THE FIRST ADMINISTRATIONS
The new University Act had charged the Regents with the duty of electing
a President immediately. It was some time, however, before they found
the right man, Henry Philip Tappan, LL.D., who was inaugurated as the
first President of the University of Michigan on December 22, 1852. Dr.
Tappan's name was first suggested by George Bancroft, the historian, who
was also considered for the position, but there was some opposition,
which seems to have centered about the fact that Dr. Tappan had once
consulted a homeopathic physician, and he was not elected until August
12.
President, or as he was often called, Chancellor Tappan was a man of
wide culture, of established reputation as a scholar, and an author on
philosophical and educational subjects. His personality was magnetic and
commanding, but it was combined with a frank and fatherly attitude
toward his students which won their immediate and life-long friendship.
Born at Rhinebeck on the Hudson, of mixed Dutch and Huguenot ancestry,
on April 18, 1805, he came to Michigan in time to give his best years to
his new work. Many of his friends may well have been astonished at his
acceptance of a post in a tiny college far on the outskirts of a village
in the Western wilderness, which carried with it the munificent salary
of $1,500, together with a house and an additional $500 for traveling
expenses. Yet he came. The principles of the University agreed with the
ideals he had received in his long study of European methods and his
personal experiences in German schools. He determined to make a real
university in the West; he fixed his glance upon the opportunities for
future development rather than the bareness and inevitable crudity of
pioneer life. For the first time he found his cherished ideas embodied
in the provision for a state university; and though he realized they had
not been made effective, he believed that in the West, if anywhere, was
his opportunity to put them into actual practice, unhampered by the
traditions which had grown up everywhere in the East.
The new President, in the first catalogue issued under his
administration, let the world know in no uncertain terms what the
University was to become as long as his was the guiding hand. He traced
the succession of state schools up to and through the University, where,
he declared, it was his purpose "to make it possible for every student
to study what he pleases, and to any extent he pleases."
Some of his proposed measures must be regarded as prophecies for the
future; they could hardly have been taken seriously at the time. They
are not all realized even now; but they show the breadth of his
conception of a real university. He emphasized openly the correspondence
between the Michigan and the German systems of education, and declared
that;
It is the cardinal object to make this correspondence as complete
as possible. Hence, it is proposed to make the studies here pursued
not only introductory to professional studies, and to studies in
the higher branches of science and literature, but also to embrace
such studies as are more particularly adapted to agriculture, the
mechanic arts, and to the industrial arts generally. Accordingly, a
distinct scientific course has been added, running parallel to the
classical course, extending through the same term of four years,
and embracing the same number of classes with the same
designations.
These ideas he put into practice at once and Michigan became the first
university in the country to introduce practical scientific courses
within the regular arts curriculum, and, following Harvard by only a few
years, was the second university in the country to break away from the
accepted hard and fast course in which the humanities were the beginning
and the end of education, acknowledging the claims of science by
granting the degree of Bachelor of Science. He was likewise a pioneer in
other ways; for the University was the first to recognize the needs of
special students who, while not seeking a degree, were anxious to pursue
studies in special subjects.
President Tappan was wise enough not to seek the establishment of his
grand object at once, but he did announce in that first catalogue that
he proposed--
at as early a day as practicable, to open courses of lectures for
those who have graduated at this or other institutions, and for
those who in other ways have made such preparation as may enable
them to attend upon them with advantage.
Here was the germ of a Graduate School, though for many years the
lectures were more in evidence in the catalogue of the University than
in the class room. He was sufficiently practical to realize that the
collegiate course, "with its schoolmaster methods and discipline," of
his time must be retained for a period, though he aimed eventually to
transfer its work to the high school, gradually swinging the University
to "true university methods, free and manly habits of study and
investigation." He also aimed to gather about him a Faculty in which
every chair was filled by a man of exceptional ability and thorough
training, "not a picked up, but a picked out man," to quote Professor
Frieze in his Memorial Address on Dr. Tappan.
These are the cardinal principles which guided Michigan's first
President throughout his career in the University, and, as ideals, have
been a powerful factor in its growth since his time. More apparent to
his contemporaries were the immediate benefits of his strong
administration. He saw at once the urgent need of more funds for the
library and obtained a subscription from Ann Arbor citizens of some
$1,515, to which the Regents added $300, resulting in an increase of
1,200 volumes. From that time dates the steady and consistent growth of
the University Library. Even more pressing appeared to him the need for
an astronomical observatory. From the very day of his inauguration, he
made the raising of sufficient funds for this purpose one of his first
tasks and so effective were his efforts that the Observatory was opened
in 1855; the result of a gift of $15,000 by citizens of Detroit, to
which the University had added an appropriation of $7,000. This gave
Michigan one of the three well-equipped observatories in the country at
that time. The telescope, a thirteen-inch objective, was purchased in
this country, but other items of equipment were obtained in Berlin under
the advice of Professor Encke, the Director of the Royal Observatory,
whose assistant, Dr. Brünnow, came to America as Michigan's first
Professor of Astronomy.
It was during Dr. Tappan's administration also that the professional
departments, as they were long called, came into their own. The Medical
School had been organized since 1849, when the first building was
completed at a cost of about $9,000; but the work was only fairly under
way when he came. The new department was opened in October, 1850, with
ninety matriculates and grew with extraordinary rapidity, so that for
the first years the enrolment exceeded that of the Literary Department.
When Dr. Tappan left the University in 1863 there were 252 students in
the Medical Department and by 1866-67 their number increased to 525, the
largest enrolment in the history of the School. The creation of a Law
Department was considered at the same time the Medical Department was
organized, but lack of resources as well as any enthusiastic support
from the legal profession in the State postponed its opening for ten
years. The growing number of petitions for its establishment, however,
finally led to the opening of the School in 1859 with a Faculty of
three, and ninety-two students. Hardly less important was the
establishment in 1855 of a course in civil engineering. It was organized
in connection with the Department of Physics, however, and did not
attain to the dignity of a separate department with its own head for
many years. Even so modest a beginning as this for technical courses in
the University found precedent in those days only at Harvard. Lack of
funds and co-operation from the Legislature seems to have been the only
reason which led to the abandonment of plans for the creation of
departments of Agriculture and Military Science which were seriously
considered at that time.
The inauguration of these different schools was all a part of Dr.
Tappan's scheme for the development of a true university. Though he
deplored their necessarily lowered requirements, he saw the day when
they would be graduate departments, as in effect the Law and Medical
Schools are in the way of becoming now, at least insofar as they require
a minimum of two years' work in the Literary College before the student
is permitted to enter upon his professional studies. They formed, as it
was, with the various scientific courses established in the Literary
Department, a significant departure from the single "cast iron" course
of the Eastern colleges. By very reason of this innovation Michigan, in
President White's words, "stands at the beginning of the transition of
the old sectarian college to the modern university."
In all this President Tappan's influence was vital. He entered
whole-heartedly into the life of the University, displaying a remarkable
shrewdness and charity in his dealings with the students, and
sympathizing heartily with the work of every professor. One of his
students, Byron M. Cutcheon, '61, afterward a Regent of the University,
thus describes him:
As I remember him, he was fully six feet tall, with a grand head
set upon massive shoulders. A full suite of dark brown hair, worn
rather long and considerably disordered, crowned and adorned his
head. His face ... was pleasant and attractive though never
exhibiting levity, and rarely, humor. The nose was large and
somewhat Roman. The rather long side beard had not yet turned gray.
His carriage was upright and dignified. I never saw him in a hurry.
He was always approachable, but never familiar nor invited
familiarity.
The powerful frame and compelling presence of Chancellor Tappan are well
portrayed in the magnificent bas-relief by Karl Bitter, now in Alumni
Memorial Hall, a fitting tribute to his influence upon the University on
the part of his former students. Especially noteworthy is his
representation here with his favorite mastiff, "Leo," his inseparable
companion. No reminiscence of a student of that time is complete
without mention of "Leo" and his later companion "Buff," an only
slightly less huge animal acquired during the later years of Dr.
Tappan's administration. So when, in the popular air of the sixties, his
students asked:
"Where, O where, is Dr. Tappan?"
The answer was:
"He went up on Buff and Leo,
Safe now in the Promised Land."
President Tappan was not fortunate in his appearances before the State
Legislature to ask for appropriations. He was too good a speaker not to
command a hearing, but his repeated references to the German prototypes
of the University were resented; while the opposition of the smaller
church colleges, who represented the unsectarian character of the
University as "Godless," was very evident in the indifferent and even
discourteous attitude of the individual members of the Legislature.
Finally President Tappan became disgusted and as he left, never to
return, he made the memorable prophecy: "The day will come, gentlemen,
when my boys will take your places, and then something will be done for
the University." Within a decade this began to come true, but not in
time to save to the University the services of Dr. Tappan.
It was one of the University's greatest misfortunes that her first
President was not permitted to work out his plans. The story of his
removal is a sad one, though fortunately the issues were largely
personal and did not involve fundamental University policies. When Dr.
Tappan came to Michigan he found the Faculty and Regents entirely ready
to co-operate with him; glad, in fact, to have a strong hand at last at
the helm. The Board sympathized with his ideals and the Faculty seconded
him loyally in all his efforts. This happy state of affairs continued
from 1852 to 1858, when, in conformity with the constitutional provision
of 1850, a new Board of Regents succeeded the one which had chosen him
as President. This Board was not only entirely new, but it was composed
of men who lacked what would seem to be the elementary qualifications
for such a task; in fact, few if any of them had had any academic
training whatever. Nevertheless this did not in the least embarrass
them, and they proceeded at once to take a very active part in
University life. It soon became evident that there was a great
difference between their views as to the duties of the President, and
those of Dr. Tappan, who assumed that, as executive officer, his
authority in the internal affairs of the University and over the Faculty
was, under certain limitations, comprehensive and effective. He could
not see how the University could properly develop otherwise.
The new Regents, on the contrary, seemed to feel that not only the
administration of the University finances but a great share of the
legislative and administrative power rested with them; and they
proceeded to act upon that assumption. They prepared a set of rules for
the conduct of the University without consulting President Tappan, and
appointed a series of executive committees which seriously limited his
control. Certain of the Regents were particularly aggressive, especially
Levi Bishop, the Detroit member of the Board, who for a long period
wrote anonymous articles on the University in a Detroit paper, giving
his biased view of all that happened in the Regents' meetings. The Ann
Arbor Regent, Donald MacIntyre, whose banking office became the
unofficial center of University affairs, also proved himself unfriendly
to the President.
The Faculty, unfortunately, was divided in its sympathies. It may be
said that Dr. Tappan possessed the defects of his qualities. He showed a
certain lack of fellowship and understanding in dealing with some of his
associates and assumed, perhaps unconsciously, an air of authority and
an attitude of superiority which was resented. Where his pre-eminent
position was unquestioned, as in his relations with the students and
with the people of the State, the charm and graciousness of his manner
and his parental kindness won him universal friendship and respect.
Moreover Dr. Tappan was courageous, generous, and direct in all his
dealings, in spite of that touch of condescension. He insisted strongly,
however, on what he regarded as his prerogatives and exhibited a certain
lack of diplomacy and forbearance in dealing with the Regents and
Faculty, which under ordinary circumstances would have been regarded as
the personal idiosyncrasy of a great man. But with a majority of the
Regents definitely opposed to him from the first and with a growing
Faculty cabal in support, it weighed heavily against him. His every
action was criticized. Though he was a clergyman of the Dutch Reformed
Church, and was affiliated with the Presbyterian church in Ann Arbor, he
emphasized the University's non-sectarian character, and paid no
attention to the denominational affiliations of the candidates in making
appointments to the Faculty. He carried this policy so far that he took
no active part in the affairs of his own church in Ann Arbor, a course
which was resented by the Presbyterians, while it won him no friends in
the other churches which he attended impartially. His European habit of
serving wine at his table also was severely censured, particularly by
the local Regent, who was a Presbyterian and a strong prohibitionist.
Finally, his efforts to maintain a high standard in the Faculty by
holding in subordinate positions men who had not proved their ability
did not increase the number of friends among his colleagues.
A change was anticipated in 1864, when a new Board of Regents offered
promise of a different order. Dr. Tappan therefore, in spite of many
temptations to resign, continued to hold his position, largely because
of the appeals of his friends, particularly students and alumni, to
"stick it out." But certain members of the old Board, it was said, had
stated that they would bring about his removal before the end of their
term. The event proved their intention, for the retiring Board, on June
25, 1863, without warning, and only giving him a few hours to offer his
resignation, summarily removed him from the offices and duties of
President and Professor of Philosophy. At the same meeting Dr. Tappan's
son was also removed from the position of Librarian, which he had held
most successfully for some years, while Dr. Brünnow, who had married his
only daughter, was dismissed from the Professorship of Astronomy, where
he had contributed so much to the reputation of the University. The
Board then elected to the Presidency and the Professorship of Rhetoric
and English Literature Dr. Erastus O. Haven, who had served as Professor
of Latin, and later of History and English Literature, from 1852 to
1856, and who had afterward been engaged in the publication of a
religious paper of the Methodist Church in Boston. Dr. L.D. Chapin,
Amherst, '51, pastor of the Ann Arbor Presbyterian church, who was among
those considered for the Presidency, was elected to the Professorship
of Moral Philosophy.
Dr. Tappan never returned to Michigan. He spent the rest of his life in
Europe and died in Vevey, Switzerland, in 1881. He had come to Ann Arbor
with high hopes, the fulfilment of a desire to take part in the
"creation of an American University deserving the name," and his
disappointment and disillusionment was a crushing blow. His spirit still
lived, however, in the institution he loved and served, for we know now
that no man has had so large a share as he in shaping the course the
University was to take or insuring a proper direction of the first
steps. When he came he found a small struggling college of 222 students;
when he left there were 652 students in three flourishing departments
and the beginning of a real University. Were he alive today he would
realize that his great work was not in vain. The earnest invitation of
the Regents that he be the honored guest of the University at the 1875
Commencement, which was declined because of failing health, must have
softened bitter memories, particularly as the message of acknowledgment
included a statement renewing the invitation for the following year and
incorporated a resolution erasing all criticism from the Regents'
record.
The situation which faced his successor was a delicate one. The removal
of Dr. Tappan had created a storm which grew rather than decreased, and
President Haven found an unfriendly community and a hostile student body
awaiting him. Every effort, in fact, was being made to secure the
re-election of Dr. Tappan as soon as the new Board of Regents was in
authority. President Haven, however, who had known nothing of the
circumstances which led to the removal of Dr. Tappan when he accepted
the Presidency, showed great wisdom and tact in this emergency. He won
the respect of every one by an announcement that he did not intend to
stay unless re-elected by the new Board, and appealed for harmony and
good feeling in the face of what was to all a difficult situation. At
their first session the new Board of Regents considered the recalling of
Dr. Tappan. Floods of letters had been received from alumni, students,
and friends of the University, advocating such action, but the Regents
felt that this course would be unwise as it would have involved
practically a reorganization of the whole Faculty. The personal
character of the trouble which resulted in the removal of Dr. Tappan,
emphasized later by an injudicious statement issued at the suggestion of
some of his friends, would have rendered such a course almost
inevitable.
Dr. Haven was not a man of the powerful caliber of his predecessor but
he proved a most satisfactory administrator during a trying period. Of a
more conservative temper, he devoted himself to caring for the immediate
affairs of the University rather than the problems of future
development. He was born in Boston, November 1, 1820, and was graduated
from Wesleyan University in 1842. After a few years spent in teaching,
he entered the ministry of the Methodist Church, but resigned in 1852 to
accept the professorship of Latin in the University. Like his
predecessor, he had an extraordinary ability as a speaker, though he was
more given to epigrams and felicities of expression, with which his
speeches fairly sparkled. His characteristic humor, quoted by Professor
Winchell in his Memorial Address, is illustrated by the following
passage:
Might not a parasite on the back of an ox ... having found out by
actual measurement the circumference of the ox, and by
mathematical calculation, the diameter of the ox, and having
ascertained that as he inserted his proboscis into the hide of the
animal, say the sixteenth of an inch, it gradually and regularly
grew warmer, infer, in like manner (as the geologist) that the
center of the animal was red hot lava!
[Illustration: HENRY PHILIP TAPPAN, LL.D. (1805-1881)
The first President of the University, 1852-1863
(From a bas-relief by Karl Bitter in Alumni Memorial Hall)]
[Illustration: ERASTUS OTIS HAVEN, LL.D. (1820-1881)
President of the University, 1863-1869]
[Illustration: HENRY SIMMONS FRIEZE (1817-1889)
Professor of Latin, 1854-1889
Acting President of the University, 1869-1871, 1880-1882]
Dr. Haven, in spite of his active denominational ties, was a strong
supporter of the non-sectarianism of the University. "I maintain," he
said, "that a State University in this country should be religious. It
should be Christian without being sectarian," and again, "Those
questions upon which denominations differ--however vital they may
appear--should be left to their acknowledged teachers outside the
University."
In his general policy he faithfully followed the paths which had been
laid out for the University's development; and despite predicted
disaster he saw a great increase in her material welfare and her
standing in the academic world during the six years he was President.
Within four years the attendance practically doubled from 652 in 1862-63
to 1,255 in 1866-67. This was due to the great and somewhat
disproportionate growth of the two professional schools, which were now
well under way, and to the reaction following the falling off of
students during the Civil War. In 1864 a School of Mines was announced,
but it did not prove successful and was soon absorbed in a Department of
Mining Engineering which in turn failed to survive. In 1867-68 a Latin
and Scientific course was established, substituting modern languages for
Greek as cultural studies, an innovation which speedily proved popular
and widely imitated. A course in Pharmacy was first given in 1868,
though it did not become a Department for some years. The Library also
grew from 13,000 volumes in 1864 to 17,000 in 1869, including one gift
to the law library of 800 volumes. Other gifts increased the scientific
resources of the University.
This growth in students and in the scope of the curriculum made
additions to the buildings and equipment imperative. The Medical
Building was enlarged by a new section, erected at a cost of $20,000,
one-half of which was raised by the townspeople of Ann Arbor by general
taxation; while an addition to the Observatory and its general
renovation cost $6,000, an expense again defrayed by Ann Arbor and
Detroit citizens. A much needed addition to the Chemical Laboratory was
also made, and one of the dwelling houses on the Campus was made into a
Hospital.
The financial situation during most of this period, however, was
threatening. The great increase in the cost of living which followed the
Civil War was making existence difficult for the whole University. The
total income was but $60,000, while the average professor's salary was
only $1,500. Up to this time the State had contributed nothing to the
University for its support, aside from the loan made in 1838, though it
was glad enough to bask in the reputation which the great and growing
institution brought to the Commonwealth. The University, in fact, had
grown beyond its resources, and something had to be done. The Regents
accordingly took the University's case to the Legislature, which
granted, in 1867, a tax of one-twentieth of a mill on each dollar of the
taxable resources of the State, yielding a prospective income of about
$16,000 annually--provided, however, that a Professor of Homeopathy be
appointed in the Department of Medicine and Surgery.
This actually proved worse than nothing, for it increased tenfold the
difficulties of the University and precipitated a long and violent
discussion which nearly disrupted the Medical Department. The Regents
were not compelled to take the money; so they postponed action and
sought to evade the issue by proposing to establish a Department of
Homeopathy in some other place than Ann Arbor. But this was held illegal
by the Supreme Court and the matter was again postponed. At the end of
two years, partly at least as a result of President Haven's masterly
statement of the University's plight before the Legislature, a new law
was finally passed giving the University not only an annual subsidy of
$15,500 for the two ensuing years, but granting also the sum that had
accumulated for two years as a result of the first Act. Thus was the
University saved once more. The Board was not only enabled to bring the
University's facilities into correspondence with its rapid growth; but
more to the point, it could now increase the salaries of the Faculty so
that full Professors in the Literary Department at last received the
$2,000 originally provided in 1837. This relief was of the utmost
importance. Still more significant was the fact that a new policy was
inaugurated by which the necessity of state support for the University
was recognized; support which has never since been withheld, for the tax
was successively increased to one-sixth of a mill in 1893, to one-fourth
in 1899, and finally in 1907 to the present three-eighths of a mill. At
last Michigan, in the fullest sense of the term, became _the_ University
of the State of Michigan.
This was the culmination of President Haven's administration. A few
weeks later he resigned to accept the Presidency of Northwestern
University, a school maintained by his own denomination, where he
doubtless felt there were wider opportunities in his chosen field. His
resignation was accepted by the Regents with regret and the declaration
that the success of the University during the preceding six years "to a
large extent had been due to his learning, skill, assiduity, and eminent
virtues," a statement which was given added force by an unsuccessful
attempt to have him return during the interregnum of two years that
followed. He died in Salem, Oregon, August 2, 1881.
The Regents were not able at once to find a successor to President
Haven, so Professor Henry S. Frieze, who held the chair of Latin, was
appointed Acting President. This position he filled so successfully for
two years that he was asked informally whether he would accept the
Presidency. The choice, however, fell in turn upon Professor Julius H.
Seelye of Amherst College and President James B. Angell of the
University of Vermont, both of whom visited Ann Arbor but afterward
declined the appointment.
Meanwhile the good fortune which led to the selection of Dr. Frieze as
Acting President was shown by two important measures which were the
outstanding features of his administration. For many years there had
been a growing sentiment in favor of the admission of women to the
University, which had been steadily resisted by the students, Faculties,
and Regents. President Haven had come to see its inevitability,
particularly in a state institution, and perhaps its advisability, but
successive discussions had only postponed action from year to year. So
it was not until January 5, 1870, that the great step was taken in the
following innocuous resolution:
_Resolved_, That the Board of Regents recognize the right of every
resident of Michigan to the enjoyment of the privileges afforded by
the University, and that no rule exists in any of the University
statutes for the exclusion of any person from the University who
possesses the requisite literary and moral qualifications.
[Illustration: THE TWO MAIN BUILDINGS OF THE UNIVERSITY ABOUT 1860
(From an old photograph)]
Great was the opposition, particularly from students and Faculties. The
Medical Department was especially concerned and even organized an
elaborate duplication of courses with an increase of $500 in
professorial salaries, measures which later proved unnecessary. One
month later, on February 2, 1870, the first woman was enrolled in the
University; Miss Madelon L. Stockwell, now Mrs. Charles K. Turner of
Kalamazoo. She was the only woman student until the fall term, when
eleven others entered the Literary Department, three the Department of
Pharmacy, eighteen the Department of Medicine, and two the Department of
Law, with four graduating the following June. Tradition has it that they
had a hard time at first. They were treated with indifferent courtesy,
college journalism had its fling at them, many boarding places were not
open to them, and in fact life was made as unpleasant as possible. But
they had good friends in the President and in many members of the
Faculties; they asked no favors, and they gained the education on a
masculine plane they sought. The experiment proved successful, as the
roster of Michigan alumnæ will show; and it was not long before
co-education became the rule in all American colleges save the older
institutions of the East.
Michigan now, as we have seen, was a state institution in reality as
well as in name; but the educational arch of which she was the keystone
was not yet completed. The earlier close connection between the
University and the schools of the State, contemplated when the branches
were established, had proved impossible of realization, and the union
high schools which soon succeeded them were tied to the University only
incidentally and indirectly through the influence of such teachers as
had been students at the University. Their graduates came in increasing
numbers, it is true, but they were admitted by examination upon the same
basis as the graduates of any school.
The Acting President saw the need of a closer relationship, which would
not only strengthen the high schools, but would relieve the University
of its elementary courses by eventually making the high schools the
equivalent of the German Gymnasia; in effect the present junior
colleges, the establishment of which we are now witnessing in all the
larger high schools. Professor Frieze therefore proposed that special
faculty committees be sent to examine the character of the work in the
high schools of the State. If this were approved, a certificate stating
that a proper preliminary course was satisfactorily completed, would
admit any student to the University without examination. This simple
plan was severely criticized by some educational authorities of the time
as revolutionary and as a lowering of standards. It soon justified
itself, however, and has come to be the general practice; in fact, it
has also been extended to cover a reciprocal arrangement on the part of
all the leading state universities as well as many of the privately
endowed institutions. Again Michigan led the way.
The growth of the University continued undiminished, and soon the need
of a large auditorium became increasingly apparent, to say nothing of
more offices and class rooms. The Legislature therefore voted in 1869
the sum of $75,000 for the erection of the present main section of
University Hall lying between the two original wings, the first
buildings of the University. This included a large auditorium, seating
nearly 3,000 persons, with a chapel and the necessary offices and
recitation rooms on the first floor. The tower, which was the striking
feature of this building, was replaced in 1898 by the lower and much
safer dome of the present time.
The ability and success with which Dr. Frieze had conducted the affairs
of the University was publicly recognized by the Board of Regents at the
end of his term, and it was on his advice that the invitation was once
more extended to his former pupil at Brown University, Dr. James B.
Angell; this time with successful results.