnus
_Illustrated by Photographs and Four Etchings by the Author_
NEW YORK
HARCOURT, BRACE AND HOWE
1920
COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY HARCOURT, BRACE AND HOWE, INC.
THE QUINN & BODEN COMPANY
RAHWAY, N.J.
To MY WIFE
PREFACE
It has not been the purpose of the author to write a history of the
University of Michigan. Several predecessors in this field have done
their work so well that another book entirely historical in character
might seem superfluous. Rather it is the aim of this volume to furnish a
survey--sketching broadly the development of the University, and
dwelling upon incidents and personalities that contribute movement to
the narrative.
Those familiar with the history of the University will recognize the
sources of much that appears in the following pages. The author must
acknowledge an especial debt to Professor Ten Brook's "History of State
Universities," and the two histories of the University, written by
Elizabeth Farrand, '87_m_, and Professor Burke E. Hinsdale. Much of the
material in the early chapters is based directly upon Professor
Hinsdale's painstaking and authoritative work. Other works which have
been consulted are Judge Cooley's "History of Michigan," Professor C.K.
Adams' "Historical Sketch," published by the University in 1876,
Professor A.C. McLaughlin's "History of Higher Education in Michigan"
(Contributions to American Educational History, Number II, Bureau of
Education, 1891), the reports of the Fiftieth and Seventy-fifth
Anniversaries and Dr. Angell's Quarter Centennial Celebration, and Dr.
Angell's "Reminiscences." The files of _The Michigan Alumnus_ and the
_Michiganensian_, the records of the Regents' meetings and the calendars
of the University have likewise proved extremely valuable. For the
material in certain chapters, "The Michigan Book," published in 1898, by
Edwin H. Humphrey, '97, an article entitled "The University of Michigan
and the Training of Her Students for the War," by Professor Arthur L.
Cross, in the _Michigan History Magazine_, for January, 1920, and Andrew
D. White's "Autobiography" have been freely consulted.
It is unfortunate that our information concerning the earliest days of
the University is comparatively meager. The collections of old
newspapers and other original sources in the University Library have
been utilized, but these are not as extensive as they should be.
Undoubtedly not a little material in the form of letters and diaries is
still to be found among the papers of the earliest officers of the
University and the graduates of the '40's and '50's. The writer would
appreciate any information regarding such documents.
Acknowledgment is also due to the many friends who have offered
suggestions and helpful criticism. Especially is grateful recognition
due to Professor F.N. Scott, Judge V.H. Lane, President Emeritus Harry
B. Hutchins, Dr. G. Carl Huber, Dean John R. Effinger, Professor Evans
Holbrook, Professor Arthur L. Cross and the late Professor Isaac N.
Demmon; their encouragement and counsel have been invaluable.
An apparent inconsistency in references to the major divisions of the
University may be noted by some readers. These are sometimes referred to
as "Departments" and sometimes as "Schools" or "Colleges," as the case
may be. This arises from the fact that the official nomenclature was
changed about ten years ago. In general the author has referred to these
divisions as "Departments" in discussing the period before 1910.
W.S.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I INTRODUCTION 1
II THE FOUNDATION OF THE UNIVERSITY 7
III THE UNIVERSITY'S EARLY DAYS 23
IV THE FIRST ADMINISTRATIONS 45
V PRESIDENT ANGELL AND PRESIDENT HUTCHINS 64
VI LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND THE ARTS 91
VII THE PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES 121
VIII A STATE UNIVERSITY AS A CENTER OF LEARNING 145
IX STUDENT LIFE 172
X FRATERNITIES AND STUDENT ACTIVITIES 207
XI ATHLETICS 233
XII TOWN AND CAMPUS 268
XIII THE UNIVERSITY IN WAR TIMES 298
XIV THE ALUMNI OF THE UNIVERSITY 324
TABLES 351
INDEX 359
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING
PAGE
UNIVERSITY HALL. Etching _Frontispiece_
THE CATHOLEPISTEMIAD, OR UNIVERSITY, OF MICHIGANIA. 8
A photograph of the original outline in Judge Woodward's
Handwriting, now in the University Library
FOUR FOUNDERS OF THE UNIVERSITY. Stevens T. Mason (1812-1843),
John D. Pierce (1797-1882), Zina Pitcher (1797-1872),
Samuel Denton (1803-1860) 14
THE CAMPUS IN 1855 24
TWO OF THE UNIVERSITY'S OLDEST BUILDINGS:
The President's House. The only one of the original four
professors' houses still remaining 30
The Old Medical Building. Torn down in 1914 30
FOUR MEMBERS OF THE EARLY FACULTY. George Palmer Williams
(1802-1881), Andrew Ten Brook (1814-1899), Abram Sager
(1810-1877), Thomas McIntyre Cooley (1824-1898) 34
HENRY PHILIP TAPPAN, LL.D. (1805-1881). The first President
of the University, 1852-1863 56
ERASTUS OTIS HAVEN, LL.D. (1820-1881). President of the University,
1863-1869 57
HENRY SIMMONS FRIEZE (1817-1889). Professor of Latin, 1854-1889.
Acting President of the University, 1869-1871, 1880-1882 57
THE TWO MAIN BUILDINGS OF THE UNIVERSITY ABOUT 1860 60
ALUMNI MEMORIAL HALL. Etching 68
JAMES BURRILL ANGELL, LL.D. (1829-1916). President of the
University, 1871-1909 76
HARRY BURNS HUTCHINS, LL.D. President of the University,
1909-1920 86
MARION LEROY BURTON, LL.D. President of the University of
Michigan, 1920- 90
A GENERAL VIEW OF THE FRONT OF THE CAMPUS. Showing University
Hall, including the Old North Wing, with the Law
Building in the background 94
THE UNIVERSITY OBSERVATORY 110
HILL AUDITORIUM 110
THE CHEMISTRY BUILDING 111
THE NATURAL SCIENCE BUILDING 111
THE NEW LIBRARY 118
THE ENGINEERING BUILDING 124
THE MEDICAL BUILDING 124
PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE OLD HOSPITALS 130
THE NEW HOSPITAL BUILDING 130
THE LAW BUILDING 131
THE ENGINEERING QUADRANGLE. Etching 140
THE DENTAL BUILDING 144
THE HOMEOPATHIC HOSPITAL AND CHILDREN'S WARD 144
THE INTERIOR OF HILL AUDITORIUM 152
THE INTERIOR OF THE MAIN READING ROOM IN THE NEW LIBRARY 153
THE MICHIGAN UNION. Etching 186
THE DOORWAY OF THE MARTHA COOK BUILDING 192
LANE HALL. The University Y.M.C.A. Building 196
NEWBERRY HALL. The University Y.W.C.A. Building 196
NEWBERRY RESIDENCE FOR WOMEN 197
BARBOUR GYMNASIUM FOR WOMEN 197
THE TUG OF WAR ACROSS THE HURON. The Freshman losing in
the Annual Freshman-Sophomore contests 208
FOUR SOCIETY HOUSES. Psi Upsilon, Sigma Phi, Phi Delta Theta,
Collegiate Sorosis 209
WATERMAN GYMNASIUM FOR MEN 236
FERRY FIELD FROM THE NEW STAND, showing the gates and the
Club House 248
A VIEW OF ANN ARBOR. Across the Valley of the Huron. The
Hospital Buildings, with the University Beyond 272
ALONG THE HURON. A Glimpse of Ann Arbor's Park System 280
THE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS IN THE SEVENTIES 286
THE CAMPUS ELMS 287
THE CAPTAINS OF THE THREE STUDENT COMPANIES IN 1861.
Charles Kendall Adams, '61, Captain of the University
Guards; Isaac H. Elliott, '61, Captain of the Chancellor
Greys; Albert Nye, '62, Captain of the Ellsworth Zouaves. 300
THE STUDENTS' ARMY TRAINING CORPS. Drawn up before the
Michigan Union (fall of 1918) 312
ONE OF THE FOURTEEN-INCH NAVAL GUNS IN FRANCE. Whose
crews were largely composed of the Michigan Naval Volunteers. 313
THE CONCOURSE OR GENERAL LOBBY IN THE MICHIGAN UNION 336
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
One early June day some fourscore years ago, it was 1837 to be precise,
a party of distinguished visitors arrived in what was then the little
backwoods community of Ann Arbor. The interest of the loiterers at the
country tavern and the corner grocery was no doubt aroused by their
coming, for Ann Arbor we may suppose was not different from other small
places; and this curiosity could hardly have been lessened by the fact
that the newcomers were all men who figured prominently in the affairs
of the State, which had been admitted to the Union only four months
before. Whatever the speculation aroused by the personnel of the party,
however, the business that called them to Ann Arbor caused little
comment, if we are to judge from contemporary reports. Yet this
unpretentious gathering of notables was charged with the inauguration of
what was to become one of the most significant developments in the
history of American education,--the establishment and successful
maintenance of a University by the people of a State.
Thus met for their first session the Regents of the future University of
Michigan. Unfortunately we do not know the particulars of this meeting;
not even in what country lawyer's office or public hall it was held;
still less are we able to profit from any of the illuminating details or
personal comments a modern observer would have given us. Our knowledge
of the character of the men, and the official report of what they did,
is all we have to reveal the spirit in which they set themselves to
their task.
Of the nineteen members of the Board at that time eleven were present at
this first session, which lasted three days. Included among the number,
as ex-officio members, were the boy Governor of the State, Stevens T.
Mason, then only twenty-five years old, the Lieutenant-Governor, Edward
Mundy, and the Chancellor of the State, Elon Farnsworth; while among the
members by appointment were Michigan's first Congressman and author of
the law under which the University was to be organized, General Isaac E.
Crary, and two well-known Detroit physicians, Dr. Zina Pitcher,
afterward to be known as the founder of the Medical School, and Dr.
Samuel Denton, destined to be a professor in the same Department.
Their first action was the appointment of a committee to select the
forty acres offered as an inducement to bring the University to Ann
Arbor. Measures were then taken for the organization of the institution;
the Legislature was petitioned to give the Board the power to appoint a
Chancellor; four professorships were established until more were needed;
salaries were limited to not less than $1,200 or more than $2,000; and a
Librarian was appointed for a library not yet in existence.
Thus the University began its career. The men who were responsible for
it in its early years were, for the most part, lawyers and politicians,
lacking even the actual experience in educational matters which the
clergymen of that time were supposed to have; but there is evidence of
an idealism and confidence in the future on their part which must
explain the eventual success of the University,--a vision which enabled
it to become the model for all succeeding state institutions.
The task before this Board and its immediate successors was not an easy
one. They saw, in their mind's eye, a university with thousands of
students, forming the cap-stone of a great educational system which was
to rest on the little log schoolhouses which were so rapidly rising in
the wilderness about them. Their immediate resources, however, proved
almost ridiculously inadequate, while their best efforts were often
nullified by the selfishness and lack of foresight of many of their
contemporaries. Land set aside for the University by the Government was
sold for a song to satisfy speculators. An elaborate building program
had, perforce, to be abandoned and even the simple buildings erected
were criticized as extravagant. The Faculty was far from being a
harmonious little family, and dissensions arose between the students and
teachers over the establishment of fraternities; while the jealousy of
rival religious denominations and the lack of a strong executive
multiplied the difficulties which made the first years of the University
far from happy.
Nevertheless the University came through it all, not unscathed, but
sufficiently strong and vigorous, and with great possibilities for the
future in the rising fortunes of the Commonwealth, which gradually came
to take a great pride in this child of its first years. To the State, no
less than to the Regents and Faculty, belongs the credit of Michigan's
great achievement in American educational history,--the first proof that
a university, maintained by the people of a state as part of its
educational system, could be made a practical success.
The idea of a state university, or rather a state educational system,
was not in itself strikingly new; in fact two interesting experiments in
Detroit had preceded the University. But none of the original thirteen
colonies, or the new states so rapidly being carved out of the lands
brought in by the addition of the Northwest Territory, had been able to
make really practical that provision in the Ordinance of 1787 which,
from its place above the stage in University Hall, has sunk into the
consciousness of so many student generations of the University of
Michigan.
Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good
government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of
education shall forever be encouraged.
The actual success of the University was Michigan's first great
contribution to the Nation. The inauguration of practical laboratory
work in science, as well as the speedy organization of Medical and
Engineering Departments, was the second step. This led to a new
relationship between education and practical life; others besides
candidates for the ministry began to come in greater numbers to seek
degrees. Hardly less revolutionary in the third place was Dr. Tappan's
effort to make Michigan a real University,--the introduction of true
graduate study which, though not immediately successful, made Michigan
once more a pioneer among American schools. Again, the establishment of
the chemical laboratory, the introduction of co-education, and the
creation of a Department of Education, bringing with it a correlation of
the University with the high schools of the State, are all matters now
so generally taken for granted that it is somewhat difficult nowadays to
give the University proper credit for leading the way.
In recent years other state universities have overtaken Michigan in
their development. Some states are supporting their universities even
more liberally than Michigan. Many have gone so far as to do away with
student fees, an item which has a large place in Michigan's annual
income. Whether this is entirely desirable is perhaps a question. One of
the University's greatest assets is the interest and support of her
former students. They have shown less of the spirit which is more or
less inevitable in all state institutions,--a feeling that once they
have received their educational bargain, their responsibility to the
institution ceases. The loyalty of Michigan's alumni body may arise in
some part from the very fact that the education given has not been
entirely free, as well as through a justifiable pride in the prestige
and academic traditions which the years have brought.
Other universities also have developed further means of maintaining
friendly relations with the people of their states, through affiliating
the state agricultural colleges with the university and offering
elaborate programs of extension courses. In this direction Michigan has
made haste slowly, for there is danger to true academic ideals in such a
course. The result has been that there is no instruction given in the
University that cannot be considered of proper academic character under
present-day standards.
Our university system has progressed so far and so fast, however, that
the educators of the first half of the nineteenth century would find
little they could recognize in the wide range of human knowledge
included in our modern university curricula. When the University was
founded, the schools of America were really closer to the great
universities of the Middle Ages than to those of the present day. The
comparatively brief period covered by the life of the University of
Michigan has seen a greater change in educational ideals and practices
than anything which took place during the preceding thousand years, for
we have added to their heritage all the great developments of the past
century in science and the arts.
Michigan has done her part in this transition from the old to the new;
and in carrying on her work she has acquired a life of her own, an
academic atmosphere, and a characteristic student life which have a
peculiar interest to all Michigan men and women. To chronicle in brief
the main events in Michigan's history; to suggest their significance; to
picture the life of the students and Faculties; and to set forth the
University's real measure of success, in order that all who are
interested in the University may know her and understand her ideals and
traditions, is the aim of the following chapters.