The University of Michigan
A Photographic Saga
About the author: Anne Duderstadt has been a
member of the University of Michigan and Ann
Arbor communities for over 38 years, serving as
First Lady of the University from 1988 through
1996 and in leadership roles in various University
and community organizations. She led the effort
to restore and preserve important elements of the
University’s history, including the President’s
House, the Inglis House Estate, and the Detroit
Observatory. More recently she has authored and
designed several books intended to document the
University of Michigan and its remarkable history,
including The University of Michigan: A
Seasonal Portrait (1994); The University
of Michigan College of Engineering: A
Photographic History Celebrating 150 Years;
and The University of Michigan: A Seasonal
Portrait (2005).

This book is intended to introduce the campuses, the
people, and the events that have contributed to the rich
history of the University of Michigan. It brings
together photographic images with the words of members of the Michigan family who were instrumental
in building this remarkable institution.
Beginning with the creation of the university in
Detroit in 1817 as a consequence of the Northwest
Ordinance to provide education for the Michigan
Territory, this history traces the university through
its move to Ann Arbor following Michigan
statehood in 1837 and then through almost two
centuries of service to the state, the nation, and the
world.
This pictorial history is presented as a saga, as a
long story of heroic achievement, since this is the most
appropriate form for describing the evolution of one of
the nation’s great public universities over the past two
centuries.
An associated website, http://umhistory.org/,
has been developed to provide additional multimedia
materials–films, video, music, digital reconstructions
of the campus, and virtual reality simulations–
concerning Michigan’s history, including a
comprehensive digital map of the university campus
during various earlier eras.

“People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestry.”
Edmund Burke

I

© 2006, The Millennium Project
The University of Michigan
All rights reserved
	The Millennium Project
	 2001 Duderstadt Center
	 The University of Michigan
	 Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
http://milproj.dc.umich.edu
II

The University of Michigan
A Photographic Saga

Anne Duderstadt
The Millennium Project
University of Michigan
III

Dedication

To all of those who worked so hard in years past to build one of the world’s great universities.
To Jim, whose devotion, dedication, and loyalty to the University of Michigan are unsurpassed.
To the future Michigan family, with the hope that they will always persevere in sustaining
the University of Michigan as “The Leaders and Best.”

IV

Preface

A decade from now, in 2017, the University of Michigan will celebrate 200 years of leadership
in higher education through education, scholarship, and service. This photographic history was
created to both document and honor the remarkable achievements of the University during its
first two centuries.
Although images of a university usually depict campus buildings or historical events, universities
are profoundly human endeavors. Great achievements happen because talented and dedicated
faculty, students, staff, alumni, and friends make them happen.
This pictorial essay is intended to introduce the people and events that have contributed so much
to the University’s history. It tells this history as a saga, bringing together images with the words
of members of the Michigan family who participated directly in the creation and building of this
great institution.
This effort draws heavily from the historical archives of the Bentley Historical Library, University
of Michigan publications such as the Michigan Alumnus magazine, the University of Michigan: An
Encyclopedic Survey, and student publications including the Michigan Technic and the Michiganensian
yearbook. Books and articles written by Michigan faculty, students, and alumni were also of great
value. In particular, the letters, diaries, and various papers of faculty and students provided a
glimpse of what life was like in the early years of the University.
The story of the Michigan saga could not have been told without the visual images and photographs
archived by the Bentley Historical Library and included in various Michigan publications. A more
complete description of these resource materials is provided in the acknowledgements section at
the end of this book.
Of particular value in reconstructing the early history and evolution of the Michigan campus was
Mort’s Map, a work created by Myron Mortensen, an engineer in the Plant Department until 1954
when he became Chief Draftsman. The map provides the footprint of all of the buildings that
existed on the campus from the 1840s through the 1960s. Because of the value of this document
for understanding the campus, we have provided a digital version of Mort’s Map, along with
linkages to the histories of Michigan’s many buildings, at the website: http://umhistory.org
It is the author’s hope that this pictorial history will be of interest to those who have benefited
from the University of Michigan in the past. The book is also designed to serve as a resource to
guide those who will determine and benefit from its activities in the future. Most significantly,
this photographic saga provides vivid evidence of the profound impact that the University of
Michigan has had on the evolution of higher education in America and hence upon its state, the
nation, and the world during the first two centuries of its long and distinguished history.

									Ann Arbor, Michigan
									Fall 2006

V

Forward
The challenge of capturing the rich history of a complex,
consequential, and enduring institution such as the University
of Michigan is considerable indeed. In part this has to do with
the profoundly public character of the university. For example,
contrast the manner in which distinguished private universities,
such as Yale or Harvard, embrace their history and tradition.
The ancient ivy-covered buildings, the statues, plaques, and
monuments attesting to important people and events of the past,
all convey a sense that these institutions have evolved slowly over
the centuries in careful and methodical ways to achieve their
present forms.
In contrast, a visit to the campus of one of our great
state universities conveys more of a sense of dynamism and
impermanence. Most of the buildings look new, even hastily
constructed in order to accommodate rapid growth. The icons
of the public university tend to be their football stadiums or
the smokestacks of their central power plants rather than their
ivy-covered buildings or monuments. In talking with campus
leaders at public universities, one gets little sense that the history
of these institutions is valued or recognized. The consequence
is that the public university evolves through geological layers,
each generation paving over or obliterating the artifacts and
achievements of earlier students and faculty with a new layer of
structures, programs, and practices.
Yet one might well make the case that the University of
Michigan’s history is perhaps as important as that of any
institution in American higher education. It can be argued that
it was in the Midwest, in towns such as Ann Arbor and Madison,
that the early paradigm for the true public university in America
first evolved, a paradigm capable of responding to the needs of a
rapidly changing nation in the 19th Century, a paradigm that still
dominates higher education today. In many ways, the University
of Michigan has been throughout its history the flagship of
public higher education in America.
One might even claim that the University of Michigan was
not only the first truly public university in America and one of
its first land-grant universities, but also possibly even its first
true university, at least in the sense that we would understand it
today. To be sure, the colonial colleges such as Harvard and Yale
were established much earlier by the states (or colonies), as were
several institutions in the south such as the Universities of North
Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. But all were governed
by clergymen, with the mission of preparing young men for
leadership in church or state. The University of Michigan,
predating Thomas Jefferson’s University of Virginia by two years,
was firmly established as a public university exempt from religious
affiliation. Michigan’s status as a land-grant university, provided
through Congressional action of the Northwest Ordinance
of 1787, predates the Land-Grant Acts establishing the great
state universities (e.g., the Morrill Act of 1862) by almost half
a century. And Henry Tappan’s vision of Michigan as a true
university, stressing scholarship and scientific research along with
instruction, was proposed decades before other early American
universities such as Cornell University (founded by Andrew D.
White, one of Tappan’s faculty members at Michigan) and Johns
Hopkins University.

From its founding, Michigan has always been identified with
the most progressive forces in American higher education. The
early colonial colleges served the aristocracy of colonial society,
stressing moral development over a liberal education. In this
respect, they emulated the English public schools, which were
based on a classical curriculum in subjects such as Greek, Latin, and
rhetoric. In contrast, Michigan blended the classical curriculum
with the European model that stressed faculty involvement in
research and dedication to the preparation of future scholars.
Michigan hired as its first professors not classicists but a zoologist
and a geologist. Unlike other institutions of the time, Michigan
added instruction in the sciences to the humanistic curriculum,
creating a hybrid that drew on the best of both a “liberal” and a
“utilitarian” education. As historian Frederick Rudolph suggests,
it was through the leadership of the University of Michigan
after the Civil War, joined by the University of Minnesota
and the University of Wisconsin, that the state universities in
the Midwest and West would evolve into the inevitable and
necessary expression of a democratic society (Rudolph, p. 277).
“Frontier democracy and materialism combined to create a
new type of institution, capable of serving all of the people of
a rapidly changing America through education, research, and
public service.” As Rudolph notes, these institutions attempted
to “marry the practical and the theoretical, attempting to attract
farm boys to their classrooms and scholars to their faculties”
(Rudolph, p. 269).
Michigan was the first university in the West to pursue
professional education, establishing its medical school in 1850,
engineering courses in 1854, and a law school in 1859. The
university was among the first to introduce instruction in fields
as diverse as zoology and botany, modern languages, modern
history, American literature, pharmacy, dentistry, speech,
journalism, teacher education, forestry, bacteriology, naval
architecture, aeronautical engineering, computer engineering,
and nuclear engineering. Throughout its early years, Michigan
was the site of many other firsts in higher education. It provided
leadership in scientific research by building one of the first
university observatories in the world in 1854, followed in 1856
by the nation’s first chemistry laboratory building. In 1869 it
opened the first university-owned hospital, which today has
evolved into one of the nation’s largest university medical centers.
It continued as a source of major paradigm shifts in higher
education in the 20th century. It created the first aeronautical
engineering program in 1913 and then followed soon after
WWII with the first nuclear engineering (1952) and computer
engineering (1955) programs. The formation of the Survey
Research Center and associated Institute of Social Research in
the 1950s stimulated the quantitative approach that underpins
today’s social sciences. Michigan was a pioneer in atomic energy,
with the first nuclear reactor on a university campus, and then
later developed time-sharing computing in the 1960s. In the
1980s it played a leadership role in building and managing the
Internet, the electronic superhighway that is now revolutionizing
our society.
Throughout its history, the University of Michigan has also
been one of the nation’s largest universities, vying with the largest

VI

private universities such as Harvard and Columbia during the
19th and early 20th centuries, and then holding this position of
national leadership until the emergence of the statewide public
university systems (e.g., the University of California and the
University of Texas) in the post-WWII years. It continues to
benefit from one of the largest alumni bodies in higher education,
with almost 500,000 living alumni. The university’s influence on
the nation has been profound through the achievements of its
graduates, who are well represented in leadership roles in both
the public and private sector and in learned professions such as
law, medicine, and engineering. Today Michigan sends more
of its graduates into professional study in fields such as law,
medicine, engineering, and business than any other university in
the nation.
The activism of Michigan students has often stimulated change
in our society, from the teach-ins against the Vietnam War in the
1960s to Earth Day in the 1970s to the Michigan Mandate in
the 1980s. In a similar fashion, Michigan played a leadership
role in public service, from John Kennedy’s announcement of
the Peace Corps on the steps of the Michigan Union in 1960
to the AmeriCorps in 1994. Its classrooms have often been
battlegrounds over what colleges will teach, from challenges
to the Great Books canon to more recent confrontations over
political correctness. Over a century ago Harper’s Weekly noted
that “the most striking feature of the University of Michigan is
the broad and liberal spirit in which it does its work” (Peckham,
p. 5). This spirit of democracy and tolerance for diverse views
among its students and faculty continues today.
Nothing could be more natural to the University of Michigan
than challenging the status quo. Change has always been an
important part of the university’s tradition. Michigan has long
defined the model of the large, comprehensive, public research
university, with a serious commitment to scholarship and
progress. It has been distinguished by unusual breadth, a rich
diversity of academic disciplines, professional schools, social and
cultural activities, and intellectual pluralism. The late Clark Kerr,
the president of the University of California, once referred to
the University of Michigan as “the mother of state universities,”
noting it was the first to prove that a high-quality education could
be delivered at a publicly funded institution of higher learning
(Kerr, 1999).
This unrelenting commitment to academic excellence, broad
student access, and public service continues today. In virtually
all national and international surveys, the university’s programs
rank among the very best, with most of its schools, colleges, and
departments ranking in quality among the top ten nationally and
with several regarded as the leading programs in the nation. Other
state universities have had far more generous state support than
the University of Michigan. Others have had a more favorable
geographical location than “good, gray Michigan.” But it was
Michigan’s unusual commitment to provide a college education
of the highest possible quality to an increasingly diverse society—
regardless of state support, policy, or politics—that might be
viewed as one of the university’s most important characteristics.
The rapid expansion and growth of the nation during the 19th
and 20th centuries demanded colleges and universities capable

of serving all of its population rather than simply the elite as the
key to a democratic society. Here Michigan led the way in both
its commitment to wide access and equality and in the leadership
it provided for higher education in America.
So how does one capture the history of such a remarkable
institution? To be sure, there are numerous scholarly tomes and
popular histories of the University of Michigan, its leaders,
and its programs. There is even a multiple-volume University
of Michigan Historical Encyclopedia and an entire library (the
Bentley Historical Library) dedicated to this effort. Yet this book
differs from these earlier efforts by attempting a more visual
and emotional approach to documenting the places, the people,
and the events that have shaped and defined the university over
almost two centuries. It departs from the usual narrative form
of a history to instead build through images, quotes, and brief
descriptions a series of stories about the University of Michigan,
much as one might convey a mythology or saga from one
generation to the next.
Burton R. Clark, a noted sociologist and scholar of higher
education, has defined the concept of organizational or
“institutional saga” to refer to those long-standing characteristics
that determine the distinctiveness of a college or university. “The
institutional saga is a historically based, somewhat embellished
understanding of a unique organizational development. Colleges
are prone to a remembrance of things past and a symbolism of
uniqueness. The more special the history or the more forceful the
claim to a place in history, the more intensively cultivated are the
ways of sharing memory and symbolizing the institution.” He
further suggests, “An institutional saga may be found in many
forms, through mottoes, traditions, and ethos. It might consist of
long-standing practices or unique roles played by an institution,
or even in the images held in the minds (and hearts) of students,
faculty, and alumni. Sagas can provide a sense of romance and
even mystery that turn a cold organization into a beloved social
institution, capturing the allegiance of its members and even
defining the identity of its communities” (Clark, p. 235).
The appearance of a distinct institution saga involves many
elements—visionary leadership, strong faculty and student
cultures, unique programs, ideologies, and of course, the time to
accumulate the events, achievements, legends, and mythology that
characterize long-standing institutions. From this perspective, the
saga of the University of Michigan is remarkable indeed. And it
just is such a historical saga that this pictorial history attempts to
capture and convey.
James J. Duderstadt

Clark, Burton R., The Distinctive College: Antioch, Reed and Swarthmore
(Chicago: Aldine, 1970).
Kerr, Clark, The Yellow and Blue (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1999).
Peckham, Howard H., The Making of the University of Michigan, 18171992 (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994).
Rudolph, Frederick, The American College and University (Athens: University
of Georgia Press, 1962).

VII

Contents
The Northwest Territory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
The Catholepistemiad (University of Michigania). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2	
	
The University of Michigan Moves to Ann Arbor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
	
	
1837-1852 - The Early Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
1852-1863 - The Tappan Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
1863-1869 - The Haven Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22
1869-1871 - Henry Frieze (President pro tempore) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  29	
1871-1909 - The Angell Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  34			
1909-1920 - The Hutchins Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  58	
	
1920-1945 - From the Roaring Twenties Through WWII
	
1920-1925 - The Burton Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  66
	
1925-1929 - The Little Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  70
	
1929-1950 - The Ruthven Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  76
1950-1970 - Growth After the War
	
1951-1968 - The Hatcher Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  88
	
The Dearborn and Flint Campuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  90
1970-1978 - The Turbulent Years
	
1968-1978 -The Fleming Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  99
1979-2006 - Building on a Heritage of Leadership
	
1979-1987 - The Shapiro Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  102		
	
1988-1996 - The Duderstadt Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  106		
	
1997-2001 - The Bollinger Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  112
	
2001The Coleman Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  113	 	

	

Michigan’s War Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  117	

VIII

Contents(continued)
Student Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  127
	
Room & Board. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  130
	Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  132
	Religion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  133
	
Traditions & Customs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  134
	Commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  148
	Alumni. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  150
	
The Michigan Union. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  156
	
The Michigan League. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  164
Schools and Colleges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  171
	
Literature, Science & the Arts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  172
	Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  189
	
Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  208
	Dentistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  216
	Pharmacy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  222
	Engineering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  230
	
Graduate Studies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  244
	Architecture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  248
	Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  257
	Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  262
	
Natural Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  266
	Music. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  270
	Nursing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  276
	
Public Health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  282
	
Social Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  287
	Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  290
	Art. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  299
	Kinesiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  302
	
Public Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  307
Presidents and the President’s House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  311
Controversy Over the Founding Date of the University of Michigan. . . . . . . . .  322
Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  324
“Hail to the Victors”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  328

IX

1787

The Northwest Territory As Organized Under the Ordinance of 1787
Following the American Revolution, Congress adopted the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 to provide a process for those territories
in the Ohio River valley seeking statehood in the young nation, decreeing “there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude in the said territory.” The territory of Michigan was organized in 1805, with the village of Detroit serving as its
primary settlement. Equally significant, the Northwest Ordinance laid the foundation for public education with the statement,
“Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means
of education shall forever be encouraged.” This became, in effect, the founding principle for the University of Michigan as the
first educational institution created in the new Michigan territory.

Thomas Jefferson’s original sketch map of his plan to divide the Northwest Territory into states.
The plan was largely followed when the actual division of land took place.

1817

The Catholepistemiad...or University of Michigania
On August 26, 1817 a Territorial Act was passed to establish “the Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania.” This act
envisioned the organization of a complete and comprehensive educational system instructing young people in a continuous
program at the elementary, secondary and university level, modeled after Napoleon’s French system of education.
The 1817 act established the University of Michigania as a legal entity comprised of thirteen professors or “didactors,” who,
along with a president, would govern the concerns of the institution. Furthermore, this body was to function as a Territorial Board
of Education with power to establish and supervise “colleges, academies, schools, libraries, museums, athenaeums, botanical
gardens, laboratories, and other useful literary and scientific institutions, and to appoint officers, instructors and instructrices in,
among, and throughout the various counties, cities, towns, townships, and other geographical divisions of Michigan.”

1

Four Men Played a Prominent Role in the Founding of the Catholepistemiad

Augustus Woodward
(A Drawing Made from
a Verbal Description)

William Woodbridge

Gabriel Richard

John Monteith
(Later in Life)

Judge Augustus Woodward
was appointed chief justice of
the Territorial Government of
Michigan by his good friend,
Thomas Jefferson. He was put in
charge of drafting the laws governing education in the Territory.

William Woodbridge was appointed secretary of the Michigan
Territory in 1814. He served as
Michigan’s second Governor from
1840 until 1841 and was elected
to the United States Senate, where
he served until 1847.

Gabriel Richard, a Sulpician
missionary priest and a refugee
of the French Revolution, settled
in Detroit in 1798. He served as
pastor of St. Anne’s Church, as
schoolmaster and Vice-President
of the Catholepistemiad.

John Monteith, a Scottish
Presbyterian minister, graduated
from the new Princeton Seminary
in 1816. He came to Detroit and
set up the first Protestant Society in
Michigan. He served as President
of the Catholepistemiad.

Judge Woodward’s plan provided that all of education, from primary school through college, would be controlled and
funded by the state. At the head of this system would be a university, or, as Woodward named it, a “Catholepistemiad,”
his term for universal science. Woodward organized the knowledge to be taught by the university into thirteen divisions.

Anthropoglofsica
Literature

Economica
The Economical Sciences

Mathematica
Mathematics

Ethica
The Ethical Sciences

Physiognostica
Natural History

Polemitactica
The Military Sciences

Physiosoptica
Natural Philosophy

Diegetica
The Historical Sciences

Astronomia
Astronomy

Ennseica
The Intellectual Sciences
Psychology and Religion

Chymia
Chemistry

Catholepistemia
Universal Science

Jatrica
The Medical Sciences
The Thirteen Professorships Recommended by Judge Woodward
(In His Handwritten Notes)

2

Less than a month after the Territorial Government accepted
Woodward’s plan, the cornerstone was laid for the first building of
the new institution. A two-story building on Bates Street in Detroit
was begun in the fall of 1817. By August of 1818 the lower story was
finished, and Lemuel Shattuck opened a Primary School. The library
and Classical Academy on the second floor were completed in 1819.

During the first twenty years the building housed many forms of
educational activity. John Monteith taught primary grades, though
bearing the title of president. These early founders of education in
Michigan were all very practical men who started where the need
existed, at the primary level. The educational activities in the building
continued under university auspices until 1833.

The University Building in Detroit

The Official Seal for the Catholepistemiad
Adopted on September 12, 1817

1821

1823

In 1821 the name, Catholepistemiad, was changed to the University of
Michigan. A Board of Trustees was appointed to govern the school,
instead of the professors as provided in the original act.

In 1823 Congress permitted the Michigan Territory to elect a slate
of eighteen men from which the President selected nine to serve as a
Legislative Council relieving the governor and judges of law making.

1826

1827

In 1826 the Legislative Council authorized all townships containing
fifty or more families to employ a schoolmaster for six months each
year. At the same time the Board of Trustees gave up supervision of
primary schools, and the unity of education envisioned by Woodward
was lost.

In 1827 the University’s presence in Detroit, which was still little more
than an elementary school, disappeared. During this time several
University branches continued to operate. These academies provided
the necessary academic training for those students planning to enter
the University.

3

1830
In the early 1830s the Michigan Territory was in political turmoil in the effort to form a state, develop a constitution,
and seek admittance to the Union. Two men from Marshall—John Pierce and Isaac Crary—were most influential in
writing the education provisions for the Michigan Constitution. Both men had read M. Victor Cousin’s “Report on the State
of Pubic Instruction in Prussia,” an elucidation of the system of primary and secondary schools and universities supported
and supervised by the state. Pierce was elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction in July of 1836. In 1837 he
presented a comprehensive plan for public education for the new state. Primary schools were placed directly under the
state superintendent’s office. Secondary education was to be provided through county branches of the University of
Michigan, each having its own board of trustees. Higher education was to be provided by the University.

John Pierce was a clergyman who
came to Marshall in 1834 under
the auspices of the Presbyterian
Home Missionary Society. A
graduate of Brown University, he
also attended Princeton Seminary.
In Marshall he served as a missionary and preached.

Isaac Crary was a lawyer and a
graduate of Trinity College. He
lived with Pierce and his wife when
he came to Marshall to practice
law at the age of 31. He was
chairman of the Committee on
Education in the Constitutional
Convention.
Isaac Crary

John Pierce

1837

Michigan Becomes a State & the University of Michigan Moves to Ann Arbor
Michigan’s admission to the Union was delayed by a long-standing quarrel with Ohio over their common border. Michigan
insisted that the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 set its southern boundary south of the developing community of Toledo. Ohio,
which had received statehood in 1803, used its Congressional delegation to argue for a border farther north. When President
Jackson accepted Ohio’s claim, Michigan Territorial Governor Mason called out the militia and threatened the “War of Toledo”
with Ohio. Eventually the U.S. Senate broke the deadlock by detaching the northeastern portion of the Wisconsin Territory and
giving it to Michigan as compensation for losing Toledo, resulting finally in its admission to the Union on January 26, 1837.
On March 18, 1837 the Ann Arbor Land Company offered 40 acres as the site for the University. Two days later the offer was
accepted by the Legislature of the new state. The town of Ann Arbor had existed for only 13 years and had a population of
about 2,000. The village had a courthouse, a jail, four churches, two newspapers, two banks, eight mills and factories, several
stores, eleven lawyers, and nine physicians.
The new Board of Regents met for three days in June of 1837 and agreed to establish four professorships. The main business
was the selection of the site for the campus. There were two choices: a flat tract east of State Street and a site in the hills to
the north overlooking the Huron River. They chose the flat area, part of the Rumsey-Noland farm, which had been cleared of
forest trees. Part of the farm was a wheat field, part a peach orchard, and the rest pasture.
“To those of us who look back now with the advantage of ‘hind site,’ the mistakes of the first board are obvious.
Two tracts of land were considered as possible sites for the University. The choice fell on the wrong one, and we now
have the present Campus, undistinguished by any natural advantage, instead of the commanding location on the hills
overlooking the Huron. The vote was 6 to 5.” Wilfred Shaw (Michigan Alumnus, January, 1921, p. 223)

Alexander Davis, a New Haven
architect, designed a magnificent
building for the University. The
Governor and Regents supported
the plan, but Pierce refused to
approve it because of the cost.

Pierce noted that a university was
not distinguished by fine buildings,
but in the number and the ability
of its professors and in its other
appointments, such as library
cabinets and works of art.

A public meeting was held by
Ann Arbor citizens to show their
indignation that the plan for the
grand buildings had not been
accepted.

A modest building plan of six
buildings was approved. Two were
for dormitories and classrooms,
and four served as professors’
houses.

Drawing for a University Building
Proposed by Alexander J. Davis

4

1840

The Early Campus

Four identical Professors’ Houses were completed in March of 1840.
Two were located on North University and two on South University.
The two-story plan included a central hall with two rooms opening off
each side. The same arrangement was repeated on the second floor.
Each room had a fireplace. The houses had low-pitched tin roofs.
Wood houses, cisterns, and barns were provided for each. The houses
were also to be used for the storage of the cabinet of natural history
specimens, the library, the philosophical apparatus, and other general
purposes of the University until the main buildings could be finished.

The first student building on the new Ann Arbor campus was completed
in 1841. It was known as the University Building. The student quarters
consisted of three-room suites or apartments, each with two bedrooms
and a common study room with a fireplace. The building was divided
into two sections, each a complete and separate unit consisting of sixteen apartments opening on a central stairway. A tutor, who occupied
an apartment on the first floor, presided over each of the sections. The
first and second floor also included a chapel and a recitation room. The
library was on the third floor and a museum on the fourth.

The University Building

Professors’ House

Several students in the early days
scratched their names on the window
panes of the University Building.

In September of 1841 the University
opened its doors to seven students, six
freshmen and one sophomore.

This sketch of the early campus is from a student letter.
The Professors’ Houses are shown on the top and bottom of the sketch.
The University Building (upper left) was completed in 1841.
South College (lower left) was completed in 1849.

In 1843 the University Building
was named in honor of Michigan’s
first governor, Stevens Thomson
Mason. At the age of 19, Mason led
Michigan’s struggle for statehood.
He served as acting territorial
secretary, and in 1834, at the age of
22, he became the acting territorial
governor.

Mason authorized a census and
convened a constitutional convention.
Michigan voters approved the
constitution and elected Mason
Governor in 1835. Because of the
dispute with Ohio over Toledo,
Michigan did not become a state until
1837. Mason served as Governor
until 1840.

Stevens T. Mason

5

1845

The First Graduates
On August 6, 1845, eleven students received their bachelor of arts degrees from the University.
That afternoon the University of Michigan Alumni Association was organized.

On September 30, 1845, the Regents decreed that a
“Cemetery for the University” should be laid out on the
east side of the campus. Professor Whiting was to have
been buried there, and an appropriation was made for a
monument to him. This “tombstone” is apparently the
monument that today stands next to the Hatcher Library.
The “Professor’s Monument,” as it is known, is a broken
shaft with memorials to four early members of the faculty:
Rev. Joseph Whiting, Professor of Greek and Latin, died
July 20, 1845; Douglas Houghton, professor of Chemistry,
Mineralogy and Geology, drowned in lake Superior, October
13, 1845; Rev. Charles Fox, Professor of Agriculture, died
July 24, 1854; and Dr. Samuel Denton, Regent and Professor
of the Theory and Practice of Medicine and of Pathology,
died August 17, 1860. The cemetery was never used.
Professors’ Monument

1849

South College

By 1847 enrollment had grown to 89, and
a new building was needed for additional
recitation rooms, student housing, and a
chemical and medical laboratory. This
second building was designed to be identical
to Mason Hall. It was completed in 1849
and named South College.

Mason Hall and South College

Mason Hall and South College were designed originally as dormitories to
support instruction by the tutorial system. However, the more immediate
need for classroom space reduced the dormitory function to three-quarters
of each building. The remaining space was devoted to lecture and recitation
rooms, a chapel, a library, space for the mineralogical collection, and two
literary societies.
A Room in South College
For the Early Literary Societies

6

The First Faculty
The Reverend Henry Colclazer,
a Methodist minister of Ann Arbor,
was the first University officer to be
chosen. On June 5, 1837, he was
appointed librarian. His salary was
to begin when some books were
accumulated.

Henry Colclazer

Asa Gray

The Reverend George Williams
served as Principal of the
University’s Pontiac branch from
1837 to 1841. In 1841 he was
appointed to the chair of Ancient
Languages but soon transferred to
Mathematics. He was known to
all as “Old Punky,” the nickname
arising from the dryness of his wit.
Dr. Williams welcomed the first
students who came to Ann Arbor
for instruction. As President of the
Faculty, he gave diplomas to the
first graduating class.

George Palmer Williams

Dr. Douglas Houghton was
appointed State Geologist in
1837. In 1839 he was appointed
Professor of Geology, Chemistry,
and Mineralogy, but never did
any regular teaching. He lost his
life in a storm on Lake Superior
on October 1, 1845, while on a
geological survey of the Upper
Peninsula.

Dr. Asa Gray was the first professor, appointed on July 17,
1837. He was a physician who
also studied botany and zoology.
He was given $5000 to purchase
books for the library during a trip
to Europe. On his return he sent
3,707 volumes to Ann Arbor, including books on history, philosophy, classical literature, science,
art, jurisprudence, and other
subjects. Since the University
lacked a building to hold classes,
Professor Gray agreed to suspend
his salary for the coming year.
Unfortunately, he was never called
to begin his professorship.

Douglas Houghton

The Reverend Joseph Whiting was Principal of the University branch at Niles. In August of 1841 he was
named professor of Greek and Latin. Professors Whiting and Williams constituted the faculty in 1841 when
classes began. Professor Whiting died just before the first class graduated in 1845.
Although the early University technically had a faculty of five, Colclazer did not teach, Gray
was never called, and Houghton was not available. In the fall of 1843 there were fifty-three
students in three classes. Faculty were added to accommodate the four classes then enrolled.

Andrew Ten Brook

Abram Sager

Silas H. Douglas

Louis Fasquelle

In 1844 Andrew Ten Brook was
appointed to the chair of Moral
and Intellectual Philosophy. He
was an ordained minister of the
First Baptist Church of Detroit.
In 1851 he resigned his chair
and became the editor of the
New York Baptist Register, later
becoming U.S. Consul to Munich
in Bavaria. In 1862 he returned
to the University as librarian, a
position he held until 1877.

In 1842 Abram Sager was
appointed professor of Botany
and Zoology. He was transferred
to the new Medical Department
in 1850.

Silas Douglas assisted Dr.
Houghton in geology and chemistry. In 1850 he was added to
the faculty of the new Medical
Department.

Louis Fasquelle was born near
Calais, France, in 1808. Educated
in Paris and Germany, he went
to England to teach French. He
came to America in 1832. He
bought a farm in Michigan
and divided his time between
farming and teaching French to
private pupils. He was appointed
Professor of Modern Languages
and Literatures in 1846.

7

8

9

1850

The Medical Department

In 1849 the Medical Department was organized. The Laboratory Building, later known as the Medical Building, was completed in 1850
and was the center of medical instruction for more than fifty years. This three-story building housed laboratories and lecture rooms. A
large lecture room was on the second floor with a small dome above to admit light. A striking feature of the building was the portico with
four tall Greek columns. When the Medical Department opened in the fall of 1850, there were ninety-one students, twenty-one from
out of state.
“In 1848, a bright-eyed, uneducated German arrived in Ann
Arbor. He was employed as a hod carrier in the construction of
the original Medical Building. He continued in the service of the
University as janitor of the building. In 1850 he rang the bell to
summon the first medical class to their lectures and continued to ring
through half a century. Many years spent in the dissecting room
made Nagele a most proficient anatomist. Students would call upon
him to demonstrate the finer details of anatomy, his knowledge being
much more complete than some of the instructors. Probably no student became more proficient in practical anatomy then the old janitor
of the Medical Building.” Victor C. Vaughan ’78m (Michigan
Alumnus, October, 1900, p. 15)
Medical Building

“Doc” Nagele

The Medical Faculty

Silas Douglas

Moses Gunn

Samuel Denton

Abram Sager

Silas Douglas was Professor of
Chemistry and Pharmacy and
Medical Jurisprudence. Douglas
studied medicine in the office of
Dr. Zina Pitcher in Detroit. He
accompanied Dr. Houghton (his
cousin) on his geological surveys
of Michigan and was also a
physician for the Government.
He came to Ann Arbor in 1843
to practice medicine. In 1844
he was appointed assistant to
Professor Houghton and had
charge of the work in Chemistry
during Houghton’s absence. After
Houghton’s death he continued
in charge of the department
and worked for the next 32
years under various professorial
titles. He was actively involved
in establishing the Medical
Department and organizing
the Chemical Laboratory. He
remained connected with both
until his retirement in 1877.

Moses Gunn graduated from
Geneva Medical College in
1846. He came to Ann Arbor
and opened a medical practice.
He also organized classes in
Anatomy. In 1850 he accepted
the Professorship of Anatomy in
the new Department of Medicine
and Surgery. In 1854 the chair
was divided. Gunn chose Surgery,
and his mentor, Dr. Corydon
Ford, came to Michigan to accept
the chair of Anatomy. In 1867
Dr. Gunn resigned to accept the
chair of Surgery at Rush Medical
College.

Samuel Denton was Professor
of the Theory and Practice of
Medicine and Pathology from
1850 until his death in 1860.
Denton was one of the first
Regents appointed by the governor
in 1837. He also represented
Washtenaw County in the State
Senate.

In 1837 Abram Sager was in
charge of the Botanical and
Zoological Department of the
Michigan Geological Survey.
He served the University of
Michigan as Professor of Botany
and Zoology from 1842 to 1850;
Obstetrics, Diseases of Women
and Children, Botany, and Zoology
from 1850 to 1854; Obstetrics
and Physiology from 1855 to
1860; Obstetrics and Diseases of
Women and Children from 1860
to 1875. He served as Dean of
the Medical Faculty for several
years. He gave to the University
his herbarium, containing twelve
hundred species and twelve
thousand specimens collected in
the Eastern and Western States.
The specimens he catalogued in
1839 formed the foundation of
the Zoological Collection in the
University of Michigan Museum.

J. Adams Allen was Professor
of Therapeutics, Materia Medica
and Physiology.
Abram Sager and Silas Douglas
were transferred to the Medical
Department from the Literary
Department.

10

1852

Henry Philip Tappan 1852 - 1663
Henry Philip Tappan, a wellknown philosopher, was selected as the
University’s president. He was eager
to create “an American university
deserving of the name,” which would
be a part of a public-school system.
During his tenure graduate studies were
begun, scientific courses were added
to the Literary Department, and the
Law Department was added. Space
to provide for this rapidly growing
institution, whose enrollment tripled
during the Tappan years, was obtained
by eliminating dormitory quarters in the
college buildings and converting them to
classroom use. Tappan replaced some
of the early faculty of clergymen with
well-trained young men of intellectual
distinction.

In 1847 there were 89 students in the
Literary Department, but this dropped
to 57 in 1851 with the abandonment
of the University branches. However,
the number of students was more than
balanced by the registration in the new
Medical Department. In 1852 there
were 222 students in the University, 162
in the Medical Department and 60 in
the Literary Department.
From 1841 to 1852 a faculty committee
governed the University. The new
state constitution of 1850 established
two important changes: First was
the popular election of the Board of
Regents, one from each of the judicial
districts, which then numbered eight.
Second, the constitution established the
Board of Regents as a coordinate branch
of state government, as firmly founded
as the legislature, the governor, or the
judiciary, and equal in its power over its
designated field of state endeavor. The
constitution also required the Regents
to appoint a president.

“President Tappan was over six feet tall,
stood very erect, walked with a rather long
stride, swinging his cane, wore a soft hat
with fairly broad brim and was invariably
accompanied by a yellowish dun-colored
dog.” Dr. John P. Stoddard A.B. ’59,
A.M.’65 (Michigan Alumnus, 1855-59,
p. 366)
President Tappan and His Dog Leo

The University of Michigan Campus from the Northeast - circa 1850

For many years the campus remained in this pastoral setting. Wheat was grown on the
unoccupied land, and the professors’ families gathered peaches from the old orchard.

11

12

13

1854

The Scientific Course
“We propose to establish a scientific course parallel to the classical course. In this scientific course a more extended
study of the Mathematics will be substituted for the Greek and Latin. There will be comprised in it, besides other
branches, Civil Engineering, Astronomy with the use of an Observatory, and the application of Chemistry and other
Sciences to Agriculture and the industrial arts, generally.” Henry Tappan (Tappan, p. 40)

A scientific course was introduced in 1852, which included
civil engineering in the third and
fourth years. In 1853 Alexander
Winchell came to Michigan as
the first Professor of Engineering.
The first engineering class was
held on January 24, 1854. The
class, titled Parker’s Aids, was an
introduction to English composition for engineering students.

Engineering classes were given in
South College. The classrooms
were heated by wood stoves stoked
by the professor or by an obliging
student with wood from immense
wood boxes, filled daily by the
custodian, Jimmie Ottley. Water
was supplied from a battered zinc
pail, refilled from time to time as
use demanded.

South College

Jimmie Ottley

Tappan’s strong interest in science
led to the construction of a major
observatory, made possible by gifts
from several citizens of Detroit.
Located on four acres of high
ground overlooking the Huron
River, the Detroit Observatory
was equipped with state-of-theart instruments, including an astronomical clock and a meridian
circle, purchased by Tappan during a trip to Germany in 1853.
He also recruited Franz Brunnow
from Berlin as director of the
Observatory.

The Detroit Observatory was
not only one of the finest astronomical observatories in the
world, but it firmly established
the importance of research at the
University. In fact, one could well
argue that such facilities, coupled
with Tappan’s personal interest
in scholarly pursuits, established
Michigan as one of the nation’s
earliest research universities, in
sharp contrast to the colonial colleges of the East (e.g., Harvard,
Yale, and Princeton).
The Detroit Observatory

1856
“The chemical laboratory was a small
one-story building with tables for about
thirty students at one time. There was
no water on the campus except wells,
and no sewerage. No gas. In the
chemical laboratory we used alcohol
lamps instead of Bunsen burners for
evaporating purposes, and worked only
by daylight.” W. F. Breaker ’59m
(Michigan Alumnus, 4/01 p. 266 )

The Chemical Laboratory was
completed in 1856. It was the first
structure on the North American
continent that was designed,
constructed, and equipped solely
for instruction in chemistry.

Chemical Laboratory
1864 Additon to the Medical Building (rear)

14

Faculty
Erastus Haven was a Professor
of Latin Language and Literature
from 1852 to 1856. A Methodist
clergyman and Wesleyan graduate,
he was an academy principal before
coming to Michigan.

James Boise, a graduate and faculty
member of Brown University until
1852, came to Michigan as Professor
of Greek Language and Literature.
He served on the faculty for sixteen
years.

Erastus Otis Haven

James Robinson Boise

Alexander Winchell was appointed Professor of Physics and
Civil Engineering in November of
1853 and arrived in Ann Arbor in
January 1854. Winchell taught
the first engineering class on
Parker’s Aids (technical writing)
on January 20, 1854. Winchell
proved to be unqualified to teach
engineering, and the following
year a position was found for him
in natural history (zoology, geology, and botany).

Franz Brunnow, assistant to the
director of the Royal Observatory
in Berlin, came to Ann Arbor to
head the new Observatory. With
a doctorate from the University of
Berlin, he had already published
work on spherical astronomy.
He married Tappan’s daughter,
Rebecca (Barbie). When Tappan
was dismissed in 1863, Brunnow
resigned and returned to Europe,
becoming professor of astronomy
at the University of Dublin and
Astronomer Royal for Ireland.

Alexander Winchell

Franz Brunnow

In 1854 Corydon La Ford came
from the University of Vermont
to the professorship of anatomy
in the Medical Department. His
tenure with the University lasted
for forty years.

Henry Frieze was Professor of
Latin Language and Literature
from 1854 to 1889. Frieze was
born in Boston and educated at
Brown. A much beloved teacher,
he served as president pro tempore
from 1869-71 and later as acting
president from June 1880 until
February 1882.

Corydon La Ford

Henry Simmons Frieze

William Guy Peck

William Guy Peck succeeded Alexander Winchell in 1855. Peck
was a brevet second lieutenant of Topographical Engineers and a
graduate of West Point. He was appointed professor of Physics and
Civil Engineering. Major Peck went to Columbia in 1857, where he
became a professor of mathematics and astronomy.

DeVolson Wood was the
founder of engineering education
at the University of Michigan. He
was appointed assistant professor
of Physics and Civil Engineering
in 1857 and professor of Physics
and Civil Engineering in 1859
when he was granted his master’s
degree from Michigan. Wood
resigned in 1872 to accept an
appointment at Stevens Institute
of Technology.

Andrew White filled the first
permanent chair of history in
the country at the University of
Michigan from 1857 to 1864.
In 1864 White served as a State
Senator in New York. One of
his associates was Ezra Cornell.
Together they developed the ideas
for organizing a university. In
1867 Andrew White was elected
the first president of the newly
established Cornell University.

DeVolson Wood

Andrew White

15

1859

The Law Department

The Law Department was established in October of 1859. For the first
four years classes were held in the chapel in Mason Hall, and the law
library was housed in the Library Room. The Law Department also
held classes in South College until 1863 when the Law Building was
completed. Enrollment was 92 the first year and 159 the second.

At the time the great majority of American lawyers received their professional training in lawyers’ offices. This system of legal education had
been introduced from England in colonial times. The state of Michigan
adhered tenaciously to the old office mode of legal education, and most
lawyers were opposed to Law Schools altogether.

The first law faculty included Charles I. Walker, Thomas M. Cooley, and James V. Campbell.
The first law class graduated in 1860.

Charles Irish Walker

Thomas McIntyre Cooley

James Valentine Campbell

Charles Walker served as
Professor of Law from 1859 to
1876, giving one day a week to
the Department. He had a very
successful and lucrative law practice
in Detroit. He was very interested
in Michigan’s early history and
wrote extensively on the subject.

Thomas Cooley was named
Professor of Constitutional Law
and History in 1859. One of the
state’s most distinguished lawyers,
he served as the Jay Professor of
Law for twenty-five years. During
his tenure he also served as a justice
of the Michigan Supreme Court.

James Campbell taught law from
1859 until 1885. On his acceptance
of the Marshall Professorship, the
Law Faculty elected him Dean. He
practiced law in Detroit and served
on the Michigan Supreme Court.
Campbell was also an accomplished
scholar in history and literature.

1861
“In the autumn of 1861, I made my way to the house of President Tappan in Ann Arbor as an applicant for admission to the University. I accordingly sought out the residence of Professor Frieze, who proposed to examine me in Latin at once. Professor Boise was also at home, and was frank and
cordial. He made appointment at the recitation room. Dr. Williams inquired who and what as to teachers and books, and started to write his name
before I had fully made answer. Professor Brooks and others asked comparatively few questions, one or two remarking that Boise and Frieze at the head
of the paper were sufficient. Boise the precise, Frieze the effusive, Williams the plausible, and White the thinker.” Gabriel Campbell ’65 (Michigan
Alumnus, The Days of Auld Lang Syne, 1901)

“The Campus itself was a wide and beautiful park-like meadow, where cows roamed
at will, and where, in season, the hay was harvested and stood in cocks waiting to be
hauled away. The library occupied a single room in the North College, not a large room
either. There was no art gallery or art collection. I believe that Professor Asa Gray’s
herbarium was stowed away somewhere in closets, or cases, but was rarely ever seen.
In the central portion of the North College, in my student days, was the chapel. A large
furnace, or heater, stood in the central portion of it, which warmed the library, then
directly over it. The chapel was not a large room, and yet it was sufficient in those days
to hold the entire Literary Department. The seats were all numbered conspicuously;
a number was assigned to each student, and he was expected to ‘cover his number’ at
morning prayers, or he was marked for absence. Five such marks, unexcused, brought
him before the faculty, and a certain number additional made him liable to suspension.
Jollie, the janitor stood in front during chapel exercises, and, with eagle eye, sought out
the vacant numbers, and acted as recording angel. When the ‘last bell’ began to toll,
the stately form of the Chancellor could be seen emerging from his garden, and, passing
near the ‘Tappan Oak,’ advance with measured and dignified pace toward the chapel,
accompanied by his two big dogs, Buff and Leo.” Byron M. Cutcheon ’61m
(Michigan Alumnus, November 1900)

16

“Jollie” the Janitor

1862
In 1862 a small room was attached to the north end of Mason Hall to house
Randolph Rogers’ statue “Nydia.” Funds to purchase “Nydia” were obtained
from benefit lectures and concerts by citizens of Ann Arbor and the University.
The small room was removed in 1899 and replaced by a bay window.

Randolph Rogers

Mason Hall

“Nydia “

Randolph Rogers was born in Waterloo, near Auburn, New York on July 6,
1825. Until the age of 23 he lived in Ann Arbor, engaged in mercantile. From
1848 until 1850 he studied with the great sculptor Lorenzo Bartolini in Rome.
On his return, he opened a studio in New York, returning to Italy frequently.
Nydia, the Blind Girl of Pompeii, was one of his best-known works. Rogers
gave the University a complete collection of the models and casts of his works
totaling more than seventy pieces. Unfortunately due to a lack of space they
were stored in a steam tunnel and destroyed.

1863
The Law Building was completed in 1863. The new building also housed the University Chapel until 1873 and the University
Library until 1883. It was twice remodeled to provide for increasing enrollment. It was the home of the Law School for 60 years.

“Big Stone”

The Law Building

“Big Stone”

“The conglomerate boulder was found in a garden below the old Washtenaw County Jail. Professor Winchell had just been pounding into us all the
strata of the universe and nothing was more natural than that some brilliant member of the Class of ’62 should suggest the removal of this pebble
which the professor assured us had been carried from the far North by a glacier, for a class monument. The boys were mostly poor, so we did the
excavating ourselves, (the owner of the garden at first very willing to have the obstacle removed, after learning the disposition to be made of it, wanted
pay) then made a contract with one Goodhue to transport it. After much tugging it was loaded on a sort of sledge and drawn by ten horses with flags
flying over slushy snow to its present resting place.” Elmore Horton Wells ’62 (Michigan Alumnus, April, 1895, p. 100)

17

The Firing of President Henry Tappan

When Henry Tappan accepted the Presidency of the University of
Michigan in August of 1852, he saw the possibilities for building a
great educational system. President Tappan’s ideas and influence
transformed Michigan from a mere college, teaching only the studies
of the established college curriculum of his day, into a true university.
He set out to lay the foundation of an institution of learning, which
would cover the widest range of knowledge, with postgraduate
courses, laboratories for scientific investigation, and libraries.
Yet both his vision and his personality stimulated considerable
opposition. Led by the editor of the Detroit Free Press, the
state’s newspapers were strongly opposed to his goal of building
a true “university” in the European sense, but instead believed
that a “high school” was the only goal deserving of state support.
Within a few months after arriving on campus, Alexander Winchell
developed a strong dislike for Tappan, both because of his personal
assignments to various academic programs that he disliked (civil
engineering and mathematics) as well as Tappan’s refusal to countersign
an order for a microscope he wanted. Working closely with his friend
Erastus Haven, Winchell sent a private communication to the Regents
claiming that Tappan had assailed his professional character. He then
began to write letters under the anonymous name of “Scholasticus”
to the Detroit newspapers criticizing Tappan and his ideas. He also
encouraged a resolution at the state Methodist convention questioning the
moral conditions at the University. It was clear that by 1857 Tappan had
made a profound enemy in Winchell, and that Winchell had a strong ally
in Erastus Haven. Both men believed Tappan must go, and Haven was
toying with the idea of someday replacing him (as indicated in his letters).

When the new Board of Regents was elected, both men began to work
with a Detroit Regent, Levi Bishop, who also started to write hostile
anonymous letters concerning Tappan to the Detroit papers. Most of
the other Regents were not initially opposed to Tappan, but Bishop
soon found a way to drive a wedge between them by being appointed
chair of a committee to report on rules and regulations. His report
recommended a committee structure that would assume most of the
executive functions of the President and the faculty. Tappan fought
against this, noting that not only was this committee unconstitutional,
but that the “president and the faculty are not mere ‘employees’ but are,
in fact THE university.” Bishop launched a counterattack, with vicious
diatribes against Tappan’s “bundle of nonsense.” Winchell continued
to ingratiate himself with the Regents and lobbied against Tappan.
As the Regents approached the end of their tenure, they quietly
moved to replace Tappan. Haven wrote to tell Alexander Winchell
that he had been asked whether he would accept the presidency if it
were open, and he replied that he would probably accept an offer. He
let his Michigan friends know that he was “profoundly interested in
educational matters.”
On June 25, 1863, the day before commencement, the Regents passed
a motion to remove Tappan both as president and as Professor of
Philosophy. They then unanimously elected Erastus Haven as president.
Tappan was offered the opportunity to resign the morning of the motion
but refused. The same day Haven wrote a letter to Winchell conveying
his “surprise” and pleasure at the action of the board and asking for
Winchell’s assistance in preparing for the fall. Winchell wrote that “my
worst enemy has been displaced and my best friend put in his stead.”
(UM Encyclopedic Survey, p. 39)
(Paul Lingenfelter, The Firing of Henry Philip Tappan)

President James Angell was to have the last word on the sordid
incident:“Tappan was the largest figure of a man that ever appeared on the Michigan
Campus, and he was stung to death by gnats!” (Peckham, p. 56)

18

Henry Tappan’s Contributions to Higher Education in America
Henry Philip Tappan, Michigan’s first president, captured the excitement of the early regents with his vision of building a true university, which
would not only conduct instruction and advanced scholarship, but also respond to popular needs. The university would demonstrate to a skeptical
public the true value of scholarship. In Tappan’s words: “We shall have no more acute distinctions drawn between scholastic and practical
education; for, it will be seen that all true education is practical, and that practice without education is little worth; and that there will be dignity,
grace, and a restless charm about scholarship and the scholar” (Rudolph, p. 234).
Tappan arrived in Ann Arbor in 1852, determined to build a university very different from the aristocratic colonial colleges of 19th-century
America. Like the English public schools, these colleges stressed moral development over a liberal education and were based on a classical
curriculum in subjects such as Greek, Latin, and rhetoric. In contrast, Tappan was strongly influenced by European leaders such as von Humboldt,
who stressed the importance of combining specialized research with humanistic teaching to define the intellectual structure of the university.
Tappan articulated a vision of the university as a capstone of civilization, a repository for the accumulated knowledge of mankind, and a home for
scholars dedicated to the expansion of human understanding. In his words, “a university is the highest possible form of an institution of learning.
It embraces every branch of knowledge and all possible means of making new investigations and thus advancing knowledge” (Peckham, p. 37).
In Tappan’s view, the United States had no true universities, at least in the European sense. With the University of Michigan’s founding heritage
from both the French and Prussian systems, he believed he could build such an institution in the frontier state of Michigan. And build it he did,
attracting distinguished scholars to the faculty such as Andrew D. White and Charles Kendall Adams, and placing an emphasis on graduate
study and research, while investing in major research facilities. Henry Tappan’s vision of Michigan as a true university, stressing scholarship and
scientific research along with instruction, predates other early American universities such as Cornell University (founded by Andrew D. White,
one of Tappan’s faculty members at Michigan) and Johns Hopkins University by two decades.

The Tappans’ Châlet in Vevey, Switzerland on Lake Geneva

Following his dismissal at Michigan, Tappan and his family moved to Europe, never to return to America. Tappan’s son John, the University
Librarian, was also dismissed. Franz Brunow, the director of the Observatory married to Tappan’s daughter Barbie, resigned and became professor of astronomy at the University of Dublin and Astronomer Royal for Ireland. Late in his life, Tappan settled in a châlet on the shores of Lake
Geneva in Vevey, Switzerland. (The Tappan châlet still exists today, although has been transformed into a trattoria.) In 2005, a University of
Michigan Historical Marker, was placed on his final home, commemorating Tappan’s contributions to higher education.)

Rev. Dr. Henry Philip Tappan
1805-1881
On the foundations of this building stood Châlet Beauval, the home from 1880-1881 of the distinguished American philosopher, scholar, educator, and patriot, Rev. Dr. Henry Philip Tappan. As the first Chancellor of the University of Michigan (1852-1863), Dr. Tappan transformed the
fledgling institution in the frontier state of Michigan into one of the leading research universities in America. Dr. Tappan was a man of commanding strength, vision, intellect, and achievement. He was also a family man with a great love of animals, and mountains, and gardens.
Dr. Tappan considered Vevey his spiritual home. Of Vevey he wrote: “Vevey is one of the most glorious and inviting spots on our globe.”
It is “...a scene of beauty, grandeur, and dazzling splendor which no language can describe.”
Henry Philip Tappan died at this place on November 15, 1881 and was buried on the hillside overlooking Lake Geneva.

19

20

21

1863

Erastus Otis Haven 1863 - 1869

Erastus Haven succeeded Tappan as president in 1863.
He returned to a campus and community that was
upset over the removal of President Tappan. Having
been a professor from 1852-1856, he had many friends
in Ann Arbor. His calm, friendly manner served him
well.

Haven broke no new ground in moving further toward
Tappan’s vision of a university. He sided with the
Regents to deny admission to women. The unusual
nature of his appointment in the wake of Tappan’s
firing would continue to deprive Haven of strong
faculty and regental support.
“Haven devoted himself to caring for the material affairs of
the University rather than the problems of future development.”
Wilfred Shaw (Michigan Alumnus, April, 1916 p. 326)
Erastus Otis Haven

1864

Medical Building Addition
With the rapid growth of the Department of Medicine, an addition to the Medical Building became necessary. Half of
the $20,000 cost of the addition was raised by a general tax on the citizens of Ann Arbor. The four-story structure, located
to the west of the original building, held offices and two large lecture rooms or amphitheaters. The top floor provided an
enlarged dissecting room. The lecture system was considered the only acceptable method for work in the Department of
Medicine and Surgery.
“The students attended four lectures each morning during five days in the
week, the afternoons being devoted to laboratory work and dissection. On
Saturdays the students read their theses.” Victor C. Vaughan ’78m
(Michigan Alumnus, April, 1900, p. 279)

1864 Addition to Medical Building

“There was a four-foot plank walk crooking its way from the entrance of the
campus to the Chemical Laboratory and then to the front of the Medical Building
on East University. It was called ‘The Serpentine Way,’ bridging across uneven
ground and shaded by evergreen trees.” W. F. Breaker ’59m (Michigan
Alumnus, April, 1901, p. 266)

Original Medical Building

“There were no very stringent regulations existing governing the admission of a
student to the department of medicine beyond a proper knowledge of English,
‘such knowledge of the Latin language as will enable one to read current
prescriptions,’ and a certificate of good moral character. The medical student
also at the most came only for two courses of lectures of about six months each,
and did not become identified with the life of the University.”
Henry M. Hurd ’63m (Michigan Alumnus, February, 1902, p. 219)

22

1868

Observatory Director’s Residence

The Observatory was located north of
the campus in an isolated spot with poor
roads leading to it. There was a push to
move it closer to campus. A decision was
made to leave it at its location but to add a
residence for the professor of astronomy
and to improve the road. Ann Arbor
provided $3,000 with the agreement that
the University would match the sum.

In 1868 the first African American
students entered the University, John
Summerfield Davidson and Gabriel
Franklin Hargo. (Women would be
admitted two years later in 1870.)
In 1868 a course in pharmacy was introduced.

Observatory and Residence

1869

The First University Hospital

In 1868 Dr. Alonzo B. Palmer, Professor of the Theory
and Practice of Internal Medicine, headed a movement
in the American Medical Association to obtain more
clinical instruction in American medical schools. As a
result of his efforts along with the increasing community
demand in Ann Arbor for a hospital, the faculty asked to
be allowed to establish a hospital.

Using hospitals as centers of clinical training was well
advanced in Europe, especially in Germany and France.
Although the desirability of actual bedside experience
for the young physician was recognized, it was difficult to
obtain such instruction except under the supervision of a
preceptor—an actual practitioner with whom the young
doctor served an apprenticeship as assistant.

Alonzo Benjamin Palmer

In 1869 the east Professors’ House on North University became the first University Hospital. It had twenty beds. There
were no operating or dressing rooms. It was merely a receiving home in which patients brought in for the clinics could be
kept before and after presentation to the class. The little hospital, although inadequate, served its purpose by demonstrating
that such an addition to the facilities of the Medical Department was both desirable and practicable.

The First University Hospital
One of the Original Professors’ Houses
Dr. Breakey’s Clinic

Dr. Nancrede’s Clinic

“When I went to Ann Arbor in the seventies one of the professors’ houses on the north side of the campus was known as ‘University Hospital.’
It was, however, nothing more than a receiving home, in which patients brought in for the clinics could be kept before and after presentation to the
class. There were no wards and no operating or dressing rooms, no place where students might receive bedside instruction. On Wednesday and
Saturday mornings students carried patients on stretchers across the campus to the medical buiding, where the procedures were carried out.
Victor Vaughan ’78 m (A Doctor’s Memories, p. 197)

23

24

25

The University of Michigan Campus
The early Campus was enclosed by a picket fence, with sidewalks made of wooden planks.

“The Campus, as I first saw it in September 1857, looked like a small farm spacious for college grounds compared with anything I had seen in
the east—and unlike ever to be crowded with buildings. It was fenced in with a turnstile at the principal entrance on the northwest corner. The
stile often was broken in the effort of students to go through both sides at once. The stile gave way—literally—to steps over the fence and these in
time gave place to posts with room enough between them for one man at a time, but not for a cow.” W. F. Breaker ’59m (Michigan Alumnus,
April, 1901, p. 266)

Drawing Shows the Steps over the Fence

Fence with Posts

Fence with Turnstile

26

The University of Michigan Campus
One of Michigan’s most distinguished faculty members (and later Cornell’s first president), Andrew White,
began to plant trees on the young campus, as noted in his autobiography. “Without permission from anyone,
I began planting trees within the university enclosure; established, on my own account, several avenues; and set out elms to
overshadow them. Choosing my trees with care, carefully protecting and watering them during the first two years, and gradually
adding to them a considerable number of evergreens, I preached practically the doctrine of adorning the Campus. Gradually some
of my students joined me; one class after another aiding in securing trees and planting them, others became interested, until, finally,
the University authorities made me ‘superintendent of grounds’ and appropriated to my work the munificent sum of seventy-five
dollars a year. So began the splendid growth which now surrounds those buildings.” (White, p. 282)
Andrew White

“In the early morning of a spring day in 1911, I was hurrying along the diagonal walk across the campus, on the way to my laboratory to see how my guinea
pigs and rabbits were responding to my treatments, when I saw a man behaving queerly. He seemed to be consulting a sheet of paper which he carried in his left
hand; then he went from tree to tree, patting each in a caressing manner with his right hand. Thinking that I had detected a patient escaped from the psychopathic
ward, I left the walk and approached the strangely behaving individual. He was standing by a tree and patting it when he heard me approach and turned quickly.
In my surprise I cried out: ‘Mr. White! What does this mean?’ He said: ‘Yesterday while sitting in my library at Ithaca I happened to think that fifty years ago
today the class of 1861 planted these trees under my direction. I had among my papers a plot of the ground, the location of each tree and the name of the student
who planted it.’ Then he added, with tears in his eyes: ‘There are more trees alive than boys’.” Victor C. Vaughan (A Doctor’s Memories, p. 126)

Harry Hutchins (left), James Angell, (center)
Andrew White (right)

27

1869

Erastus Haven Resigns

President Haven did not have an agenda, nor did he offer any reforms.
Rather he simply continued the policies of Tappan. He did so with
quiet competence and diplomacy, and the faculty found him considerate.
With two-thirds of the enrollment from out-of-state, the University
began to take criticism from the Legislature. Haven reminded them
that the University had not been founded by state money, but by a land
grant from the United States Congress, which support rendered its
obligations national.

In 1867 in response to a request for state support from the Regents, the
Legislature responded by granting to the University one-twentieth of a
mill on every dollar of state property tax. The state added a constraint:
the University would have to build a program in homeopathic medicine.
The Regents balked, and eventually this constraint was removed.
But the state capped the “mill tax” at $15,000. The Legislature also
demanded that the University admit women. Haven and the Regents
refused.

Erastus Otis Haven

On April 2, 1868, in a letter to Alexander Winchell, Haven expressed his discontent with his position:
“As it regards ferreting out the authors of the vile burlesque [a mock or false program for the Junior Exhibition, March 24, 1868,
which is aptly described by the term “vile”] I am uncertain what to do. Such work required time & attention, but I am confined by
two recitations a day & other matters that occupy the time. I am inclined to think that had the Faculty taken no notice of the affair from the
beginning there would have been no trouble. However, the Faculty must decide. It is made an occasion of very bitter adverse criticism upon
myself, who unfortunately must bear all the blame of all that is deemed to be wrong about the University, with but little credit of any good.
This, to speak plainly, more than all things else, prompts me to think of retiring from the place. I started with an unfair sentiment against me
& can never secure impartiality. Why should I work all my life to sustain a cause at a dead lift? Nothing whatever would, or should, induce
me to remain here but a belief that I can do more for truth & good here than anywhere else.
I am not inclined to leave on account of homeopathy, but rather to stay & see the question settled. That grant secured (which was obtained
solely by my effort), the university is more than doubled. If it fails, it is because of the Med [ical] Professors.
A man who is breasted difficulties & wearing out his life wants to know that he is working in a good cause, & for what will be a permanent
good, & that after he is gone there will not be persevering effort to conceal & pervert what he has done.” (UM Encyclopedic Survey, p. 57)

Haven accepted the presidency of Northwestern University and remained there three years. From 1873 to 1877 he served
as Chancellor of Syracuse University. In 1880 he became a Bishop in the Methodist church and went to San Francisco.
Haven died in Salem, Oregon, August 2, 1881.

After the Civil War, enrollments increased to 1,205, edging out Harvard and prompting a Harvard professor to note: “In
25 years in a country 500 miles from the sea known 50 years ago only to the fur trade, a university has sprung up, to which students flock from
all parts of the land, and which offers to thousands free of expense, the best education this continent affords.” (Peckham, p. 63)

28

1869

Henry Frieze Serves as President Pro Tempore 1869 - 1871
Following Haven’s departure, the Regents asked Professor Henry Simmons Frieze to serve as President pro tempore, which
he did from 1869 until 1871. Frieze had earlier accepted a Professorship of Latin Language and Literature in 1853 at the
urging of a colleague from Brown, Professor Boise, who also came to Michigan. During Frieze’s 35-year tenure (1854 to
1889) as professor, president pro tempore, and acting president during the absence of his successor, James Angell, Frieze
had some remarkable accomplishments. In 1870 he quietly arranged for women to finally be admitted to the University.
His love of music and talent as an accomplished organist and composer were instrumental in his role as one of the founders
of the Choral Union and the Musical Society. His great interest in painting and sculpture led him to secure the first works
of art for the University’s museum and art gallery.

Henry Simmons Frieze

But of particular importance was Henry Frieze’s role in creating the secondary school system in America. Prior to the Civil
War, most public education occurred at the primary level, and colleges and universities were obliged to create associated
academies to prepare students for college work. Frieze instead began the practice of certifying select Michigan public
schools as capable of offering respectable college preparation, thereby freeing the university from preparatory commitments
and stimulating the schools of the state to extend their responsibilities into secondary education. This was the device
that unleashed the high-school movement in the Midwest and later the nation, not only enabling the state universities to
cultivate scholarly aspirations, but reshaping public education into clearly differentiated elementary and high schools.

Henry Frieze’s good friend James
Angell said of him: “We owe to him
the introduction of the so-called diploma
relation of the schools to the university and
the provision for musical study. He actively
encouraged the development of graduate
work. He was ever seeking to elevate the
range and to enrich the character of university
teaching. No man except President Tappan
has done so much to give to the University
its present form and spirit. No one was
ever more devoted to the interests of this
institution or cherished a more abiding hope
for its permanent prosperity and usefulness.”
(Michigan Alumnus, January, 1906, p.
164)

Professor Frieze’s Classroom

29

“One of the homes into which we had an
early introduction was that of Professor
Henry Frieze. The house, with a large
garden, occupied the space now covered by
St. Joseph’s Hospital. At the time of which
I am writing (1877-89) Doctor Frieze was
engaged in revising his Virgil and writing of
Italian artists and their works. We spent
an evening or two a week, sometimes more,
in his parlor. He would read us what he
had written since our last visit, illustrating
Italian art with photographs, and then he
would play Beethoven, of whom he was a
great admirer, and of whose compositions
he was a skillful interpreter.” Victor
Vaughan, (A Doctor’s Memories, p. 121)

WO

EN

On January 5, 1870 a resolution was passed by the Regents asserting 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.” Within a few weeks Madelon Stockwell
enrolled in the University. More women came in the fall of 1870, and before many years “co-eds” became a part of University life.
“When it was announced that a ‘Miss Stockwell would be in the Class of ’72, Second Section, L to W,’ it was up to us what to do—strike, walk out and
leave her alone in the class-room, or scuff and make a noise when she was called to recite, and boo her off the Campus. One sunny afternoon she appeared
in Professor Walter’s classroom—recitation, Latin, Horace. When her name was called the silence was almost audible; you could have heard a pin drop.
Her reading of the Latin text and translation were perfect, her answers to the questions on grammar, prompt and correct, a perfect recitation. The class was
dismissed, and without any previous arrangement, we all lined up outside to take a good look at our new classmate. She appeared in the doorway, timid, and
a little scared at the array. But when a brawny young man stepped out, asking to escort her, and was accepted with a pleasant smile for him and for all of
us down the line the smiles were returned with not a single boo or groan. And so Miss Stockwell, the first co-ed, was received in the University by the Class
of 1872. Coeducation at the University of Michigan was settled.” Henry Nelson Loud ’72 (Michigan Alumnus, June 11, 1938)
“Madelon Stockwell ’72
entered the University as a sophomore.
She was seated alphabetically next to a young
man by the name of Turner (Charles King Turner)
’72, ’73l. A few months after her graduation in 1872,
Dr. Benjamin F. Cocker, a member of the faculty, dismissed his
class early one day, saying that he was ‘called away by some of the
mischief that had been done by admitting women to the University.’
He was going to Kalamazoo to perform a marriage ceremony for
Miss Stockwell and Mr. Turner.” (Michigan Alumnus, June 11,
1938, p. 423)

Harriet Holman
Mary Graham

Effie Sanforth
Margaret Stewart

Madelon Stockwell
Lucy Salman

Ella Thomas
Alice Hamilton

Carrie Smith

Caroline Hubbard

Myra Jordan

“In the fall of 1870 the first class of Freshmen women entered the University of Michigan. We were nine in number in the Literary Department,
and I was overjoyed to find eight others after my fears in June that I might be the only one. There were Sarah Hamlin of Boston; Emma Hall,
a graduate of Cagnovia Seminary, New York; Eliza Benton and Anna Chandler of Coldwater; Josephine Agnes Day, and Delia Hemingway
of Ann Arbor, Annie Granger from a small town in Michigan; Mary Hapgood, and Julia Knight from Adrian. Miss Laura White entered the
Law Department. She was outstandingly tall and so was known as ‘Alba Longa.’ A mother of seven children entered the Medical Department.”
Julia Knight Edwards ’70-71 (Michigan Alumnus, 1938, p. 423)

30

Alice Freeman was instrumental
in starting the Women’s League.
She taught history and served as
President of Wellsley. She also
served as the first dean of women
at the University of Chicago.

Alice Freeman
The Quadrantic Club

This faded photograph of the Quadrantic Club, the forerunner of all campus women’s organizations, was prized among the
possessions of Alice Freeman Palmer ’76. Of the 29 women in the University in 1873, 23 belonged to this club. Thirteen years
after it was taken Mrs. Palmer discovered that five of these women had died in the period, 1873-1886, while nine had married.
Fifteen were teachers, one an architect, and two were lawyers. One had become a writer and one a foreign missionary. The
woman seated at left in the first row was Laura R. (Alba Longa) White ’74 (see quote on page 30).

Women take their place with the class of 1875.

Tomo Inouye

While traveling in Asia, Regent Levi Barbour was impressed with the remarkable
work of three women trained in medicine at Michigan: Mary Stone ’96m, and Ida
Kahn ’96m from China, and Tomo Inouye ’01m, from Japan. He established the
Barbour Scholarship so that Asian women trained at Michigan could return to their
home for a life of service to their countries.

The experiences of a group of women who entered Michigan in
1871 are told in a rare volume, “An American Girl and Her Four Years
in a Boys’ College,” published in 1878. The Author, San Louie
Anderson, drowned in the Sacramento River in 1886.

San Louie Anderson

31

32

33

1871
By 1871 there were 1,110 students and
35 faculty at the University, which had an
annual budget of $76,702. The Department
of Literature, Science and the Arts offered
six “courses,” each four years in length—
classical, scientific, Latin and scientific,
Greek and scientific, civil engineering and
mining engineering.

James Burril Angell 1871 - 1909
The scientific course was subdivided for more
than ten years into special four-year programs
in general science, chemistry, and biology.
Since the first half of both of the engineering
programs was largely scientific, they were
also regarded as subdivisions of the scientific
course until 1895, when Engineering became
an independent department.

In 1871 both the Law and Medical Departments
consisted of two courses of lectures, each
of six- month duration, with no significant
examination required for admittance. However
by the early 1900s, the increasingly technical
content of these programs required three and
four years of nine months each, as well as two
years of work in the Literary College.

After a two-year-long search and negotiation, in 1871 the Regents elected the president of
the University of Vermont, James Burril Angell, as the third president of the University.
Ironically, Angell had studied at a grammar school in Providence under Henry Frieze before
he entered Brown University. After graduation with highest honors, he accepted a position
as a civil engineer in Boston. When he later returned as a faculty member at Brown, he was
given a choice of a professorship in either civil engineering or modern languages. Choosing
the latter, Angell remained on the Brown faculty for seven years before becoming editor of
the Providence Journal during the Civil War. He accepted the presidency of the University
of Vermont in 1866.
Angell served for 38 years, presiding over the University’s extraordinary growth into the largest
institution in the nation in the early 1900s. He was persuasive both with the Regents and the
state legislature. He managed to convince the state to fund the university through a “mill tax,”
a fixed percentage of the state property tax, thereby avoiding the politics of having to beg the
legislature each year for an operating appropriation (as is the practice today). This provided
ample funds for the construction during his tenure of fifty buildings to accommodate the rapid
growth of the campus. While neither palatial nor a model of architectural beauty, the growing
campus was adequate to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding student enrollments.

University of Michigan Campus circa 1870

34

University Hall
James Angell laid the cornerstone of
University Hall on a visit to Ann Arbor
before his presidency began. University Hall
was the first building funded through direct
appropriations by the legislature. It was a
connecting link between Mason Hall and
South College, which became known as the
North and South Wing of the new complex.

University Hall provided a chapel on the north
side of the main floor, the President’s Office on
the south side with a waiting room for ladies
at the east, an auditorium on the second floor
seating 3000 (1700 on the main floor and 1300
in the elliptical gallery), eleven lecture rooms
and offices for the Regents, the faculty, and the
steward.

Angell’s guidance in the selection of
University personnel was one of his great
contributions. Over a span of nearly forty
years the staff multiplied more than elevenfold, the number of major appointments
rising into the hundreds. Many outstanding
scholars and administrators were drawn to
the University in those years.

University Hall under Construction
Completed in 1872

University Hall facing State Street.

University Hall facing the Diag.

Law Building and University Hall

35

University Hall

There was a great deal of criticism of University Hall. There were objections to making it part of the two original buildings
(Mason Hall and South College), the construction materials (stucco over brick), the dome, and the “pepper boxes” ornamenting
the roof. In 1879 the Regents ordered the removal of “the two circular corner turrets and the two turrets at the base of the
dome” and provided for the finishing of “the said corners and said sides in conformity with the style of said dome.” The
balustrade that bordered the roofs of the two wings was also removed. There was also great concern that the self-supporting
roof of the auditorium would not bear the weight of the great dome, which was estimated at 112,000 pounds. During the
winter break in 1896 the old dome was removed. The new dome was of iron, much smaller and much less expensive than the
original (UM Encyclopedic Survey, p. 1625).

Sophomores in the Grass - Note the “Pepper Boxes.”

University Hall with the “Pepper Boxes” Removed.

University Hall After the Tall Dome Had Been Removed

University Hall with Short Dome

University Hall with Short Dome and Balustrades Removed

“The mighty dome which we used to point out and look at fondly on our walks about the
neighboring country has gone, and its place can never be taken in our hearts by its diminutive
and bubble-like successor.” (Michigan Alumnus, October 6, 1899)

36

University Hall Auditorium

The large size and excellent acoustics of the auditorium in University Hall made it an outstanding venue for musical
performances. Hence, during the reconstruction of the roof of the building, the auditorium was also modified by lowering its
floor two feet so that the original bench seating could be replaced by opera chairs to better accommodate audiences attending
performances. The auditorium greatly enhanced the importance of the performing arts at the University and became an
important cultural resource for the entire Ann Arbor community.

University Hall Auditorium with Benches

University Hall Auditorium with Opera Chairs

Henry Simmons Frieze

Professor Henry Frieze is credited
with the promotion of musical
organizations in connection with
the University. He was a skilled
musician and wished to share his
love of music with the students
and citizens of Ann Arbor. It was
largely through his efforts that the
Choral Union and the University
Musical Society were formed.
In the spring of 1879 a Messiah
Club was formed by singers from
several of the church choirs.
The Club became known as the
Ann Arbor Choral Union. The
University Musical Society was
organized in 1880 to serve as
an administrative organization
to stimulate musical taste in the
University and the Ann Arbor
Community.

Frieze Memorial Organ
A Concert in the University Hall Auditorium
The first May Festival was held in the spring of 1894.

Choral Rehearsal in University Hall Auditorium

37

In 1894 the Columbian Organ built
by Farrand and Votey of Detroit
and valued at $25,000, which had
been used in Festival Hall during
the World’s Columbian Exposition
at Chicago, was purchased by the
University Musical Society and
installed in University Hall.

The organ was dedicated on
December 4, 1894, to the
memory of Henry Simmons
Frieze. It represented the highest
achievement of the organ builder’s
art, and was one of the first great
organs to be operated entirely
by electricity. After the organ
was installed, a series of vesper
services were held twice a week.
One hundred sang in the choir.

1875

College of Dental Surgery
In 1875 a College of Dental Surgery was established. Jonathan Taft was appointed Professor of Principles and
Practice of Operative Dentistry and John A. Watling as Professor of Clinical and Mechanical Dentistry.
Jonathan Taft served as Dean
of the College of Dental Surgery
from 1875 to within a few weeks
of his death in 1903. During his
28 year administration the college
steadily advanced in reputation at
home and abroad and was ranked
among the leading dental schools
in the world.

John Watling practiced dentistry
from 1860 until 1904 in Ypsilanti.
In 1875 he was appointed a
member of the original Faculty
of the College of Dental Surgery.
He resigned his faculty position in
1903.
John Andrew Watling

Jonathan Taft

Homeopathic Medical College
Samuel Jones accepted the call
to organize the Homeopathic
Medical College, serving as Dean
and Professor of Materia Medica
and Therapeutics. He resigned in
1880 to practice in Ann Arbor.

As early as 1848 the practitioners and patrons of homeopathic medicine
in Michigan began to pressure both the University and the legislature
to include homeopathic instruction in the curriculum of the state
institution. Finally yielding to this pressure, the University established a
College of Homeopathic Medicine in 1875, with two professorships, one
in materia medica and therapeutics and one in the theory and practice
of homeopathic medicine (with the remaining curriculum taught by
faculty in the Medical and Surgery Department). The new program
shared one of the original Professors’ Houses on North University with
the College of Dental Surgery.

The other professor was John
Colman Morgan. He served as
chair of the Theory and practice
of Medicine for two years.
Samuel Arthur Jones

The west Professors’ House on
North University was shared by the
College of Dental Surgery and the
Homeopathic Medical College.

Dental Surgery and Homeopathic Medicine Building
(Facing North University)

1876

Dental Surgery and Homeopathic Medicine Building
(Facing the Diag)

The School of Pharmacy

Albert Prescott came to the
University in 1868 as Assistant
Professor of Chemistry and
Lecturer on Organic Chemistry
and Metallurgy. In 1876 when
the School of Pharmacy was
organized, he was named Dean,
and from 1884 he also served
as Director of the Chemical
Laboratory.

In 1875 an appropriation
of $8,000 was received for
a larger hospital, contingent
upon a contribution of $4,000
from the city of Ann Arbor. In
1876 two pavilions were added
behind the original hospital.

Albert Prescott

Pavilion Hospital

38

1877

College of Dental Surgery Moves to South University

In 1877 the College of Dental Surgery moved to
the east Professors’ House on South University.
Henry Frieze was the last professor to live in the
house. The building was enlarged and renovated
for dental education.
1877-1891 Dental College

Professors’ House

1879

Homeopathic Hospital, Pavilion Hospital Addition & First Heating Plant
In 1879 a Homeopathic Hospital
was added to the rear of the
Homeopathic Medical College, and
an amphitheater, matron’s quarters,
kitchen, and dining room were
added to the Pavilion Hospital.

Homeopathic Hospital - North University

Pavilion Hospital - Amphitheater on Left

Steam heating was introduced into the campus
buildings in 1879, replacing the stoves and fireplaces
that had heated the buildings prior to that time.
Two heating plants were constructed. One of the
structures was located just northeast of University
Hall and the other was housed in a lean-to addition
built at the east end of the Chemical Laboratory.
With these first heating plants came the beginning
of a central heating distribution system. The various
buildings were connected to the heating plants by
steam mains and return lines buried underground.
Heating Plant
East End of the Chemical Laboratory

Heating Plant
Behind University Hall

First Chair in the Science and the Art of Teaching
In 1879 a professorship in the science of the
art of teaching was established, the first in any
American university, with William Payne
as the first professor. In 1858 at the age of
22 Payne came to Michigan as principal of
the Union School at Three Rivers. In 1866
he served as principal of the Ypsilanti Union
Seminary, then the leading preparatory school
of the State. In 1869 he was superintendent of
the schools at Adrian, gaining a reputation as
an administrator and educational writer.

From 1879 to 1887 Payne chaired the Science
of the Art of Teaching program at Michigan.
He left to become Chancellor of the University
of Nashville, a position he held for fourteen
years. He returned to Ann Arbor to resume
his former position following the death of
Professor Hinsdale. After the heavy burdens
of administration he was happy to once again
resume the congenial work of the classroom.
William Harold Payne

39

1880

The University Museum

One of the most striking buildings on the University’s early campus
was the University Museum of Natural History, built in 1880 to
house the University’s collections of materials in natural history and
anthropology. The building was designed by William LeBaron Jenney,
Michigan’s first professor of architecture, who after a brief tenure at
the University moved back to Chicago and become one of American’s
most noted architects.

Although the building was architecturally prominent, its defects soon
became apparent. Without a basement, the ground floor settled, and
a new one had to be installed. The original roof proved too heavy
and was replaced with “a makeshift affair fastened together with so
curious a system of trusses and bolts” that architecture classes visited
often. There was inadequate and poorly lighted exhibit space. Even
an abandoned elevator shaft had to be used for storage.

William LeBaron Jenney was a civil engineer and an architect. He
received his training in Cambridge, Massachusetts and in Paris, France.
As a major in the United States Army in the Civil War, he built Forts
Henry and Donaldson, as well as the defenses at Shiloh, Corinth, and
Vicksburg. He served with distinction as Chief of Engineering on
Grant’s and Sherman’s staffs. After the war Jenney opened his first
architectural office in Chicago in 1868.

University Hall (left) Museum of Natural History (right)

Museum facing State Street

Museum facing Diag

Museum Interior

By 1923 at least 75 per cent of the specimens
were kept in storage because of inadequate
facilities for display. Some collections had
never been unpacked. The risk of fire to the
collections (valued in 1923 at $2 million) was
serious. The result was that while the Museum
was still housed in this building, the University
was forced to decline many valuable collections.

Museum Roof

Romance Languages Building

40

These problems were solved when a new Museum
was built in 1923. The old building was assigned
to the Department of Romance Languages.
Extensive alterations, including the construction
of offices and classrooms, were carried out as
far as possible with fireproof materials. The
building was painted a light gray.

1882-83

The First Engineering Building

In October of 1881, Professor Frieze, acting president, sent for
Mortimer Cooley, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and advised
him of the appropriation of $2,500 for an engineering laboratory. The
money was to revert to the state if not expended before December.
Mr. Cooley was asked if he could use this sum to build a mechanical
engineering laboratory. The possibility of shops was mentioned, but
the appropriation seemed insufficient.

The matter was dropped until November when Cooley was again
called before the president and ordered to spend the money. He agreed
on condition that the building cost no more than $1,500, leaving the
balance for equipment. Cooley’s design for the first Engineering Shop
building was a modest structure, 24 feet by 36 feet. It was constructed
of bricks placed edgewise and fastened to wooden studding. It was also
the first fireproof building on the campus.

Early Engineering Students
Henry Frieze

Scientific Blacksmith Shop
Charles Kendall Adams

In 1883 a wood building housing equipment used for making museum
cases for the University Museum was appropriated by Engineering.
Placed next to the little brick building, it was used as a pattern shop.

“It was Charles Kendall Adams who
used to say to me daily as he walked
by our first little engineering shop, ‘And
how is the scientific blacksmith shop
doing this morning?’ Professor Adams
formerly had taught Latin, and I always
enjoyed the fact that our first shop was
built through the urging of one Latin
professor (Acting President Frieze)
and nicknamed by another, thus giving
mechanical engineering a truly classical
beginning at Michigan.” Mortimer
Cooley (Scientific Blacksmith, p. 62)

A foundry was located on the first
floor at the east end and a forge
shop in the west end. A cupola was
adjacent to the centrally placed
brick chimney. The second floor
housed the woodworking and
machine tool shops. Cooley knew
something about blacksmithing
and woodworking but not the
operation of a foundry. He hired
Bob Winslow to teach foundry.
“I found dear old Bob Winslow at the
foundry on Huron Street just west of the
Ann Arbor Railroad tracks, and I hired
him to teach foundry practice. Foundry
men in those days could mold from almost
anything as a pattern. If a part from a
machine was brought in, Bob used it as
a pattern, trimmed up the molds a bit,
and reproduced the part practically in its
original form.” Mortimer Cooley
(Scientific Blacksmith, p. 105)

Scientific Blacksmith Shop and Wood and Pattern Shop

Mortimer Cooley

Mortimer Cooley (seated) and Robert Winslow
In the Wood and Pattern Shop

41

Robert Winslow

42

43

The Library
When Asa Gray was appointed
Michigan’s first professor in 1837,
he was given $5000 to purchase
books for the library during a
trip to Europe. On his return
he sent 3,707 volumes to Ann
Arbor, including books on history,
philosophy, classical literature,
science, art, jurisprudence, and
other subjects.

Henry Colclazer was appointed
librarian on June 5, 1837. His salary was to begin when some books
were accumulated. He held the
office until 1845. From 1845 until 1856 various members of the
faculty assumed the duties of the
librarian at various times.
Henry Colclazer

Asa Gray

In the early years no special room for the library existed, and books
were kept wherever convenient. It is believed that temporary shelves
were provided in one of the Professors’ Houses. The east house on
South University was vacant in those early years, and it could have been
there that the books were housed. In November of 1841 the Library
was moved to one of the large rooms in the University Building. In
1856 the University Building (Mason Hall) was renovated to provide
more adequate accommodations for the Library and the Museum. A
reading room was provided.
The University Building

Professors’ House (left)

John Tappan, the son of President Tappan,
was put in charge of the library in 1856.
When President Tappan was fired in 1863,
John was also removed as Librarian. Datus
Chase Brooks, Assistant Professor of Rhetoric
and English, and Andrew Ten Brook both
served in the position temporarily.

In 1863 the Library was moved to the new Law Building and remained there for twenty years. There was much concern,
however, that the Department of Law was being deprived of the use of a large portion of the building used by the Library.

Law Building and Library

1883

The New Library

In 1880 the Library Committee reported that with the large increase in the number of students and in the number of subjects taught, the Library
was “so crowded as to cause great inconvenience and discomfort to both students and faculty.” In 1881 the legislature appropriated $100,000 for
a combination library and art gallery. When the University Library was completed in 1883, it contained 43,366 books, and shelving in the stacks
for 80,000 volumes. In 1898 the book stacks facility was doubled in size by duplicating the original fireproof room. Accessions were accumulating
at the rate of 7,000 volumes per year, and it took only four years to reach the capacity of the new stacks. In 1902 temporary shelving was placed
along the side walls and in the windows, where the sun caused damage to the bindings and paper and caused great concern about fire.

44

The New Library Stacks
Fireproof Steel and Brick Construction

The New Library Circular Reading Room
Sculpture Gallery/Whispering Gallery Above

The Reading Room of the new Library
was furnished with reading desks and swivel
chairs. Women sat on one side and the men
on the other. (left)
When the swivel chairs became worn and
unstable, they were replaced with tables and
chairs. (right)

Jimmy Otley “The Hat Man”

“When ‘Uncle Jimmy’ came to the University
there were but four buildings—the two wings of
University Hall, the old Medical Building, and
the old Law Building. In those days one of his
duties was to carry firewood to the halls to feed
the great box stoves, which furnished heat to the
buildings. For the past eighteen years he has been
custodian of the cloakroom at the General Library.
During his years of service, always with small
pay, he had accumulated over $14,000 which
had been carefully hoarded in a small iron safe.”
(Michigan Alumnus, February, 1910 )
Reference Desk

Reading Room

The Art and Sculpture Galleries were located on the second
floor. The sculpture gallery was eventually taken over by
books, and this room became known as the Whispering
Gallery. Faculty portraits were hung in the Reading Room.
A book bindery was housed in the basement.
Art Gallery

Book Bindery

Sculpture Gallery

Whispering Gallery

45

1885 - 87

Expansion of Engineering

By 1885 additional space was needed for the Engineering Department. The first unit of the permanent brick Engineering Shop
was built on the east side of the original laboratory and connected with it by a passageway at the second-floor level. The sketch
below shows the new Engineering Shop with the Scientific Blacksmith Shop (center) and the Wood and Pattern Shop (right).

New Engineering Shop

Sketch of New Engineering Shop

Within two years after completion, an addition was needed,
the removal of the “Scientific
Blacksmith Shop” and Wood
and Pattern Shop.
The
“Scientific Blacksmith Shop”
was sold and moved to North
University and Observatory for
a private residence. The completed building consisted of the
original east building, the central part and tower, and a west
wing, one-story foundry and
forge shop.

The addition contained offices,
classrooms, drawing rooms,
and a laboratory for testing
machines, steam engines, water
motors, and strength of materials. The tower held a water tank
of one hundred barrel capacity
for hydraulic work and a thirtyfoot glass tube mercury column
for standardizing gages.

Engineering Shops - 1887

Special training in physics for engineering and medical students made
imperative a Physics Laboratory. The red brick building was completed
in 1887 and became the headquarters for work in electrical machinery.
The third floor housed the Hygienic Laboratory.

Students in the Foundry & Forge Shop

Physics Building

46

1889

Expansion of the Medical Department

With the growing importance of the basic sciences in medicine, particularly anatomy and histology, the available
laboratory space in the Medical Building became inadequate. A new building to house the Anatomical Laboratory was
built in 1889 to relieve the crowded conditions of the department. In 1883 a new heating plant was constructed to heat
the buildings in the southeast section of the campus. The heating plant in the Chemical Laboratory was abandoned.

Anatomical Laboratory (left) Medical Building (right)

Heating Plant - Medical Building (rear)

Anatomical Laboratory

The main anatomical laboratory was on the second floor where the
men worked. It was lighted by small windows in the sidewalls and by
several skylights in the roof. A small dissecting room for women and
washrooms were located on the first floor.

At this time in the history of the University, on the southeast corner
of this once classical campus could be found, working side by side, the
engineers at their foundry and forge and the medical students in their
laboratories.

Men’s Laboratory in the Anatomical Laboratory

Women’s Dissecting Room in the Anatomical Laboratory

47

1891

Catherine Street Hospitals

In 1890 the medical course was
lengthened to four years. With
the increase in the requirements
for graduation and the additional
clinical courses, a new hospital
became necessary. The state
provided $50,000 for the two
hospitals; one for Homeopathic
Medicine and one for Allopathic
Medicine. The city of Ann Arbor
contributed $25,000.

The two buildings provided 104
beds: forty for the Homeopathic
Hospital and sixty-four for the
Allopathic Hospital. These were
known as the Catherine Street
Hospitals. The complex would
eventually expand to include
some twenty buildings, large and
small. These were enlarged and
added to until the completion of
the University Hospital in 1925.
Catherine Street Homeopathic Hospital (left)
Allopathic Hospital (right)

In 1891 the Dental College moved into the vacated Pavilion Hospital
on North University, and its former home on South University was
given to the Engineering Department. The Dental College had the
distinction of occupying three of the four original Professors’ Houses.
Pavilion Hospital
North University

Dental Class
In the Amphitheater

Pavilion Hospital on North University

The former building of the Dental
College was enlarged by the addition of a third floor and renamed the
Engineering Building. The entrance
was moved to the west side of the new
part and the word “Engineering” was
placed over the doorway. There were
fifteen classrooms and several offices.
The building continued in use until
1922, when it was removed to make
way for Clements Library.
Engineering Building

Dental Building - South University

48

1893

Law School Addition

Original Law Building

In 1893 an addition with a tower was added to the Law Building. This allowed for more class and lecture rooms.

1894

Tappan Hall

In May of 1894 the Regents named the new recitation building used
by the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts in honor of Henry
Tappan. A large lecture room on the second floor was devoted to the
special use of classes in history and economics. President Angell taught
his class in International Law in this room. For many years sections
of Tappan Hall were used for courses in education, while parts of the
building were assigned to various departments of the Literary College.

The administrative offices of the School of Education, as well as the
Appointment Bureau for Teachers, were housed in Tappan Hall until
the new Education Building was finished in 1930. In 1930 Tappan
Hall became the home of the School of Business Administration and
its library. The School moved into its own building in 1948 and the
Fine Arts and German departments of the Literary College occupied
most of Tappan Hall.

Tappan Hall

In 1894 a new central heating and power plant was built.
Known as the Boiler House, it was a renovation and
enlargement of the 1883 Heating Plant. A tunnel system
connected all of the University Buildings, and a 125foot brick chimney was also erected. The Engineering
Department took sole responsibility for operating the plant.

1883 Heating Plant

1894 Boiler House

49

1894

Waterman Gymnasium

Waterman Gymnasium

In 1891 Joshua W. Waterman of Detroit gave a gift of $20,000 for a
gymnasium, on condition that other donors should contribute a like
amount. In 1894 Waterman Gymnasium opened. Due to the Depression
the University was unable to begin the wing for the use of women.
“The men with their outdoor games have, even without the Gymnasium, larger
facilities for healthful exercise than the women. The building will be given up at
certain times to the women. But separate provisions should be made for the latter.”
President’s Annual Report (Michigan Alumnus, Oct. 24, 1895)

Barbour Gymnasium
The men and women students were left
with a most unsatisfactory arrangement
of dividing various hours during the week
in Waterman Gymnasium.
Barbour
Gymnasium was completed in 1902 as
a result of the generosity of Regent Levi
Barbour. Barbour gave property in Detroit
to the University, and income from the sale
of this land with an addition from the general
fund, made the building possible.

Women in Waterman Gymnasium

For many years the Barbour Gymnasium was
the center of all women’s activities. The first
floor, with its oak-paneled walls and beams
and dramatic staircases opening onto the
large gym, was the scene of the calisthenics
and volleyball classes, while the smaller gym
was used as a lounge. The marble floored
basement was the scene of many suppers and
picnics, and gallons of fudge were cooked on
the smoky old stove in the kitchen.
Levi Barbour

Barbour Gymnasium

Barbour Gymnasium (left) and Waterman Gymnasium

50

Activities in Barbour Gymnasium

Swim Tank

Barbour Reception Room
Barbour Gymnasium

Rope Drill

Dumbbell Drill

Fencing Class

Wand Drill

1904 Women’s Basketball Team

Dumbbell Drill

The assembly room (small gym) was
named in honor of Sarah Caswell Angell
and became the center of dramatic life
and social events. Women’s societies gave
plays on the small stage, and many class
stunts, parties, receptions, recitals, and
dances took place in the hall.

Sarah Angell

Sarah Caswell Angell Assembly Hall

51

1898

Law School - Second Addition

In 1898 a second addition was made to the Law Building. The exterior
of the building was completely altered. It was faced with sandstone on
the first story and light-pressed brick on the upper stories. The tower
was removed, and a new wing was added which provided two lecture
rooms in addition to the old lecture room on the first floor.

Law Building - 1863

1904

The law library occupied the entire south wing of the old building.
Lecture rooms, offices, and consultation rooms made up the remainder
of the second and third floor. The Regents’ Board Room was in the
south wing, where they met for more than thirty-five years until they
moved to Angell Hall.

Law Building - 1898

Law Building - 1893

New Engineering Building

As early as 1895 it had become apparent that the growing enrollments in Engineering required more space. Mortimer Cooley finally
persuaded the University of the importance of a new building, arguing that “If you could but see the other engineering colleges with
which we are forced to compete, you would not hesitate for one minute to appropriate a quarter of a million dollars.” In 1904 construction
was completed for a large building known for years as the New Engineering Building and later renamed West Engineering.

The New Engineering Building

When the New Engineering Building was under construction, there was
a serious problem of how to site the building without interfering with the
diagonal walk. Professor Denison prepared a sketch showing the diagonal
walk passing through the building. The Archway was named in his honor.

Charles Denison

The New Engineering Courtyard - Denison Archway

52

Denison Archway Plaque

1904

New Medical Building
A new medical building became essential to keep pace with the rapid growth of medical science. The
new Medical Building opened in 1904 and housed the departments of Anatomy, Histology, Pathology,
Bacteriology, Physiological Chemistry, and Hygiene. In addition to the spacious laboratories of these
departments, the building contained two large amphitheaters, two large recitation rooms, and a suite of
rooms for executive purposes. Space was also provided for the anatomical and pathological museums.

Original Medical Building (left) New Medical Building (right)

1905

New Medical Building

Dental Building & Physics Addition

After being moved about the campus for 32 years and occupying three of the original Professors’ Houses, the Dental College was finally provided
a permanent home in 1905. The new building on North University had two stories and a basement. It was heated with steam by a system of fan
heating and ventilation, designed by the Engineering Faculty. Male students had a locker room, which also served as a rest or recreation room in
the basement. On the first floor was a room especially designed for the women students, containing lockers and facilities for resting or studies.

Dental Building

On the completion of the new Medical Building, the Hygienic Laboratory was moved out of the Physics Building, leaving much-needed room
for the Department of Physics. However even with the added space, it was still inadequate, and in 1905 an addition was made to the building,
providing a well-equipped lecture room accommodating 400 students, and space for lectures, recitations, and laboratory classes in general physics.
Storage for demonstration and laboratory apparatus, a physics instrument shop, and a glassblower’s shop were also provided.

Physics Laboratory Addition (left)

Physics Laboratory Addition (left)

53

1909

President Angell Retires
	

	

Ann Arbor, Feb. 17, 1909

To the Board of Regents:
Four years ago I tendered my resignation to you
in the belief that the interest of the University would
be subserved by the appointment to the presidency of
a younger man. You declined in such kind words
to accept my resignation that I have continued at
my post and rendered the best service of which I was
capable.
But as I have now passed my eightieth birthday,
it is fitting that I should renew the tender of my
resignation. I therefore do so with the urgent request
that you accept it to take effect at the end of the
academic year.
May I take this occasion to express to you again
my sincere thanks for all your courtesy and kindness to me?
				Yours very truly,
				James B. Angell

In recognition of Angell’s 38 years of service, the Board of Regents took the following action: Resolved: “That the
Board of Regents hereby tenders to James Burrill Angell the appointment of Chancellor of the University of Michigan, the duties of the
office to be such as, at the request of the President, he may be willing and able to perform; the salary for such office to be $4000 per year, with
house rent, light and fuel, as long as he sees fit to occupy his present residence; said appointment to take effect at the close of this academic
year.” (Michigan Alumnus, March, 1909 p. 222)

54

Students and Alumni Called Him “Prexy”

President Angell was often seen walking around campus during his retirement.
“ I seldom stop for weather and think I am in better case for going out daily, as I have generally
done, regardless of weather.”
Shirley W. Smith (James Burrill Angell...An American Influence, p. 319)

“He was even tempered, self-possessed, gentle and moderate of speech, even when most earnest,
and punctilious in official and social matters. He was simple in his taste and equally at home
in the country tavern or palatial city hotel. While he questioned at one time the expediency of
establishing military discipline on the Campus, he did remark once that he thought it would
be a good thing for the Faculty. The Faculty, he said, bothered him more than the students.”
Mortimer Cooley (Michigan Alumnus, April, 1916, p. 322)

Mrs. Angell died in Ann Arbor, on December 17, 1903. President
Angell continued to live in his home on South University. He died
April 1, 1916 at the age of eighty-eight. Private services were held
on April 3, at 2:30 in the afternoon at the President’s House. At the
end of the services, the Glee Club, standing in the yard just outside
the door, sang “Laudes Atque Carmina.” His funeral procession was
an occasion of general mourning. The procession journeyed up
State Street, North University, Washtenaw and Geddes Avenue.
The streets were lined with a double row of students, standing in
close order with bared heads to pay their last tribute to Michigan’s
great President.
President Angell’s Funeral Cortege

55

56

57

1909

Harry Burns Hutchins 1909 - 1920

Harry Burns Hutchins ’71, ’21l, Dean of the Law
School, was named interim president in 1909 at the
age of 63 to succeed President Angell. After several
candidates, including Woodrow Wilson, declined to
accept the Michigan presidency, the Regents decided to
make Hutchins president for a three-year term, which
was later extended to five and then ten years. Hutchins
largely continued the Angell agenda, with the first
significant additions to the campus from private gifts.
Hutchins made the first concerted effort to pull together
Michigan’s growing alumni body, traveling around the
country speaking to alumni about the importance of
their involvement with their University.

Harry Hutchins

His tenure was characterized by numerous building
projects, several of which continue to define the campus
today: Alumni Memorial Hall, Hill Auditorium, the
Martha Cook Residence Hall, and the Michigan
Union. Hutchins also faced the difficult challenge of
leading the university through World War I, which
rapidly exhausted his remaining energy and led to
his retirement in 1920. During Hutchins’ ten-year
administration, enrollments at the University almost
doubled, from less than 5,000 to more than 9,000,
while the faculty increased from 427 to 618. Hutchins
was very instrumental in organizing the alumni and
engaging their support to complement state funding.

“Harry Hutchins was already well known on the campus when he was elected President in 1910. He was a graduate of the University,
had served as Jay Professor of Law until he resigned to organize the law department at Cornell, and had been dean of our Law Department
for fifteen years. He accepted the presidency with a reservation in his own mind which he never forgot. He always felt that his was the duty
of carrying forward as thoroughly as he could the aims and ideals of President Angell, to whom he was devoted. He was a man of sound
judgement and great integrity. He put the University on a much firmer financial basis and in general gave it an excellent administration at a
time when this was greatly needed.” Mortimer Cooley (Scientific Blacksmith, p. 71)

After Commencement (1912), Governor Chase S. Osborn,
President Hutchins, and Dean Mortimer Cooley stroll across the campus.

A new Chemistry and Pharmacy Building was completed in 1909. It
was built on the site of the first University Hospital, which incorporated
one of the four Professors’ Houses, the first buildings on the campus.

In 1908-09, the last year in which all the chemical work was carried on
in the old Laboratory, 2,599 students were enrolled in the class work in
chemistry, pharmacy, and chemical engineering.

The New Chemistry and Pharmacy Building (The original Chemical Laboratory is inset at lower right.)

58

1910

Alumni Memorial Hall
Alumni Memorial Hall was an
impressive stone building marked
by a flight of steps leading up to
classical columns and pillars at the
front. Great bronze doors opened
directly into the main lobby and
statuary hall.

Alumni Memorial Hall was
built by the Alumni to honor
those members of the University
who had served in the wars of
their country. The building was
dedicated and presented to the
University on May 11, 1910.

Alumni Memorial Hall

The building officially opened with an art exhibit, sponsored by Charles
L. Freer, and included many items from his collection of American and
Asian Art now in the Freer Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Four rooms were named for the
four largest donors: the main
large gallery for Ezra Rust, the
south upper gallery for Dexter M.
Ferry, the north upper gallery for
Simon T. Murphy, and the lower
north front room for Arthur Hill.
The south front room was called
the Alumni Room.

The building was home to the
Alumni Association, the Michigan
Alumnus, and the Alumni Catalog
Office. Alumni Hall also housed
the University’s art collection. A
large room in the basement was
used for the University Club, a
faculty organization that later
moved to quarters in the Michigan
Union.

Charles Freer Exhibit - Alumni Memorial Hall Gallery

Alumni Room

Flower Show in the Main Lobby

Alumni Memorial Hall Plaque

59

Main Lobby and Statuary Hall

1913

Hill Auditorium

In 1894 Albert Stanley and other members of the Musical Society met
and determined that something must be done to secure an adequate
auditorium for the University. By January 1895 a set of plans had been
developed, and possible donors were considered. The response was
discouraging.

In 1904 Arthur Hill, whose first term as Regent began in 1901, became
interested in the project. Regent Hill inserted a provision in his will
setting aside $200,000 to be used for such a building. He informed no
one of what he had done, and his intent was not discovered until his will
was made public. His bequest was received in 1910.

In the fall of 1862 Arthur Hill entered the University of Michigan in the Engineering Department.
He received his degree in Civil Engineering in 1865 and the same year became engaged in railroad
engineering in Minnesota. It was said that he never put off his work and even so never missed a social
event. The following year he returned to Michigan where he studied the ways and procedures of law
until 1867, when he entered the lumber business in eastern Michigan. He was one of the lumber
magnates of Michigan, and he invested his money in manufacturing concerns throughout the nation
and in shipping on the Pacific Coast.

Arthur Hill

Hill Auditorium - Completed in 1913

The auditorium was constructed on
the site of the octagonal Winchell
house on North University Avenue.

The plain brick exterior was relieved
by the color scheme of dull reds and
browns with limestone trim.

60

The parabolic interior, with its balcony and gallery and its immense platform with a seating capacity of 300, was
impressive. When built, Hill Auditorium seated 4,300. On the second floor just behind the gallery was a large recital
and lecture hall, which seated 400 and was ideal for use as a small concert hall.

The First Concert in Hill Auditorium - May 13, 1913

61

1915

Natural Sciences Building

The departments of Botany, Zoology, Geology, Mineralogy, Forestry,
and Psychology were scattered about in various wings of buildings
about the Campus. They were cramped for space; had poor lighting,
poor ventilation, insufficient heating; and lacked stable floors necessary
for the work of delicate instruments. Albert Kahn was commissioned
to design a new building to provide a home for these natural sciences
departments.

The laboratory building was a pioneer in university building construction,
utilizing a newly developed system successfully used in large factories.
The system used regularly placed steel and concrete piers to support the
building, making all the rooms exactly the width of the spaces between
the piers or multiples of that space. The space between the piers was
used entirely for windows, allowing for a maximum use of natural
light.

Natural Sciences (left) Chemistry (right)

The Natural Sciences Building contained numerous laboratories, all
equipped with specially adapted laboratory furniture: acid-proof tables,
specially designed sinks, and other features. Many of the classrooms
were equipped for picture projection. The amphitheater was placed
across one corner of the building to preserve the diagonal walk.

1919

There were two connected museums of the Department of Mineralogy
and Geology. The aquarium room, with its troughs and tanks, enabled
the Department of Zoology to carry on experiments in aquatic life. In
1930 an animal house was erected in the central court. A greenhouse
provided research facilities for the Botany Department.

The Michigan Union
In the early 1900s, the idea of a Michigan
Union was born. This was envisioned as
a union for all Michigan men to promote
university spirit and to increase social
interaction. A temporary Union Clubhouse
opened in 1907. Fund raising began with
the intent to build a grand facility on a scale
unprecedented in American clubhouses.
Because of the War, the Michigan students
were unable to use their new Union until
1919. (See page 156 for a history of the
Michigan Union.)

62

Martha Cook Residence Hall
“In memory of my mother Martha Cook, I will build a Women’s Dormitory Building for the use of women excusively...on land owned by
you, on condition that the occupants shall have sole and exclusive charge of its income, expenses and management. The University shall
furnish heat, light and power free of charge. Surplus income or profit from the building shall be used for furniture, furnishings, works of art
and improvements in the building, if any remains, the funds to be used in the following year to give lower or free rates to such students as the
President of the University and Dean of Women may designate.” Letter to Regents from William Cook (R.P., 1910-14, p. 96)

Statue of Portia
In the Gothic Entrance Niche

The Martha Cook Residence Hall
Opened in 1915

Portrait of Martha Cook
by Henry Caro-Delvaille

Betsy Barbour & Helen Newberry Residence Halls

Betsy Barbour Hall

Helen Newberry Hall

Betsy Barbour Hall (left) Helen Newberry Hall (right)

Mrs. Henry Joy, Truman Newberry, and John Newberry gave a gift of $75,000 for a residence hall in honor of their mother Helen
Handy Newberry. Newberry Residence Hall opened in 1915. On his extensive travels, Levi L. Barbour brought two brilliant
Chinese women back to the University to be educated. One of them developed tuberculosis and died. Mr. Barbour found the living
conditions on campus decidedly inferior, and his dream was to build an ideal dormitory. Barbour, for many years a Regent, gave
$100,000 to build a residence hall in honor of his mother Betsy Barbour. Betsy Barbour Residence Hall opened in 1920.
Betsy Barbour Interior

63

1920

The New University Library

By the early 1900s a crisis point for acquiring and housing more volumes was reached. Due to the addition to the Physics Building
in 1905, the Library could not be extended to the south. However, the southern section of the stacks might be added to either side
on the east, west, or both sides. The Library could not be expanded on the north because of the semi-circular reading room. The
architectural rendering (below) shows plans for an addition to the west.

Physics Addition (left) Library Stacks (right)

Semi-circular Reading Room

An Architectural Rendering of a Suggested Addition to the University Library

The final decision was to build a new library on the site of the old,
incorporating the fireproof book-stacks. The problem of continuing
the work of the Library while the old building was demolished and the
new section of the building was being built was a difficult one. Work
began on the two new stacks, one at each side of the original stack.

The new stacks were completed before the main portion of the old
building was torn down. The stacks were then used as the reading and
distribution centers of the Library while the main part of the building
was erected. Building in two distinct projects ensured that the work of
the Library could continue with minimal disturbance.

Stacks Being Built around the Old Library

A sketch showing the old building within the new.
Two new stacks were built at right angles to the old stacks.

64

The architect for the new Library was Albert Kahn. The Librarian, William Bishop, said of Kahn:
“To his ingenuity and skill the library building owes much more than can easily be told. His great experience in factory
construction is unquestionably to be ascribed the unusual size of the building in comparison with its cost; the structure
being completed at about 25¢ per cubic foot, and that in an era of high prices exceeding all previous records in the
building trades.” (Michigan Alumnus, February, 1920, p. 249)
Seating was provided for one thousand readers, divided between reading and study rooms, seminar
rooms, and stacks. One million volumes were housed in the new facilities, with room for nearly a million
more with the planned extensions.
The façade between the two tiers of windows was adorned with ten medallions designed by Ulysses Ricci
of New York. They represent Religion and Philosophy, Law, Earth Science, Physical Science, Medicine,
Mathematics and Engineering, Fine Arts, Poetry and Music, Drama and History. Immediately over the
central door a stone slab bearing the word ‘Library,’ surrounded by the signs of the zodiac, filled the
panel.

The New University General Library

The casts of the Parthenon frieze and the Donatello and Luca della
Robbia Cantorie from the old library reading room were placed on the
walls above the new delivery desk, thus giving it a familiar appearance.
The halls and stairs were finished with white marble wainscoting and
marble floors.

Gari Melcher’s lunettes, the “Arts of Peace” and the “Arts of War,”
formerly in University Hall and a gift from the authorities of the
Columbian Exposition in Chicago in apppreciation of the University’s
assistance, were placed over the windows at each end of the great
reading room.

Parthenon Frieze above the New Library Reference Desk

Melcher’s Lunettes in the New Library Reading Room

65

1920

Marion Leroy Burton succeeded President
Hutchins in the summer of 1920. A graduate of
Carleton College with a Ph.D. from Yale, Burton
had served as president of Smith College for seven
years and then of the University of Minnesota from
1917 until 1920. Tall, with a commanding presence
and a persuasive voice, he captivated students and
legislators alike. His talent for organization and
vision of an expanding university precisely fit the
needs and spirit of the post-WWI years. Burton
understood that following the Great War the demand
for a college education would be enormous. He
also recognized that “A state university must accept
happily the conclusion that it is destined to be large.
If the state grows and prospers, it will naturally
reflect these conditions.”

Marion Leroy Burton

1923

Marion Leroy Burton

Propelled by the prosperous economy of the Roaring
20s, construction on the campus boomed and
enrollments increased. Burton was also an academic
innovator, restructuring the Board of Regents to give
the deans more authority, creating faculty executive
committees as a form of shared governance at the
school and department level, instituting faculty
sabbaticals, and attracting visiting faculty in the arts
such as Robert Frost. Unfortunately, Burton suffered
a serious heart attack in 1924, and he died at the age
of 49 after only five years as president.
The University began to expand outside of the
original forty acres and faced the unpleasant
necessity of buying up surrounding houses and
closing streets.

Clements Library

William L. Clements Library

William L. Clements, a native of Ann Arbor,
graduated from Michigan with a degree in engineering.
He joined his father’s firm in Bay City and made his
fortune supplying equipment, steam shovels, and cranes
for the construction of the Panama Canal and other
engineering projects at the turn of the century. As his
fortune grew, he started collecting rare books on early
American history. He served as a Regent from 1910 until
1933 and gave his collection to the University in 1923.

In May 1921, Regent William L. Clements of Bay City
entered into an agreement with his fellow Regents to
give his collection of rare books to the University and to
construct a building on the campus to house them. The
new building was designed by Albert Kahn under the
direction of Mr. Clements. Clements specified a style of
architecture in vogue in northern Italy when Columbus
left Genoa to plan his epoch-making voyage.

Main Reading Room

The William L. Clements Library opened in 1923. The
building, Italian Renaissance in style, was executed in
Indiana limestone. A planted terrace led to three rounded
archways that opened on a loggia with vaulted ceilings in
blue and gold mosaic. The Library was devoted to source
materials—books, manuscripts, maps, and newspapers—
related to early American history from Columbus’s
discovery to the end of the War of 1812.

66

Treasure Room

East Hall, East Engineering, East Physics & University High School
As enrollments in the College of Engineering continued
to grow, the University purchased the old Tappan
Elementary School on East University to provide some
relief. However it soon became apparent that a major
new facility was needed, and funds were appropriated to
build the East Engineering Building, completed in 1923.
This large laboratory building, across the street from
West Engineering, housed several major departments:
Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Aeronautical
Engineering, Transportation Engineering, and the
Engineering and Transportation Library.
East Hall

East Hall

East Engineering

A new Physics building, completed in 1924, was also in Burton’s building
plan. One of the oldest departments in the University, Physics had
carried on its program in very limited quarters. The original plan was
to build a five-story structure in the area assigned to it, but that did not
conform to the campus plan, with the lower height of the neighboring
buildings. The solution was to go one story farther underground.
An added subbasement provided three floors below the level of the
ground.

The Model High School was to be the first unit of a group of three,
including an Elementary School and a building for the School of
Education. The High School was completed in November of 1923.
The objectives were to give student teachers teaching experience, to
demonstrate the best educational theory and practice, to provide an
education laboratory for scientific experimentation, and to offer the
pupils of the high school an enriched program of studies and school
experiences.

East Physics Laboratory

University High School

67

1924

Angell Hall

One of the most important buildings constructed during the Burton
years was a new complex for the College of Literature, Science and
the Arts. As Burton requested, “It should be beautiful, dignified, and
commanding. It should help to give unity and form to the campus.”
Although there was a desire to preserve the prominence of old
University Hall, site restrictions required a design in front of the old
building, which was later torn down in 1950.

As costs became a concern, only the middle section of the original
design was built, with eight massive columns surmounting a wide
esplanade of steps. Chiseled on the limestone frieze of the new building
was the founding principle of the University, taken from the Northwest
Ordinance: “Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good
government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of
education shall forever be encouraged.”

Albert Kahn’s Original Design for the New LS&A Building

Only the middle section of the original plan was constructed.

The new building was built in front of University Hall.

At the request of the faculty of the College of Literature, Science
and the Arts, and the Student Council, the building was named in
honor of James Burrill Angell.

The entrance lobby was finished in travertine marble. The rich
ceiling decorations were the work of the Di Lorenzo Studios
of New York, the firm that was responsible for the decoration
of the General Library and the Clements Library.
James Angell by Wilfred Shaw

68

1924

Law Quadrangle

The first group of buildings of the Law Quadrangle was completed in 1924. This magnificent gift of William Wilson Cook included
a lounge, recreation room, offices, guest rooms, dining hall and kitchen, and the residence hall facing South University.

William Cook received his bachelor’s
degree in 1880 and a law degree in 1882
from Michigan. He worked in the law
firm of William B. Coudert in New York.
He retired from practice in 1921 to do
research and write. In 1924 Cook’s fortune
was estimated at between twenty to thirty
million dollars.

William Wilson Cook

1925

Hospital, Medical School, Couzens Hall & Simpson Memorial Institute
After nearly a decade of planning and building, the new University Hospital opened in 1925. The chief
cause for delay was WWI. The Medical School also opened its new building on East University in 1925.

University Hospital

East Medical

The Honorable James Couzens of Detroit, a United
States Senator, gave a building to house student and
graduate nurses. The Residence was felt to be an
indispensable part of the new Hospital and was
ready in 1925 when the new Hospital opened.
James Couzens

Couzens Hall

The Medical School also received a beautiful
building to house the Thomas Henry Simpson
Memorial Institute for Medical Research. A
gift from Christine Simpson of Detroit, in
memory of her husband, the institute was to
study pernicious anemia and its treatment.
Other disorders affecting the blood were also
investigated. Designed by Albert Kahn, the
four-story granite building was dedicated on
February 10, 1927.
Simpson Memorial Institute

Thomas & Christine Simpson

69

1925

Clarence Cook Little 1925 - 1929

President Burton’s tenure was cut short by his death in
1925 after a year-long illness. Alfred Lloyd, Professor
of Philosophy and Dean of the Graduate School,
served as interim president. Clarence Cook Little
came to Michigan at the age of 36, after serving
three years as president of the University of Maine.
A biological scientist, Cook held three degrees from
Harvard. Little did not think that the curriculum for
men and women should be the same. He advocated
a different group of studies for women, which
would include physiology, general science, nursing
hygiene, human behavior, heredity and genetics. His
reasoning was that most of the women would become
homemakers and mothers, and he thought it foolish
not to prepare them for these roles.

Clarence Cook Little

Little proposed to enroll all freshmen and sophomores
in a separate University College. The aim was to
provide the students with some common knowledge
in several fields of learning and to winnow out those
who would be satisfied with two years of general
courses. After completing two years, some students
would be given a certificate and not encouraged to
continue. The others who wished to enter another
college of the University at the junior level would
have to pass a comprehensive examination. Little’s
educational objectives, coupled with his controversial
stand on social issues such as prohibition and birth
control, soon strained relations both on campus and
across the state. Little left Michigan in 1929, after a
brief four-year tenure.

1928-29 Museum, Architecture, Education, Michigan League & Music Building

University Museum

In 1928 the University Museum opened. The
Museums of Anthropology, Zoology, Paleontology,
and the University Herbarium were housed in the
building. In 1929 an Animal House was erected in
the courtyard of the Museums Building. An alumnus
who gave the little zoo was interested in out-of-door
activities for children. A truly Michigan menagerie
was set up in the neat little animal house, which was
populated with wild animals found in the state: two
bears, a coyote, a fox, a pair of opossums, several
raccoons and skunks, and a porcupine. The courtyard
was laid out with walks and shrubbery and a pool in
which several varieties of turtles made their home.

Animal House

In 1928 the new Architecture Building opened, providing a home
for the Architecture Department, still a part of Engineering.

In 1929 the University Elementary School provided a laboratory
for the study of elementary and preschool education.

Architecture Building - Lorch Hall

University Elementary School

In 1929 the Michigan League opened, giving the University women
a “home” of their own and the Women’s League a center for all its
activities. (See page 164 for a history of the Michigan League.)

In 1929 the University Musical Society transferred the building on
Maynard Street, which had been used by a private School of Music,
to the University. The school was consolidated with the University.

Michigan League - Sketch by Wilfred Shaw

School of Music on Maynard Street

70

Athletic Facilities
In the 1920s an exhaustive study was undertaken to determine student access to athletics, physical education, and recreational activities.
With the goal of providing athletic opportunities for all, the University embarked on a building program to create the necessary facilities.
The result was the Michigan Stadium, the Intramural Building, the women’s athletic field and the Women’s Athletic Building.

Boxing

Basketball

Yost Fieldhouse - 1924

Intramural Sports Building - 1928

Palmer Field & Women’s Athletic Building - 1928

71

1927

Michigan Stadium
Michigan Stadium was completed in the fall of 1927. It was an amphitheater of bowl-type construction, rising only slightly
above the ground level on the east side, which took advantage of the natural characteristics of the terrain. The site for the
stadium included sixteen acres and 119 city lots, purchased by the Board in Control of Athletics for $239,000, including the
cost of some lots that were taken under condemnation proceedings. The right of the Board in Control of Athletics to acquire
land by this means was upheld by the state Supreme Court during the course of the negotiations. The site formed a gentle slope
rising from the valley of Allen’s Creek near the Ann Arbor Railroad to the level of South Main Street.

The stadium was not designed in the form of a perfect ellipse, like the Yale Bowl, but provided for sides parallel to the playing
field, bringing the spectators much closer to the sidelines. This proximity of the seats to the playing field made Michigan
Stadium one of the best in the nation for its 85,753 spectators. A press box was built over the west side of the stadium; it
provided room for five radio booths and 250 newspaper correspondents.

72

The entrances were placed around the entire upper edge and in the center of the east side, making it possible for crowds to
disperse rapidly; the time for emptying the stadium was thirteen minutes. To accommodate the fans coming to Ann Arbor on
football days, parking was provided on all sides of the stadium, and special city traffic regulations permitted street parking during
the games. Locker and shower room facilities for home and visiting teams were provided under the east side of the stands.

73

74

75

1929

Alexander Grant Ruthven 1929 - 1951

Following C. C. Little’s resignation in 1929, the Regents moved quickly to name as his successor Alexander Grant Ruthven, the
University’s dean of administration and second-ranking administrator. Ruthven was a long-standing and distinguished member of
the Michigan faculty, receiving his Ph.D. in zoology from Michigan in 1906 and serving as a faculty member and later director of
the University Museum. After a perfunctory search, the Regents selected Ruthven as president just weeks before the stock market
crash of 1929. Ruthven led the university for two decades through the traumas of the Great Depression and World War II.
Ruthven was already very experienced in both
university administration and state relations,
and he felt that “It is absurd to think that a lay
board can handle the details of the modern
university, or that the president is a headmaster,
capable of directing all financial, academic,
and public relations activities.” Instead he
created a corporate administration, in which
the Regents served as “guardians of the public
trust and who functioned as custodians of the
property and income of the university,” while
the president was viewed as the chairman of
the faculties, just as the deans were chairmen
of their faculties and administrative heads of
their schools.

Alexander Grant Ruthven

Ruthven managed to protect the university
from serious cuts in state appropriations during
the Depression, although the mill tax was
eventually replaced by the process of annual
appropriations from general state revenues
in 1935. He understood well the dangers
of wartime priorities, and he was skillful in
protecting the core education and research
missions of the university, even as it served the
nation in exemplary fashion during World War
II. In 1951, when Ruthven finally retired, the
university had grown to over 21,000 students,
including 7,700 veterans enrolled under the
G.I. Bill.

Completion of the Law Quadrangle
Between 1929 and 1933 the final elements of the Law Quadrangle were completed: the John P. Cook Residence Hall, the William W.
Cook Legal Research Library, and Hutchins Hall, which contained the offices and classrooms of the Law School.

(2)

(1)

(3)

John P. Cook Residence Hall (1)
William W. Cook Legal Research Library (2)
Hutchins Hall (3)

Hutchins Hall

Legal Research Reading Room

Legal Research

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1932

Student Publications Building

The Student Publications building was completed in 1932. The red
brick and white stone building was designed by Pond and Pond of
Chicago, architects of the Michigan Union and Michigan League.

The editorial offices of the Michigan Daily, the Gargoyle (humor magazine),
Generation (arts magazine), Michiganensian (year book), and the printing
facilities for the Michigan Daily were housed in the building.

Student Publications Building

Student Publications’ Conference Room

Burton Memorial Tower & Baird Carillon
The first suggestion of a campanile for the University appeared in May 1919 in an editorial in the Michigan Alumnus. The writer lamented the
necessity of removing the clock and chimes from the tower of the old Library Building to the Engineering Shops Building where, he feared, the
bells could no longer be heard for any distance.
In one of President Burton’s Commencement addresses, he suggested a tower to serve as a memorial to the University of Michigan men and
women who had lost their lives in WWI. He envisioned a campanile tall enough to be seen for miles, standing at the approximate center of an
enlarged campus as testimony to the idealism and loyalty of the alumni.
When President Burton died in 1925, it was suggested that no more fitting memorial to him could be devised than the campanile and chimes
which he had proposed. The idea found immediate favor with the alumni. The alumni raised the funds, and Charles Baird gave the carillon of
fifty-three bells to the University in 1935. Although the Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen developed the early design, the Regents later gave architect Albert Kahn the final commission.
Eliel Saarinen, the well known Finnish architect, came to the United States in 1923 and was persuaded
by Emil Lorch to join the College of Architecture. In 1924 Saarinen taught a select group of seniors and
graduates, emphasizing the integration of architecture and city planning. In 1926 he moved to the Cranbrook
Academy of Art, designing buildings, furniture, and textiles. Charles Baird ’95 was Director of Athletics from
1898 to 1908. While serving in this role he formulated Michigan’s athletic policy of acquiring land and building
permanent improvements. He later served as President of the Western Exchange Bank in Kansas City.

Eliel Saarinen

Marion Burton

Carillon Tower
Eliel Saarinen Design

Burton Memorial Tower
Albert Kahn Design

77

Charles Baird

Student Residence Halls

During the University’s early history, leaders such as Tappan and Angell had adopted policies to encourage students to live
independently within the Ann Arbor community rather than in the dormitories characteristic of the colonial colleges. However,
rapidly growing student enrollments motivated Ruthven to set aside the earlier policies and begin to build numerous residence
halls for both men and women students. The housing capacity of the University rapidly doubled in the 1930s, from 1,500 to
over 3,200 students. By the 1950s, Michigan would have the largest residential student housing capacity in the nation.
Mosher-Jordan Hall, named in honor of Eliza Mosher and Myra Jordan (who both served
as dean of women) housed 450 women and was completed in the summer of 1930.

Mosher-Jordan Hall

Eliza Mosher

Myra Jordan

In the fall of 1939 the West Quadrangle of men’s residences adjacent to the Union was opened. The houses comprising
this quadrangle, except for two, Michigan House and Chicago House, were named after well-known teachers of the past:
Henry Carter Adams, Alfred Henry Lloyd, Alexander Winchell, George Palmer Williams, and Robert Mark Wenley.

George P. Williams

Henry C. Adams

Alfred H. Lloyd

Robert Wenley

Alexander Winchell

Drawing of the Proposed West Quadrangle

A residence hall for medical students on the corner of Catherine Street and Glen Avenue opened in the fall of 1939. It
was named in honor of Victor C. Vaughan, faculty member and Dean of the Medical School.

Victor Vaughan House

Victor Vaughan

78

Student Residence Halls
A residence for interns adjoining the University Hospital opened in 1939.

1
2
3

Hospital (1) Neuropsychiatric Institute (2) Interns’ Residence (3)

A dormitory housing 390 women opened in 1940 on the corner of Observatory and North University.
It was named in honor of Madelon Louisa Stockwell, the first woman to attend the University of Michigan.

Madelon Stockwell

Stockwell Residence Hall Courtyard

Madelon Stockwell Residence Hall

East Quadrangle men’s residences opened in September, 1940. The four houses of this quadrangle were named in honor
of four professors: Charles Ezra Greene, Moses Coit Tyler, Albert Benjamin Prescott, and Burke Aaron Hinsdale.

Moses Tyler

Charles Greene

Albert Prescott

East Quadrangle

79

Burke Hinsdale

Lane Hall
Lane Hall opened as a YMCA building in 1917. After World War I, the Michigan Union and League became the social centers of the University,
and many services which had been performed by the student religious associations were taken over by the churches and the University. In 1936
the Student Religious Association was created by the Board of Regents. The trustees of the Student Christian Association transferred the two
properties, Lane Hall and Newberry Hall, to the Board of Governors of the new organization, with the titles resting with the Regents.

Lane Hall Auditorium
Victor H. Lane

Lane Hall

Lane Hall Lobby

Horace H. Rackham Graduate School

One of the most beautiful University buildings, the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies, was given in 1935 by the Horace
H. and Mary A. Rackham Fund, together with an endowment. The building housed an auditorium seating 1,200 on the main floor,
several impressive study halls, a small circular amphitheater seating 250 on the third floor, assembly rooms and administrative offices.

Auditoriium

Main Reading Room

Student Health Services & Kellogg Institute of Graduate & Postgraduate Dentistry
The new Student Health Services Building opened in 1940. PWA
funds financed 45 percent of the building. The new facility afforded
three times the space of the former Health Services Building, which
was housed in the original Homeopathic Children’s Hospital.

New Student Health Services

Funded by the PWA and the Kellogg Foundation, the Kellogg Institute
of Graduate and Postgraduate Dentistry provided facilities for the
dental profession to keep up with new advances in the field. Prettyman’s
Boarding House was demolished to make way for the building.

Kellogg Institute

Former Health Services

Prettyman’s Boarding House

Public Health
In 1943 the School of Public Health Building
was opened, a gift from the W. K. Kellogg
Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and
the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis.
Great precautions were taken to protect against
contamination in designing the building,
which was carefully planned to fulfill every
requirement in the study of modern public
health education.

In 1971 the Public Health Building was named
in honor of Henry Frieze Vaughan, the first
Dean of the School and chairman of the
Department of Public Health Practice.

School of Public Health

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Administration Building
The General Services Building, later named the Administration Building, opened in December of 1948. It, too, was built under the postwar
Public Works Program. It housed the Administration and the Student, Business, Extension, and Public Services. The structure was a large office
building. A maximum amount of window space affording natural light was incorporated in the design. The windows and window sills were of
aluminum, requiring no exterior painting, thus keeping maintenance costs low.

The students called the
Administration Building
the “Salmon Loaf ”
because of its shape and color.

Administration Building on State Street

Administration Building (rear)

Business Administration
The Business Administration Building housed a classroom and laboratory wing on the south, a library and
lecture wing on the east, and an office tower on the northwest corner. The south wing, the library, and the
administrative offices were occupied in the fall of 1948, and the remainder of the building in February, 1949.

Under Construction

Business Administration Tower

Entrance

Alice Lloyd Residence Hall

A new women’s residence hall, later named for Alice Crocker Lloyd,
was opened in 1949. The building housed 500 women. The houses
were named in honor of Sarah Caswell Angell, Alice Freeman Palmer,
Caroline Hubbard Kleinstueck, and Mary Louisa Hinsdale.

Alice Crocker Lloyd ’16, a native of Ann Arbor, served as Dean of
Women from 1930 to 1950. She came to the job with a knowledge of
its ideals and a sympathetic insight into the difficulties facing students.

(left to right) Sarah Angell, Alice Palmer,
Caroline Kleinstueck, Mary Louisa Hinsdale

Alice Lloyd

University Terrace & Women’s Hospital
The Women’s Hospital opened in
1950. The Hospital combined outpatient and inpatient service with facilities for the teaching of obstetrics
and gynecology. There were also
well-equiped research laboratories.

University Terrace opened in 1946,
for married student veterans and their
families. The complex consisted of
twelve buildings with 276 furnished
apartments. The buildings were
demolished in 1996.
Women’s Hospital (front) University Terrace Apartments (rear)

81

82

83

The North Campus
Space soon became inadequate to accommodate the post-war growth of the University. In anticipation of this growing need, the
Regents had begun to acquire farmland property on the sloping hills lying just to the northeast of the Huron River. Although there
were some early thoughts given to relocating the School of Education, Natural Resources, Music, and Fine Arts to the North Campus,
the construction of the Phoenix Memorial Project soon re-purposed the site for engineering research. More specifically, the early plans
for the North Campus included the Cooley Memorial Laboratory to house the electronics research associated with the Willow Run
Laboratories, the Phoenix Memorial Laboratory, the Automotive Laboratory, and a storage library. The development of the rest
of the campus would proceed as needs arose and funds were secured. Possible projects suggested for the long-range future included
a fine arts center where teaching facilities in music, theater, television, architecture, and design could be concentrated; residence halls
and multiple-housing units for both single and married students, and staff; and facilities for the study of natural resources.

On January 17, 1952, the newly
appointed president of the
University, Harlan Hatcher, held
a press conference to announce
plans for a new North Campus
for the University: “The increasing
responsibilities and demands upon
the University and the projection of
necessary growth in the future have made
it imperative that plans for expansion
be formulated now. Of course, there
must be some further construction on
the present campus, but we know now
that there is not adequate space for an
enrollment of 25,000 students or more,
which it is reasonable to anticipate in the
1960’s.” (Michigan Alumnus, 195152, p. 257)

Wilbur Pierpont

Wilbur Pierpont played a
key role in this massive expansion plan for the North Campus.
Pierpont, a native Michigander,
earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in
Business. In 1946, after the war,
he returned to the University to
work first with President Ruthven
and then President Hatcher as the
University’s chief financial officer.
The early purchase and development of the North Campus can
be traced to Pierpont, who saw the
needs of the growing University.
His contributions were honored in
1995 by the naming of the Wilbur
and Maxine Pierpont Commons.

The noted Finnish architect, Eero Saarinen, the first president of the Cranbrook Institute and the son of the former University faculty
member, Eliel Saarinen, was retained in 1951 to develop the master plan for the North Campus site. Saarinen was one of the most
creative architects of the 20th Century, noted for his bold designs including Dulles International Airport, the St. Louis Gateway Arch,
and the residential colleges at Yale.
At the time Saarinen was commissioned to develop the plan for the North Campus, he was just completing the design for the General
Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan. There is a striking similarity between the two designs, even including an exhibition
dome, typical of automobile development centers to display new models.

Eero Saarinen

The Saarinen Plan for the North Campus

84

The North Campus
The first building to be completed on the North Campus was the Cooley Memorial Laboratory in 1953. Much of the
classified electronics research associated with Willow Run Research Laboratory was conducted in the Cooley Laboratory.

Mortimer Cooley Memorial Laboratory

1950s & 1960s

North Campus Buildings

In 1955, the Phoenix Memorial Laboratory for nuclear research was completed. The building also housed the Ford Nuclear Reactor,
the first to be built on a university campus (See page 124). The Automotive Engineering Laboratory, which had previously been
in a lean-to next to the Engineering Shops (West Engineering Annex), was relocated to a new North Campus building completed
in October of 1955. The Aeronautical Engineering Department moved its research activities to the North Campus in 1955. The
Aeronautical Engineering Laboratories consisted of two buildings: one housed the supersonic and low turbulence wind tunnels, and
the other was for propulsion research. Printing Services also moved into a new building in 1957. Engineering built a large research
laboratory for fluid dynamics research which opened in 1958, first known simply as the Fluids Laboratory and later renamed the
G. G. Brown Laboratory in honor of George Granger Brown, Dean of Engineering from 1951-1957. In 1963, three new buildings
opened: The Institute for Science and Technology, The Earl V. Moore School of Music named in honor of the first Dean of Music,
and the Research Administration Building. In 1965 the North Campus Commons gave the residents of the new campus a place to
gather, and next door, the Chrysler Center for Continuing Engineering Education opened in 1967.

85

86

87

1950s

Harlan Henthorne Hatcher 1950 - 1967

In 1951 the Regents selected Harlan Hatcher as Ruthven’s successor. Hatcher came to Michigan from Ohio State, where he had been vice
president for faculty and curriculum, dean, English professor, and student (in fact, he had earned all three of his degrees at Ohio State). Known
for his teaching, writing, and administrative skills, Hatcher moved rapidly to restructure the University’s administration to take advantage of the
postwar economic boom. Hatcher’s 17-year tenure saw dramatic expansion in enrollment and the physical campus, including the acquisition and
development of the North Campus in Ann Arbor and establishment of regional campuses in Flint and Dearborn to accommodate the doubling
of student enrollments from 21,000 to 41,000.
Michigan continued its reputation as one of the world’s leading research universities with major activities in nuclear energy (the Michigan
Memorial Phoenix Project), the space program (including the nation’s leading programs for astronaut training), biomedical research (the clinical
trials of the Salk vaccine), the physical sciences (Donald Glaser’s invention of the bubble chamber), and the development of the quantitative social
sciences (the Institute for Social Research and the Survey Research Center). Student hijinks (the first panty raids in 1952) were balanced by serious
social issues such as the Red Scare years when two faculty members were dismissed for refusing to testify before the House Subcommittee on UnAmerican Activities. The university benefited from generous state support during this era, enabling important educational innovations such as the
Residential College, the Pilot Program, and the Inteflex program (a novel combined B.S./M.D. program).

Harlan Hatcher

South Quadrangle
The South Quadrangle, completed in 1951, gave students the intimacy of a small residential group within the stimulating larger neighborhood
of a university campus. The Michigan House Plan incorporated seven individual houses, each containing eight families of twenty men. Each
had a house director, concerned with the health and well-being of each student. In accordance with the Michigan House Plan, the houses were
named in honor of former distinguished faculty: Fred Manville Taylor, Moses Gomberg, G. Carl Huber, Francis W. Kelsey, Jesse Siddall Reeves,
Fred Newton Scott, and Claude Halstead Van Tyne.

Fred Taylor

Moses Gomberg

G. Carl Huber

Francis Kelsey

South Quad

88

Jesse Reeves

Fred Scott

Claude Van Tyne

Mason & Haven Hall
The extraordinary increase in students, faculty and staff immediately after WWII made the need for additional classroom and office space acute.
The initial planning assumed that the new building or buildings would replace six old structures, which had been condemned as fire hazards:
Haven Hall (original Law Building), Economics Building (part of the original Chemical Laboratory), University Hall, Mason Hall, South Wing,
and the Romance Language Building (original Museum).
That represented a loss of sixty-five classrooms and 42 offices. In the end, only University Hall, which included the two original buildings, Mason
Hall and South College, were removed. Continuing the original Angell Hall plan was too costly, so two buildings and an auditorium wing were
added behind Angell Hall. Haven Hall, Mason Hall, and the Auditorium Wing were completed in 1952.

(3)
(1)

(2)
Outside the Fishbowl

Angell Hall (rear)

The Fishbowl

Mason Hall (1) Auditoriums (2) Haven Hall (3)

Mason & Haven Hall

Undergraduate Library & Student Activities Building
The emphasis on undergraduate education was demonstrated once again by the construction of the air-conditioned Undergraduate Library,
which stayed open until midnight. The new facility offered access to the stacks, permitted smoking, and provided seating for 2,400 students.
Another undergraduate initiative was the opening of the Student Activities Building. This new facility housed the University offices dealing with
students, and gave a home to the Student Government Council, the Joint Judiciary Council, and other student services.

Student Activities Building

UGLi Interior

Undergraduate Library - UGLi

89

Coin Operated Typewriters

The University of Michigan Flint
In response to a growing demand for higher education in Flint and assisted by buildings and land donated by the city and generous
financial support from Charles Steward Mott, in 1956 the University established a two-year senior college in Flint offering
baccalaureate degree programs in the liberal arts, education, and business administration through the Ann Arbor campus. In
1964, the Regents expanded this program to create a four-year institution, Flint College, offering the first UM degrees outside
of Ann Arbor. In 1971 it was renamed the University of Michigan Flint and moved to its current riverfront campus adjacent to
downtown Flint, with the first buildings opening in 1977.

The keys are presented to President Hatcher by Charles Mott.

President Hatcher opens the University of Michigan Flint.

University Center

University Pavilion

Murchie Science Center
UM Flint Riverside Campus

William S. White Library on the River

William S. White Library

90

The University of Michigan Dearborn
In December of 1956, the Ford Motor Company presented to the University the former residence and grounds of Mr. and Mrs.
Henry Ford. The estate, known as Fairlane, was located in Dearborn. Ford also donated $6.5 million to support the establishment
of a senior college operating in connection with business and industry. It would also provide opportunities for graduates of the
Henry Ford Community College and elsewhere to obtain degrees. The Dearborn Center, as it came to be known, was to arrange
a program of engineering and business administration courses alternating with semesters of practical experience in factories and
offices. Buildings were erected with the funds given by the company, and the new branch opened in 1959.

President Hatcher and Henry Ford II
met on the grounds of the Henry Ford
Estate on December 17, 1956, the
day they announced the gift from Ford
Motor Company of the land, buildings
and funding to launch what was to
become the University of MichiganDearborn.

The Henry Ford Estate was the
home of the automotive pioneer
and his wife, Clara, for more than
30 years. Fairlane is a national
historical landmark.

The courtyard of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters.

The pond, located in the courtyard between the Administration
Building and the Computer and Information Sciences Building.

Social Sciences Building

Students walking near the courtyard pond.

91

Frieze Building

In May 1954, the University purchased the Ann Arbor High School Building, which had been built in 1905 at 105 South State Street. In February
1956 the building was renamed the Henry S. Frieze Building. An addition completed in December 1957 housed several LS&A departments and
the School of Social Work.
There was strong reason to name the old high school after Henry Frieze. Prior to the Civil War, most public education occurred at the primary
level, and colleges and universities were obliged to create associated academies to prepare students for college work. Frieze instead began the
practice of certifying select Michigan public schools as capable of offering respectable college preparation, thereby freeing the university from
preparatory commitments and stimulating the schools of the state to extend their responsibilities into secondary education. This was the device
that unleashed the high-school movement in the Midwest and later the nation.

Ann Arbor High School

Henry Simmons Frieze

Frieze Building Addition 1957

Physics & Astronomy
In 1963, the Physics & Astronomy Building was completed, and the Department of Astronomy vacated its offices, classrooms, and telescopes on
the Detroit Observatory site that had been dedicated to astronomy for over 100 years. By 1963 the department’s astronomical observation was
performed mostly at observatories remote from the campus, including space vehicles orbiting around the Earth.

Physics-Astronomy Building

Original Astronomy Building

Demolition of the old Astronomy Building

Institute for Social Research, Fleming Administration & Pharmacy
In 1965 the Institute for Social
Research Building was completed.
ISR became the world leader in the
development of the quantitative social
sciences, economics, psychology,
sociology, and anthropology through
its Survey Research Center and
National Election Studies.

Institute for Social Research

In August of 1968 the new Administration
Building opened on Thompson Street. The
structure housed offices for the University’s
central administration. The building was later
named in honor of Robben and Sally Fleming.
The Cube “Endover,” in Regents’ Plaza, was by
the artist Bernard (Tony) Rosenthal ’36. The
sculpture was a gift of the class of 1965.

The Pharmacy Research Building,
completed in 1960, was devoted almost entirely to laboratories accommodating two to four researchers
each, both faculty and graduate students. At the time of its dedication, it
was the nation’s largest college building for pharmaceutical research.

Fleming Administration Building (right)

Pharmacy Building

92

Mary Markley Residence Hall & The Residential College

The 1960s were a time of experimentation and change. Students rejected in loco parentis, pushing the University out of their private lives. The 60s
generation also discarded many of the long-standing traditions of student life such as the J-Hop, Cap Night, and even fraternities and sororities
for a time. Some of the residence halls became co-educational.
In the fall of 1963 Mary Markley Residence Hall opened. It was planned as a residence for 1,200 women, but it was occupied by both men and
women in an effort to promote greater maturity among students. An innovation at the time was a telephone in every room. Men’s and women’s
wings were separated, but the residents shared dining rooms and study areas, in the hope that both manners and dress would improve. The
complex was named in honor of Mary Butler Markley, a faculty widow who had been extremely active in alumnae activities. Rising enrollments
of women overtaxed the women’s dormitories, and the University could no longer house all of the women students. Senior women were allowed
to live in apartments for the first time.
During the 1960s there were numerous experiments in creating new approaches to student residential housing. One of the most interesting was
the conversion of East Quad in 1969 into a small residential college within LS&A, complete with associated faculty, counselors and curricula.
Students would live and attend classes in the same building, and a common core of courses would be required. A few teaching fellows and
counselors would also live in. The Residential College soon became not only one of the more popular student options, attracting many students
who sought a more integrated living-learning environment, but one of the most successful University experiments in undergraduate education.

Residential College - East Quadrangle

Mary Markley Hall (upper right) University Terrace (center)

Music School & Dental School
In the 1950s, a new building for the School of Music was number one
on the University’s priority list. In 1957 a contract was let for the building, but the project was stalled for lack of appropriations, and the plans
were filed away. Finally, in the early 1960s, state funding was obtained
for a new building located on the University’s North Campus. Eero
Saarinen, who had developed the North Campus master plan, was given the commission. The new building was completed in 1963, and for
the first time, all musical activities were consolidated under one roof.

As dental practice continued to evolve, the Dental School created eight
new departments to add to the existing ten departments. With expanding programs and enrollments, it was clear by the 1950s that a new
building was necessary, and planning was begun. Funding was not
made available until the late 1960s by which time the size of the school
had grown from 16 to 105 full-time faculty with staff growth from 107
to 408. Dean William Mann was able to win state support for a new
Dental Building, completed in 1971.

School of Music - 1963

Dental School - 1971

93

Buildings Added to the Medical Center in the 1950s & 1960s

(2)
(3)
(4)

(1)

1. Women’s Hospital (1950); 2. Outpatient Clinic (now Med Inn) (1953);
3. C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital (1969); 4. Towsley Center for Continuing Medical Education (1969)

94

Buildings Added to the Medical Center in the 1950s & 1960s

(7)
(8)

(5)
(6)

5. Kresge Medical Research I (1954); 6. Kresge Medical Research II (1964);
7. Medical Science I (Medical School and School of Nursing) (1958); 8. Medical Science II (Medical School) (1969)

95

96

97

1964

The Post-War Expansion of the Campus Ends

During the 1950s and early 1960s the state regularly provided the University with funds for campus facilities amounting to 10%
to 15% of its operating appropriations. But by the mid-1960s there were already several warning signs that such state support
might not continue. In 1964 the state legislature proposed delegating the control of funds for planning and constructing university
buildings to the state controller, including the selection of project architects. The University of Michigan challenged the state’s
authority to control these projects, thereby losing the opportunity for state facilities funding throughout the remaining 1960s and
into the 1970s, at a time when other state universities were expanding rapidly. The rapid post-war expansion of the University’s
Ann Arbor campus was coming to an end, as it entered a period of retrenchment that would last almost two decades.

1965

A New University Academic Calendar
In 1964-65, with reluctance from the faculty and the administration, the two-semester calendar which had been in effect for more
than 110 years was changed to three terms a year. Semester offerings were slightly shortened, and the third term—May through
August—was broken in half to accommodate school teachers and students from other colleges who could attend only the second
half of that term. The students who applauded the new calendar had some second thoughts after experiencing the stepped-up
pace. There was no vacation period in which to write term papers or to catch up in the event of earlier illness; spring sports were
upset; final examination periods were compressed; and the favored jobs at summer resorts conflicted with registering before Labor
Day. The terms were later shortened still further so that registration once again took place after Labor Day.

1967

The Sesquicentennial & The 55 Million Dollar Campaign
In 1964, when President Hatcher offered proposals to the Board of Regents for the observance of the University’s founding
—a Sesquicentennial celebration for 1967—his plans included a major fund-raising campaign, and a goal of $55 million was
adopted. To everyone’s astonishment, a total of over $74 million was raised. No public university had ever attempted to raise
such an amount. But as the University had perhaps the largest alumni body in the nation—225,000 at the time—the effort
seemed worth making in conjunction with the anniversary celebration.
Following a series of symposiums and numerous ceremonies in celebration of the University’s Sesquicentennial throughout
1967, President Hatcher retired at the end of the year. He left a physical plant that had more than doubled in buildings and
facilities; a student body that had nearly doubled in size and, despite the pressures and temptations of the time, had never rioted
or successfully dictated to the administration; an enlarged faculty of great distinction; the largest living alumni body in the nation;
and a state government convinced that its University deserved steady support. It was a brilliant accomplishment of devoted
application and sound judgment.
In celebration of the University’s Sesquicentennial, two publications were produced on the history of the University: Howard
Peckham’s The Making of the University of Michigan, and Ruth Bordin’s The University of Michigan... A Pictorial History.

Howard Peckham

Ruth Bordin

98

Robben Wright Fleming 1968 - 1979
Although Hatcher’s skillful gentleman-scholar approach had provided effective leadership during the 1950s, it was challenged by
the emerging student activism of the 1960s, a decade marked by the formation of the Students for a Democratic Society (and the
Port Huron Manifesto) and the growing student protests over issues such as civil rights and the Vietnam Conflict. It was clear that
times were changing, and a new style of leadership would be necessary as student activism against “the establishment” escalated.
Hatcher retired in 1967 at the age of 70.
The Regents turned to Robben Fleming, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin, to lead the university during a time of
protest and disruption. Fleming’s background as a professor of labor relations specializing in arbitration and mediation served him
well during the tumultuous years when Ann Arbor was a center of student activism. His patience, negotiating skills, and genuine
sympathy for the concerns of students and faculty helped Michigan weather the decade without the destructive confrontations
that struck some other universities. Despite pressure from conservative groups, Fleming was careful both to respect the freedom
to protest and to avoid inflexible stands on non-essential matters, believing that most protesters would soon wear themselves out
if not provoked.

Robben Fleming Meeting with Students

Fleming believed that the most important role of the president in a successful university was to keep things running smoothly, a
task best accomplished by recruiting a team of outstanding administrators. He once noted, “If you start out as president with a
provost and a chief financial officer who are superb people, you are about three-quarters of the way down the path of success,
because these are your critical areas.” And talent he had in abundance: Allan Smith, Frank Rhodes, and Harold Shapiro as
provosts, and Wilbur Pierpont and James Brinkerhoff as chief financial officers.
Campus construction was relatively modest during the 1970s and early 1980s. While the University was finally able to negotiate
an adequate degree of control over state-funded facilities projects, only one modest state-funded academic building was approved
during the 1970s, the Modern Languages Building. The Arab Oil Embargo and rising energy prices brought an end to the robust
post-WWII economy, leading to a major recession in the mid-1970s followed by rampant inflation in the early 1980s. However,
even more serious was the beginning of the decline of the American automobile industry, the key to the state’s prosperity, as
foreign competition from Japan emerged.
Hence there was little campus expansion during the 1970s, and the new buildings that did appear were financed with non-state
funds. For example, Crisler Arena (1968) was debt-financed with student fees, as were recreational sports facilities on the North
Campus (NCRB, 1976) and Central Campus (CCRB), including the Dance Building (1977). The Power Center (1971) was built
with a gift from Regent Eugene Power. Baits Housing (1966), Bursley Hall (1968), Northwood IV (1969), and Northwood V
(1972) were financed with student housing rental fees, while the Administration Building (1968), South Stacks Library addition
(1970), Dental Building (1971), Business Administration Assembly Hall (1972), the Institute of Science & Technology (1973),
the William Revelli Hall (1973), the Art and Architecture Building (1974), and the William A. Paton Center (1976) were built
with internal funds. The Bentley Historical Library (1973) and Gerald R. Ford Library (1976) were financed with gifts, while the
Football Practice Field (1971) and Track and Tennis Building (1974) were built with Athletic Department revenues.
President Fleming successfully led the University through tempestuous times, with its capacity and reputation intact. The
Vietnam protests of the 1960s evolved into the Black Action Movement of the early 1970s. Concern about classified research led
to the University’s decision to sever its relationship with the Willow Run Research Laboratories, which were transferred to the
independent Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM). The emerging concerns about the environment led to the
first Earth Day (1970), while the University faced concerns regarding recombinant DNA research. A wave of collective bargaining
swept the campus, with first the hospital interns and residents and then the graduate teaching assistants unionizing. With typical
irreverence, Ann Arbor approved a $5 fine for smoking pot and briefly flirted with declaring itself a “nuclear free zone.”
One of President Fleming’s most lasting achievements was successfully negotiating a plan for building a replacement university
hospital, an action that required him to become chair of the University Hospital Executive Committee to negotiate through an
impasse. The University acquired the old St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital to serve as a staging area, a facility that would later become
the home of the School of Nursing. Fleming retired in 1979 and became President of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

99

Buildings Completed During the Late 1960s & 1970s

1977 Central Campus Recreation
and Dance Building

1968 Events Building
Crisler Arena

1974 Track & Tennis Building

1973 William D. Revelli Hall

1971 Dental School

1971 Power Center

1970 Graduate Library Stacks

1972 Modern Languages Building

1977 300 North Ingalls
Old St Joe’s Hospital

1968 Administration Building

1971 Thomas Francis Jr.
Public Health Building

1969 Mott Children’s Hospital
1969 Towsley Center for Continuing Medical Education

1972 Business Administration
1972 Business
Adminisration
Assemly
Hall
Assembly Hall

1976 William A. Paton Center

100

Buildings Completed During the Late 1960s & 1970s
1969 Highway Safety
Research Institute

1974 Art & Architecture Building

1973 Institute of
Science & Technology

1971 Aerospace Engineering

1969 Northwood IV Courtyard

1973 Bentley Historical Library

1969 Northwood IV - 1972 Northwood V

1968 Joseph & Marguerite
Bursley Residence Hall

1976 North Campus
Recreation Building

1966 Vera Bates
Residence Halls

1979 Alumni Center

North Campus Computer Center

1965 North Campus Commons

1967 Chrysler Center - North Campus

101

Harold Tafler Shapiro 1980 - 1987
After an extensive nationwide search, the Regents turned inside
to select the university’s provost, Harold Shapiro, as the next
president. A Canadian by birth and educated at McGill and
Princeton, Shapiro had served as chair of the Department of
Economics and led the economic forecasting project that analyzed
the Michigan economy. Shapiro served as chair of the Department
of Economics from 1974-77, and Vice President for Academic
Affairs from 1977-79.
Harold Tafler Shapiro

Shapiro understood well that the state’s economy would likely drop in prosperity to the national average and below in the years
ahead. During the 1970s and 1980s, state support would drop from 60% of the university’s general and education budget to
30% (and decline still further to 15% during the 1990s). Together with his provost, Billy Frye, he started the university down the
long road toward becoming a privately supported public university.
Campus construction also languished during the early years of the Shapiro administration. The recession of the 1970s became
a serious depression in Michigan, compounded by double-digit inflation. State budget cuts followed budget cuts, forcing the
University into a serious retrenchment mode for several years that would see the eventual loss of roughly 30% of its state
support.
President Shapiro was determined not only to preserve but also to enhance the academic quality of the University. But he
realized that to do so during this difficult period would require focusing resources through reallocation. While every academic
and administrative unit was required to participate in this effort to become “better paid, better supported, with a smaller staff,”
several units were eliminated entirely (e.g., Geography, Extension Services, Michigan Media), while others were targeted for
far more substantial cuts as the criteria of quality, centrality, and cost-effectiveness were applied: Art (18%), Natural Resources
(33%), and Education (40%). Ironically, although the “small-but-better” theme clearly guided most University decisions during
the early 1980s, during the decade the institution actually grew at a 7%/year rate, with the Medical Center growing even faster
at 15%/year.
Perhaps more significant, like many other public universities facing eroding state support, the University began to stress those
professional schools such as medicine, law, business, and engineering that were less dependent on state support, since it was clear
that generous state support was unlikely to return.
Of highest priority during this era was the successful effort to build a new University Hospital, both the largest project in the
University’s history and an effort that required an extraordinary commitment of resources during a period when the state was
in a deep recession (as Shapiro put it, the University “bet the ranch” on the project). Although extraordinarily complex both
logistically and politically, the project was remarkably well-managed and came in on time and under budget. It provided the
University with one of the finest clinical facilities in the nation, generating substantial resources for further clinical and research
facilities in later years.
Yet the rest of the campus suffered several negative consequences from this massive effort to expand the Medical Center (beyond
traffic and parking congestion). Because of the massive cost—second only to the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan history—other
University capital facilities needs were put on hold throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Indeed, the magnitude of state funding
required for the project, $174 million, essentially crippled state funding of higher education projects throughout the state for
almost a decade.
Although state funding of campus buildings resumed in the 1980s with the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Building
on the North Campus and the Chemical Sciences Laboratory on the Central Campus, this modest state commitment paled in
comparison with the needs of the academic programs of the University, particularly LS&A. Many of the most distinguished
academic programs of the University were housed in ancient buildings, badly in need of repair, and totally inadequate for
modern teaching and research. As the University entered the 1990s, the situation looked bleak.
Although students began to resume traditions in the 1980s such as fraternities and sororities and college athletics, Michigan
remained a very politically active campus. Military research was still a cause, with the “end-use” criterion adopted for the few
remaining classified research projects. Racial issues remained important, first with the effort to complete University divestment
of South African holdings, and then with concerns about racism on campus (addressed by the United Coalition Against Racism
and the Black Action Movements II and III).

102

1980s Buildings
On December 24, 1981 the Economics Building, the oldest academic building, was destroyed by an arsonist’s fire. The department
moved to the North Ingalls Building (Old St. Joe’s Hospital) and in 1986 moved to new quarters in Lorch Hall. This caused a
severe space problem on the Central Campus and hastened the move of Engineering to the North Campus. In 1981 the Law
Library addition opened, an underground facility carefully constructed to preserve the Gothic architecture of the School.

Economics Building

Law Library Addition

With support from Apollo Computer and General Motors, Engineering installed the most advanced computing network (the
Computer-Aided Engineering Network, or CAEN) on any campus. Faculty and students were given the opportunity to purchase
personal computers at reduced rates, and “computer clusters” began to appear all over campus. Computer Sciences moved
from the College of Literature, Science and the Arts to Engineering and into a new building. Chemical Engineering moved into
its North Campus building in 1982

1986 Electrical & Computer Sciences Building - North Campus

1982 Herbert H. Dow Building - North Campus

Major efforts were directed toward strenghtening the physical sciences. Chemistry and Physics received new facilities.
The Willard Dow Chemistry Laboratory, appeared where the Barbour and Waterman gymnasiums once stood.

1989 Willard Dow Chemistry Laboratory

Chemistry Buildings (left to right) ’89, ’48, ’09

103

The Replacement Hospital took a decade of persistent effort by the Regents, three University presidents, their vice presidents,
three Medical School deans, two Hospital directors, and a growing RHP staff. Robben Fleming drafted a comprehensive plan,
which was then successively executed by Harold Shapiro’s administration. Five years of construction (1981-86) followed the five
years of intensive planning (1976-1981), as the RHP slowly rose on its new site northeast of the University Hospital (Old Main).
The new hospital opened in 1986 and was named “University Hospitals.” Three years later, Old Main was taken down, not in
a massive implosion as had originally been contemplated, but brick by brick. Survival Flight, an emergency medical helicopter
service to link the facilities in Ann Arbor with surrounding communities, was inaugurated in May of 1983.

1986 University Hospitals

In 1982, a major gift from the Kellogg Foundation made possible the construction of the new, $12 million W. K. Kellogg Eye
Center. In 1986 the Medical Science Research Building I opened, and in 1989 the Medical Science Research Building II was
completed, housing the Hughes Institute for research on molecular genetics.

W. K. Kellogg Eye Center - 1982

Medical Science Research Buildings I & II

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(1)

(2)

Old Main Hospital (1) Replacement Hospital (2)

Business Administration added new library and classroom facilities and its own hotel for executive conferences.

Library & Classrooms - 1985

Executive Conference Center - 1985

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Library & Classrooms - 1985

James Johnson Duderstadt 1988 - 1996
Following Shapiro’s departure to Princeton, the Regents conducted
a long search, eventually turning back inside once again to tap the
university’s provost, James Duderstadt—only the fourth insider
in Michigan’s history. A graduate of Yale (B.S.) and Caltech (Ph.D.),
Duderstadt had been a faculty member in nuclear engineering at the
University since 1969, serving as Dean of Engineering in the early
1980s when he orchestrated the move of the College of Engineering
to the North Campus. Since he had worked closely with Shapiro as
provost, his appointment assured a smooth transition with no loss of
University momentum.
“The Rock”

James Duderstadt

Building upon Shapiro’s efforts, the Duderstadt administration completed the objectives of stabilizing the university’s support base in the
face of the continued erosion of state support by launching the first $1 billion fundraising campaign for a public university (eventually
raising $1.4 billion), restoring the reserves of the institution, leading Michigan to its status as the nation’s leading research university (in
research volume), and building its financial strength to the highest level in its history (as measured by achieving the highest Wall Street
credit rating of Aaa, the first for a public university).

One Billion Dollar Kickoff Celebration with Mike Walace

Foreseeing a 21st-century world in which knowledge, globalization, and diversity would be critical elements, Duderstadt launched the
Michigan Mandate and Michigan Agenda for Women to diversify the campus community, created a new International Institute, and
moved to reshape academic programs to prepare students for the global economic and information revolution (including Michigan’s role
in building and managing the early phases of the Internet). During the 1990s, a process of institutional transformation was launched to
explore possible futures for a 21st-century university, establishing programs throughout the world, launching an Internet-based university,
stimulating interdisciplinary programs, and promoting a renewed focus on the quality of undergraduate education.

Michigan Mandate & Michigan Agenda for Women Events

106

In the 1990s, several factors converged to provide the University with a remarkable window of opportunity for rebuilding its campuses.
First, falling interest rates, coupled with the University’s high credit rating, made it quite inexpensive to borrow money. Second, because
of a weak economy, there were few competing construction projects underway in the private sector, and hence construction bids tended
to come in quite low. Third, the University’s success in auxiliary activities, including clinical revenue and continuing education fees,
generated substantial revenue. And, fourth, the University was able to convince the Governor to launch a major state capital facilities
program, with the understanding that the University would match the state contribution through the use of its own internal funds.
In the late 1980s, a carefully designed plan was developed to rebuild, renovate, and update all university buildings. This massive campus
renaissance, which eventually amounted to over $2 billion of facilities construction and renovation, was made possible by a combination
of state support for capital improvements, gifts and grants, the reallocation of internal UM funds including contributions from the
University’s auxiliary units, and student fees. Its tremendous success was due to the vision, commitment, and hard work of a great
many individuals at the University, including Gil Whitaker as provost, Farris Womack as VPCFO, and Paul Spradlin as director of plant
extension.
There was also a substantial effort to improve the landscaping and appearance of the campus. With the completion of the major
construction projects on the Central Campus and North Campus, new master landscaping plans were developed and launched, including
the Ingalls Mall, the East University Mall, and the Diag projects on the Central Campus, and the “North Woods” landscaping plan for
the North Campus. At the same time, a number of safety concerns were addressed with increased lighting, new plantings, gardens, and
courtyards designed to augment the new construction.
While the rebuilding and/or major renovation of most of the University’s campuses during the decade was an extraordinary
accomplishment, of comparable long-term importance was the massive effort to eliminate the deferred maintenance backlog that had
arisen during the 1970s and 1980s. Furthermore, major efforts were made to provide ongoing support for facilities maintenance so that
such backlogs would not arise again in the future.

Rebuilding and Finance Team
Ferris Womack, Paul Spradlin, and Jim Duderstadt

Plaque of Architectural Drawings of the Buildings Constructed
during the Duderstadt Admininstration

The Library Plaza

Ingalls Mall

East University Mall

“North Woods” Landscaping Plan for the North Campus

107

The Central Campus

Most encouraging of all was the great progress in addressing the critical needs of the Central Campus. The Undergraduate Library, appropriately
referred to as the “UGLi,” was surrounded by an attractive shell, totally renovated, and dedicated as the Harold & Vivian Shapiro Library. The
Physics Department benefited from a major new research laboratory. Tisch Hall was constructed to join Angell and Haven Halls to serve the
humanities faculty. Total building renovations were accomplished for East Engineering and West Engineering (renamed East Hall and West Hall),
C. C. Little, Angell Hall, Mason Hall, and Haven Hall. The Student Activities Building acquired a new addition, the Huetwell Visitor Center, and
the School of Social Work received a marvelous new building. Funds and renovation plans were also provided for Hill Auditorium, the Rackham
Graduate School, the Frieze Building, the original Ann Arbor High School and the LS&A Building.

Tisch Hall - Angell/Haven Addition

The Undergraduate Library Renovation

The School of Social Work Building

Huetwell Student Visitor Center

The Physics Building

108

The North Campus

The last remaining facilities needed to complete the North Campus were finished, including the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Building (FXB) for
aerospace engineering, the Lurie Engineering Center, and the Media Union, a remarkable digital library and multimedia center. Further, the
eminent American architect—and University alumnus—Charles Moore was commissioned to design a striking carillon, the Robert H. and Ann
Lurie Bell Tower, that soon became the symbol for the North Campus.

The Lurie Engineering Center

The FXB Building

The North Campus Fountain Plaza

The Robert H. & Ann Lurie Tower

The Media Union

109

The Medical Campus

The Medical Center continued to expand with a series of new teaching, research, and clinical facilities that augmented the new Adult
General Hospital. A new Child and Maternal Health Care Hospital replaced Mott and Women’s Hospitals. A high-rise Cancer and
Geriatrics Center was constructed. A trio of sophisticated research laboratories, Medical Science Research Buildings I, II, and III
came on line to keep the Medical School at the forefront of biomedical research, while also housing the Howard Hughes Medical
Research Institute. As the Medical Center growth began to strain against the limits of its downtown Ann Arbor site, the University
Hospitals acquired a large site northeast of Ann Arbor and began to develop its East Medical Campus to respond to the need for
additional primary care facilities. It also developed new primary care facilities throughout southeastern Michigan, including a major
concentration in the Briarwood area in south Ann Arbor, and a Child Care Center for the Medical Center staff.

The Cancer & Geriatrics Center

Medical Science Research I, II, & III

Child Care Center

East Medical

The South Campus
The University’s South Campus also experienced extensive construction activity, including the renovation of most athletic facilities.
Michigan Stadium was renovated, and a natural grass field was installed. In the process, the stadium floor was lowered so that an
additional 3,000 seats could be added, thereby increasing the capacity of the stadium to 106,000. Other new or substantially renovated
facilities included Canham Natatorium, Schembechler Hall, Keen Arena, Weidenbach Hall, Yost Arena, the Michigan Golf Course,
the varsity track, and the new Michigan Tennis Complex. New facilities were provided to support business operations, including the
Wolverine Tower and the Campus Safety Office.

Schembechler Hall

Tisch Tennis Center

Similar progress was made on the University’s regional campuses. UM-Dearborn benefited from new classroom and laboratory facilities,
while UM-Flint brought on line a new science laboratory, library, and administrative center. UM-Flint was given the AutoWorld site,
along with funds for site preparation, by the Mott foundation, as the first stage of a major expansion of the campus.

110

Celebration of the 175th Year

History and Traditions Committee

(left to right) Harlan Hatcher, Bob Fleming, Allan Smith,
Bob Warner, Harold Shapiro and Jim Duderstadt

Nick Steneck, Carole LaMantia, and Fran Blouin
Bob Warner, and Anne Duderstadt (seated)

In 1992 the University celebrated its 175th year. One of the events brought the former presidents together for a panel discussion of
the University. A University History and Traditions Committee was also established. Robert Warner, former National Archivist and
Dean of the School of Library Studies and Information was named University Historian, by Regental appointment.

Restoration of the Detroit Observatory
One of the projects of the History and Traditions Committee was the preservation of the Observatory. The Observatory, completed in
1854, is the only surviving original building on the University of Michigan campus. Under the direction of Dr. Patricia Whitesell, the
building was renovated with historical accuracy. All of the original astronomical instruments (purchased by Henry Tappan) were also
restored. Dr. Whitesell’s book, A Creation of His Own: Tappan’s Detroit Observatory, captures the story of this University treasure.

Meridian Circle Telescope

Patricia Whitesell

After eight years as president, Duderstadt returned to the faculty with a University-wide appointment as University Professor of
Science and Engineering to build a new research center, the Millennium Project, located in the Media Union (later to be named the
James and Anne Duderstadt Center). The Regents appointed Homer Neal, Vice President for Research and professor of physics, for
a brief interim period to allow them to complete the search that eventually named Lee Bollinger as Duderstadt’s successor.

111

Lee C. Bollinger 1997 - 2000
Although Lee Bollinger had long been a faculty member and dean of the Law School at Michigan, he was
offered the Michigan presidency while provost at Dartmouth College. A First Amendment scholar, Bollinger
had received his undergraduate degree from Oregon University and his law degree from Columbia before
joining the Michigan faculty in 1974.

Lee C. Bollinger

Bollinger had strong interests in campus architecture (appointing the noted architect, Robert Venturi, as
campus planner) and the arts (promoting the university’s earlier relationship with Robert Frost and Arthur
Miller and funding performances by the Royal Shakespeare Company). Several of his projects met strong
resistance, such as the Venturi-designed “halo” installed at Michigan Stadium (and soon dismantled after
the Regents suffered withering complaints from Michigan fans) and his plan to move his office to Angell
Hall, displacing the undergraduate counseling office. After a brief four-year tenure, Bollinger left to become
president of Columbia University. The Regents named B. Joseph White, Dean of Business Administration,
as Interim President for the brief time it would take to select a new permanent president for the University.

“The Halo”

“The Halo”

“The Halo”

GOING UP

COMING DOWN

While the University had successfully bet the ranch on the Replacement Hospital Project, it fared less successfully (at least initially)
on another massive project in the biomedical sciences, the Life Sciences Institute. Launched during the brief tenure of President Lee
Bollinger, the project involved a complex of several extremely expensive research, instructional, and conference facilities, financed
primarily by $350 million taken from Hospital reserves. The Life Sciences Institute itself was designed by Robert Venturi and
looked remarkably similar to a somewhat larger biomedical research facility Venturi had just completed at Yale. But perhaps most
controversial was the “build it and they will come” philosophy of the project, since the University had few world-class faculty in the
Institute’s basic research areas of genomics and proteomics and would face difficulty recruiting talent in such intensely competitive
fields, with only a laboratory building to offer.

Life Sciences Institute

112

Mary Sue Coleman 2001 - 2013

Mary Sue Coleman came to Michigan from the University of Iowa where she had served
as President from 1995-2002. For 19 years she was a member of the biochemistry faculty at
the University of Kentucky. Her work in the sciences led her to administrative appointments
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she served as vice chancellor for
research, and the University of New Mexico, where she served as provost and vice president
for academic affairs. She earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Grinnell
College and her doctorate in biochemistry from the University of North Carolina.
Mary Sue Coleman

2001

Supreme Court Decision on Michigan’s Affirmative Action Case

President Coleman represented the University in the successful
conclusion of the Supreme Court decision on the University of
Michigan Affirmative Action Case. Largely because of Michigan’s
earlier leadership in achieving diversity in higher education, the
University became a target for those groups seeking to reverse
affirmative action. Two cases were filed in 1997, one challenging
undergraduate admissions policies and the second challenging
Law School admissions. The University defended its practice in
both cases all the way to the Supreme Court in 2003. Although
the Court ruled against the University’s particular admissions
process for undergraduate admissions, Michigan won the Law
School case with a landmark Supreme Court decision affirming
that “Student body diversity is a compelling state interest that can
justify the use of race in university admission.”

2003

The Michigan Difference

Under Coleman’s leadership, the University launched a $2.5 billion capital campaign to enhance programs across the campus, including
new scholarships and fellowships for students and endowed chairs for faculty members. Coleman faced new challenges to find new sources
of income as the state’s economy crashed in the midst of a national recession, leading to appropriation cuts which reduced state support
even further (dropping to less than 8% of the university’s total budget) and requiring further restructuring of the university’s finances.

Just sign on the dotted line......

113

21st-Century Campus Buildings

Kelsey Museum Addition

The Rachel Upjohn Depression Center

Ross Student Academic Center

Computer Science and Engineering

C. S. Mott Children’s & Women’s Hospital

Museum of Art Addition

Robert & Ann Lurie Biomedical Building

114

21st-Century Campus Buildings

Cardiovascular Center

Public Health

Ross School of Business Administration

Nanosciences Laboratory

Asian Studies

Gerald Ford School of Public Health - Weill Hall

Perry Building Addition

Wallgreen Center for the Performing Arts

Medical Sciences Building

115

The University of Michigan
In Times of War

117

Mexican War 1846 - 1848
The University of Michigan has long contributed to the defense of the nation during times of war. The University had been
in Ann Arbor only five years when the Mexican War broke out in 1846. Five students fought in the war, three as officers.
The Mexican War between the United States and Mexico began with a Mexican attack on American troops along the southern
border of Texas on April 25, 1846. Fighting ended when U.S. General Winfield Scott occupied Mexico City on September
14, 1847. A peace treaty was signed on February 2, 1848 at Guadalupe Hidalgo. As a result, Texas was ceded to the United
States, along with California, New Mexico, and Arizona.

Civil War 1861 - 1865
“On Friday, April 12, 1861, they
fired on Fort Sumpter. On the Sunday
morning following, in a very impressive
manner, Dr. Tappan announced that Fort
Sumpter had been fired on, that a great
civil war was impending, and that the
north must be aroused to defend and save
the government. He announced that he
would address the citizens of Ann Arbor
at three o’clock in the afternoon on the
Court House square.

Tappan informed the students that
he had engaged Joseph H. Vance, the
librarian of the Law library, to act
as drill master, to prepare the students
to properly act their part in the coming
conflict. A room on the first floor at the
south end of the South College was used
for a drill room. The Doctor assured the
students that failure to reach recitations
on time caused by attendance at drill
would be overlooked.

Dr. Tappan, a little before three o’clock,
came down from the University with the
old chapel Bible under his arm. Dr.
Tappan got upon the platform, read
some rousing chapters from the Bible
and commenced his address. You could
distinctly hear every word that he said
in the farthest part of the square. Dr.
Tappan spoke for about two hours.

One regiment was called the ‘Tappan
Guards,’ the other the ‘U of M Guards,’
and the two together, ‘The University
Battalion.’ Canes were used for guns
and swords.”
Noah W. Cheever
’63, ’65l, (Michigan Alumnus, June,
1897)

News of the Civil War Announced by President Tappan
On the Court House Square

Three companies of student
soldiers were at once recruited: the
Tappan Guards, commanded by
Captain Charles Kendall Adams
’61, later Professor of History
in the University and President
of Cornell and Wisconsin; the
Chancellor Greys, commanded
by Captain Isaac H. Elliott ’61;
and the Ellsworth Zouaves, under
Captain Albert Nye ’62. A large
part of the University’s student
body underwent military training,
which continued through 1861
and 1862, and nearly one-half the
members of the classes of 1859,
1860, 1861, and 1862 entered
the war—78 out of 165. Nearly
2000 Michigan men served in
the Civil War under the Union
colors, many as officers and noncommissioned officers.

Captain W. H. Allen Zacharias ’60
of the Seventh Michigan Infantry
was mortally wounded at the
battle of Antietam on September
17, 1862. His body was found on
the battlefield. The following lines
were written on an old envelope
clutched in his hand:
“Dear Parents, Brothers and Sisters: I
am wounded, mortally I think. The fight
rages round me. I have done my duty.
This is my consolation. I hope to meet
you all again. I left not the line until all
had fallen and colors gone. I am getting
weak. My arms are free but below my
chest all is numb. The enemy trotting
over me. The numbness up to my heart.
Good-bye all. Your son, Allen”
(UM Encyclopedic Survey, p. 195)

Charles K. Adams, Capt. of the University Guards (left)
Isaac H. Elliot, Captain of the Chancellor Greys (center)
Albert Nye, Captain of the Ellsworth Zouaves (right)

118

Spanish American War - April 25, 1898 - December 10, 1898
On April 25, 1898 the United States declared war on Spain following the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana Harbor on February
15, 1898. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. As a result Spain lost its control over the remains
of its overseas empire—Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippine Islands, Guam, and other islands.
In the spring of 1898, when it became apparent that the United States would be involved in a war with Spain, a mass meeting was held in
the auditorium in University Hall. Students were urged to keep calm but get ready. Plans for military drill were considered. 576 Michigan
men enlisted in the Spanish American War in 1898. The Hay Bill and the Chamberlin Bill provided a mechanism to develop officers on
university campuses, and in 1898 an officer battalion was formed at the University to serve the needs of the war with Spain. Graduates of
the Nursing School also served in the Spanish American War. From the faculty, Victor C. Vaughan, Dean of the Department of Medicine
and Surgery; Charles B. de Nancrède, Professor of Surgery; Mortimer E. Cooley, Professor of Mechanical Engineering; and Walter R.
Parker, Professor of Ophthalmology were in active service.

Victor Vaughan

Charles B. de Nancrède

Mortimer Cooley

Dr. Vaughan and Dr. de Nancrède served as surgeons at the base
hospital in Siboney where all the wounded from the battle of Santiago
were treated. Dr. Vaughan was later stricken with yellow fever. Both
men were cited for their heroic deeds and faithful service.

Walter R. Parker

Mortimer Cooley was chief engineer on the United States’ converted
cruiser “Yosemite,” which was on blockade duty and acted as scout and
convoy. Walter R. Parker, Professor of Ophthalmology, was watch and
division officer, with the rank of ensign, on the “Yosemite.”

War Memorials
Alumni Memorial Hall was built by the Alumni to honor those members of the University
who had served in the Mexican, Civil, and Spanish-American Wars. The building was
dedicated on May 11, 1910, and officially presented to the University. The Moro Castle
Mortar, a War Memorial of the Spanish War, was given by the Class of 1899.

Alumni Memorial Hall - Moro Castle Mortar (right)

119

World War I 1914 - 1918
Almost immediately after the declaration of war in 1914, two divisions of the Naval Reserves were mobilized and stationed at
their headquarters in Waterman Gymnasium. Drills were held on Ferry Field. In addition to the gymnasium, other University
buildings were brought into use, and the campus and town were occupied by marching men.

Drills on Ferry Field

Barracks in Waterman Gymnasium

Students Marching

During the war years, the University refocused its efforts on the military needs of the nation, in many cases at the expense of its
academic programs. The College of Engineering and the Law School modified their courses so that at least two days a week
were devoted to drill. To supplement these drills the Engineering faculty started an elementary course in military engineering
enrolling some 210 students, including 30 from the Literary College. Special courses were given in signaling, munitions, railroad
transportation, automobile engineering, and the classification and handling of stores.

Class in Visual Signaling
(Semaphore)

Class - New Engineering Building

Communications

Surveying

Class in the
Engineering Shops Foundry

Code Training

In 1916 voluntary military training of students was started on the campus and was carried out under the direction of Major
Clyde Wilson, of the College of Engineering faculty. “We do not believe in war, but we do believe in peace—peace with
liberty and justice for all. Therefore we are all working for reasonable, defensive, ‘preparedness’ which we hope will become
permanent” C.E. Wilson (Michigan Alumnus, May, 1916).
At the close of the spring term there were over nine hundred men in training. Victor Vaughan, Dean of Medicine; Mortimer
Cooley, Dean of Engineering; and Henry Bates, Dean of Law were all active in promoting the work of the Security League.
Several professors connected with the Department of German used their classrooms for active German propaganda and were
consequently dismissed.

120

World War I 1914 - 1918
Early in 1918 the government asked the University to determine how many men could be trained on campus to serve as army
mechanics. The University replied that 200 could be accommodated. Washington expected a larger commitment, and with
the use of additional temporary barracks 700 men were trained.

Barracks in the Union

The Unfinished Michigan Union

The Union Kitchen

Because of the War, the Michigan Union was not ready for the students until 1919. With a loan of $260,000 from the Michigan
War Preparedness Board, the building was sufficiently completed to be used as a barracks for the Students’ Army Training
Corps. During this emergency it served as a dormitory for 800 men and as a mess hall for some 4000.

Army Students’ Mess
Michigan Union Ballroom

Temporary Mess
Beside the Michigan Union

Navy Students’ Mess
Michigan Union Unfinished Pool

Building a Temporary Mess beside the Michigan Union

“Spanish influenza” struck the Michigan campus in October of 1918. This was during the period of the S.A.T.C. (Students’
Army Training Corps), which enrolled approximately 3,600 men housed in hastily prepared barracks contrived out of fraternity
houses and the half-finished Michigan Union. When the flu came, 1,207 members of the S.A.T.C. were stricken, and 59
died.
The infirmaries of the military units and the hospital facilities of Ann Arbor were strained by this emergency. The women of
the city, under the leadership of the Ann Arbor group of the American Association of University Women, helped to feed and
nurse the sufferers. Barbour Gymnasium became an auxiliary hospital.

121

World War II 1941 - 1945
When the United States entered the war in December, 1941, it was obvious at once the University of Michigan would be deeply affected. The
University War Board was organized to expedite the transition of the University from a peacetime to a wartime basis. Among the first actions
was that of revising the 1941-42 calendar. The University would operate on a year-round basis; examination periods were shortened; and spring
vacation was eliminated. Professionally and technically trained students were made available for war work almost three weeks earlier than the
normal schedule would have permitted. The Board encouraged the University to invite the armed forces and civilian government agencies to send
selected groups for specialized training and offered its assistance. Recognizing that it was primarily the function of the armed forces to provide
training in combat skills, the Board did not follow the lead of some colleges in recommending specific military preparation for all students. Instead
the University continued its emphasis on undergraduate education in the liberal arts and professional disciplines, augmenting this instruction with
course work addressing the specific needs of the wartime military and stressing the physical conditioning of students.

The College of Engineering offered a special course to women in
Engineering, Science, and Management to prepare them for war
jobs. This put many young women in the predominately male school,
and more than 150 women frequented the halls of West Engineering.
Surveying, Topographic Mapping, and Photogrammetry were taught.

Women also came to the College of Engineering for training in aircraft
inspection work. Military map making was taught to qualified secondterm senior women in a special course offered at the request of the
Army Map Service. Women were also instructed in making bombing
target maps for use by the Air Force.

122

World War II 1941 - 1945
In the summer of 1942, the University War Board supported President Ruthven in his position that the University
take contracts for training war personnel only if it involved using University faculty members. In many instances,
the faculty members had to take refresher courses to teach classes they had never taught before.
By the fall term of 1943 there were over 4,000 military personnel on campus. The Army had stationed more
than 2,300 soldiers at Michigan. They were studying engineering, meteorology, foreign languages, military
government of occupied territories, medicine, dentistry, and military law. The Navy sent 1,500 sailors, marines,
and coast guardsmen for basic training in science and history, medicine, dentistry, and naval architecture. More
than 200 nurses in the School of Nursing were enrolled in the U. S. Cadet Nurses.

Approximately 4,000 men wearing the uniforms of the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard enrolled for the Fall Term of
1943. Of these, more than 2,300 were soldiers, housed in the East Quadrangle, Vaughan House, Fletcher Hall, and leased fraternity houses.
Many of the latter were available with the falling off of civilian fraternity men. The others were quartered in the West Quadrangle, with the
majority of the officer personnel living at the Michigan Union. There was a significant decline in the enrollments of traditional civilian students.
However, the presence of Army and Navy personnel brought the enrollment to numbers which demanded the full utilization of all the facilities.
The wartime atmosphere had some amusing features, such as the decision to reset campus clocks: “A little confusion has been in the air during the
past week as to what time it is—the reason being that Ann Arbor is on Eastern War Time and the University is on Central War Time, or an hour earlier than the city.
To make things easy, the time of classes has been set forward an hour, so under the new system students go to class at eight o’clock Ann Arbor time, and arrive in the
classroom at seven o’clock, University time—or thereabouts. To a stranger arriving in Ann Arbor, things might seem a little strange at first, when he gets off of the train
at 1:30, for instance, and forthwith arrives at the Michigan Union an hour earlier.” (Michigan Alumnus, January 20, 1945, p. 217)
All the more remarkable was that in the midst of this massive effort to support the nation’s wartime needs, the University managed to remain
intact as an educational institution and sustain its core academic programs. Ruthven understood well the dangers of wartime priorities, and he
was skillful in protecting the core education and research missions of the university, even as it served the nation in exemplary fashion.

123

The Phoenix Project
Following World War II, there was strong University interest in creating a fitting memorial to honor the 579 Michigan men and women who had
fallen in wartime service. It was the students themselves, many of whom were veterans, who proposed that rather than build “a mound of stone,
the purpose of which might soon be forgotten,” the University instead create a project that would aid mankind in living in a war-free world.
On May 1, 1948, the Regents adopted a resolution that “the University of Michigan create a War Memorial Center to explore the ways and
means by which the potentialities of atomic energy may become a beneficent influence in the life of man, to be known as the Phoenix Project of
the University of Michigan.”
The Phoenix Project received its financial support primarily from students, alumni, and friends of the University. This support totaled about $7.5
million when the drive for funds was completed.
President Ruthven called the Phoenix Project “the most important undertaking in the University’s history.” President Eisenhower highlighted the
importance of the Phoenix Project: “Few causes are more urgent today and more noteworthy of your support. In war or in peace, the atomic
research being done at the University of Michigan will strengthen America” (Michigan Technic, December, 1950).

As the research program on peacetime implications and applications
of atomic energy began to take shape and gain momentum, it was
apparent that a laboratory with special facilities was needed. Research
on atomic energy involved the handling of large amounts of radioactive
materials and the use of high-intensity radiation sources. Such work
could be carried out safely and adequately only in facilities designed
for the purpose.

On June 9, 1955, the Phoenix Memorial Laboratory was dedicated to
provide radiation research facilities unequaled in any non-government
laboratory in the country. With the new Ford Research Reactor,
completed in 1956, the University had the facilities and equipment
necessary to study all aspects of atomic energy. The Phoenix Memorial
Laboratory was a tangible manifestation of the Phoenix Project, the
University’s war memorial research project.

Phoenix Memorial Laboratory

The Ford Nuclear Reactor

124

The Korean Conflict 1950 - 1953
The Korean War, which began on June 25, 1950 and ended with a cease-fire on July 27, 1953, was a conflict between North and South Korea.
In the United States, it was termed the Korean Conflict and considered a police action under the aegis of the United Nations, largely to avoid the
need for a Congressional declaration of war. The University did not have to develop programs to meet the needs that were generated by these
events, as they had done in earlier times. College students were deferred from the military draft.

The Vietnam Conflict, Teach-ins & Protests
In March of 1965, fourteen faculty announced that they were canceling their classes on March 24 to protest the United States policy in Vietnam.
The whole state reacted in objection, and President Hatcher, who personally was opposed to the Vietnam venture, declared that “dismissing
classes is certainly not an acceptable method of registering a political opinion.” He did, however, support Dean Haber’s offer of a building in
which to stage an all-night “teach-in” about the war. The teach-in was a new form of intellectual involvement with controversial issues consisting
of lectures and other forms of academic meetings wherein issues were discussed and debated. The speeches and discussions, all against U. S.
policy, attracted some 2,500 students whose enthusiasm waned as the night progressed (only 500 remained after midnight) (UM Encyclopedic Survey,
The Turbulent Years, p. 9, online at www.hti.umich.edu).
Soon the Vietnam protests were increasing in number and severity. In the fall of 1965 Vietnam involvement was protested at Homecoming. On
October 15, 1965, 200 students protested at the draft board office on Washington Street in downtown Ann Arbor. Thirty-eight persons, 32 men
and 6 women, participated. All 38 were arrested and convicted. On September 20, 1966, 30 students remained overnight in the office of VicePresident Wilbur Pierpont protesting plain-clothed police personnel on the Ann Arbor campus. A student referendum was held in November
of 1966, and overwhelming opposition was voiced to the University’s maintaining class rankings which would be used by the Selective Service
system. A teach-in on November 2, 1966 attracted 4,000. Student Government Council severed its formal ties with the University administration.
When the Regents rejected the withholding of class rankings from the Selective Service authorities, 1,000 students conducted a sit-in in the
Administration Building. A teach-in followed that sit-in. The 1966 academic year concluded with the National Students for a Democratic Society
Convention being held in Ann Arbor (UM Encyclopedic Survey, Student Life Since 1945, p. 5, online at www.hti.umich.edu).
In September of 1969, President Fleming again demonstrated his belief in the principle that the University should offer a voice of reason when
audiences were otherwise likely to hear only rhetoric of action. A student-faculty group had organized a weekend “Teach In to End the War” and
invited a number of activists, including Rennie Davis and David Dellinger, to participate. Davis was just back from North Vietnam where he had
been instrumental in the release of several Americans being held prisoner. Fleming accepted the opportunity to share the platform with Davis at
Hill Auditorium for the opening night of the teach-in, and his remarks were not only a cogent exposition of his personal belief that the Vietnam
War was a “colossal mistake,” though an honest one, but also contained a reasoned plea that reaction should not take any form that would produce
further “erosion in values within our universities—dangerous to the climate of free inquiry.” The teach-in was successfully channelled toward
non-violent actions to force the end of the war (UM Encyclopedic Survey, The Turbulent Years, p. 8, online at www.hti.umich.edu).

Homecoming Parade Protest

Student Protests

125

“The class of 1869 conceived the idea of ‘Class colors.’ The entire class met in the old chapel and
after a couple of meetings and much discussion, selected for our Class colors ‘Maize and Blue,’ and
subsequently these colors were adopted by following classes and finally by the University.”
Memories of Franklin S. Dewey ’69, (Michigan Alumnus, Jan 4, 1923)

In the early 1860s, the students and alumni were referring to themselves as “Wolverines.”
There seems to be no evidence, however, that there were ever any wolverines in the
state. In 1803 there was a dispute between Michigan and Ohio over who owned
Toledo. The two states argued over the proper placement of the state line. At that
time, Michiganders were called wolverines. It is not clear whether they attached the
name to themselves to show their tenacity and strength, or whether Ohioans chose the
name in reference to the gluttonous, aggressive habits of the wolverine. From then on,
Michigan was labeled the “Wolverine state” and when the University of Michigan was
founded, it adopted the nickname of the state it represented (Michigan vs. Ohio State,
online at www.umich.edu/bhl).

126

Student Life

127

In September of 1841 the University Opened its Doors to Seven Students
The University Building completed in the summer of 1841 housed the first students. It was divided into two sections, each a
complete and separate unit consisting of sixteen apartments opening onto a central stairway. A tutor occupied an apartment on
the first floor and presided over each of the sections. The building also included a chapel, recitation room, and a library. Below
is a sketch of a student suite from a student letter. The student quarters consisted of three-room suites or apartments, each with
two bedrooms and a common study room with a fireplace. The bedrooms were furnished with a bed, chest, and closet. The
study room contained study tables, two chairs, a stove, and a wood closet.

The University Building

Sketch of a Student Suite

By 1847 enrollments had increased to 89, and a new building was needed for additional recitation rooms, student housing,
and a chemical and medical laboratory. This second building was designed to be identical to the University Building (renamed
Mason Hall). It was completed in 1849 and named South College. Mason Hall and South College were designed originally
as dormitories to support instruction by the tutorial system. However, the more immediate need for classroom space reduced
the dormitory function to three-quarters of each building. The remaining space was devoted to lecture and recitation rooms, a
chapel, a library, space for the mineralogical collection, and two literary societies. Students paid $7.50 a term for their room,
$2.50 for incidentals, and $1.25 to $1.50 for firewood, which they had to split in the wood yard and carry to their rooms. They
collected water from a pump for washing and furnished their own candles.

University Building (Mason Hall) & South College

“In 1850, only twenty-five years had elapsed since the first steamship crossed the Atlantic, and the first line of passenger railway,
ten miles in length, had been laid for fifteen years. The telegraph was a recent invention and electricity was a plaything. The ‘Joe
College’ of those days rode to school on horseback, and the campus in many ways resembled little more than a farm. ‘Early to bed
and early to rise’ was necessarily the guiding rule of life. Candles and whale oil were the sole source of illumination in those days,
and as a result little studying was done at night. Rooms in the dormitories cost $15.00 a year, and board ranged from $1.50
to $2.00 a week. Students ate either at public boarding houses or in private homes, frequently those of the faculty members.”
(Michigan Technic, November, 1940, p. 17)

128

Student Diaries and Letters Give a Glimpse of Student Life in the Early Days
The tutorial plan strongly recommended by the faculty was eventually lost when President Tappan abandoned the dormitory idea in
order to secure more classroom space. The students were sent out to find rooms in town. Many found housing in faculty homes.
Nov. 19, 1857...The daily routine of duty does not present great variety. It is Analytics, Surveying, History & Grammar one day after another.
Nov. 26, 1857...We (chum & I) have today changed our quarters and have concluded to try the plan pursued by many of the students here, to board ourselves. We have
engaged rooms furnished with a bed, 3 chairs, a stove table & wash stand. We took our first bachelor supper tonight. It consisted of bakers bread.
Nov. 28, 1857...By paying a little more for our rooms, our lessor has procured for us a small cook stove & furnished us with dishes etc. as we shall need. We went down
street & got on a stock of provisions consisting of half a bushel of potatoes, 2 loaves of bread, a bar of soap, added to which we have a piece of meat which we got of
our landlord in the morning. We anticipate a tolerably pleasant time. There are a great many students here who board themselves.
Dec. 1, 1857...We are living in high style on Indian meal, pork & beans, potatoes etc. We don’t spend much time in cooking, nor do we wash our dishes every time.
May 1, 1859...Last night several of the students procured a quantity of liquor & succeeded in inducing one of their number to partake of it so freely as to cause his
death today. George Beck ’60, Diary (Michigan Alumnus, March 24, 1928, p. 492)

1

2

3

4

5

The University of Michigan Campus - Jasper Cropsey 1855
Professors’ Houses on South University (1), Medical Building (2), South College (3)
University Building (Mason Hall) (4), Professor’s Houses on North University (5)

“Behind the bell post were the latrines. As these sometimes got in bad condition, the students adopted the habit of burning them up occasionally o’night, thus compelling
the Regents to build fresh ones pretty often. After our graduation I was appointed Supt. Of Grounds & Buildings, and I stopped the burning by constructing new latrines,
all of brick, making them incombustible. The Regents however were staggered at the bill, as they cost about $300. (Student Letter, 1847, Bentley Library)

“Among our athletics were various forms of activity—a foot race from a quarter to a half-mile, baseball, a few rods from the stile,—sawing our own wood and carrying
it up stairs. Once we ran all round the Campus fence. Once—and only once—we took a load of hickory wood a farmer had left for sale, at night, in front of the fence,
instead of in the wood yard, and carried it—cold winter night—up four pair of stairs, stick by stick, and put it on top of the building. We then took the wagon apart and
carried it up also, wheels, axles, tongue, and side stakes, put it together again, and piled the wood upon it, so that in the morning the farmer found his load aloft, not able
to get the horses up, nor if he could, to get them down again. The perpetrators were discovered, and by noon we had everything down below, as before. Another athletic
exercise was turning the University bell’s mouth up to the sky in the cold wintertime, at night, filling the bell with water. The clapper was dumb of course at six o’clock
in the morning, and we were ‘found missing’ at prayer.” Nathaniel West ’46 (Michigan Alumnus, March, 1906, p. 261)

129

130

Professor Winchell’s House on North University

A Student’s Room in Professor Winchell’s House

Norton’s Boarding House

Prettyman’s Boarding House

131

Student Social Activities

Student in a Bathtub

Post Office

Comedy Club
1908

“The social instincts of the student herd manifested itself nightly
at the post office. There was no free delivery in those days. The
students had post-office boxes or else lined up at the window to get
their mail. Everybody went to the post office nightly or had some
one go for him. As everybody tracked to the post office from the
supper table, and everybody ate supper at the same hour, the entrance
to the post office, with the outsiders trying to get in and the insiders
trying to squeeze out. The post office was on Main Street at the
corner of the Court House Square. On the second floor was a large
barbershop with several bathtubs as adjuncts. The fewest student
rooming houses had bathrooms, hence, Saturday night over the Post
Office: ‘Soiree de Gala.’

Paul Rousseau Bellon de Pont
“Dupey”

An occasional ‘show’ at the opera house, and hardly more than one
first-class attraction per year at that, six or eight Lecture Association
events, a highly diluted program weakening into third raters and
the ‘Swiss Bell ringers’ sort of stuff, a ‘Choral Union Oratorio,’
a comedy club performance (Prof dePont’s hobby—‘Dupey,’ of
honored memory). Various church socials and guild receptions, and
mighty little else.” David Heineman ’87 (Michigan Alumnus,
December 7, 1922)
Comedy Club

George Hill’s Opera House

“Aside from study, the serious business of the student was cooperation; his sport, ‘room-stacking,’ and his recreation, horseback riding. Room Stacking:
It consisted of the dismantled bed, the ripped-up carpet, the study table, chairs, dresser, and washstand. There were overturned trunks, water pitcher,
and other utensils. The heterogeneous mass included the contents of the dresser and wardrobe. There were pictures from the wall and photographs from
the mantel; books, bones, and medicine; neckties, trousers, and pillows. The collection formed a broken-sided pyramid, truncated at the apex to furnish a
resting place for a grinning skull. Surmounting all, crowning his fallen pride, was the chief joker’s silk hat. It capped the climax of that year’s practical
jokes.” Royal S. Copeland ’89 (Michigan Alumnus, Feb./March, 1897)

“On Halloween a few indulged in
the sport of hanging gates in treetops, overturning stretches of wooden
sidewalks, and moving horse blocks
across the city.”

“There was a strong prohibition
club and torchlight processions were
frequent. On Halloween Secretary
Wade pleaded for the safety of the
buildings, and ‘Ben Franklin’ received
his annual coat of paint.
The ‘Argonaut’ and the ‘Chronicle’
were rivals in the weekly newspaper world, and the ‘Palladium’ was
wholly Greek.” Royal Copeland
’89 (Michigan Alumnus, Feb./
March, 1897)

Statue of Benjamin Franklin
Gift of the Class of 1870

132

“The students of this period found
exercise in dancing, swimming in
the Huron River, canoeing and long
hikes over the hills surrounding Ann
Arbor.”
Herbert J. Goulding
’93e (Michigan Technic, October,
1941, p. 9)

Students & Religion

From the beginning, Chapel was compulsory at the University of Michigan. Chapel exercises were held from 5:30 to 6:30 in the morning and
from 4:30 to 5:30 in the afternoon. As Daniel Satterthwaite noted in his Diary: “Our seats in the chapel are being numbered, so that I suppose
after this we shall have to be on hand at the appointed time.” On Sunday the students were obliged to attend service in one of the churches
in town, and monitors were on hand to see that they attended. The chapel in University Hall, completed in 1872, seated 300. As enrollment
increased there was no room large enough to hold all of the students, so chapel was no longer compulsory (Michigan Alumnus, 1928-29, p. 366).
“We went to chapel as individuals because we could not tell our classmates from the upper classmen, but when we reached the lecture room we found that the Sophs had
a very exaggerated idea of the difference between themselves and the ‘Fresh,’ which they expressed in shouts of ‘Don’t break your milk bottle, Freshy!’ and ‘Get out of
our seats you poor baby.’ These remarks were accompanied by showers of hymn books thrown at our heads. We threw them back, but we did not know our classmates
and had no idea that we outnumbered the sophs two to one. After most of the hymn books had been mutilated, the faculty marched into the room in military order and
took their places on the platform. The exercises concluded with announcements by members of the faculty addressed to the Freshmen.” Albert L. Arey ’75e (Michigan
Alumnus, November 14, 1936, p. 105)
In 1845 the Union Society of Missionary Inquiry was
founded to study the condition of the heathen, to give
the seniors a chance to spread themselves, and to place
the young ladies of Ann Arbor under religious influence.
In 1859 the name of the society was changed to the
Students’ Christian Association. The Association was
housed in one small room in South College, though
other rooms in the same building were occasionally
used for special purposes.
South College

Student’ Christian Association Room

By the Association’s 25th anniversary it had outgrown its old quarters and asked the
people of the state for a suitable building to carry on religious work at the University.
The building was erected at a cost of about $40,000. Mrs. Helen Newberry gave
$17,000, and in honor of her husband the building was named Newberry Hall. Students
and friends of the University gave the rest in small amounts. The spacious building had
parlors for men and women, a library, three prayer-meeting rooms, and an auditorium
seating 600. The building was also endowed with a Tiffany stained glass window. There
were six religious meetings a week and a social every Friday evening.
Newberry Hall

At the turn of the century the Students’ Christian Association, YWCA,
and the YMCA all flourished and were vigorously supported by the
University, but larger facilities were needed. For many years the YMCA
rented Sackett and McMillan Halls on State Street, three blocks north
of campus. Alumni and friends of the University raised $60,000 for a
new YMCA. The amount was matched by John D. Rockefeller, and on
March 2, 1917 the new building was opened and named in honor of
Judge Victor H. Lane, a Law professor and for many years president
of the YMCA.
Sackett Hall

Lane Hall Auditorium

McMillan Hall

Lane Hall

133

Lane Hall Lobby

Student Traditions & Customs
Student life at Michigan has been rich in traditions. Various classes established traditions that often disappeared without leaving
a memory or a record of their demise. Class observances, such as the “Burning of Mechanics,” the carrying of canes, the
wearing of caps and pins, exhibitions, dances, banquets, and games, have come and gone.

Caps
The wearing of a class cap was traditional in the early days of the
University. In 1868 students of the Literary Department adopted an
“Oxford” style of class cap, blue with a square top, a black tassel in the
center, and a movable “U of M” visor. In 1910 the class toque came
into vogue. This was worn by all the classes—seniors, blue with white
band; juniors, white with blue band; sophomores, maroon with white
band; and freshmen, solid gray. Tassels of proper hue, designating
school or college, adorned the toques. It is interesting to note that
in 1870 Acting President Frieze and various professors also wore caps
somewhat similar in style.
Students in Caps on the Northwest Corner of Campus

Tuesday, December 10, 1912 “After a heated session last evening, the
student council adopted the report of the committee on the wearing of toques, and
it is to be considered a rule for all in regard to this matter. Hereafter the toque
which any student wears is to indicate the number of years which he has spent
on the Michigan or any other collegiate campus, whose credits are accepted by
the University. This ruling will tend to make pharmics who are spending their
second year on the campus wear the sophomore toque and will also make the
second year students who have been accustomed to wear the junior toque don the
soph head-gear.” (Michigan Alumnus, January, 1913, p 167)
Faculty Wearing their Various Caps

Class Canes
Class canes were carried for the first time by the class of 1869. The
Class of ’73 dropped the custom, but the Class of ’77 revived it. In
1889, when the old picket fence surrounding the campus was torn
down, the seniors made canes from the cedar posts. Later, enterprising
merchants supplied canes from the same source. It was customary for
the seniors to begin carrying their class canes during the month of May
preceding graduation. After 1934 the senior classes observed the tradition sporadically, and it more or less died out by the end of the 1930’s.

Picket Fence around the Campus

Hair Cutting
One custom made it the duty of every sophomore class to kidnap the
toastmaster of the freshman banquet, to cut his hair and make him
otherwise ridiculous, and to send him to the scene of festivities too late
to be of service. The freshman class was obliged to retaliate on every
sophomore in kind. This merry war continued until several dozen
luckless underclassmen had heads as smooth as billiard balls.

134

Burning of Mechanics
One of the most interesting and venerated of student traditions was the “burning of Mechanics” or, as it was sometimes
called, the “hanging” of Mechanics, Physics, or Mathematics. Originally, it took place in honor of the completion of the
course in physics under Professor George Palmer “Punky” Williams. It was celebrated as early as February 6, 1860 by the
class of ’61, and lasted, with interruptions and variations, until the early 1900s. The ceremonies were unique. Usually a
procession of “solemn officials” in costume escorted the “corpus,” borne on an elaborate bier, to a place of judgment where
the victim, the course in mechanics (physics, mathematics), was most impressively “tried,” “condemned,” and “executed.”

“Punky”

The Hand-bill

“The night of March 21, 1878, was selected for the Crematio Physica Mechanica. A large number of hand-bills containing the program of the evening were distributed
about the University, and by ten o’clock the air was resonant with the music of tin horns. Several hundred students assembled in front of the opera house, and the procession
then marched through Huron, Division, Jefferson, and State Streets to South University Avenue, and thence around the Campus to the ball ground in the northeast corner,
where a platform and gallows had been erected. The procession was led by the Pontifex Maximus attended by the Judex, an Advocatus Pro, and an Advocatus Con. The
Junior Sodalitas followed, and a motley crowd whose costumes defy description. There were Indians, clowns, and men of every color and condition, representatives for
all nations, and some whom no nation would own. Company Z, University Bashi Bazouks escorted the culprit, who was bound in chains and borne on a dray attended
by guards and Mephistopheles, the executioner. The chief mourners followed, already arrayed in anticipation of the dread sentence. The Orator, Chief Warbler, and
Sodalitas Sophomori brought up the rear. After arriving at the place of trial, the officers of the law took their place on the platform, and a hymn was sung, accompanied by
groans. It was announced that the examination of witnesses would be postponed until after the execution, as there was no doubt of the criminal’s guilt. The mathematical
defense and prosecution were conducted by the Advocati. The judge then pronounced the prisoner guilty and sentenced him to be hanged, shot, and burned. This was a
signal for the widow to produce a large pocket handkerchief on which she wept copious tears, rocking back and forth in her chair. After hanging in midair, Physics was
shot by the gallant Company Z, and Pontifex Maximus.” (Michigan Alumnus, February 1902, p. 23)

During the twentieth century, the increasing size of the student body, along with the formation of numerous clubs and societies,
did much to dissipate class spirit and to lessen the interest in class activities. Organized athletics also provided a greater outlet
for student energy, with the result that many of the old customs were lost in the increasing complexity of student life.

135

Social Activities
The social opportunities in the late 1800’s came largely through the “church socials.” Lower Town, or North Ann Arbor, was then
relatively more important, and some of the brightest and handsomest young ladies came from there, some of them living nearly a mile
beyond the old-fashioned long bridge. It was the custom to introduce new students to these engaging young ladies and to surrender our
rights, if any. When the social closed, the new men walked home with these ladies, wholly unaware at the start of the distance before
them. In winter it was a severe ordeal at times, and the bridge over the Huron became known as the “Bridge of Sighs.” William Beadle
’61, ’67l (Michigan Alumnus, January 1902 p. 162)

North State Street

North State Street
Looking Toward Lower Town

The Long Walk to Lower Town
The “Bridge of Sighs” at upper right

Recreation
“The early athletic activities were confined almost entirely to baseball. The only
other evidence of interest in athletics at this time is to be found in the records of the
‘Velocipede Club.’ Of this Club, the Palladium of 1868-69 says: ‘The organization
has been abandoned because the prospect of its members’ attaining proficiency was
somewhat ambiguous!’ ” Albert L. Arey ’75 (Michigan Alumnus, October
17, 1937 p. 29)

Velocipedes and Riders

The Huron River Offered Recreation

136

Intellectual Activities
“In the late 1860s, the extracurricular activities of
the Literary Department were almost entirely of a
literary nature. There were the two literary societies,
the Literary Adelphi and the Alpha Nu, with 162
members between them, and seven debating clubs with
130 members, so that 292 of the 399 students in
the Literary Department were members of literary
societies.” Albert L. Arey ’75e (Michigan
Alumnus, October 17, 1937, p. 29)

Friday 16, 1857 “This evening I attended a
meeting of the Alpha Nu, one of the literary societies
of the University. I heard part of a poem read by Mr.
—, which I think was very good. There was then a
debate upon the question ‘Resolved: that ladies should
be admitted to this University.’ On coming before the
house for adoption, the resolution was lost.”

Literary Society Rooms

February 15, 1856 “Spent the evening at Alpha
Nu, but was obliged to stand most of the time on
account of there being so many there. The question
was on Spiritualism, and I was glad that it was lost.”
Daniel Satterthwaite ’59, Diary (Michigan
Alumnus, 1828-29, p. 553)

February 9, 1859 “This evening I attended a
meeting of the Literary Adelphi, a literary society
connected with the University. After the reading of
the ‘inaugural’ by the president, the following question
was debated: ‘Resolved: that females should be
admitted to this University upon the same conditions
as males.’ After the debate it was adopted by the
society.” George Beck ’60, Diary (Michigan
Alumnus, March 24, 1928, p. 492)

Student Publications
The Michigan University Magazine (a
monthly) appeared in 1867, but
in 1869 it was combined with The
Chronicle, (a weekly). A rival, The
Argonaut, another weekly, also appeared, and these three publication continued until 1890. In 1890
the U of M Daily was founded by
a group of energetic students in
the belief that the Campus could
support a daily newspaper. The
Chronicle and Argonaut perished one
year later. The Gargoyle, the campus humor magazine, appeared
in 1908. The Michigan Technic,
the oldest engineering college
magazine in America, was first
published in 1882. It survived
through the 1980s.

The oldest, but short-lived, literary magazine was the Peninsular
Quarterly and University Magazine
published in 1853. It contained
articles contributed by President
Tappan and other members of
the faculty. The Peninsular Phoenix
appeared in 1857. The Palladium
was the first successful Michigan
student publication, with a further
claim to fame as a forerunner of
the Michiganensian of today. The
Palladium was the official publication of the fraternities in a day
when fraternities were often at
odds with the faculty and almost
always with the independents.
The non-fraternity journalists established a yearbook in1866, The
Castalian. These two publications,
together with ReGestae of the lawyers, became the Michiganensian
in 1897. The Oracle of March 9,
1867 was published by the Class of
’69 at Dr. Chase’s Steam Printing
House. One of the few magazines
issued by a class, it continued in
publication for about 30 years.

Many other student publications
were established and then
disappeared. Some were literary,
some had a crusade to carry on,
and some were simply interested
in giving student writers a chance
to see their work in print.

An Early Michigan Daily Staff

137

“Cercle Français de l’Université
du Michigan” was organized in
the early 1900s to form a French
Society for increasing the study
and interest in French Language
and Literature. A French play was
performed annually, alternating
classical plays with contemporary
plays that had been successful on
the Paris stage.

Cercle Français 1912
Cast of “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme”

Freshmen Banquet 1909

First Michigan Band

UM Orchestra

138

Open Air Performance of As You Like It

Literary & Engineering Banquet (1913) in the Union Clubhouse

Glee Club Trip

Michigan Marching Band

139

“Whenever Dr. Tappan left his house for the chapel, or on his walks abroad, he was, in my day, always accompanied by a huge
yellow dog known as Leo. Towards the last, Dr. Tappan had a fellow even larger and yellower, but this second canine companion
of the President never enjoyed the favor in student circles that the first did, and I cannot recall his name. One day a mischievous
youth, who cared little about Kant and Cousin, tied one of Leo’s fore paws close to his head, and the great dog went limping up
the aisle to the Doctor’s chair on the platform. His master quietly cut the cord, and then the huge beast placed his fore paws on
the arm of the President’s chair, and testified to his gratitude by licking the latter’s cheek. Dr. Tappan, without a word of reproof
for the indignity which had been put upon his pet, placed one hand on the great dog’s head, looked him in the face, and for half an
hour discoursed to him on canine nature and the possibility of the existence of a canine soul. The discourse was as delightful as
it was learned, as replete with the happiest turns as it was with the most profound knowledge and the most impressive speculative
inquiry. There was more than one member of the class who entertained the belief that Leo understood it all much better than
himself.” Watson Ambruster ’62, ’64l (Michigan Alumnus, October, 1901, p. 13)

Henry Tappan and Leo

“About eleven o’clock on the night of October 15, 1872, one of my classmates came running to my room and said
hurriedly: ‘Get all of the ’75 boys that you can find and go to the Campus. The Fresh caught some of our boys and
pumped water down their trousers’ legs!’ When we reached the Campus we found that our classmates were coming from
all directions, and that our number was increasing very rapidly. Some of the Freshmen suggested that it was time to go
home. Someone replied ‘That’s right, Freshie, go home, you don’t dare scrap unless you have three men to our one.’ And
the rush was on again in spite of the lateness of the hour. It was noisier and somewhat more vigorous, but I am sure
that we did not realize that we were disturbing anyone. We were very much surprised, therefore, when President Angell
appeared in undress uniform and told us that we were preventing those who lived on the Campus from getting the sleep
to which they were justly entitled, and that he thought that we would be very wise if we went home and got a short nap
ourselves before breakfast.” Albert L. Arey ’75e (Michigan Alumnus, November 14, 1936, p. 106)
James Angell

“In the 1880s a suite of rooms supposed to be large enough to accommodate two persons could be secured for $2.50 or $3.00 a week, and good
board for $3.00. In addition to this was the share of the fuel to buy (for there were few furnaces in Ann Arbor in those days), and laundry, books
and incidentals to pay for. The streets about the campus have been built up with large, pretentious houses, crowded in so closely together that one
may often reach out from the side window of one house and touch that of the one next door. These new houses are all provided with furnaces,
bathrooms, gas, and often electricity. The price of a suite in them varies from $3.00 to $5.00 or even $6.00 a week, but this price included both
heat and light and the use of the bath. It was not the custom in that era of democratic simplicity to indulge in luxuries. Wardrobes were of the
very simple description and were prepared at home during the vacations. These outfits consisted of one or two school dresses and a best gown, with
a few muslins for warm weather. If one were very gay and attended many dancing parties a simple evening gown might be needed, but the summer
muslins usually served for such occasions.” Isadore Thompson Scott ’84 (Michigan Alumnus, October, 1901, p. 3)

140

“Phi Alpha Tau and Stylus, the men’s and women’s writing clubs, respectively, undoubtedly pursue the most purely cultural airs and
are least adulterated by ulterior motives. The rest of the debating societies are probably the most widely supported for art’s sake alone.
The Glee and Mandolin Clubs and Bands are popular because of the trips they are privileged to take, and the Mimes, producers of the
Michigan Union Opera, because of their close identification with the great center of student interest, the Michigan Union. The Comedy
Club is rather popular because of the extremely popular character of its productions, and because it begins to visit surrounding cities.
Michigan students seem to be fond of traveling.” Harold B. Teegarden ’17 (Michigan Alumnus, March, 1916, p. 345)

Glee Club & Mandolin Club

Comedy Club

The Crimson Chest, the fourth Michigan Union Opera, introduced two memorable songs to University students,
“College Days” and “Bum Army.” It was staged at the Whitney Theatre.

Crimson Chest - Michigan Union Opera

“Class organizations exist for no other discoverable purpose than giving dances, smokers, and class memorials, of which
the dances are the most important.” Harold B. Teegarden ’17 (Michigan Alumnus, March, 1916, p. 345)

Smokers’ Club

141

Frosh & Soph Rush

“The annual football rush between
the Frosh and Sophs afforded another
bit of exercise. This took place in the
open area bounded by North University
and East University. Male students
of each class, numbering about two
hundred on a side, were lined up facing north and south with a stated space
between them. The coeds were on the
sidelines to cheer the members of their
respective classes. The Juniors backed
up the Freshmen and the Seniors the
Sophomores.

Their duty was to rush back into the
fray any duffer who had wiggled out
for a bit of relief from the crushing
pressure, which had reduced him to half
his normal size. It often took hours to
decide the contest. Due to the shortage
of bed space in University Hospital,
this ‘sport’ had to be abandoned and
was replaced by the tug of war. The
traditional site for this event was the
Huron River.”
Herbert J. Goulding 93e
(Michigan Technic, 10/1941, p. 9)

Student Games - Tug of War Across the Huron River

“In the spring of 1916 two classes assembled for the tug of war at the Wall Street Bridge at 4 P.M. Many visitors had come to town for the
occasion, and in spite of the rainy weather, a large crowd assembled on both banks of the river. The sophomores made short work of the first two
events. They dragged the frosh lightweight team into the chilly waters of the Huron in 12 minutes, while the middleweight freshmen held out for
only 9 minutes. The two heavyweight teams strained in a deadlock for the full 20 minutes, and when time was called, the first year men had 24
feet more of the rope than the sophs, leaving the score 2–1 in favor of the sophomores.” (Michiganensian, 1917, p. 48)

142

Student Games - The Flag Rush
“The Freshmen went directly to their flag
poles and gathered around them as densely as
possible. The sophs formed in a solid column
16 abreast with arms linked together, charging
at the firing of the gun. Upon reaching the
first pole, the column split in two, driving off
as many of the freshmen as it could, but not
stopping until it reached the center pole. Here
the real fight raged for the full 30 minutes,
interrupted occasionally by the crack of the
pistol when a man was down. During the
struggle most of the green painted warriors
were kept on the outer edge of the melee, and
the only obstacle to sophomore victory was
the inability of the 1919 men to shin up the
slippery pole.

Several times a second year man
would get started up the pole,
well out of reach of all clutching
hands, but would hang motionless
half way up and finally slide
down for sheer lack of strength.
After the struggle was over, the
jubilant yearlings themselves
endeavored to get down their
standards and found that they
were as unable as the sophomores
to climb the polished shafts.
They finally resorted to ladders.”
(Michiganensian, 1917, p. 48)

Other Games & “Victors”

Obstacle Races on Ferry Field

1918 Rope Contest
Freshmen in the Oak Tree 1908

Laws over Lits 1899

Winners of 1918 Games - Class of ’21

The Class of 1911

143

Dances, Balls & J-Hops
In 1868 the graduating class gave the first Senior Hop on the eve before Thanksgiving day. The Class of 1871 gave the last Senior Hop. The
juniors adopted the idea, and in 1872 the first Junior Hop, known as the J-Hop, was organized. The early J-Hops were held at Gregory House,
a hotel on the northwest corner of Main and Huron streets. They shifted it to the Armory in 1876, and then in the 1880s it was often held in
Hangsterfer’s Hall, at the southwest corner of Main and Washington streets. In 1893 the J-Hop marked the informal opening of Waterman
Gymnasium. Later Hops were held in the Intramural Sports Building.
By 1886 the fraternities had assumed leadership in campus social affairs. There was considerable difficulty and rivalry between the fraternities
(Palladium) and the independents (non-Palladium), and in 1896 there were two Balls. Four fraternities joined with the independents for a rival
ball, designated as the Annual Promenade, in Waterman Gymnasium, while nine other fraternities took the Annual Ball (which dated from the
establishment of the J-Hop) to the Memorial Hall in Toledo. After the squabble, most of the participants were heartily ashamed and all agreed
that the ball should be a genuine, all inclusive University affair.
The Gregory House was completed in 1862. It was located on Main and Huron across from the Courthouse Square.
The Hangsterfer Building was located on Main and Washington. The ballroom on the third floor was known as Hangsterfer Hall.

Gregory House

Hangsterfer Hall

February 2, 1883 (Special to the Chronicle) “The Society Hop given by the Secret Societies was without doubt the finest affair of the kind ever held in Ann Arbor.
For years since, the social event of the season has been accredited to what was formerly known as the Junior Hop, but which for the past four years has been given under
the auspices of the Secret Societies. This year all of the societies did not take part, but it may be said to the credit of those who did, (Chi Psi, Delta Kappa Epsilon,
Sigma Phi, Zeta Psi, and Beta Theta Pi) that a more elegant and successful hop could not have been desired. The affair was recherché throughout.
The canvas (upon which they danced) was bordered with several widths of carpet upon which was placed handsomely upholstered divans and easy chairs, which, together
with the drapery of the windows and the artistically arranged hangings of the gallery, gave a most pleasing and charming effect. By 9 1⁄2 o’clock most of the guests
(about twenty-six couples had arrived). At 10 Spiel struck the first note, and when the music arose ‘with its voluptuous swell,’ the happy throng were ‘gliding through
the dizzy maze of the waltz.’
The supper hall was thrown open at twelve, and when once within the door, it was plainly to be seen that ‘Hank’ (Hankstetter) also was in his happiest vein. The
menu cards were beautiful in design, and the delicacies of the table most palatable. After supper, dancing was resumed and carried on without interruption until about
five o’clock in the morning.”

144

February 5, 1910 (The Michigan Daily) “With all the charm of beautiful gowns, musics, and flowers, the Junior Hop of the class of 1910 was celebrated by
350 couples in Waterman Gymnasium. Supper was served shortly after midnight in Barbour Gym. The booths (twenty-three fraternity and one independent), varying
in decoration from colors of oriental magnificence to the yellow and blue of Michigan, were crowded with fair guests.
During the singing of ‘Sweethearts True’ the semi-lighted hall was made brilliant by a chain of scarlet hearts strung along the balcony. The words of this selection were
written especially for the J-Hop by Donal Haines, and the music composed by Burton Fisher of Fisher’s Orchestra.
‘The Rose Song’ from ‘Culture’ was featured by three hundred natural bride’s roses being overturned on the dancers from a large rose basket over the center of the gymnasium. ‘The Flight of the Redskins’ was punctuated by revolver shots, jumps of the dancers, and Indian war-whoops. ‘The Glow Worm’ selection received much
applause, illustrated as it was by miniature firebugs among the folds of yellow and blue. With the orchestra playing ‘A Toast to all the Girls,’ a selection dedicated to
the 1910 J-Hop guests, a great cloud of confetti, over twenty bushels of it, was blown down upon the dancers, covering them with variegated flakes. The dances were
alternating waltzes and two-steps.”

A Collection of J-Hop Dance Cards

1891 J-Hop Committee

February 11, 1927 (Special to the Michigan Alumnus) “On they march, led by Thomas Winter of Grand Rapids, past the fifty booths; forty-three labeled with
Greek letters and guarded by armored knights. Eight hundred and fifty dinner coats. Eight hundred and fifty pairs of legs. ‘Hail to the Victors Valiant.’ Happy, but feeling a little foolish as they parade. More than a hundred pairs of bored, neglected chaperones try not to be Victorian as they point out a girl with a scanty dress. ‘Clothed
from head to toe.’ Modern youth in a medieval setting. A rush to be shot by the movie camera.
Music to the youthful ear—Guy Lombardo, Jean Goldkettle, Fletcher-Henderson radio orchestra. They move—just move. They sway. Before the performers’ platform
hundreds jiggle clasped in each other’s arms. The derby-topped orchestra was led by the shifting hips of its director. So were the dancers. Vast empty spaces of dance
floor at each end of the hall are streaked by a few dancing chaperones. Never saw so many sitting out dances. Guess that is the result of the University rule—No person
attending the dance shall be permitted to leave the dance hall and return to it during the progress of the Junior Hop. Three Campus cops in the locker room.
Three o’clock. ‘No couple attending any house party shall be on the streets later than one hour after the cessation of dancing.’ There shall be no dancing in any house after
3 o’clock on Saturday morning.’ Despite the innumerable rules none states how early festivities may start on Saturday. Lights out. Everybody to bed. Breakfast will be
served at 4.30 A.M.” W. A. (Michigan Alumnus, February 19, 1927, p. 386)

145

Cap Night
“Sundown on June 2nd, 1916, saw long lines of students stretching along the diagonal walk: Stolid seniors, laughing juniors,
sophomores with a blasé superior smile, and jubilant freshmen, hopping and dancing in the excitement of their evening—for
this was Cap Night, and within three hours the little gray headpieces would be no more.

The Freshmen “Pots”

Headed by the Varsity Band, the classes
marched to Sleepy Hollow, the scene of
the event, along a road marked out by
blazing red-fire torches set in place by
the sophomore committees which had
been working all day gathering wood
for the great bonfire. This was burning
high when the first of the marchers
swept down the boulevard into the
Hollow and sank to their places on the
incline near the blaze.

More than 9,000 people had cheered themselves
hoarse before Francis F. McKinney ’16l, who acted
as chairman for the evening, began to speak. Frank
Murphy ’14l, and Dean Henry M. Bates ’90, aroused
particular enthusiasm. When the last shout had died
away, there came the traditional snake dance, and the
freshmen, forming a giant moving ‘M,’ ran down to the
fire and dropped their caps. When they had resumed
their places again, all classes joined in singing ‘Where,
Oh Where, are the Verdant Freshmen?’
Within a few minutes the Hollow was emptying rapidly, and far ahead were heard the shouts of those taking part in the race
for free shows, offered by several theater managers in honor of the new sophomores.” (Michiganesian, 1917, p. 46)

Free Show at the Majestic Theater

146

Freshmen Pageant
“As an interlude between the picnic supper on Palmer Field and the Lantern Night procession, the Freshmen Pageant came just at sunset. The trees on the hillside formed
a natural background for the dancers, whose billowy scarfs caught last rays of the setting sun. A May queen was chosen, and for her entertainment country dances were
held by Robin Hood and his merry men, by gypsies, and by Irish, English, and Scots peasants. Jesters and tumblers in gay red and yellow suits played amount the trees.
For the finale, all the dancers mingled in a whirl through and around the Maypole.” (Michiganensian, 1931)

Lantern Night

The tradition of the senior women giving lanterns to the juniors, and they in turn giving hoops to the sophomores,
symbolized the passing of the college year and once again another class leaving their Alma Mater.

Senior Women in Cap and Gown

147

Commencement
The first University of Michigan Commencement was held on August 6, 1845.
An oration was delivered by each of the eleven graduates.
A description of the 1858 commencement by S. W. Dunning ’60. “I rose before six. After breakfast I procured a palm leaf fan, went around to Campus
and waited for the boys to collect. It was cloudy and threatened to rain and was very hot. Our procession started before nine. Without difficulty we entered the hall
(over the Union School), and I obtained a good seat, immediately in front of the stage. Then commenced the fanning. The speeches went on as usual. Nearly all were
very good and some, of course, super-excellent. We were kept there till after one, when I went home and took a little dinner, and shortly after went to the Campus, where
the procession was soon formed, and we went back to the Union Hall. It was hotter than the forenoon, and we broiled almost. There were fifteen speakers only in the
afternoon, so the exercises were shorter. The Doctor then conferred the degrees. He addressed a few words to the graduates, and then the audience mostly dispersed. A
few remained to hear the address before the Alumni Association by Rev. Geo. P. Tindall. It was excellent and excellently spoken, but so long that it took an hour and a
half to deliver, though he spoke exceedingly fast.” (Michigan Alumnus, 12/1915, p. 144)

Prior to 1885 the various schools and colleges held independent commencement exercises.
In 1870 Professor Frieze began the custom of holding a Commencement Banquet to which
alumni and guests of the University were invited. This occasion, later established officially
by the Board of Regents, inaugurated the “Alumni Banquet” of Commencement week,
held annually on Alumni Day. As Commencement approached, it also became customary
for the senior class to hold “sings” on the campus—in later years on the Library steps.
Earlier, in both the spring and the fall, the seniors customarily gathered once a week about
the “senior bench” to sing informally.
Union School - Corner of State and Huron

A Commencement in University Hall

“The class of 1894 of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts was the first to wear academic gowns at a Michigan Commencement. The students of the Law
School and the Medical School opposed the idea. When told that it was an old English custom to use academic dress on important occasions they replied: ‘I suppose
then that if someone told you it was raining in England, you’d turn up your trousers.’ The debate raged for weeks. Finally, some of the ‘Lits’ bought gowns, and the
‘Laws’ and the ‘Medics’ served notice that anyone appearing on campus in such garb would be forcibly disrobed.
The gown-wearing ‘Lits’ set the day on which they were to appear, and the turbulent senior ‘Laws’ prepared for a fracas. The dean of the Law School, learning of their
designs, scheduled an examination in order to keep them fully occupied during the danger period. The junior ‘Laws’ then took up the cudgels. The ‘Lits’ met in University
Hall, donned their robes, and went to chapel in a body. All was calm until they started to leave after the service. The junior ‘Laws’ were waiting at the door. As the
procession approached, with Dean Martin L. D’Ooge and President Angell at the head, the ‘Laws’ flashed into action. Dean D’Ooge demanded, ‘Young gentlemen, young
gentlemen, what does this mean?’ His question was ignored, and the invaders reached for the first gown. Just then ‘Prexy’ went into action. Beaming upon the vandals
with his most genial smile he inquired, ‘Can I do anything for you, gentlemen?’ The enemy sheepishly disappeared. Later, however, a formal challenge to a ‘rush’ was
sent to the gownites and was formally accepted. The same evening the ‘Medics’ and the ‘Laws’ robed in nightshirts, met the ‘Lits’. The battle was long and furious,
but the ‘Lits’ won. The next morning the fraternity houses on State Street were all aflutter with white streamers torn from the back of the enemy. This was the origin
of the famous nightshirt parade, which became an annual feature until the leaders invaded the Library and created a disturbance.”
Orma F. Butler (UM Encyclopedic Survey, p. 1769)

148

Swing Out

Class Day

Swing-out, the first event of commencement week, celebrated the first
wearing of the cap and gown. The seniors gathered, sang Michigan
songs, and processed to the auditorium for speeches. This old and
venerable tradition was dscontinued in 1934.

Class Day exercises of the literary and engineering graduates were
held according to the time-honored custom under the Tappan Oak.
Class officers gave speeches, including class histories, poems, and
reminiscences of class pranks and deeds.

Senior Swing-Out 1903

Class Day under the Tappan Oak

In celebration of the University’s 75th year, Commencement was held in a large tent, known as the Pavilion, placed between the Chemistry
Building and the Gymnasium. The Baccalaureate address was given the preceding Sunday in University Hall; the President’s reception and
luncheon were given in the Library; and the alumni dinner, that concluded the week’s events was given, as usual, in Waterman Gymnasium.
Following the bugle call, the various parts of the long procession formed at their respective stations, the graduating classes at their respective
buildings. The various lines of students fell into line in the long procession which proceeded down the long diagonal walk, through the arch of
the Engineering Building and past the Medical Building to the Gymnasium where they turned in to the main entrance of the pavilion.

A tradition developed (which continues
to this day) in which Engineering
faculty members served as the
marshalls for the Commencement,
beginning with Mortimer Cooley and
Charles Denison. There was a belief
that only engineers could keep the
trains running on time.
Commencement Procession

The Pavilion

Commencement in the Fieldhouse

Commencement at Ferry Field

149

Commencement in Michigan Stadium

The October 1894 issue of the Michigan Alumnus posed the “Alumni Question.”
“The loyalty of Alumni rarely finds practical expression. It is chiefly a latent patriotism which
might just as well not be in existence.
There is a larger number of living alumni of our University than of any other educational institution
in this country, about 10,500 in 1892. Harvard is next with 5,553. Yale is third with 4,618.
The present popularity of the University can be compared with two of the oldest institutions of
learning in the country. Michigan is two centuries younger than Harvard, yet her body of alumni
is nearly twice as strong numerically.
Our University has furnished to the country 26 college presidents, 34 members of the House of
Representatives, five senators, three chief justices, 12 state supreme court justices, and 68 judges. A
number of governors as well.
If our eminent alumni chose, they could exert powerful influence for good to the University. But they
don’t. It can hardly be said that our alumni are not an effective factor in the development of the
University because they are scattered and disunited. As a matter of fact, the alumni are elaborately
organized—there is too much organization. The indifference of our alumni cannot be traced to lack
or organization.
If the graduate is appealed to for money, he will hesitate before endowing an institution which an
illiberal legislature may do much to cripple. Many alumni say that although the old associations are
pleasant as a recollection, the new ties, new duties, and new institutions draw their energies.
We need to draft alumni into the service of the University when legislative appropriations are sought.
Crystallize the alumni into clubs no matter how small the knot of alumni in a given locale. Perhaps
the ‘Michigan Alumnus’ will be the agency which will create the atmosphere in which the alumni
spirit will be stimulated and developed into an active factor in the growth of the University.”

150

Alumni

151

The Michigan National Dinner
President Hutchins, the first Michigan president who was also an
alumnus, made the first concerted effort to pull together Michigan’s
growing alumni body by traveling around the country, speaking to
alumni about the importance of their support, both financial and
influential, to complement state funding.

On February 4, 1911, a National Alumni Dinner was held in New York
to honor Michgan’s Congressional leaders. The University of Michigan
delegation in Congress, with 27 members, was greater than that of any
other institution. Harvard had 16; Yale and Virginia had 15. The event
was described in the March issue of the Michigan Alumnus.

“It was a far cry from a ‘round table of four young graduates’ to the Grand Ball Room of the Hotel Astor and a National Dinner of
1000 alumni, but a mighty tribute to the power of Michigan friendships. The alumni delegations of St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha,
St. Paul, Minneapolis, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Washington, Philadelphia, Rochester, Boston, and
the “Wolverine Alumni Special” train from Chicago, Detroit, and Michigan points, and the alumni who came from far away Helena and
Denver, all to join in one vast tribute to our beloved University and to her distinguished sons. The University is ‘a truly national school,’
and its current 5,383 students come from every State, Territory, and Insular Possession, as well as from 29 Foreign Countries.
The words of Dr. Tappan have proved prophetic, ‘A young vigorous free enlightened and magnanimous people had laid the foundations
of a State University; they were aiming to open for themselves one of the great fountains of civilization, of culture, of refinement of true
National grandeur and prosperity.’ And it is because of the graduates scattered all the way from the Atlantic to the Pacific, men who are
doing things that the University has got its reputation, and I think deserves it.

The various Alumni Associations are asked to send delegations so that the purpose of assembling one thousand men may be realized. The
Chicago alumni will leave at 9:05 via the Michigan Central and arrive in Detroit at 3:30 p.m. where we will change to the ‘Michigan
Alumni Special’ which will leave Detroit immediately after our arrival and will reach New York at about 9:30 Saturday morning. The
Michigan Central made special fares of $1.25. In honor of Justice William R. Day, of the United States Supreme Court, and in honor
of the 27 US Senators and Representatives constituting Michigan’s Alumni delegation in Congress. The Wolverine Alumni Special had
cars from Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Grand Rapids. The New York Central announced a special return train, ‘Michigan
Alumni Special.’

Detraining, we were met by the advance guard of the New York
contingent who had been with an army of red caps saw that none of us
got away until after we had been rounded up and properly photographed
for purposes of identification in case any of us became lost or stolen.
The sixty porters then stowed us away in sixty taxicabs, and we
were whirled away in the bright sunshine to our respective abiding
places, the greater number going to the Hotel Astor. But bringing into
proud reminiscence the services of alumni and faculty for the nation,
a wonderful roll of honor, yet one which can be duplicated with equal
splendor in a dozen fields of no less importance.

At Headquarters there was a small button with block ‘M’ and the
legend ‘National Dinner, Feb. 4, 1911’ in yellow. Attached to the
button was a small silk American flag, suggesting the patriotic purpose
of celebrating the achievements of Michigan alumni in the service of
the nation. Being thus ignored the sun soon returned for his share in
the general good fellowship, and out came the official flags of the day,
the Stars and Stripes, the State of Michigan Flag, and the University
of Michigan pennant, which had been send on by Governor Osborn
and President Hutchins to join that of Uncle Sam in the breezes of
Broadway, as emblematic of the celebration of that high and pioneer
purposes.

152

Along the entire length of the room was a gigantic picture of the University Campus with all its buildings, each faithfully reproduced in
color, and giving the panoramic view, as it is today. The painting was 60 feet long and 30 feet high, so arranged that the view of the
Campus appeared without obstruction above the ‘Capital Table.’ A few moments after some one discovered that the Library Clock stood
at 7:20 and then that the hands actually moved; it was a real clock and did its work as faithfully as any undergraduate could wish. The
Class of ’70 which according to the song book, organized the University Glee Club. It was 9:15 by the chimes and time for the speaking,
but the Glee Club held sway for a solid 15 minutes, singing song after song. For nearly an hour the ladies had been filing into the boxes,
and every box was crowded with alumnae and the wives of alumni. At this moment the great picture of the Campus suddenly started
into light, being illuminated from behind, so that every window shone as with internal light. Suddenly there appeared in the sky above
the Campus a glowing representation of the Capital at Washington, and over all the memorable words from the Ordinance of 1787,
‘religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education
shall forever be encouraged’.”

153

Michigan’s Alumni Chapter in Outer Space

The University of Michigan played an important role in the nation’s space program through its nationally ranked aeronatical
engineering program. In the 1950s the Department of Aerospace Engineering added a number of new fields such as rocket
propulsion, orbital mechanics, and space science. A major NASA laboraory in space physics was established, with extensive
capabilities in upper atmosphere research and satellite instrumentation. The University’s strong reputation in aerospace engineering
and space science not only attracted significant funding from NASA but also the training responsibilities for a number of astronauts.
The three-man crew of the Apollo 15 moon mission consisted of Michigan engineers, David R. Scott, Alfred M. Worden, and
James B. Irwin, leading to the establishment of the first University of Michigan Alumni chapter in outer space!

A document left on the Moon established a lunar branch: “The Alumni Association of The University of Michigan. Charter
Number One. This is to certify that The University of Michigan Club of The Moon is a duly constituted unit of the Alumni
Association and entitled to all the rights and privileges under the Association’s Constitution.”

The Michigan Flag that traveled to the moon to establish the first Alumni Chapter in Outer Space.

154

Charles August Lindbergh, Jr. (center) Son of
Charles August Lindbergh ’83l and Evengeline Lodge Land Lindbergh ’99

Let’s sing a song of our college days
and live them o’er a new
Let’s sing a song for Michigan
And friends forever true
Let’s sing again, like loyal men
Ann Arbor all for you
With main and might, our hearts unite
And sing to the maize and blue
Gemini Astronauts
Al Worden M.S.’63e,
Jim McDivitt ’59e

In future years when memory
brings us back our college days
We’ll raise a song for Michigan
The maize and blue for aye
When we recall those days of yore
’Mid tender tho’ts of you
We’ll sing again for Michigan
Our Alma Mater true

Gerald Ford ’35

I’ll ne’er forget my college days
Those dear sincere old college days
I’ll ne’re forget my Michigan
’Twas there long friendships first began
At Michigan all hearts are true
All loyal to the maize and blue
There e’er will be a golden haze
Around those dear old college days
Raoul Wallenberg ’35

From “Koanzaland,” 1909 Earl V. Moore ’12

155

Clarence Darrow 1877-78l

The Michigan Union
“The Michigan Union was born early one morning in my rooms in Miss Gagney’s home on Lawrence Street, the same room in which Dr.
Gayley, years before, had written ‘The Yellow and Blue.’ We wanted a better condition; we wanted an organization ‘for Michigan men
everywhere,’ an organization that would be the one recognized all inclusive medium to tie up the loose ends, to centralize the Campus life, to
bring us all together as Michigan men in whatever contact or endeavor might apply to our life as a whole. To make this organization effective
we must have a home—we must have the Union.” Edward F. Parker ’04 (Michigan Alumnus, May 29, 1926, p. 599)
The Michigan Union was both an organization and a building. “As its name
indicates, it is an organization, a union for all Michigan men, graduates, faculty and regents.
Its avowed objects are to promote university spirit and to increase social intercourse and
acquaintance with each other’s work among the members of the different departments and
other University organizations. In short this building will be a Michigan man’s Ann Arbor
club or home; it will be the center of all University activity and social life.” Henry M.
Bates ’90 (Michigan Alumnus, April 1905, p. 324)
Edward F. (Bob) Parker

Henry Moore Bates

Michigan Union Dinner 1909 - Waterman Gymnasium

The Michigan Union was incorporated on November 5, 1904. The first public meeting was a dinner held on November 10, 1904,
1,100 attended. In its early years the Union functioned entirely as an organization, and, in accordance with its fundamental purpose,
it became almost at once a unifying and coordinating agency in the life of the students, with the undergraduate organizations turning
to it for effective guidance and assistance. The women had a social center in the parlors of Barbour Gymnasium, and the Union was
envisaged as a club for men of the University. A campaign began to secure a Union Club House.

The original Union Clubhouse
was the remodeled home of Judge
Thomas Cooley, a member of
the law faculty. The house was
a spacious, rambling fieldstone
structure with pointed gables. It
stood on State Street at the end
of South University. Professor
Emil Lorch of the Architecture
Department made the necessary
alterations. The Union Clubhouse
opened on November 14, 1907.

In 1912, at the time of the seventyfifth anniversary of the University,
an addition in the form of a frame
structure was built at the rear
of the Union Clubhouse. This
addition called the Assembly Hall,
was used for large social gatherings
and dramatic performances.

The Thomas Cooley Home

156

The First Michigan Union Clubhouse
The Union Clubhouse had a large dining room on the first floor, a smaller one at the side, a large lounge,
a game room, and a kitchen. On the second floor was a billiard room, a reading room, a room for the
directors, and an apartment for the steward. This building served the students for almost nine years.

Dining Room

Parlor

The James Angell & Thomas Cooley Families
(Fanny Cooley was married to Alexis Angell.)
Left to right: David Horton, Mary E. Horton Cooley, Betsy Carey Horton, Thomas M. Cooley
Fanny Cooley Angell, Alexis Angell, Thomas Angell & Sarah Angell, (grandchildren)
Mrs. Angell, James B. Angell and Sarah Caswell Angell

The first Union Clubhouse was
torn down in 1916 to make way
for the new Michigan Union.
This photo of the groundbreaking for the new Michigan Union
shows the back of the original
Union Clubhouse.

With the rapid growth of the
student body and the increasing
importance of the Union, an expansion of its faculties became
imperative. A fund-raising campaign was begun.

Groundbreaking for the New Michigan Union

157

The New Michigan Union
“Judge Cooley and his friend Elihu B. Pond, father of the architects, purchased these adjoining properties soon after moving to Ann Arbor and thereon
built their homes that the friendship begun in a distant community might be continued intimately in the new environment. The main axis of the
new building, running east and west through the center of the great tower, coincides with the lot line between the two properties. At the suggestion of
a friend, the architects caused to be built into the northeast pier of the new building a stone from the foundation walls of the house which sheltered
them during their school and college years; the home to which they frequently returned for rest and inspiration until the death of their mother in 1915.
Shortly after this event, the house was moved to the rear of the property and converted to the uses of the Union. The fragment of the stone in the east
face of the pier marks the northwest corner of the old house in its original location. The stones which form the interesting mosiac in the platform at
the main entrance are from the Cooley house, the first home of the Union.” Irving Pond ’78e (Michigan Alumnus, December 1918, p. 169)

Allen Bartlett Pond ’80

Cooley Home (left) Pond Home (right)
The New Union was to be built between the arrows

Irving Kane Pond ’78e

The Pond house was moved to the rear of the lot, and with a rough frame building which had been erected in 1912
for student social affairs and dances, served as temporary headquarters while the new building was in the course of
construction.“The temporary quarters of the Union at the rear of the lot are surprisingly adequate. The building has been formed by moving
the house from the Pond property which stood next to the old Union, and the stucco covered frame shed which has been used by the Union for
the last three years, for big dinners and dances, to the northwest corner at the rear of the Zeta Psi House where formerly Walker’s livery barn
stood. A basement has been put underneath both buildings and the result is a temporary building which as far as convenience and adaptation to
the needs of such a organization is in most respects better than the old building. The big hall which has been used for large gatherings retains
the same appearance. It has been raised somewhat higher above the ground, making room underneath for three large dining rooms and a kitchen
ample for all the needs of the Union. In the main building, which has been formed from the Pond house, are the general lounging and reading
rooms, and the various offices of the Union, as well as rooms for the servants.” (Michigan Alumnus, October, 1916, p.17)

Excavation for the New Michigan Union

The Pond House Moved to the Back of the Lot

The Pond House and the Assembly Hall

158

The New Michigan Union

Plans for the Michigan Union were on a scale unknown for club houses
in American universities. Only a building of this size would be adequate
for such a large student body. Within the building, correspondingly
large facilities included ample lobbies, a large number of dining rooms
of various sizes with well-equipped kitchens, and about sixty sleeping
rooms for alumni on the upper floors.

The Cooley house was razed in 1916, and the new building was begun.
There was only enough money to build the shell; the interior and
furnishings were to be provided as subscriptions were paid. Construction
estimates grew from $300,000 to $1,000,000, of which $100,000 was set
aside for furnishings and $250,000 as an endowment. The University
Buildings and Grounds Department was the contractor.

Architect’s Sketch of the Michigan Union

“Basically the style is ‘English Collegiate’ of the gothic type, though in all its forms and details it is a
thoroughly modern American Expression, symbolic of the life of the American university rather than
that of the English college.” Irving Pond ’78e (Michigan Alumnus, December, 1918, p. 10)
With America’s entry into WWI in the spring of 1917, plans for the Michigan Union were modified for wartime use. A loan of
$260,000 from the Michigan State War Preparedness Board permitted completion of the building to a point where it could be
used as a barracks, and it was then taken over by the Students’ Army Training Corps. With the beginning of the fall semester
in 1918, some 800 corps members were housed in the Union, and meals were served to more than 4,000 in the building and
in a temporary mess hall set up beside it. Thus the Michigan students were unable to use their new Union until 1919.

Barracks

Michgan Union Shell

Army Mess in the Ballroom

Kitchen

Navy Mess in the Unfinished Pool

159

Fund Raising for the Michigan Union
The story of the Michigan Union Opera is so closely interwoven with the Michigan Union that it has become a part
of the history of the organization. The Opera was a natural development of the county fair and minstrel shows staged
so often during the years when the students were engaged in securing funds for the creation and operation of a Union
building. The first Opera, “Michigenda,” was staged at the Whitney Theater in the spring of 1908.

For a number of years the Union Theater was used for Michigan Union productions. In February, 1922 it was taken
over by the Mimes Society, a student dramatic organization which was under Union auspices. Here rehearsals were
held for the annual Union operas.
It became a custom for students to organize a huge carnival when funds were needed for worthy Campus projects.
In 1905 the student carnival in the form of a county fair (later known as Michigras) raised money for the Michigan
Union Clubhouse Fund. The Michigras Carnival was given for two nights and one afternoon. The event included a
parade, carnival rides, side shows, and games of skill, and it attracted thousands of participants and cleared thousands
of dollars. In 1937 Michigras was held for the first time in Yost Arena.

Mimes Theater

Watching the Michigras Parade
President Hutchins, President Emeritus Angell,
Regent John H. Grant ’82, Dr. Andrew White,
Bishop Charles S. Burch ’75, and Charles F. Brush ’69

160

Michigras Carnival - Yost Arena

The Michigan Union Opera

The Michigan Union was indebted to the Opera for its very existence, since the profits from this activity kept the
Union out of financial difficulties in its formative years. The first two Operas netted enough money to purchase the
building site, and subsequent shows helped to pay off the bonds on the building itself. During the first twenty-three
years of its history, the Opera played before capacity audiences totaling approximately 400,000 persons, with a gross
income of $812,258 resulting in a net profit of $147,760.

From 1908 until 1929, with the exception of the war years,
the Opera was presented yearly with an all-male cast.

Michigan Union Opera - Fool’s Paradise, 1917

Practicing Steps for the Opera

Some Chorus “Girls” from “Top o’ th’ Mornin”

161

The Michigan Union
One of the first measures passed by the directors after the construction
of the new building was a rule that the Michigan Union must remain
exclusively a men’s club. Women were not allowed to enter the front
door. The side door, known as the ladies’ entrance, gave access to the
lobbies, dining rooms, ballroom, and a ladies’ dining room.

Pendelton Library

Union Doorman

Reception Desk

The Michigan Union served as the
headquarters for the Inter-fraternity
Council; Inter-House Council; Men’s
Glee Club; Quadrangle; Michigamua;
Druids, the senior honorary society
of the College of Literature, Science
and the Arts; Vulcans, the senior
engineering honorary society; and
Sphinx, the junior honorary society
of LS&A.
Taproom

Dining Room

Twice a month a Union Forum
was held at which controversial
issues were debated and discussed
by students and faculty.

Union Week, which was held at
the beginning of each semester,
served to introduce the students to
University facilities.

Ladies’ Dining Room

The Michigan Union, in cooperation with
the Women’s League, presented various
events. On alternate years the two groups
presented Spring Weekend, consisting of
a skit night and a “soap-box derby.”

Terrace Dining Room

Reading Room

162

The Michigan Union
University Day, a program for
high school seniors, football
ticket resale, tutorial services,
speech-photography-art contests,
dance contests, and student-faculty-administration conferences,
were among the many Michigan
Union activities.

Billiard and Pool Room

Faculty Billiards Room

Faculty Club

The Michigan Union sponsored
theater trips to Detroit during the
year, permitting the students to
take advantage of the plays that
came to the metropolitan area.

Orientation Week leaders were
chosen by the Michigan League
and Michigan Union, and student
groups entertained in the local
hospitals at Holidays.

Ballroom

Dances were held each Saturday night in the ballroom.

Barber Shop

Swimming Pool

At its completion in 1919, the Michigan
Union was dedicated as a memorial to
President James B. Angell, and a bronze
tablet to his memory was placed at the
front entrance.

Guest Bedroom

International Center

163

The Women’s League

In May of 1890, Alice (Freeman) Palmer ’76 addressed the Alumnae Association, emphasizing “the necessity for college girls
cultivating their social natures, as well as their intellectual powers.” As a result of her interest, serious consideration was given
to the problems faced by women students, and the Women’s League was organized. In October of that year the first general
meeting was held in the University Chapel, Mrs. Angell presiding and Mrs. Gayley Browne presenting the objectives of the
organization. All college women were to be eligible for membership, as well as the women of the families of those who had been
or who were presently professors in the University. The first president of the Women’s League was Ethel (Fountain) Hussey ’91,
who was instrumental in the initial planning preceding the League’s formation.

Alice Freeman Palmer

Sarah Angell

Ethel Fountain Hussey

The Michigan Alumnus in November of 1911 commented that the “Women’s League was regarded as the representative of
Michigan women in all campus affairs... Everything that is of interest to women and touches them on Campus is carried on
by the League.” In the fall of 1894, the Waterman Gymnasium was completed. The men used it in the afternoons and the
women on certain mornings during the week. Large numbers of women enrolled voluntarily in supervised athletics. This was
evidence enough that a women’s gymnasium was needed. In 1895 the drive for the Women’s Gymnasium began. The purpose
was to provide not only a gymnasium, but also other facilities such as bathrooms, parlors, and an assembly room that would
accommodate a few hundred where lectures and performances could be given. The Women’s League was promised space in
the proposed building, and the women enthusiastically set about raising the $15,000 needed to meet the estimated total cost of
these extra facilities.

Plans for Barbour Gymnasium

Barbour Gymnasium was completed in 1902. By 1921 the facilities had become inadequate
for the number of women, which had multiplied four times since the building’s construction.

Barbour Gymnasium

Sarah Angell Assembly Room

164

Barbour Gym Parlor

The Women’s League Activities
Hospital Volunteers

Class Projects

County Fair

The “Fruit and Flower Mission,”
a committee which ministered to
patients in the Hospital, operated
under the auspices of the Women’s
League beginning in 1890. War
relief work was the chief interest
from 1917 to 1919, and each
woman was asked to pledge a part
of her time to the Red Cross.

Class projects and meetings were organized at weekly
receptions under the sponsorship of the League. In the winter
semester of 1902, the Women’s Glee Club was formed. During
Commencement week in 1903, the seniors presented a Senior
Play in which all of the parts were taken by women. The
graduates were honored by the three other classes at a Senior
Breakfast and at a party held by the juniors the night before
Commencement. In 1904 the juniors entertained the seniors
with an original playlet, which was a takeoff on prominent
seniors. This was the first Junior Girls’ Play, an annual production
which soon developed into a full-length musical comedy.

The first “County Fair,” sponsored jointly by the Men’s Athletic
Association and the Women’s
League, took place in the spring of
1902. The Fair, held on two consecutive nights in the combined
Waterman-Barbour Gymnasiums,
was publicized each day at noon
by a street parade. Vaudeville
and side shows were presented by
campus groups, and great crowds
attended every evening. This entertainment proved to be the most
successful ever attempted, and a
large profit was divided between
the sponsoring organizations.

The League presented a pageant, “Joan d’Arc,” with a cast
of 300 men and women students in the spring of 1914. More
than 4,000 attended, and it was a great success. In 1916
another pageant was undertaken as a part of the tercentenary
Shakespeare celebration.

Lectures & Symposiums

Afternoon Dances

Lectures and symposiums were
held on subjects of interest; the
topics varied from the “Columbian
World’s Fair Symposium” to a
“political symposium”—a debate
on women’s suffrage.

The Women’s League sponsored
Friday afternoon dances for members and their friends, including
instruction in ballroom dancing.

Women’s League Party - 1911

New Student Orientation

Housing for Women

Employment Bureau

The Women’s League co-operated with the Michigan Union in
carrying out the Orientation program for new students. Beginning
in 1884 the Freshman Spread in
honor of new students was given
annually by the sophomores for
all new women on campus. The
Women’s League also provided
hospitality and tutoring services
for foreign students.

Housing was another important problem that was of much
concern to the Women’s League. The members promoted
projects to arouse interest in better housing conditions, and as a
direct result of their labors, separate houses for women, known
as league houses, were established on the campus. By 1909,
however, because of the growing enrollment of women, it was
clear that dormitories would be the only answer to the housing
problem. A fund drive was begun and the League employed
a financial secretary to travel about and arouse interest in the
project among the alumni. As a direct result of their efforts,
Helen Newberry Residence, the Martha Cook Building,
Alumnae House, and Betsy Barbour Residence were donated
to the University by 1920.

Another important phase of
League activity was the student
employment bureau, organized
in 1896 to assist women in finding
work in the community.

A Reception Committee welcomed Freshman women, helped
them in finding their way around
campus, introduced them to their
professors, and assisted them in
obtaining suitable rooms and
boarding places and in establishing their church relations.

Programs and structure fluctuated greatly in the early years of
the League, but the purpose remained the same—to unite the
women students irrespective of varied backgrounds, courses of
study, affiliations, or interests. In addition to its coordinating and
governing functions, the League emphasized leadership training
in organizational and service opportunities. In many respects
this work was not chosen but laid upon it by the demands of
the University.

165

In 1902 President Angell reported:
“I take pleasure in recognizing the great
value of the services rendered by the
Student’s Christian Association, the
Young Men’s Christian Association,
and the Women’s League in aiding new
students in finding suitable homes and
also employment. The great body of our
students have very limited means, and
many of them are glad of the opportunity
to gain something by honorable toil,
however menial.” (Regents’ Proceedings,
1902, p. 9)

The Michigan League Building
Soon after the Michigan Union was completed, the Women’s League began to raise funds for a building. The number of
women students at the University was rapidly increasing each year. By 1927 the funds were secured, $600,000 was to be used for
construction, $150,000 for furnishings, and $250,000 as an endowment. Heat and light were to be furnished by the University.

Ground Breaking Ceremony
June 18, 1927

Laying the Corner Stone, The Michigan League, March 29, 1928

166

Mary Bartron Henderson ’04 was the driving force behind the construction of the Michigan League. She served as Executive
Secretary of the Alumnae Council, led the building campaign, and remained chairman of the building fund until all the
payments were made. The architects for the Michigan League were Pond and Pond, the same firm of architects that had
designed the Michigan Union.

Mary Bartron Henderson ’04

Allen Bartlett Pond ’80

Irving Kane Pond ’78e

Fund Raising
Just as the male students and alumni had raised the funds for the Michigan Union, the women students and alumnae began a
campaign for their building. They organized sales, style-shows, and benefits. The “Women’s League and InterChurch Bazaars”
yielded thousands of dollars annually. Class projects were used to raise funds.The Senior Girls’ Play was presented publicly.
The Junior Girls’ Play, presented in honor of the seniors and first staged in the Whitney Theater in 1919, opened to the general
public for the first time in 1923. In 1924 the first Freshman Pageant was given as a part of the Lantern Night celebration and
was thereafter a yearly event; until this time freshmen had not been permitted to participate in extracurricular activities which
involved public performances. In 1925 the first Sophomore Circus was held in conjunction with the bazaar.

Robert Lamont ’96 of Chicago
established a memorial in honor
of Ethel Fountain Hussey, the
Women’s League’s first president.

A gift of $50,000 from Gordon
Mendelssohn provided the Lydia
Mendelssohn Theater, a memorial to Mendelssohn’s mother.

The New York state alumnae contributed $15,000.

Gifts were made by alumnae from
all parts of the world.

Oriental rugs, vases, silver services,
pianos, and many other furnishings were donated by alumnae.

Chinese alumnae in Tientsin sent
antique tapestries made from a
royal Manchu dynasty robe
Junior Girls’ Play

The Freshmen Pageant

167

The Michigan League

The Michigan League formally opened on May 4, 1929. At last the women of the University
had a home of their own, and the Women’s League had a center for all its activities.

Main Dining Room

Small Dining Room

Tea Room

Ballroom

Cafeteria Dining Room (left) Kitchen (center) Cafeteria Service Counter (right)

168

The Michigan League

The building was formally presented to the University on April 1, 1930. The new Michigan League included meeting
rooms, dining rooms, lounges, work rooms, a ballroom, hotel accommodations, a chapel, and a theater seating 700.

Theater

The Cave Room

Chapel

Eliza Mosher Room

Ethel Fountain Hussey Room

Library

Lounge

Lobby

Library

Alcove

Guest Rooms & Dormitory

Beauty Parlor

169

In January of 1915 the University adopted nomenclature based on standards approved by the
Association of American Universities, the National Association of State Universities, and the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Units of the University that admitted
students directly from high schools and preparatory schools were designated as “Colleges,”
while units that required some collegiate work before admission were labelled “Schools.”
170

Schools & Colleges
1841 Literature, Science & the Arts
1850 Medicine
1859 Law
1875 Dentistry
1876 Pharmacy
1895 Engineering
1913 Graduate Studies
1913 Architecture
1921 Education
1924 Business Administration
1927 Forestry & Conservation
1929 Music
1941 Nursing
1941 Public Health
1951 Social Work
1969 Library Science
1974 Art
1984 Kinesiology
1995 Public Policy

171

172

LITERATURE, SCIENCE & THE ARTS

The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, founded in 1841, was the
first duly constituted department of the University of Michigan. With more
than 15,000 undergraduates and 2,000 graduate students, LS&A is the
largest of the University’s schools and colleges, and it remains the heart of
the University. Distinguished in the humanities since its earliest years, the
College became preeminent in the natural sciences during the first quarter
of the 20th century and in the next half century became a world leader in
social sciences research. The College is dedicated to providing a richly
diverse liberal arts education that prepares students to lead fulfilling lives
as responsible citizens within a wide range of professional careers.
173

1841

The University of Michigan Opens in Ann Arbor

The organic act of 1837 establishing the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor as a state university called for the creation of a Department of
Literature, Science, and the Arts. The first students arrived on the new campus four years later in 1841, six first-year students and one second-year
student. By that time both the Professors’ Houses and a large classroom building had been built, and several professors had been hired.

The University of Michigan Campus by Jasper Cropsey 1855 - South College and Mason Hall were LS&A Buildings

Course of Study for Students in 1849
SECOND YEAR

THIRD YEAR

FOURTH YEAR

Algebra
Livy
Homer’s Odyssey

Xen. Anab./Tacitus
Trig./Conic Sections/Demosthenes
Rhetoric/Horace/Analyt. Geometry

Political Economy/Euripides
French/Natural Philosophy
Natural Philosophy/Chemistry

German/Mental Philosophy
Mental Philosophy/Moral Philosophy
Geology/Min.Chem./Chem./Nat. Theology

Geometry
Livy
Homer’s Odyssey

Tacitus
Demosthenes
Calculus

Euripides
Natural Philosophy
Chemistry

Mental Philosophy/Logic
Moral Philosophy
Natural Theology/Evidences of Christianity

Geometry
Xen. Anab.
Botany

Sophocles
French
Cicero

Rhetoric
Astronomy
French

Butler’s Analogy

FIRST YEAR
First Term
Sept 12 - Dec 18
Morning
11 o’clock
Evening
Second Term
Jan 3 to April 17
Morning
11 o’clock
Evening
Third Term
May 9 to July 16
Morning
11 o’clock
Evening

Plato’s Gorgias

The student’s day began at 5 a.m. when he was awakened by the bell. Compulsory chapel in the fall and spring was at 5:30
a.m. and in the winter at 6:30 a.m. The first recitation class was after chapel at 6:00 a.m., after which the students went to their
boarding houses for breakfast. The second class was at 11:00 with dinner again at their boarding house. The afternoon was
reserved for studying in the library and an afternoon class. There was a second chapel in the late afternoon followed by supper
and freedom until 9:00 p.m. No one was allowed to leave the campus after 9:00 p.m.

“Examinations in those days were not written affairs as now, but were oral. The professor drew a class man’s name from one box and a subject,
a mathematical problem, a quotation for translation, or whatever might be ‘before the court’ from another, and the fellow that drew the prize had to
stand up in his place and make it clear how much he knew about it. No chance there for ‘ponies’ or help ‘on the side.’ ” Wyllys C. Ransom ’48
(Michigan Alumnus, October, 1901, p. 9)

174

Although the first faculty consisted of five men, Asa Gray was never called; Henry Colclazer, the librarian did not teach; and Douglas Houghton,
the State Geologist was not available. The duties fell to the Reverend George Palmer and the Reverend Joseph Whiting, both men having
previously served as Principals of the University Branch Campuses (the University’s preparatory schools). As enrollments grew and faculty were
added, the LS&A Department (later renamed a College) began to add new academic disciplines.

1841

Botany, Zoology, Chemistry, Mineralogy & Geology, Mathematics & Physics, Latin & Greek

1843

Philosophy

1844

History

1846

Modern Languages

1852

Fine Arts

1854

*Engineering & Astronomy

1860

Economics (*Business Administration) & Political Science

1868

*Pharmacy

1879

*Science and the Art of Teaching

1880

*Music

1887

German & Romance Languages

1891

Asian Languages

1892

*Graduate Studies, Anthropology & Speech

1903

Rhetoric

1926

*Library Science

1929

Psychology & Journalism

1931

Sociology

* Denotes departments that separated from LS&A and became independent Departments, Schools, and Colleges.

175

Buildings of the Department of Literature, Science & the Arts
“When you are teaching a man,—or a women—how to build a locomotive, remove a diseased appendix or fill a decayed tooth, one
must have room and you must have the proper appliances or you can not do it at all. But if you are merely teaching him Latin, or
composition or political economy, you can shove him—and the man who is teaching him—into an over-crowded, ill-lighted, halfventilated room and still perform a job of education that will pass muster.” (Michigan Alumnus, March 22, 1923, p. 700)

Mason Hall & South College
1841 & 1849

Chemical Laboratory 1856
Medical Building (rear)
Henry Frieze’s Classroom

Tappan Hall 1893

Detroit Observatory 1854

Physics Buiding 1889

University Hall 1872

University Hall was built between Mason
Hall & South College. The photograph
on the right shows the construction of
University Hall from the corner of State
Street and South University Avenue.

176

Physics Building Addition 1903

Buildings of the Department of Literature, Science & the Arts

Natural Sciences (left) Chemistry Labratory (right)

Chemistry Laboratory 1909

Natural Sciences 1915

Ann Arbor’s First Ward School, on State Street, built in 1862, was
purchased by the University in 1901 and renamed West Hall. This small
building housed classes in English, modern languages, and forestry.

For many years Physics occupied one of the oldest buildings on campus.
In 1924 a new building opened, providing laboratories and research
facilities for advanced classes, faculty and graduate students.

West Hall 1902 - 1922

East Physics Building 1924

By the 1920s, with an enrollment of 5000 students, the meager facilities became a critical issue.

“ In the narrow corridors and steep stairways of the South Wing and Mason Hall, students and instructors waiting to enter classrooms
have to wait fully ten minutes—often out of doors—for the congestion to clear away so that they can reach their rooms. Recitation rooms
are in such demand that classes meeting, for example, at eight o’clock on Monday, Wednesday and Friday are forced to hold the three
sessions in three separate buildings.” (Michigan Alumnus, March 22, 1923, p. 700)

The University Hall Auditorium was divided into classrooms. (left)
Play production students gather for a post-rehearsal critique conducted
by Prof. William P. Halstead. (center) Steps to the stage and band
instruments share space with the Journalism Department. (right)

177

178

179

1924

A New Building for LS&A
“The University has grown up around the Literary College. It teaches about half of our students. It serves practically every other college, school, or unit
of the University. Obviously, therefore, it must be a building which gathers up and expresses these larger meanings. It must not be merely large. It must
be beautiful, dignified, and commanding. It must help to give unity and form to the entire campus.” (Michigan Alumnus, November 1, 1923)

Architect Albert Kahn’s First Design for the Proposed Literary College Building

The New Literary College Building - Only the center part of the plan was built.

The new LS&A building was
built in front of University Hall,
entirely eclipsing the venerable old
building. The new building was
named in honor of James Angell,
President of the University from
1871 - 1909.

There was an effort to preserve
Mason Hall, the north wing
of University Hall (the first
Literary Building on the campus).
However, the building site was too
valuable, and the non-fireproof
structure was doomed.

180

1952

Additions to Angell Hall

With the increase in students, faculty and staff immediately after World War II, the need for additional classroom and office space
became acute. In its initial stages, the planning proceeded on the assumption that the new building or buildings would replace six old
structures which had been condemned as fire hazards: Haven Hall (the original Law Building), University Hall (which included the
original Mason Hall and South College), the Romance Language Building (the original Museum), and the Economics Building (part of
the original Chemical Laboratory). This represented a potential loss of sixty-five classrooms and 142 offices.

2
1

3

Angell Hall Addition
Mason Hall (1), Haven Hall (2), Auditoriums (3)

The original plan to enlarge Angell Hall by the addition of wings at the
ends with an adjoining wing running north and south to enclose a central
court was abandoned. The final plan comprised a four-story classroom
building, including space for a study hall, two auditorium units, each
containing two lecture halls, and an eight-story office building.
The classroom building was named Mason Hall and the office building
Haven Hall. (The names were taken from former buildings.)
Back of Angell Hall

Raising University Hall

181

“Second Hand Buildings”
University Museum - Romance Languages

Law Building - Haven Hall

Since available funding frequently fell
short of LS&A’s needs for new buildings,
it has had to make the best of renovating
buildings originally constructed for other
purposes.

The University Museum built in 1880 housed the natural history
collections. By 1923 at least 75 percent of the specimens were stored
in inadequate facilities; some had not been unpacked since 1878. With
the completion of the new Museum (Ruthven Museum) in 1928, the
old Museum became home to the Romance Language Department.

The original Law Building was given to LS&A in 1933 and renamed
Haven Hall in honor of Erastus O. Haven, President of the University
from 1863 to 1869. The departments of Journalism, History, Sociology,
and the Bureau of Government Library were housed in Haven Hall
until it was destroyed by fire in November of 1957.

Ann Arbor High School

Frieze Building

Frieze Building Addition

The Ann Arbor High School Building, built in 1905, was purchased by the University in 1954. An addition to the building
was completed in 1957. The new space was used for departments of LS&A and the School of Social Work. In 1956 the
building was named in honor of Henry Simmons Frieze, professor of Latin, and twice acting president of the University—a
particularly fitting action because of Frieze’s role in creating the American secondary school system. (See page 29)

Administration Building

Administration Building

The General Services Building, later renamed the Administration Building, was completed in 1948. The building housed
the University central administration and the business, student, and extension services. With the completion of the new
Administration Building (Fleming) in 1968, the old Administration Building became another cast-off building for LS&A.

182

“Second Hand Buildings”

Economics Building

Economics Building
Old Chemical Laboratory, Economics Building (left)

The Economics Building was the last standing
section of the original Chemical Laboratory
Building. It was used by the Economics
Department until it was destroyed by fire on
Christmas Eve of 1981.

East Medical - C.C. Little

West Engineering - West Hall

The East Medical Building was completed in 1925. The building was
vacated by the Medical School when it moved to Medical Science II
in 1969. The building was named in honor of Clarence Cook Little,
president of the University from 1925-1929.

The West Engineering Building was completed in 1904. When
Engineering completed its move to the North Campus, West Engineering
was rechristened West Hall and renovated for use by LS&A departments.
The School of Information also shares the building.

East Engineering - East Hall

Lorch Hall

Lorch Hall was completed in 1928 for Architecture. When the College
of Architecture moved to the North Campus in 1974, Lorch Hall
became available for programs in the social sciences and eventually
became the home of Economics and Public Policy.

The East Engineering Building, completed in 1923 with an addition
in 1947, became vacant when Electrical Engineering moved to its new
North Campus building in 1985. The building was renovated for the
Psychology and Mathematics Departments and renamed East Hall.

183

1960s - 2000 New & Renovated Buildings for LS&A
The absence of significant state or University funding for academic buildings during the 1970s and early 1980s took a serious toll on LS&A. Not
only was the Ann Arbor campus the largest in the nation, with almost 26 million square feet of space, but many of its buildings were 50 to 75 years
old. Heating systems were antiquated, windows drafty, and teaching and laboratory facilities outdated. In the face of mounting budget pressures,
maintenance was deferred, grounds were neglected, and the campus environment for teaching and research deteriorated significantly.
Unlike the more prosperous professional schools (e.g., Business, Law, and Medicine), LS&A had no tradition of strong support from private gifts,
sponsored research, or auxiliary revenue sources. Hence without state or University support, campus renovation and construction came to a halt.
Furthermore, the deferral of buildings and grounds maintenance soon led to erosion of pride in campus appearance on the part of students, as
trash accumulated, posters were taped to any exposed surface, and chalked slogans covered the walkways.

Physics & Astronomy 1963

Modern Languages Building 1972

Tappan Addition 1986

Although the successful achievement of modest state support for the Chemical Sciences complex broke a long drought of state support, of far
more importance was the ability of the University to assemble a combination of internal funding, private support, and state support to renovate
or replace essentially every LS&A building during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Fortunately, many of the older buildings such as E. H. Kraus
(Natural Sciences), East Physics, Ruthven Museum, C. C. Little, and Angell Hall had been designed by Albert Kahn to facilitate massive renovation, much like his factories. Other buildings such as Haven and Mason Hall and Randall Laboratory were augmented with new modern laboratories.

Willard Dow Chemistry Laboratory 1989

Willard Dow Chemistry Laboratory

The “Fishbowl”
Mason Hall (right)

Angell Hall Renovation
Tisch Hall

Haven Hall

184

UGLi

Perhaps the most interesting renovation/construction project involved
wrapping the stark 1950s architecture of the Undergraduate Library—
appropriately known as the UGLi—in an attractive cocoon that not
only greatly expanded its usable space, but provided an attractive new
addition to the campus: the Harold and Vivian Shapiro Library.

Shapiro Library

Priority was given to rebuilding the
sciences, with a sequence of both
renovations and new construction to
strengthen Chemistry, Physics, Geology,
and Biology. The funds for these activities
were nicknamed “Duder Dollars” since
they were allocated to the sciences by then
Provost and later President Duderstadt.
Kraus Natural Sciences

Randall Physics Addition

Very much in the spirit of unintended consequences, on Christmas Eve in 1981 the Economics Building, then the oldest
academic building on the campus (and a piece of the old Chemical Laboratory of the 19th century) was burned by an arsonist.
The effort to find a place for this important department triggered a sequence of musical chair projects that resulted in the
College of Engineering moving to the North Campus to release West Engineering and East Engineering, while Lorch Hall, the
former home of Architecture, was renovated for Economics and later the School of Public Policy.

West Hall

Lorch Hall

East Hall

Renovations and additions were made to C. C. Little, the Institute for Social Research, and Lane Hall.

C. C. Little

Institute for Social Research

185

Lane Hall

186

187

Early Medical Students
“The scenes preceding lectures were often boisterous, and ‘passing up’ students was
not infrequent. This consisted in seizing some unsuspecting student and passing him
along in the arms of his fellow-student until he was thrown upon the floor in the
upper row of seats in the amphitheater.” Henry M. Hurd ’63, ’66m (Michigan
Alumnus, February, 1902, p. 220)

Surgery Clinic

Surgery Clinic

Interior of the Medical School

Practical Work-Auscultation

Dr. Dock’s Clinic, Hospital Amphitheater, December 1897
Embryology Section at Work

“I went over to the medical college and saw an operation performed upon a boy’s
leg. His leg was opened below the knee for near a foot & with hammer & chisel the
surgeon went to work to extract a piece of dead bone. It looked barbarous and the
patient was under the influence of chloroform and the operation lasted for more than
half an hour.” George Beck ’60m (Michigan Alumnus, 3/24/1926, p. 492)

Pulse Record

Examining Anatomical
Specimens

Bandaging
and Fracture Dressing

Volume of Arm in Relation to
Circulation and Respiration

Practical Work
Percussion

Surgery and Anatomy Class

“The amphitheater became a place of resort on surgical clinic days for literary students
who wished to test their nerves, and many ludicrous incidents of heart failure on the
part of these amateurs were current gossip. I remember on one occasion a literary
student dropped with a dull thud at the very commencement of a surgical clinic, before
even the patient had been brought in or any preparation had been made.” Henry
M. Hurd ’63, ’66m (Michigan Alumnus, February, 1902, p. 220)

188

Reading Room

Medicine

Since opening its doors in 1850, the Medical School has been a leader in
medical education, patient care, and biomedical research. In addition to
its professional Doctor of Medicine program, the Medical School offers
Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in the basic medical sciences. The School
established the nation’s first university-owned and operated teaching
hospital and created the first departments of pharmacology and human
genetics in the United States. It also played an important role in creating
the science-based medical curriculum adopted by most universities in the
20th century. The Medical School was among the first major American
medical schools to graduate women and African Americans. Today there
are more practicing medical doctors from the University of Michigan than
from any other medical school in the United States.
189

1850

Faculty & First Medical Building

The Department of Medicine was also one of those academic units specified in the 1837 act establishing the University of Michigan as a state
university, but it was not organized until 1849, and it opened for its first students in 1850. Five professors formed the first faculty in Medicine:
Moses Gunn graduated from Geneva Medical College in 1846. He
came to Ann Arbor and opened a medical practice, also organizing
classes in Anatomy. In 1850 he accepted the professorship of Anatomy
in the new Department of Medicine and Surgery. In 1854 the chair
was divided. Gunn chose Surgery and his mentor Dr. Corydon Ford
came to Michigan to accept the chair of Anatomy. In 1867 Dr. Gunn
resigned to accept the chair of Surgery in Rush Medical College.
Samuel Denton was Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine
and of Pathology from 1850 until his death in 1860. Dr. Denton was
one of the first Regents appointed by the governor in 1837. He also
represented Washtenaw County in the State Senate.

Moses Gunn

Silas Douglas was Professor of Chemistry, Pharmacy, and Medical
Jurisprudence. In 1838 Douglas began the study of medicine in the office
of Dr. Zina Pitcher in Detroit. He accompanied Douglas Houghton
on his geological surveys of Michigan and was also a physician for the
Government. He came to Ann Arbor in 1843 to practice medicine. In
1844 he was appointed assistant to Professor Houghton and had charge
of the work in Chemistry during Houghton’s absence. He was actively
involved in establishing the Medical Department and organizing the
Chemical Laboratory.

Samuel Denton

In 1837 Abram Sager was in charge of the Botanical and Zoological
Department of the Michigan Geological Survey. He served the
University of Michigan as Professor of Botany and Zoology from 1842
to 1850; Obstetrics, Diseases of Women and Children, Botany, and
Zoology from 1850 to 1854; Obstetrics and Physiology from 1855 to
1860, and Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children from 1860
to 1875. He served as Dean of the Medical Faculty for several years.

Silas Douglas

J. Adams Allen was Professor of Therapeutics, Materia Medica, and
Physiology.

Abram Sager

“There were no very stringent regulations existing governing the admission of a student to the department of medicine beyond a proper
knowledge of English, ‘such knowledge of the Latin language as will enable one to read current prescriptions,’ and a certificate of good moral
character. The medical student also at the most came only for two courses of lectures of about six months each and did not become identified
with the life of the University.” Henry M. Hurd ’63m (Michigan Alumnus, February, 1902, p. 219)
“The students attended four lectures each morning during five days in the week, the afternoons being devoted to laboratory work and dissection.
On Saturdays the students read their theses.” Victor C. Vaughan ’78m (Michigan Alumnus, April, 1900, p. 279)

Medical Building (left), Chemical Laboratory (right)

190

1864

Medical Building Addition
Because of the rapid growth of the Medical Department, in 1864 an addition to the Medical Building
became necessary. The cost of the addition was $20,000, half of which was raised by a general tax on the
citizens of Ann Arbor. The four-story structure at the west of the original building held offices and two large
lecture rooms or amphitheaters. The top floor provided a new and enlarged dissecting room.

2

1

University of Michigan Campus
Medical Building (1) Hospital (2)

1869

Medical Building Addition

First University Hospital

The practice of utilizing hospitals as centers of clinical training was well advanced in Europe during the 19th century, especially in Germany and
France. It developed slowly in this country. Although the desirability of actual bedside experience for the young physician was recognized, it was
difficult to obtain such instruction except under the supervision of a preceptor—an actual practitioner with whom the young doctor served an
apprenticeship as assistant. Patients began to come to the University medical faculty for treatment. In 1868 the faculty reported that even though
there were no hospital facilities available, over three hundred patients had come to the University for consultation and help.
In 1868 Dr. Alonzo Benjamin Palmer, Professor of the Theory and
Practice of Internal Medicine, headed a movement in the American
Medical Association to obtain more clinical instruction in American
medical schools. As a result of his efforts as well as of the increasing
community demand in Ann Arbor for a hospital, the faculty asked to be
allowed to establish a hospital.

Alonzo B. Palmer

In 1869 the east Professors’ House on North University became the
first University Hospital. It was a receiving home with twenty beds,
but no operating or dressing rooms. Since the clinical and surgery
demonstrations were held in the Medical Building, the students would
transport the patients across the campus to the Medical Building and
back to the little hospital.

“This makeshift hospital however was a significant beginning as it represented a
most important landmark in the history of American medicine—the first instance of
a university owning and controlling a hospital in connection with its own medical
school.” Victor Vaughan ’78m (Michigan Alumnus, April, 1900, p. 279)

191

1875

Pavilion Hospital

The original hospital, although inadequate, served its purpose by demonstrating that such an addition to the facilities of the school was both
desirable and practicable. Efforts to secure a legislative appropriation for a larger hospital resulted in 1875 in a grant of $8,000 for an enlarged
University Hospital, contingent upon a contribution of $4,000 from the city of Ann Arbor. The Pavilion Hospital consisted of two frame
pavilions, which extended from the rear of the original hospital. It was poorly ventilated and originally without an operating room. It was typical
of the era and was, in fact, designed to last only five years and built so that it could be burned down if there was an infectious disease outbreak. It
provided sixty beds, but in 1878 one-fifth of the beds were assigned to patients of the newly created homeopathic department.
At first the Hospital was open only six months of the year. In 1877 the legislature provided support permitting full-time operation. It was,
however, closed for many summer periods during the succeeding two decades. In 1897 summer operation was made the condition of continuing
legislative support for the Hospital.

Pavilion Hospital Addition

1879

In 1879 funds were granted for further expansion, as well as a new operating amphitheater, dining room and kitchen in connection
with the matrons’ home. In 1881 an eye and ear ward was added, the first special ward to be erected as a separate building. The
resident physicians, matrons, and private rooms for very sick patients occupied the original Hospital.

Eye and Ear
Ward

Kitchen
Men’s Ward

192

Corridor

Bath
WC

Open Area
Porch

Amphitheater

Bath
WC

Porch

Women’s Ward
Original
Hospital

1875

Homeopathic Medical College

As early as 1848 the practitioners and patrons of homeopathy in Michigan were petitioning the legislature and the University to include
homeopathic instruction in the curriculum of their state institution. The heated controversy continued until 1875 when the Homeopathic
Medical College was established with two chairs. Samuel Arthur Jones (M.D. Missouri Homeopathic Medical College 1860, M.D. Homeopathic
Medical College of Pennsylvania 1861) of Englewood, New Jersey was chosen to teach materia medica and therapeutics. John Colemen Morgan
(M.D. Pennsylvania Medical College 1852) was selected for theory and practice, and served for two years. The students received instruction in
the Medical and Surgery Department in all work except that included under the two homeopathic chairs.
The west Professors’ House on North University was shared by the
College of Dental Surgery and the Homeopathic Medical School. This
house, one of the original buildings on the campus, was across the street
from the Octagonal House where Hill Auditorium stands today.

Samuel Jones accepted the assignment to organize the Homeopathic
Medical College, serving as Dean and Professor of Materia Medica
and Therapeutics. He resigned in 1880 to practice in Ann Arbor and
became an important figure in the life of the city. In addition to his
professional ability, he was a scholar recognized for his knowledge of
the literature of Thoreau and Carlyle.

Samuel Jones

1879

Homeopathic Hospital
In 1877 the College of Dental Surgery moved to the east Professors’
House on South University. In 1879 a Homeopathic Hospital was built
onto the rear of the Homeopathic Medical College building.

193

194

195

1891

Catherine Street Hospitals
By the late 1880s a new hospital became a critical need for the University of Michigan. The medical course had been lengthened
to four years, the requirements for graduation had increased, and additional clinical courses were added. In 1889 the legislature
appropriated $50,000 for a new hospital unit to consist of two buildings, one for the Homeopathic Medical College, and one for the
Allopathic Medical Department. The city of Ann Arbor also contributed $25,000. The two buildings provided 104 beds, forty for
the Homeopathic College and sixty-four for the Medical Department. The Hospitals opened in 1891.

Homeopathic Hospital (left) Allopathic Hospiital (right)

The buildings had two wards as well as a few private rooms. The demand in the hospitals soon became so great that extra beds had
to be provided. An amphitheater was included in the Hospital as “a small pit from the center of which arose a steep central aisle
with rows of uncomfortable wooden benches on either side.” Operations and demonstrations were carried on before the students.

Hospital Wards

Amphitheater

196

1900

Homeopathic Hospital on North University & Washtenaw Avenue

In 1899, the city of Ann Arbor gave to the University the property known as the Smith place for a hospital for the Homeopathic
Medical Department. The building, completed in 1900, had one hundred and forty beds. The floor plan was in a “T” form. Each
end of the top of the letter were wards, and the base was occupied by the operating and clinic rooms. The building contained six
wards and about twenty private rooms. It extended back over the brow of a hill, which made possible a basement and a subbasement, above ground level. It was constructed of granite and gray pressed brick, with a red tile roof.

For many years the old residence of Judge William A. Fletcher, at one time Regent of the University, stood near the Homeopathic
Hospital. It was used as a nurses’ residence and later as an administration building. Subsequently, quarters for nurses were provided
in the hospital building and in nearby residences acquired by the University. The Catherine Street Homeopathic Hospital was taken
over by the Allopathy Hospital and became the Medical Ward, while the original Hospital became the Surgical Ward.
“The broad corridors, wide windows and glistening red oak woodwork make an attractive interior. At the end of each hallway are double glass doors
opening into a ward, each intended for sixteen beds. At the front of each ward is a large sun parlor, to be used as a sitting room by patients able to leave
their beds. Admirable forethought has taken care that there be no square corners or angles to catch dust and germs. The plumbing attracts instant attention.
It is elaborate and thoroughly modern. The Sturtevant heating system is guaranteed to change the air in the entire building every five minutes. The steam
for the heating is carried from the University heating plant, a quarter of a mile distance. The operating rooms are up to date in every respect. The surgical
amphitheater is finished in gray marble and is a model of beauty and utility. The site is particularly well adapted to the purpose. It is directly across
the street from the University grounds and is on the street car line. The five acres of land and fine residence make up the grounds and house of what for
generations has been one of the finest estates in the city. The Hospital was housed in this building until the Homeopathic Medical College was discontinued
in 1922. In May, 1926, after the new University Hospital was opened, the Homeopathic Hospital was designated as South Department Hospital. The
old hospital group of buildings on Catherine Street was designated ‘Convalescent Hospital’.” (Michigan Alumnus, November 1900)
In 1918, a children’s ward was built next to the Homeopathic Hospsital; it later became the
Student Health Service. Since 1940 it has been the Annex to the University Museum.

Children’s Ward (right)

Homeopathic Hospital (rear)

197

Homeopathic Hospital

Palmer Ward & Nurses’ Residence

Ophthalmology & Otology

Catherine Street Hospital Complex - Footprint of Buildings
21

20

12

13 14

15
5

0
4

1

16

17 18

8
3
2

22

19

23

10

7
6

11

9

The Catherine Street Hospitals eventually included a group of some twenty buildings, large and small. These
buildings were successively enlarged and added to until the completion of University Hospital in 1925. Many
of these buildings were then used as convalescent wards and as other adjuncts to the Hospital.

198

Allopathy Hospital

Psychopathic Ward

Catherine Street Hospital Complex - Footprint of Buildings
0. Horse Shed
1.	 Homeopathic Hospital 1891-1900
Medical Ward 1900-1925
Convalescent Ward 1925-1927
Burned 1927
2.	 Palmer Ward 1902
(X-ray in basement 1902-1925)
(Radiation Laboratory 1931)

8.	 Diet Kitchen 1923-1925
Social Services Office 1925

16.	 Eye and Ear Ward 1909-1925
Maternity Ward 1925-1950

9.	 University Hospital 1891-1900
Surgical Ward 1900-1925
East Convalescent Ward 1925-1944
Rapid Treatment Center 1944-1950
Institute for Social Research 1950

17. & 18. Summer House 1898-1945

10.	 Fire Station 1916-1931

20.	 Hospital Heating Plant 1897-1925
Section Used for Laundry 1897-1917
Clinical Laboratory 1917-1925
Wood Utilization Laboratory 1926

3.	 Nurses & Service 1898-1916
Orthopedic 1917-1923
TB Ward 1925-1931

11.	 Psychopathic Hospital 1906-1939
East Hospital 1939-1944
Beal Residence 1944

4.	 Bakery 1911-1925

12. & 13. Maternity Ward 1908-1925
Ward Helpers’ Cottages 1925-1940

5.	 Heating Plant 1891-1897
6.	 Housekeeping 1918-1947
7.	 Office of Social Services 1923-1925
Special Projects Research Building
1925-1951

14.	 First Laundry 1891-1898
First Contagious Ward 1898-1914
15.	 Dermatology Ward 1916-1932

199

19.	 Interns’ Home 1914-1941
Heredity Clinic 1944
Removed 1969

21.	 Sanitary Experimental Station
1914-1929
	
Pigeon Loft 1929-1948
Wood Laboratory Storage 1948
22.	 Pemberton-Welch Nurses’ Residence
1921-1956
23.	 Contagious Diseases House 1914
Removed 1956

Medical School Buildings

The first Medical Building was completed in 1850, with an addition in 1864. The Medical Department obtained the funds to build a new
and much larger building in 1903. The original building served the University for over 50 years. The 1864 addition proved so dangerous
and ill-adapted that on the completion of the new building, it was no longer used for classes. On August 12, 1911 a fire broke out on the
third floor of the addition wing of the original building, destroying the west half of the building. The front was saved only to be razed in
1914, to the regret of all medical alumni who had raised funds to save the building and adapt it for modern conditions of instruction.
The Anatomical Laboratory, completed
in 1889, gave the medical students better
facilities to study anatomy.

Original Medical Building (left) 1850 & 1864 - New Medical Building (right) 1903

1903

Anatomical Laboratory - 1889

New Medical Building

New Medical Building - West Medical

1925

East Medical

The East Medical Building stood
at the angle formed by the junction
of East University and Washtenaw
Avenues. The building was completed in February of 1925. The
University Buildings and Grounds
Department acted as contractors,
and Albert Kahn of Detroit was
the architect. Dark red brick faced
with white stone trim emphasized
its straight unadorned lines and
helped achieve harmony with the
East Engineering Building just to
the south.

The building was designed
for work in anatomy, with a
completely equipped morgue.
The Department of Bacteriology
was given special lighted space
for research. Space was allotted
for photographic rooms, general
research rooms for advanced
students, and classrooms and large
lecture rooms. A gross anatomy
laboratory was provided for
dentistry and physical education
students.

East Medical Building

200

1925

University Hospital

Although the Medical School and its clinical activities had outgrown the Catherine Street complex by the early 1900s, the building
of a new hospital was delayed for several years. At first the plan was to construct the new hospital in units or sections, costing about
$350,000 each, as the money was appropriated. This did not prove feasible, and the entrance of the United States into World War
I further delayed the progress of the building. The construction proceeded slowly as funds were made available. New patients were
moved into the new hospital in August of 1925. The new hospital was nine stories high, with six stories available for patients and the
balance used for hospital service such as kitchens, hospital stores, dining rooms, cafeterias, clothes storage, etc.

1

2
3

University Hospital (Old Main)

4

Hospital (1) Surgery (2) Neuropsychiatric (3) Interns’ Residence (4)

In 1931 two additional stories were added to the hospital, allowing the addition of 98 beds devoted to the care and treatment of tuberculosis.
Incorporated in the addition were a light therapy room and a number of laboratories. In 1939 a surgical wing was added behind the hospital,
providing a pathology museum, two amphitheaters, bacteriology laboratory, clinical laboratory, serology laboratory, library, eleven operating
rooms, a number of lecture rooms, and ninety-two private rooms for patients. An eighty-five bed neuropsychiatric wing was also added.

University Hospital with Two-Story Addition - Simpson Institute (left)

1958 & 1969

The Medical School Moves to the Hospital Complex

The Medical School was located
on the central campus for over 100
years. In 1958 the move began to
relocate the school nearer to the
University Hospital when the
first unit of the Medical Science
Building was ready for occupancy.
This building provided adequate
accommodations for the departments of Pathology, Biological
Chemistry, and Pharmacology, all
of which, with the Medical School
Administration, were moved into
the new quarters from the West
Medical Building.

(1)

(3)

(2)

Medical Science I (1) Medical Science II (2) University Hospital (3)

201

The Medical Science Building II
was completed in July of 1969.
This unit housed the departments of Anatomy, Genetics,
Microbiology, and Physiology. It
also provided instructional facilities to meet the needs of increased
enrollment, plus research areas
for both faculty and students.
This brought together for the first
time all of the Medical School
Departments in one area. Both
Medical Science I and Medical
Science II were connected by a
bridge to the Main Hospital.

202

203

(2)

204

(1)

205

The Replacement Hospital Project
The most ambitious Medical Center project was the Replacement Hospital, a new 954-bed hospital to replace “Old Main,” the old University
Hospital. This $300 million project faced considerable political resistance from around the state, and its size required an entirely new funding
mechanism. The state created a State Building Authority which could sell bonds ($173 million worth) that would be paid off over 30 years by
leasing the Hospital to the University, which received a $33 million/year appropriation to pay the lease. The University also contributed $114
million of its own funds through bonding and gifts. This unusual approach became standard procedure for state-financed campus projects in the
1980s and beyond.

University Hospitals - 1986

In addition to the massive new hospital, the Medical Center built a new Child and Maternal Health Care Hospital to replace Mott Children’s and
Women’s Hospitals. The Kellogg Eye Center was opened, and a high-rise Cancer and Geriatrics Center was constructed. A trio of sophisticated
research laboratories, Medical Science Research Buildings I, II, and III, came on line to keep the Medical School at the forefront of biomedical
research.

Medical Research III - 1995

Cancer & Geriatrics - 1997

Kellogg Eye Center - 1985

Child & Maternal Care - 1990

As the Medical Center growth began to strain against the limits of its downtown Ann Arbor site, the University Hospitals acquired a large site
northeast of Ann Arbor and began to develop its East Medical Campus to respond to the need for additional primary care facilities. It also
developed new primary care facilities throughout southeastern Michigan, including a major concentration in the Briarwood area in south Ann
Arbor. During the 1990s the University explored the merger of its Medical Center with those of the Sisters of Mercy, including St. Joseph’s Mercy
Hospital near the East Medical Campus, with the aim of creating a major concentration of world-class health care comparable to the Mayo Clinic
in Rochester, MN. However, after careful consideration, the Regents decided to continue on the current track.

East Medical - 1996

The total cost of the expansion during the 1980s was almost $1 billion, and it paid off handsomely by creating one of the most profitable medical
centers in the nation throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Since the University owned contiguous property connecting the East Medical Campus,
North Campus, the Medical Center, Central Campus, the Athletic Campus, and the Briarwood Shopping Center on the south of Ann Arbor, the
possibility of a light rail system connecting these points and providing a transportation network into the city was also explored in the 1990s, but
abandoned by a new administration.

206

21st-Century Hospital Complex
At the dawn of the new millennium, the Medical Complex continues to grow with the need for more research and patient-care facilities. New building activity includes the Cardiovascular Center, C. S. Mott Children’s & Women’s Hospital, Rachel Upjohn Depression
Center, and a new Biosciences Building, along with the Life Sciences Institute Buildings.

Cardiovascular Center

Rachel Upjohn Depression Center - East Medical Campus

C. S. Mott Children’s & Women’s Hospital

Biosciences Building

Life Sciences Instutute

207

208

LAW

Founded in 1859, the Department of Law awarded its first Bachelor of Laws
degrees in 1860. In 1870, Michigan became the second American university
to confer a law degree on an African-American candidate, and in 1871,
the first U. S. university to award a law degree to a woman. A national
law school from its earliest years, the School’s graduates work in every
state of the Union and in more than seventy-five countries, in business,
as practitioners and professors, as legislators and members of Congress,
and as distinguished civil servants and members of the judiciary.

209

1859

1863

Law Department

The Law Department was the third academic unit specified in the organic act of 1837, but it was not established until 1859. For
the first four years classes were held in the Chapel, and the Law Library was housed in the Library Room in Mason Hall.

Mason Hall and South College

Law Building

The Law Department grew rapidly, and it soon became apparent that more ample quarters would be necessary. The Law
Building, completed in 1863, served for instruction in law and also housed the University Chapel and the University Library.

1893

Law Building Addition
In 1893 an addition was made to the Law Building including class and lecture rooms. A tower was also added on the northwest
corner. This gave some relief to the growing department, but within a few years further expansion became necessary following
the addition of a third year to the law curriculum.

210

1898

Law Building - Second Addition

In 1898 a second addition project was undertaken resulting in a totally new look to the Law Building. While many of the rooms
in the old building were retained, the exterior was completely altered to form a rectangular building, faced with sandstone on
the first story and light-pressed brick on the upper two stories.

Law Building Addition 1898

The tower was removed, and a new wing was added, providing two lecture rooms in addition to the old lecture room on the
first floor. Offices for the Dean and the Secretary of the University were in the north wing, and a series of offices for other staff
members occupied the central front of the building. A room for the Regents was also included in the south wing. Here the
Board met regularly for more than thirty-five years.

211

1920s

The Law Quadrangle

The continued growth of the Law School in both size and reputation was enabled by perhaps the most remarkable gift in the
University’s history: William Cook’s funding of a new complex for the school, the Law Quadrangle, and an accompanying
endowment that would greatly benefit the school in the years to come. Although Cook had already provided the funds necessary
for a women’s residence hall named after his mother, Martha Cook, his real interest was in the Law School. Although his
original intent was to endow a professorship in corporate law, his generosity soon expanded to provide the funds for an entirely
new quadrangle of Gothic-style buildings.

William Wilson Cook

William Wilson Cook ’80, ’82l
was born in Hillsdale, Michigan,
April 16, 1858. He attended
public schools in Hillsdale and
the preparatory department of
Hillsdale College. After receiving
his degrees from Michigan,
he worked in the law firm of
William B. Coudert in New York.
He retired from practice in 1921
to do research and write. In 1924
Cook’s fortune was estimated
to be $20 to $30 million. After
a brief marriage and divorce
he lived alone, in his New York
townhouse and his estate at Port
Chester, New York.

Dormitory Wing, Lawyers Club and Dining Hall

Lawyers Club
Four buildings were completed during the decade of 1923-33: Lawyers Club, Dormitory Wing, John P. Cook Dormitory,
and Legal Research. The buildings in the Tudor Gothic style recalled the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge and the Inns
of Court in London. The demands of modern life and academic programs, however, necessitated many departures from
English precedent. The buildings were constructed of Weymouth seam-faced granite, trimmed with Indiana limestone.
The Lawyers Club, completed in 1924, included a lounge, recreation room, offices, guest rooms, dining hall, and kitchen.
The lounge was Renaissance in style, with a high-vaulted plastered ceiling and a floor of wide white oak fastened with dowels.
The lounge was used by students living in the Quadrangle. A large game room and cloakrooms were located below the main
lounge. Eight well-furnished and comfortable guest rooms on the second floor provided accommodations for visiting lawyers
who wished to utilize the research facilities of the Law School. The Lawyers Club also housed a faculty dining room with
beautiful furnishings and an ornamental fireplace.

Faculty Dining Room

Lawyers Club Lounge

212

Dining Hall
The dining hall resembled the chapel at Eton. Eighteen large windows of cathedral glass with English Gothic tracery graced
the hall. Beams carved from old oak ship-timbers sustained the hammer-beamed ceiling. On the beams were carved the heads
of famous jurists. This magnificent room accommodated 300 at heavy oak refectory tables. The floor was of inlaid marbles of
different hues, and the walls were of Indiana limestone with dark oak-paneled wainscoting. Massive oak-bound studded doors
opened onto the court and into the connecting lobby. Turrets marked each corner of the massive structure.

Dormitory Wing
The dormitory wing extended for two blocks eastward from the Lawyers Club Building on South University and provided
accommodations for 197 students. The tower with its four turrets and Byzantine spires contained suites of student rooms.
Chimneys in groups of four rose above the nine sections. The peaked gabled roof was covered with vari-hued slate shingles.
Separate entrances were marked by medieval lanterns with section letters in the glass.

John P. Cook Dormitory

The John P. Cook Building was built in memory of
William Cook’s father. The dormitory opened in the
fall of 1930 and housed 152 students. A memorial
room with carved, paneled oak walls and stainedglass windows contained a full-length portrait of
John Cook by Henry Daro-Delvaille.

John P. Cook

Dormitory Wing (left) John P. Cook Wing (right)

213

1931

William W. Cook Legal Research

The William W. Cook Legal Research Building opened in 1931 and was the most striking building of the Law Quadrangle.
Reminiscent of the chapel of Kings College, Cambridge, the Gothic spirit imparted a rugged and individual beauty to the
structure, with its massive pentacle towers, and tracery windows that extended the length of the building. Seals of the various
states were carved on the towers and the ends of the building.

William W. Cook Legal Research

The reading room gave an impression of architectural and decorative
splendor. The vast paneled library seated 500. The ceiling was its
most beautiful and interesting feature. Constructed of large plaster
medallions paneled and decorated in blue and gold, with heavy tiebeams at the ends of which were carved figures which held escutcheons
bearing coats of arms of various heraldic designs. The stone walls
were paneled in carved oak to the height of 15 feet, above which high
windows of tinted glass, bearing seals of the colleges and universities of
the world, cast a soft light.
At the rear of the main reading room was a delivery desk from which
passages gave access to the tiers of stack rooms. This part of the building,
of separate construction, was originally six book levels in height, and
held approximately 210,000 volumes. In 1955 the stacks structure
was increased to ten levels with a total book capacity of approximately
350,000 volumes.

Immediately above the reading
room, or the floor corresponding
to the ninth stack level, were
thirty-two offices for the use of
visiting lawyers, members of the
faculty, and research workers.
One of these rooms contained
the private library of the donor,
William W. Cook, arranged as
nearly as possible as it was in his
New York home, with the original
furniture and decorations.

Over most of the entrances to the
main buildings, as well as over
many of the interior doorways,
were carved texts taken from
many sources, some from the will
of Mr. Cook and others from the
writings of great jurists.

William Cook’s Library

214

1933

Hutchins Hall

Hutchins Hall was completed in 1933 and contained the administrative offices, lecture, class, and seminar rooms of the Law
School. The building had two wings, standing on the corner of Monroe and State Streets. There were nine classrooms seating
from fifty to 265 students. In the first floor corridors a series of stained glass cartoons humorously portrayed various problems
with which the law is confronted. The second floor housed a practice courtroom furnished with jury box, witness box, judge’s
bench, and benches for sixty auditors, modeled after the court of the Lord Chief Justice of the King’s Bench in England.

At the request of Mr. Cook, the
classroom building was named
in honor of Harry B. Hutchins,
Dean of the Law School from
1895 to 1910, interim President
in 1909, and President of the
University from 1910 to 1920.

Hutchins Hall

Harry B. Hutchins

The Law School faced a major decision in the 1970s when the additional revenue associated with increasing enrollments was
invested in improving faculty salaries and scholarly environment rather than increasing faculty size. As a consequence, the Law
School was able to hire a cadre of young faculty of extraordinary quality, catapulting the reputation of the school to a position of national leadership. Although the Law School quadrangle showed little change over the years, in 1981 one of the most
remarkable projects was the Allan and Alene Smith Library Addition, an underground facility carefully constructed to preserve
the Gothic architecture of the School. Allan Smith, member of the law faculty, also served as dean of law, provost, and interim
president in 1979.

1981

Allan & Alene Smith Library

Allan Smith

Alene Smith

Library Interior

Looking from the Underground Library to Legal Research

215

The Operating Room in the Dental Building on South University - The only light was provided from the windows.

The Dental Clinic, 1897, in the Third Dental Building (the former Pavilion Hospital)

216

DENTISTRY

Established in 1875, the College of Dental Surgery first granted the
professional degree, Doctor of Dental Surgery, the following year. A
national leader in the training of professional dentists and active in oral
and craniofacial research, the School offers the Doctor of Dental Surgery,
master’s degrees, and graduate clinical programs in the dental specialties
and general dentistry. A Ph.D. is offered in oral health sciences and in an
interdepartmental program in biomaterials. The School of Dentistry also
offers baccalaureate and master’s programs in dental hygiene.
217

1875

College of Dental Surgery

On May 12, 1875 a Regents’ resolution was passed providing for a College of Dental Surgery, consisting of two professorships.
Jonathan Taft was appointed Professor of Principles and Practice of Operative Dentistry, and John A. Watling as Professor of
Clinical and Mechanical Dentistry. The College of Dental Surgery was established in 1875, the same year as the Homeopathic
Medical School. Both schools were given quarters in the west Professors’ House on North University Avenue.

John Andrew Watling

Jonathan Taft

John Watling practiced dentistry
from 1860 until 1904 in Ypsilanti.
In 1875 he was appointed a
member of the original Faculty
of the College of Dental Surgery
He resigned his faculty position in
1903.

Jonathan Taft served as Dean
of the College of Dental Surgery
from 1875 to 1903. The college
steadily advanced in favor at
home and abroad and was ranked
among the foremost dental schools
in the world.

1877

College of Dental Surgery and Homeopathic Medical School - 1875
West Professors’ House on North University - facing Diag

Dental Building on South University

In 1877 the College of Dental Surgery moved to the east Professors’
House on South University. Professor Frieze was the last professor to
occupy this house. The house was refitted and arranged for classes. It
was to be ready by October 1, at a cost of not more than $1,000.

The School continued to grow rapidly, and in the winter of 1878 an
addition was completed. This provided a new laboratory and lecture
room. The old lecture room was converted into a dental museum. The
legislature appropriated $3,250.

College of Dental Surgery 1877

College of Dental Surgery Addition 1878

1891

College of Dental Surgery Moves to the Pavilion Hospital
In 1891 the College of Dental Surgery moved into the Pavilion Hospital on North University when the University Hospital
moved into its new building on Catherine Street. The newly renovated quarters proved satisfactory, and the School found itself
able to provide for the increasing number of students. At first the course of dental study was two years of six months each. In
October of 1884 the terms were lengthened to nine months, and in 1889 a third term of the same length was added.

Pavilion Hospital

218

Clinical & Classroom Facilities in the Pavilion Hospital

For more than thirty years the Dental School was forced to shift from one building to another. The School has the distinction of
having occupied three of the four original Professors’ Houses. For many years Henry Perheld managed the Dental Buildings.

Clinical Facilities

1908

Henry Perheld
Dental Building Manager

Dental Students 1897

New Dental Building on North University
In 1903 President Angell stated that “an entirely new building was needed for the Dental Department which is wretchedly
housed” (Regents’ Proceedings, 1901-6, p. 225). Funds were obtained and a new building for the Dental School was completed in
1908. An addition was completed in 1923.

New Dental School Building 1908

1937

Clinical Facilities

Dental Building Addition 1923

W. K. Kellogg Institute of Graduate & Postgraduate Dentistry
The first graduate dental student
in the United States enrolled in the
College of Dental Surgery of the
University of Michigan in 1894.

Kellogg Instutute for Graduate & Postgraduate Dentistry

In 1937 the W. K. Kellogg Foundation
provided funds which increased
the teaching facilities of the School
in an effort to meet the growing
demands for postgraduate study.
All undergraduate teaching, with
the exception of oral surgery and
dentistry for children, was conducted
in the Dental Building.

219

Dental Building

1971

The New Dental School Building

As dental practice continued to evolve, the Dental School created eight new departments to add to the existing ten
departments. With expanding programs and enrollments, it was clear by the 1950s that a new building was necessary,
and planning was begun. But funding was not made available until the late 1960s, by which time the size of the school
had grown from 16 to 105 full-time faculty with staff growth from 107 to 408. Dean William Mann was finally able to
win state support for a new Dental Building, completed in 1971 at a cost of $18 million.

220

Even as the School of Dentistry was building the largest state-funded building in the University’s history, the very
nature of dental care was changing rapidly with the introduction of fluoride treatments that dramatically reduced
the incidence of dental caries. Enrollments began to plummet, and the effective cost of dental education rose
dramatically. It was clear by the late 1990s that the School faced a major challenge of restructuring, developing a
practice plan to augment funding, and building stronger research relationships with other academic units.

“The Tooth Fairy” A sculpture by Bill Barrett ́60 mfa, in the Dental School Courtyard

221

Students in Chemistry Classes & Laboratories

222

PHARMACY

Established as a department in 1868, Pharmacy became an independent
unit in 1876, the first in any university in the United States. The College
offers the Doctor of Pharmacy degree; baccalaureate programs
in medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical sciences; and Master of
Science and Doctor of Philosophy programs in medicinal chemistry,
pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical chemistry, and pharmacy. Major areas of
research include the biological, chemical, clinical, and social aspects of
drugs and therapeutic agents. The College consistently ranks among the
top pharmacy schools in the nation.
223

1839

Pharmacy Course in the Department of Literature, Science & the Arts

In 1837 Douglas Houghton was appointed State Geologist. In October of 1839 he
was appointed Professor of Geology and Mineralogy. He was also charged with the
subjects of Chemistry and Pharmacy. Houghton probably did not conduct regular
classes, although he did make contributions to the scientific collections of the University.
He lost his life in a storm on Lake Superior on October 1, 1845 while on a geological
survey of the Upper Peninsula.

Douglas Houghton

1844

In 1844 Silas Douglas (Douglas Houghton’s cousin) was appointed assistant in chemistry. Douglas was
placed in charge of the Chemistry Department after his cousin’s death in 1845 and continued in this
capacity for the next thirty-two years. Douglas also played a major role in establishing the Medical School
and teaching chemistry to medical students. From 1851 to 1855 he held the title of Professor of Chemistry,
Pharmacy, Medical Jurisprudence, Geology and Mineralogy, and from 1855 to 1870, Professor of Chemistry,
Mineralogy, Pharmacy, and Toxicology.
Silas H. Douglas could be considered to have held the first directorship of the work in pharmacy at the
University. It was while the Chemical Laboratory was under his guidance that the first courses in pharmacy
were developed and the groundwork was laid for the establishment of the independent department.
Silas Douglas

1860

First Laboratory Course in Pharmacy
There were four lectures a week in chemistry and pharmacy during the first semester and three lectures a week in chemistry
during the second semester. The instruction included fifteen lectures in organic chemistry, which was all that could be devoted
in this branch at the time because of the limitations of the science. The lectures on Pharmacy were directly connected with
those on Chemistry, a natural if not a necessary association. There were also courses given in Analytical Chemistry and
Practical Pharmacy (Chemical Technology).
The University’s first laboratory course in pharmacy was established in 1860 and described as work in pharmaceutical preparations intended for students of medicine but also as general practical training in applied science. Pharmacy was a special course
in the Department of Literature, Science and the Arts.

1863
In 1863 the staff of the Department of Chemistry consisted of
Professor Douglas and two assistants, Albert Benjamin Prescott and
Henry Sylvester Cheever. Both men received their initial appointments
while students at the University.

Albert Benjamin Prescott

1868

Henry Sylvester Cheever

A Pharmacy Degree in LS&A

When work for the degree of pharmaceutical chemist was first offered in 1868, no requirements for admission were listed. On December 14, 1868
interest in pharmacy had reached such a point that the LS&A faculty made two important decisions: First, a separate list of the Pharmaceutical
Chemistry Students was developed, and second, a committee was appointed to consider forming a course for a degree of Pharmaceutical
Chemist. On December 22, 1868 authority was granted to establish a full course of study in pharmacy and to grant a certificate of graduation to
students who completed the work. The Catalogue for 1869-70 listed twenty-three men who had received degrees as pharmaceutical chemists.

224

1873

Admission Requirements for Phamacy
The Calendar for 1873-74 made the first mention of admission requirements: “A good knowledge of the English language as
determined by written examination in the same.” It is interesting that the Medical School and Law School at the time had only
one additional provision: that the prospective student be at least eighteen years old.

1876

The School of Pharmacy was Established

The School of Pharmacy was established in 1876. Albert B. Prescott served as the first dean and held the
position until his death on February 25, 1905. Albert Prescott was born at New Hartford, New York in
1794. When he was nine years old he sustained an injury to his right knee resulting in years of suffering.
He studied with private tutors, especially with the aid of his sister, then a well-known teacher in central
New York. He was admitted to the University of Michigan in 1861. He studied Chemistry and Medicine
and in 1864 received his Doctor of Medicine degree. After a brief period serving in the medical service
in the United States Army he returned to Michigan to begin what would become a distinguished career in
Chemistry and Pharmacy.

Albert Benjamin Prescott

1880
In September of 1880 the admissions requirements exceeded those of any other pharmacy school of that period. Applicants
were required either to graduate from “graded high schools or equivalent institutions,” or to have completed one year’s study
of Latin or German and to pass examinations in English, arithmetic, and algebra. Dean Prescott was interested in having his
students in pharmacy remain in Ann Arbor to continue research and study after graduation. As early as 1881 a “Resident
Graduate” and “Post-Graduate Studies” were described, and in 1882 a masters of pharmacy with original research was listed.

1895
In May of 1895 a four-year curriculum leading to the degree of bachelor of science was authorized by the Regents. It was intended to supplement,
not to replace, the existing two-year course. The two-year curriculum for the degree of pharmaceutical chemist was lengthened in 1913 to three
years. The two-year course leading to the degree of graduate in pharmacy was maintained; however, owing to lack of interest it was abandoned
after 1919. To conform with the regulations of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, the school discontinued the three-year course
leading to the degree of pharmaceutical chemist after 1932. The Announcement for 1913-14 outlined for the first time the graduate program basically
as it continues today, under the administration of the Graduate Department, now the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies.

1915

College of Pharmacy

In 1915 the School of Pharmacy was renamed the College of Pharmacy, to conform to the University policy adopted at that time to use “college”
for academic programs admitting students directly from secondary school.

1938
After January 1, 1938 every applicant for a pharmacist’s certificate had to provide evidence of graduation from an “accredited school or college
of pharmacy.” This regulation meant completion of a four-year course, since national accreditation was granted only to schools that awarded
the bachelor of science in pharmacy.

225

Pharmacy Classes were Held in the Chemical Laboratories
The Chemical Laboratory for Professor Douglas was first set up in the University Building (Mason Hall), probably in 1844. In 1848 it was
moved to South College where it remained until the completion in 1850 of the first “Laboratory Building,” which eventually became known as
the Medical Building. The Chemical Laboratory opened in 1856. Dr. Douglas drew the plans for both the Medical Building and the Chemical
Laboratory. He also superintended both constructions. The Chemical Laboratory was a one-story structure equipped with 26 laboratory tables,
and was the first structure on the North American continent to be designed and equipped solely for instruction in chemistry. (Other chemical
laboratories for instruction of students existed, but they had been adapted from structures built for other uses.)

Mason Hall & South College

Medical Building

Chemical Laboratory

Within a year after the Laboratory’s completion, Dr. Douglas, realizing the need of gas in chemical work, organized the Ann Arbor Gas Company.
He was permitted in June of 1858 to lay gas pipes from the street to the laboratory at his own expense and to charge students for the use of gas.
Six months later, permission to use gas in the Medical Building was granted under similar conditions. The title to all gas pipes laid upon the
University grounds and in its buildings was acquired by the University in 1860 by the payment of $350 to Dr. Douglas.
President Tappan, in his report for 1856-57, referred to the new analytical laboratory as “the most complete and efficient in our country.”
However, additions soon became necessary due to the natural growth of the University and particularly the development of professional training
in dentistry, engineering, medicine, and pharmacy, together with enhanced interest in chemistry for teacher training and as a profession distinct
from engineering.
In 1880 a Laboratory of General
Chemistry was set up, and a fifth
addition in the form of a second
story was made to the building.

Seven additions were made: in
1861, 1866, 1868, 1874, 1880,
1888, and 1901.
The 1868 addition, which added
135 tables, coincided with the
establishment of curriculums in
pharmacy.
The 1874 addition added a wing
of 95x30 feet just prior to the
establishment of the School of
Pharmacy in 1876.

1

The 1888 addition on the west
end provided tables for 80
students, three lecture rooms, and
a pharmaceutical and chemical
museum. In 1901 a seventh and
final addition was made, bringing
the number of laboratory tables
to 361.
2

3

6

4

226

5

Because of its additions, the building was very irregular in plan. The main section, Pharmacology, on the north, included
the original laboratory of 1856; an L-shaped wing on the south. Although the building was originally intended to provide
laboratory space for work in analytical chemistry, it was also used later for organic chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry,
chemical technology, and (until 1890) electrotherapeutics.
Since it had not been possible to adhere to a definite structural plan in adding units to the building, the laboratory was quite
haphazard. It was not fireproof, lacked adequate ventilation, and almost completely lacked sanitary facilities.
As enrollment continued to climb, a new building became necessary. The new Chemistry Building, with 634 tables, was
occupied in 1909. With the completion of the new building, the chemical laboratories were moved. The southern wing of
the old Chemical Laboratory, which was in effect a separate building, was taken over by the Department of Economics, while
the Department of Pharmacology occupied the northern wing.

Chemical Laboratories Complex
Department of Pharmacology (left), Department of Economics (right)

227

1909

The facilities available for pharmacy entered a second period of
advancement when in 1909 the new Chemistry Laboratory was
completed. Pharmacy occupied space on the second and third floors.

1947

Additional space was provided in 1947 with the completion of the
addition to the Chemistry Building and a modification of the facilities
in the old section of the buildings.

In 1989, the Willard Dow Chemistry Laboratory opened.

Chemistry Buildings - Dow Laboratory (left)

1960s

In the 1950s lack of space became a critical problem restricting graduate
enrollment. In 1960 the Pharmacy Research Building was completed. The fourstory structure contained graduate student laboratories and such specialized
facilities as product development and manufacturing laboratories and sterile
solution, radio-isotope, animal, instrument, and drug milliner rooms. In 1960 all
American colleges of pharmacy were required to change to a five-year program
leading to the B.S. degree in Pharmacy.

Pharmacy Research Building

1970s

In 1971 the College remodeled the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors of the Washtenaw
Avenue wing of the C. C. Little Building (formerly the East Medical Building). The
new Walgreen Pharmaceutical Center in the renovated space included a modern
professional practice laboratory, a library-conference room, and service facilities.
This gave the College of Pharmacy more than four times the space it had before.
Although one of the oldest academic units, the College of Pharmacy was also
undergoing major changes similar to those affecting the rest of health care. In the
1970s the College introduced the Pharm.D. as the primary degree for pharmaceutical
practice, shifting its attention more to graduate education and research.
East Medical (C. C. Little)

228

Museums & Botanical Gardens

A museum of chemical and pharmaceutical interest was installed in the Chemical Laboratory in connection with the addition
to the Laboratory in 1888. When the School of Pharmacy moved to the new Chemistry Building in 1909, the museum was
moved to the third floor at the southwest corner of the building. The museum served a valuable function as a teaching aid.
The School of Pharmacy was interested in a botanical garden before the turn of the century and was largely responsible for
the first actual establishment of the garden on the campus. The garden in 1897 occupied the ground between the Library, the
Physics Laboratory, and the Chemical Laboratory. Each member of the pharmacy class of 1899 selected and paid for a tree
of medicinal or economic importance to be planted. In the 1900-1901 Announcement, the garden was described as including
medicinal species and experimental planting for use by classes in pharmacognosy, pharmacy, and materia medica. The 1907-08
Announcement records the transfer of the Botanical Gardens to the University’s newly acquired Nichols Arboretum and the plan
to reserve a part of the Arboretum for a medicinal garden and for experimental planting.

Botanical Garden Beside the Library

Botanical Garden in Front of the Engineering Shops

During World War I, under the direction of Henry Kraemer, the practical work in pharmacognosy was expanded. In the
summer of 1918, 25,000 plants, representing more than fifty different species, were grown. During the summer of 1919 this
work was continued through the contributions and interest of Frederick Stearns and Company. The plants were sold and used
to supply material for teaching and research. The work described by Kraemer was carried on in cooperation with the Botanical
Gardens at their location near Packard Road.

Proposed Plans for the Botanical Gardens on Packard Road

229

Engineering - Central Campus - circa 1920s

Engineering - North Campus - 2000
230

Engineering

Engineering Education at Michigan began with a class in civil engineering in
1854. The Engineering Department separated from LS&A in 1895 and was
renamed the College of Engineering in 1915. The College has been a leader
in establishing new departments in emerging fields, including metallurgy,
navel architecture, chemical engineering, aeronautical engineering, nuclear
engineering, and electrical and computer engineering. Today the College
of Engineering is an international institution with Michigan graduates
practicing engineering in every corner of the world.

231

1853

Engineering Began as a Department in Literature, Science & the Arts
Alexander Winchell was the first faculty member to teach an engineering
course at Michigan. Winchell was appointed professor of physics and civil
engineering in 1853, upon the recommendation of faculty member Erastus
Haven. His first “engineering course” at Michigan was, in reality, simply an
introduction to English composition for engineering students. (Professors at
this time frequently designated their courses by an abbreviation of the name
of the text used. Since Winchell used a textbook, “Aids to English Composition”
by Parker, his first course was entitled “Parker’s Aids.”) The first engineering
classes were held in several rooms in South College.

Alexander Winchell

South College

1855
Alexander Winchell was succeeded by William Guy
Peck (Brevet 2nd Lt. of Topographical Engineers,
U.S.M.A.). After graduating from the United States
Military Academy in 1844 at the head of his class,
William Peck was assigned to the topographical
engineers. He mapped the Territory of New Mexico
in the fall of 1846 with James Abert. This portrait of
William Peck was done in 1845 by Abert.

Peck was assistant professor of natural philosophy at
West Point in 1846 and of mathematics from 18471855, when he resigned from the army. He served
as professor of physics and civil engineering in the
University of Michigan from 1855-1857. In 1857 he
became adjunct professor of mathematics at Columbia
and from 1861 held the chair of mathematics,
mechanics, and astronomy.
William Guy Peck

1857

Wood introduced himself to President Tappan.
Since Professor Peck was on leave, Wood was asked
to substitute for a few days. He rented a room in a
boarding house, promising to pay as soon as he was
paid. Since Peck did not return, Wood was appointed
assistant professor of civil engineering.

DeVolson Wood is considered to be the true founder
of the engineering curriculum at Michigan. He was
born in 1832 on a farm near Smyrna, New York,
and was a teacher from the age of seventeen until
his death at sixty-five. He taught while he attended
Albany Normal School and Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute, undergoing great hardship in order to secure
an education.
In 1857 he set out for Chicago where he had heard
there was a teaching vacancy in engineering. However,
when he ran short of money in Detroit, he left his
baggage and walked on to Ann Arbor.

Wood proposed, designed, and essentially taught
single-handedly a four-year curriculum in civil
engineering. This program was offered through
a department of engineering established in 1858
within the Literary Department.
DeVolson Wood

(2)

(1)
Books on engineering were housed
in the University Library, and
students did most of their reading
there.

Military engineering and tactics
were included in the University
curriculum in 1861. However,
because of the Civil War, no
professor was available, so Wood
also lectured on these subjects.
Wood felt that the lecture system
was a comparatively slow way to
learn and should be resorted to
only when satisfactory textbooks
were not available.
Law Building (left), Mason Hall (center), South College (right)
The library was located in the University Building (Mason Hall). (1)
The library moved to the Law Building in 1863. (2)

232

DeVolson Wood resigned in 1872
to go to the Stevens Institute of
Technology, where he taught
until his death in 1897. Upon his
departure, engineering instruction
was guided by three newly
appointed faculty, Davis, Greene,
and Denison.

The early engineering courses were developed on a foundation of instruction
in science and humanities in the Literary
College. Instruction in surveying began in
the sophomore year, first with classroom
exercises based on the primary texts of
that time. After two months of classroom
exercises, students were then introduced
to the practical aspects of surveying
through field exercises. The goal was not
to make students expert surveyors, but
rather to teach them the principles involved in surveying.

The student used the axe and chains; carried the flag; used the compass, the transit, and the theodolite; computed his work
from his field notes; and made a plate of
it. Neatness and accuracy in the reports
were required. After Land Surveying, the
class took up geometrical drawing, tinting
and shading. The students worked two
hours a day on this subject in the drawing room under the supervision of an instructor. No one was allowed to pass who
could not construct his thesis correctly
and tint and shade it neatly.
Surveying Class

Early Engineering Faculty

Joseph Davis
Civil

Charles Greene
Civil

Charles Denison
Civil & Drawing

Silas Douglas
Metallurgy & Chemical

William Pettee
Mining

Stillman Robinson
Mechanical

Mortimer Cooley
Mechanical

1882

1883

In October of 1881, an appropriation of $2,500 was made for an
engineering laboratory. $1,500 was spent for the building and the
balance for equipment. The first Engineering Shop was twenty-four
feet by thirty-six feet, constructed of bricks placed edgewise and nailed
to the studding. It was the first fireproof building on campus.

“The first little engineering shop was immediately overcrowded; a year or two later
we moved alongside it an old wooden building which had been used as a shop for
making museum cases when the old museum was built. It had originally been placed
where the old Physics Building now stands. It was to be moved off the campus, and
I begged it of the Regents, together with the machinery used for making the museum
cases.” Mortimer Cooley (Scientific Blacksmith, p. 101)

Scientific Blacksmith Shop

Scientific Blacksmith Shop and Woodworking Shop

“At the west end of this little building was the forge shop, at the east end was the
foundry. On the second floor was the pattern shop and machine shop. Stairs to the
second floor were in the northwest corner, with a landing part way up. The little
vertical four horsepower engine was in the angle of the stairway. The belt was
vertical and passed through the floor to the more than thirty feet of shafting and
pulleys at the ceiling of the second floor. The iron lathe was found in the basement
of old University Hall and tinkered up for use. I made the wood lathe myself; it had
a bed and cone pulleys of wood.

Cooley knew something about blacksmithing and woodworking but not
the operation of a foundry. He hired Bob Winslow, who worked at the
foundry on Huron Street, to teach foundry practice.

The heating apparatus was an old fashioned regulator stove with a removable
top. A forge was built, and a small cupola erected. The cupola, twenty inches in
diameter and five or six feet high, was on the east side of the chimney in the center
of the building. Notwithstanding its size it worked well, and many castings in
molds fashioned from patterns were made on the floor above.” Mortimer Cooley
(Scientific Blacksmith, p. 104)

233

Mortimer Cooley (seated) and Bob Winslow
In the Woodworking Shop

1885

By 1885 additional space was needed for Engineering. The first unit of
the permanent brick Engineering Shop was built on the east side of the
original laboratory (the Scientific Blacksmith Shop) and connected with
it by a passage-way at the second-floor level.

1887

Within two years an expansion was needed. The new addition
contained offices, classrooms, drawing rooms, and laboratory
for testing machines, steam engines, water motors, and strength of
materials. On the west end was a one-story foundry and forge shop.

The Engineering Shop

New Engineering Shop Sketch

The Engineering Shops
With the tower and forge (right)

The early courses in mechanical engineering were concerned largely
with the design of machinery and with the technology of the workshop.
Practical instruction took place in shops rather than the laboratory.
The early emphasis on shop work was typical of the schools’ desire
to make their training as practical as possible, as was the tendency of
engineering teachers to demonstrate their competency by undertaking
collateral practice.

Engineering Shops Forge

When the University Library was torn down to make way for the New Library, Mortimer Cooley asked for the clock and chimes to be
put in the Engineering Shops Tower. The clock and chimes rang at 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. to signify the beginning and end of the
study day. When Burton Tower and the Baird Carillon were finished in 1936, the clock and chimes had outlived their usefulness.

The University Library
With Clock and Chimes

The bells were removed from the
Engineering Tower to be used as
scrap metal for WWII.
Demolition of the University
Library Tower, July, 1917

Engineering Shops
With Clock and Chimes

The Engineering Shops were used for over forty years, despite being condemned many times as a fire trap. In 1937
it was damaged by two fires in the laboratories. The building was torn down in 1956 when the new automotive
laboratory was completed on the North Campus. The Undergraduate Library was built on the site.

1891
With growing enrollments in
Engineering came the need
for more space. In 1891 the
engineers were given the use of
the building vacated by the Dental
College when it moved into the
former quarters of the Pavilion
Hospital on North University.
This building had been one of the
original Professors’ Houses.

A third story was added, the
entrance moved to the west side
of the new part and the word
“Engineering” was placed over
the doorway. There were fifteen
classrooms and several offices.
The building was used until 1922,
when it was removed to make
room for the Clements Library.
The Engineering Building

The Dental Building

234

1895

Engineering Becomes a Separate Department

In 1895 Engineering was separated from the Department of Literature, Science and the Arts and became
an independent department. Charles Greene and Mortimer Cooley were reluctant supporters of the
separation, believing that the engineer’s education should be as broad as possible and fearing that the
separation would tend to narrow it. In April of 1895 the Regents resolved that “A School of Technology be
organized, comprising the Departments of Civil, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering, and that Professor Charles E. Greene
be appointed Dean.”
Charles E. Greene

1903

Mortimer Cooley succeeded Charles Greene as Dean of Engineering in 1903. Cooley was the key player in the
rapid progress of the College of Engineering during the early decades of the 20th Century. During Cooley’s
tenure at Michigan both as a faculty member and then dean, enrollments in the College grew from less than
30 to more than 2,000, the faculty increased from three instructors teaching several courses to more than 160
professors and staff teaching hundreds of courses, and a temporary shop of 1,720 square feet expanded to over
500,000 square feet of well-equipped buildings.

Mortimer Cooley

In 1895, as the need for additional facilities became apparent in the face of expanding enrollments, Charles
Greene, the Dean of the Department, was asked to draw up plans for a new building. He suggested a small
U-shaped structure costing about $50,000. However, before his plans could be enacted, he died and was
succeeded by Mortimer Cooley. Merely as a matter of form, Cooley was asked his stand on the building
program. He replied: “Gentlemen, if you could but see the other engineering colleges with which we are forced to compete,
you would not hesitate for one moment to appropriate a quarter of a million dollars.” They did, and the New Engineering
Building was the result (Michigan Technic, December, 1929).

1904
In 1902 construction began on
the four-story structure known
for years as the New Engineering
Building and later renamed West
Engineering. The building was
completed in 1903 and opened
for classes in the fall of 1904.
The New Engineering Building
was planned for 600 students. By
the time the building opened there
were 828 students, and the new
facility was almost immediately
overcrowded.

New Engineering Building Courtyard

New Engineering Building

Charles Simeon Denison

In 1910 the Building was extended
one hundred feet over the Naval
Tank, as was provided in the
original plans. The Naval Tank
in the New Engineering Building
was the only one in this country,
aside from the government’s tank
in Washington, D.C. Equipment
was available for studies relating
to ship resistance, shallow-water
effect, streamline flow, wave
profiles, wake, and rolling, as well
as a model room and workshop
for making models of vessels.

Naval Towing Tank

The famous “Engineering Arch” in the New Engineering Building was
the contribution of an engineering professor, Charles Denison. When
he learned that architects were struggling to design the building without
interfering with the diagonal walk of the campus, he prepared a sketch
showing the diagonal walk passing through an archway in the building.
In his honor it was named “The Denison Archway,” and it later became
known as the “Engineering Arch.”

235

“The Denison Archway” Plaque

1922

The enrollment in Engineering
continued its rapid growth, from
400 in 1900 to 1,300 in 1910 to
over 2,000 in 1920. The capacity of
the New Engineering Building was
quickly exceeded by the rising student
numbers, and university laboratories
had to be housed in temporary
buildings around the campus. But
even with these short-term measures,
there was still not enough room, and
many engineering subjects had to be
dropped.

Engineering Buildings

Tappan School (right), Medical Building (left), on East University

1923

In 1922, as a stopgap measure
the University purchased the old
Tappan School building on East
University, renamed it East Hall,
and gave it to Engineering to house
its classes in non-technical subjects
such as Engineering English. This
old building had been constructed
in 1883 as a city school. The name
“Tappan School” remained on its
north face. It was condemned for
elementary school purposes by the
state fire inspectors in 1922 and thus
became available to the University.

East Engineering

The University responded to the needs of the College with plans for a large new building named East Engineering. Although this was originally
envisioned as a monumental structure designed to meet the needs of the College for decades to come, the final plans were far less ambitious and
would require further expansion in later years. Thirty houses on the property were removed to accommodate the East Engineering Building.
They were moved to other locations so that the University building program would not contribute to the loss of housing in Ann Arbor.

The first section of the East Engineering Building
East Hall (left), Firehouse (center), East Engineering (right)

Schematic Drawing for East Engineering
Only one section of the plan was actually built.

In the 1920s the buildings of the College of Engineering consisted of the West Engineering Annex
(Engineering Shops), West Engineering, The Old Power Plant, East Hall, and East Engineering.

Old Power Plant
Highway and Automobile Engineering

West Engineering, Engineering Shops
Old Heating Plant

West Engineering

East Hall

East Engineering

236

1940s
In the fall of 1941, just prior to World War II, the College was thought to have reached its enrollment capacity at 2,070. Yet
as the war ended and veteran students returned, the College’s enrollment had grown to over 4,500 by 1947, including 2,967
veterans. The dilemma facing the College was familiar: Either reduce enrollments or build new facilities. In 1944 the University
conducted an exhaustive study on how to meet the needs of the veterans returning to college from wartime service. The report
stated that “The University of Michigan commits itself to the proposition that the educational needs of war-service veterans and,
hence, of the community must be met to the fullest extent its facilities will allow.” A plan was developed for a major expansion
of the Engineering campus to meet the anticipated enrollment growth. This plan, shown below, envisioned the development of
an “Engineering Quadrangle” to the east of the campus, along with a major expansion of West Engineering (Michigan Alumnus,
December 18, 1943, p. 183).
Although the University did not have the capacity to launch the massive plan developed in 1944, it did commit the funds to
expand East Engineering.

Post War Planning

The “Engineering Quadrangle” West Engineering (blue), East Engineering (green)
The orange buildings are the additions and new proposed buildings.

1947

East Engineering Addition
The new addition opened in 1947 to
house the Departments of Electrical
and Aeronautical Engineering. Naval
Architecture and Civil Engineering
took over the vacated space in West
Engineering.

East Engineering Addition (right)

East Engineering Addition Classrooms

237

1950s & 1960s

Engineering’s Move to the North Campus

The first Engineering building to be completed on the North Campus was the Cooley Memorial Laboratory
in 1953, named in honor of Mortimer Cooley, dean of Engineering from 1903 - 1928. Much of the
classified research associated with Willow Run was conducted in the Cooley Laboratory.

Mortimer Cooley Memorial Laboratory

Although the College of Engineering was the first major University academic unit earmarked for moving to the North Campus, this objective
was soon set aside in preference to other University priorities. First, the School of Music was given a major new complex on the North Campus
in 1964, followed soon afterwards by the School of Architecture and Design, the North Campus Commons in 1965, and the Chrysler Center
for Continuing Engineering Education in 1971. The University also located other major research facilities on the North Campus, including the
Cyclotron Laboratory (Physics), the Institute of Science and Technology in 1963, and the Highway Safety Research Institute in 1965.

3
2

1

(1) Music School (2) North Campus Commons (3) Institute of Science and Technology

238

1970s & 1980s

Engineering’s Move to the North Campus

In the 1970s the College launched a major fund-raising campaign. The intention was to combine the proceeds with a match from
state funding to complete Engineering’s move to a new four-building complex on the North Campus. In this four-building plan, the
largest building, Engineering Building I would house Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, Civil Engineering, Industrial
and Operations Engineering, Humanities, and the College administration. Engineering Building II would contain Chemical and
Metallurgical Engineering. Engineering Building III would be for Electrical and Computer Engineering and Nuclear Engineering, and
Engineering Building IV would be for Naval Architecture (with a possible new towing tank on the North Campus).

The sketch to the left shows the location
of the proposed new buildings.

Amid great anticipation of the move to
the North Campus, this ad appeared in
the Michigan Technic, in February, 1974.

The fund-raising campaign was only a modest success because of the
weak American economy during the 1970s. It raised only $8 million
for facilities, an amount inadequate to trigger the North Campus move.
With inflation rapidly eroding the funds raised during the campaign,
the College decided to direct the entire amount (and then some) to the
construction of the Herbert H. Dow Building (Building II) and defer
indefinitely any further effort to continue with the rest of the fourbuilding project. The College approached the 1980s with only a very
modest presence on the North Campus: several research buildings, a
modest concrete block building for Aerospace Engineering, another
small building for the water resources program, and the construction
site for the Dow Building.

6

After a thorough review of the existing plan to move the College
into four new buildings, funded from state and private sources, Jim
Duderstadt, then dean of Engineering, concluded that in the current
climate this plan was clearly both impractical and unworkable. A far
more modest plan was proposed to the University administration,
based upon the reassignment and renovation of several existing
North Campus structures and a single new, state-funded building for
Electrical Engineering. This pragmatic yet workable plan was to result
in the move of the entire College of Engineering to the North Campus
by 1986 and laid the foundation of what would eventually become one
of the finest campuses for engineering education in the nation.

4
5

3
2

1

Engineering Buildings on the North Campus before 1970
(1) Cooley Laboratory - 1953 (2) Phoenix Memorial Laboratory and Ford Reactor - 1955 (3) Automotive Engineering Laboratory - 1955
(4) Aeronautical Engineering Laboratories - 1955 (5) Fluids Engineering Laboratory - 1958 (6) Space Research Laboratory - 1965

239

1986

The College of Engineering Completes Its Move to the North Campus
The remaining facilities needed to complete the Engineering Campus included the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Building
(FXB) for aerospace engineering, the Lurie Engineering Center, and the Media Union, a remarkable digital library and
multimedia center. Further, the eminent American architect and University alumnus, Charles Moore was commissioned to
design a striking carillon, the Robert H. and Ann Lurie Tower, that soon became the symbol for the North Campus.

Herbert H. Dow Building 1982
Chemical Engineering

Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences 1986

Maya Lin’s Wave Field

Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Aerospace Building 1991

240

Maya Lin’s Wave Field

The Engineering Campus Continues to Grow to Accommodate 7,600 Students

Integrated Technology Instruction Center - Media Union 1996
(Renamed The James and Anne Duderstadt Center in 2004)

Robert H. Lurie
Engineering Center 1996

Fountain and Reflecting Pool
Gift of the Class of 1947

Robert H. and Ann Lurie Tower 1996

Lurie BioEngineering 2005

Computer Science & Engineering 2006

241

Carl Gerstacker Building 2003

242

243

The Evolution of Graduate Education
Designed as an honorary degree, the Master of Arts degree was given as early as 1845. The candidates were selected from those
expressing a desire to be considered, and only those who had preserved a good moral character were considered.
In 1852, President Tappan advocated the German system of education which utilized lectures, library work, and the use of
other facilities for encouragement of higher learning. He noted: “In these higher courses we are advancing to the scope and
dignity of a true university.” Dr. Tappan, with his broad vision and his true conception of the function of a university, attempted
in his day to prepare the way for graduate education, and the faculty have never lost sight of his ideal.
In 1858-59, the degrees of master of arts and master of science were granted “upon examination,” and they were to be
conferred respectively upon those who held the bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees. The “University Course,” as
it was called, was conducted by lectures, and the student had full access to the library and all other means to aid in the cultivation
of literary and scientific research. The first degrees given in the “University Course” upon examination were granted in 1859.
This program, however, was not popular, and only fifteen degrees were granted upon examination between 1859 and 1871.
The LS&A Faculty, impressed with the importance of giving a greater significance to the Master’s Degrees, requested that the
conferring of the second degree in course (without examination) be suspended after 1877.
In the decade between 1880 and 1890, 116 advanced degrees were granted, an average of about eleven a year. In 1889-90,
there were eighty-four graduate students and candidates for higher degrees; twenty-two were women. In 1891 President Angell
mentioned the need for a new organization to give proper attention to graduate students.
In 1913 the Graduate Department became independent with its own budget for administrative purposes. Its Executive Board
represented the various groups of study. Although the new department had no faculty of its own, it had at its disposal the
members of all the faculties, as well as the resources of the University. In 1915 major departments were named “schools” or
“colleges.” The Graduate Department became the Graduate School.
The new Graduate School faced several challenges. The Library facilities were inadequate. Although the Alumni were making
an effort to establish fellowships, many graduate students struggled to finance their graduate education. The increase in
undergraduate attendance made it difficult for the faculty to devote time to graduate work and to advanced students. In 1935,
however, the Horace H. and Mary A. Rackham Fund provided a stunning new building to house the Graduate School, which
today stands along with the University Library as the intellectual axis of the University.

244

Graduate Studies

The Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies oversees and
coordinates graduate education, bringing together graduate students and
faculty from across the institution to take full advantage of the University
as a scholarly community. The University awarded its first Master of Arts
degree in 1849, first Master of Science degree in 1859, and first Doctor of
Philosophy degree in 1876. Organized as a department in 1892, the Graduate
School became an autonomous unit in 1913. In 1935, a generous gift from
Horace H. and Mary A. Rackham included the site and construction of
the Rackham Building for graduate studies and a substantial endowment
for carrying on graduate work and research.

245

The Horace H. Rackham Graduate School

In 1900 ninety students were enrolled in the Graduate Department.
Several fellowships had been provided, but there were no facilities
for advanced students. Horace H. Rackham had provided research
funds for the University during his lifetime, and his will established
the Horace H. Rackham and Mary A. Rackham Fund. He hoped
that his fortune would help increase the knowledge of human history
and human thought. In 1935 the Rackham Fund’s Trustees, with the
support of Mary Rackham, gave to the University $6.5 million, $4
million for endowment and $2.5 million for a building.

Horace H. Rackham

The Rackham building, located north of the Michigan League and
Hill Auditorium, was in a direct line with the University Library. The
Rackham gift assured permanent support in research and a building to
house Graduate School activities.

Ingalls Mall - Rackham Graduate School (top left)

246

Mary Rackham

The Horace H. Rackham Graduate School

Study Lounge

Study Lounge

Main Reading Room

Lecture Hall Auditorium

Assembly Hall

Amphitheatre

247

Assembly Hall

248

Architecture

Michigan offered its first courses in architecture in 1876, and the program
functioned as a department in Engineering until 1931 when it was established
as a separate school. During the 1940s, the College of Architecture was
one of the few schools in the country to consider research a necessary
part of architectural education, and in 1946 it became the first to introduce
a graduate program in urban planning. Today the College offers Master of
Architecture and Master of Urban Planning degrees; Bachelor of Science
and Master of Science degrees in Architecture; and doctoral programs in
Architecture and in Urban, Technological, and Environmental Planning.

249

1876

First Architecture Course

In 1876 Major William Le Baron Jenney was appointed Professor of
Architecture. Six students registered during its first year, while a number
of others elected part of the course. In 1878 the appropriation for the
program was not renewed, and the department was discontinued.

Some of the architecture students graduated with engineering degrees.
Among the first students was Irving K. Pond ’79e, of Pond and Pond,
Chicago. Pond was later to design the Michigan Union, the Michigan
League, and the Student Publications Building.

William Le Baron Jenney, a civil engineer and architect, received
his training in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the Ecole Centrale des
Arts et Manufactures, Paris. As a major in the United States Army
in the Civil War, he built Forts Henry and Donaldson, as well as the
defenses at Shiloh, Corinth, and Vicksburg. He served with distinction
as Chief of Engineering on Grant’s and Sherman’s staffs. After the war
Jenney opened his first architectural office in Chicago in 1868. Professor
Jenney’s teaching activities were suspended by 1879, and no courses in
architecture were taught again until 1906. He designed the University
Museum and the Delta Kappa Epsilon Shant on Williams Street. He is
credited with inventing the steel frame construction which made large
vertical buildings possible.

1906

University Museum

Architecture Course Re-Established
A curriculum in architecture within the Department of Engineering was re-established in 1906. For twenty-one years
instruction in architecture was carried on in the New Engineering Building. The drafting rooms were on the main floor
adjoining the Engineering Library, thus facilitating ready access to the shelves. The classrooms were fitted with specially
designed drawing tables and illuminated most effectively by a system devised by the department. The free-hand drawing
room was on the top floor and lighted by a great northern skylight. This room contained the collection of casts and a
number of valuable original drawings in color, wash, and pen and ink.

New Engineering Building

New Engineering Building

Drafting Room

On the suggestion of the State Board of Architects, Emil Lorch was
named Professor of Architecture. He had a sound background of
architectural training from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and Harvard University. Professor Lorch’s career at Michigan as head
of the architecture program extended from 1906 to 1936.

Library

After World War I enrollment grew, making these accommodations
inadequate. Additional drafting room space and two large offices
were obtained by remodeling the second and third floors of the old
Engineering Shops Building, and connecting the two Engineering
buildings was a passageway called the “Bridge of Sighs.”

Engineering Shops

Emil Lorch

“He served the interests of the school and of education in architecture with
unswerving devotion. Always objective in thought and vigorous in action, his
was throughout the period the outstanding personality; he was the leader.” Wells
Bennett, (Encyclopedia Survey, p. 1306)

Engineering Shops Classroom

250

1913

Department of Engineering & Architecture
In 1913 the Department of Engineering and the Department of Architecture became known as the Department
of Engineering and Architecture. A four-year program in park and estate management, the first in the nation,
was inaugurated in 1919. In 1926 Frank Backus Williams of the New York bar was appointed Non-resident
Lecturer and inaugurated a course in city-planning law. A curriculum was also developed in decorative design,
leading to the degree of bachelor of science in design.

1928

Architecture Building - Lorch Hall

With the increase in enrollment, the need for a building became obvious.
In 1925 the University requested an appropriation of $400,000 for the
purchase of a site and the construction of a building for architecture.
The plans and specifications were prepared by Emil Lorch and
Associates and approved by George D. Mason.

George Mason, long an outstanding architect in Detroit, had led the
campaign for the building. The Architecture Building followed an Ltype plan along the east and north sides of the property. The plan for
future development was to form a quadrangle by adding wings on the
west and south sides.

The north side of the wing running east and west was largely of glass, providing light for the large drafting rooms on the lower
three floors. At the fourth-floor level and in the fifth-floor studio these large windows were arched. A small studio in the tower was
used for the life drawing class. Here twenty-seven advanced students gathered to draw varsity athletes. The position of model was
much demanded by student athletes who were working their way through the University, because it was one of the best-paid jobs
about the campus, paying seventy-five cents an hour.

Life Drawing Class

Lorch Hall Library

Lorch Hall Entrance Lobby

The library was an open-shelf room where students could examine at
their pleasure old and rare volumes. The five long pine tables were
formerly dining tables from a fraternity house, and the chairs were
kitchen chairs, but the books made this architectural library one of the
finest in the country.

The lobby opened directly to an auditorium, which seated more than
350. The formality of the wide limestone staircase and the strength of
the stone columns gave a monumental statement to the entrance hall,
which formed the base of the tower. The floor of brown tiles held the
University seal inlaid in rich colors.

251

252

253

1931

College of Architecture Established
In September of 1931 the College of Architecture was established as a separate academic unit of the University.

New Curriculum in Design

1935

In 1935 there was a major change in the curriculum in decorative design: a bachelor of design degree could be earned in four
years. Five major options leading to the degree were offered: Interior Design; Advertising Design; Stage Design; Applied
Design; and Drawing, Painting, and Design. This last category was intended particularly for students preparing to teach art.
An optional program in city planning was added to the curriculum, and the program in park and recreation management,
which had been discontinued in 1924, was renewed for five more years.

1939

College of Architecture & Design
To acknowledge the importance of design in the curriculum, the title changed from the
College of Architecture to the College of Architecture and Design in June of 1939.

Landscape Architecture
Landscape Design, which had been instituted as a program in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts in 1909 was
transferred to the College of Architecture in 1939 and became the Department of Landscape Architecture. The University’s
interest in the subject of landscape design was heightened in 1906 when Walter Hammond Nichols ’91, and his wife Esther
Connor Nichols ’94, gave the University a tract of land to be used as a botanical garden. Ossian Cole Simonds ’78e, a nationally
known landscape gardener of Chicago, was employed by the University in 1907 to plan the Botanical Gardens. He also laid out
other city parks, home grounds, and residential subdivisions in and about Ann Arbor. Professor Filibert Roth of the Forestry
Department and Assistant Professor George P. Burns of the Botany Department were helpful in promoting and perfecting these
plans. Burns might well be said to be the father of the Nichols Arboretum as well as of the city of Ann Arbor park system. In
1965 the landscape architecture department was transferred to the School of Forestry (later renamed the School of Natural
Resources).

1940s
During the early part of World War II male students virtually vanished from the scene, and the ability of the College to keep
most of its staff together and continue its operations was due in large part to the steady enrollment of women in the drawing,
painting, and design classes.
A Museum of Art was created in 1946, in Alumni Hall, with a director chosen from the staff of the College of Architecture and
Design. This step helped to revitalize and unify the work of the various University programs devoted to art teaching. A series of
changing exhibitions throughout the academic year and the growth of the permanent collections in the Museum of Art proved
important in providing illustrative material for courses in the theory, history, and practice of art in the University.
The architectural disciplines of the College of Architecture had evolved toward an ever greater degree of professionalism.
However, in drawing, painting, design, and other areas of the visual arts program, the direction was toward greater usefulness
to the general student. Thus the program’s offerings were accessible not merely to the specialist, but also to the student in search
of a liberal education.
A strong interest in city planning developed, and a major in city planning was introduced in 1946-47. A graduate program
leading to the degree of master of city planning was also established in that year.
In 1948 the Extension Service expanded instructional programs in drawing, painting, sculpture, and ceramics. Courses were
given for college credit at both the Grand Rapids Art Gallery and the Kalamazoo Art Institute. Sculpture was added to the
curriculum in 1949.

254

1951

Visual Arts Program
In 1951 a new visual arts program was introduced. This was a single curriculum suited to the various interests and professional
needs of degree candidates while at the same time providing courses for the general university student seeking some art training.
Art for Beginners, taught by members of the drawing and painting staff for non-architectural students, was the required
laboratory work for a basic survey lecture course in the fine arts given in the Literary College. Home in the Community was a
studio course in interior design for students outside the college; it was taught by a member of the visual arts staff.

1974

Architecture & Urban Planning Moves to the North Campus
In 1974 the School of Art became an independent unit, and the architecture program’s name was changed to the College of
Architecture and Urban Planning. That same year the College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the new School of Art
moved into a new building on the North Campus that provided high-quality studio space as well as research laboratory space
for each.

1998

A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning
In 1998 in recognition of a $30 million gift, the University named the school after the donor A. Alfred Taubman.

255

Education

The School of Education was founded in 1921, 42 years after the University
established the first professorial chair in the nation devoted to the “Science
and Art of Teaching.” The School prepares students for professional
careers in teaching and administration and offers advanced training for
researchers and practitioners at all levels of education. Teacher diplomas
were first offered in 1873; the first master’s degree in education was
conferred in 1891, the first Ph.D. in 1902, and the first Ed.D. in 1938.

257

1879

Science & the Art of Teaching

In 1874, President Angell wrote: “It cannot be doubted that some instruction in Pedagogics would be very helpful to our Senior class. Many of them are
called directly from the University to the management of large schools… The whole work of organizing schools, the management of primary and secondary
schools, the art of teaching and governing a school, — of all this it is desirable that they know something before they go to their new duties. Experience alone
can thoroughly train them. But some familiar lectures on these topics would be of essential service to them.” (Regents’ Proceedings, 1870-76, p. 390)
From 1879 to 1921 the professional training of teachers was conducted in the College of Literature, Science,
and the Arts, and the general plan of administering the work remained virtually unmodified, although the
name of the unit had been officially changed to the Department of Education as early as 1908.
Burke Aaron Hinsdale succeeded Professor Payne
in 1888. He sought to have legal certification status
accorded the professional work done on the campus.
In 1891 the state legislature empowered the
University Board of Regents to issue such
a certificate to all students receiving
the teacher’s diploma. Hence, from
1891 until 1921, students who met
the specified requirements received
simultaneously three credentials:
a diploma of graduation, a
special teacher’s diploma, and
a legal teacher’s certificate. The
legal teacher’s certificate entitled
the holder to teach in any public
school in Michigan throughout his
or her lifetime.

In 1858 at the age of twenty-two, William Harold
Payne served as principal of the Union School
at Three Rivers. In 1866 he became principal of
the Ypsilanti Union Seminary, then the leading
preparatory school of the State. In 1869 he
was superintendent of schools at Adrian,
gaining a reputation as an administrator
and educational writer. From 1879 to
1887 he chaired the Science of the Art
of Teaching at Michigan. He left to
become Chancellor of the University
of Nashville, a position he held for
fourteen years. He returned to Ann
Arbor to resume his former position
following the death of Professor
Hinsdale. After giving up the heavy
burdens of administration he once again
returned to the classroom.

In 1870 the University opened its doors to women students, and a year later it began accrediting high schools after inspection
and recommendation by a committee of the faculty. Both these steps naturally did much to enhance the development of teacher
training.
In 1879 Professor Payne offered only two courses: a practical course dealing with the problems of school management and supervision,
and a theoretical course dealing with the history and philosophy of education. By 1887 the department listed seven courses. In
1913 courses in industrial education, drawing, commercial branches, and physical education were approved, and in 1917 vocational
education was added.

1921

School of Education

In 1921 an independent School of Education was established. It offered programs in The History and Principles of Education; Educational
Administration and Supervision; Educational Psychology, Mental Measurements, and Statistics; The Teaching of Special Subjects, including
Directed Teaching; Vocational Education and Vocational Guidance; Physical Education, Athletics, and School Health; and Public Health Nursing.
In the early years all courses in Education were conducted in University Hall. Later, the department was moved to Tappan Hall.

University Hall

Tappan Hall

258

1924

University High School

Throughout its early years, space for the the School of Education was a major concern. The original building plans for the School of Education
included three units: a high school, an elementary school, and a third building for offices, laboratories, libraries, and classrooms for the School.
When the University High School was opened in 1924, it had 16 faculty and 127 students. In 1940 the numbers had grown to 29 and 300,
respectively. The school not only served as a laboratory for the scientific study of secondary school problems but also furnished facilities for
observational work and directed teaching to approximately one hundred University students each semester.

University High Library

1930

University High School

University High Industrial Arts

University Elementary School

The University had always been interested in Primary Education. A branch of the Merrill-Palmer Nursery School of Detroit, maintained in Ann
Arbor in a building provided by the University, had afforded practical training to students in child care and education. However, the University
Elementary School was not designed to provide training to the typical undergraduate student. The chief purpose of the school was educational
research and the study of child development. In 1940 the school had a staff of 18 and enrolled 131 children.

1
2

University Elementary School

High School (1) Elementary School (2)

The two laboratory schools provided instructional facilities ranging from pre-kindergarten work through the twelfth grade. The two units,
however, differed from each other in motives. The elementary school emphasized research, while the high school stressed the practical training of
secondary school teachers. The early University certificate permitted the holder to teach in any grade he/she might choose. A new certification
code went into effect in Michigan on July 1, 1939. Students would train for a definite type of school work—elementary, secondary, or junior
college, with directed teaching required at the elementary and secondary levels.
The changing nature of education in the 1960s, along with the growing importance of quantitative research persuaded the School of Education
that its University Elementary and High School no longer served the needs of its students and faculty. Both schools closed by 1970.
In 1969 the University recruited Wilbur Cohen, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the Johnson Administration, as the new dean of
education, and under his leadership, enrollments grew to over 5,000 students. Yet by the 1970s the baby boom had crested, and K-12 enrollments
began to plummet. With fewer jobs, not to mention the proximity of three of the nation’s largest teacher programs in the state (EMU, MSU, and
WSU), enrollments in the School of Education began to drop.
By the early 1980s, enrollments had dropped to less than 600, and student quality had eroded significantly. Little wonder then that the School was
singled out for one of the largest budget cuts (40%) during the “smaller but better” program. The undergraduate and Ph.D. programs were cut
drastically, the school was refocused on teacher certification at the master’s level, and faculty research was emphasized.

259

260

261

262

Business

Building on faculty and course offerings that began in the latter part
of the nineteenth century, the School was formally established in 1924.
Today, at all levels of instruction—bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and
executive education—its programs rank in the top five among American
institutions. Each year nearly 1,000 new Business School graduates enter
careers as business professionals and teacher-scholars, joining the other
Michigan graduates that already serve in leadership positions in business,
government, and academic institutions throughout the world.
263

1900

First Business Courses

The first reference to courses in business or “higher commercial” education appeared in the University Calendar for 1900-1901. The
aim was to provide a scientific training in the structure and organization of modern industry and commerce to enable the student to
master quickly the technique of any business career. A “Certificate of Commerce” was granted in 1904-05. Courses were offered
through the College of Literature, Science and the Arts’ Department of Economics. Examples of these early courses were:
Commercial Geography of the Extractive Industries, Commercial Geography of the Manufacturing Industries, Science of
Accounting, Commercial Law, Administration of Corporate and Public Industries, Technique of Foreign Trade, Principles of
Industry, Auditing, Practical Banking, Business Organization and Management, Wholesale and Retail Trade, Railway Organization
and Operation, Railway Tariffs, Railway Statistics and Accounts, Principles of Industrial Technique, Internal Commerce of the
United States, Principles of Industry, Railway Finance, Railway Engineering Problems, Drawing and Projections, Industrial History
of the United States Investment.
Many of these courses continued for only a few years. Courses in accounting and finance began to assume greater importance in
the 1920s and beyond. Courses in marketing, statistics, and personnel were also introduced.
Business courses and the faculty were first located in Tappan Hall, a site shared with the School of Education. Despite Tappan
Hall’s inadequacies, the program remained there until after World War II, when a new building was constructed on Monroe
Street.

Tappan Hall

Enrollment in the Department of Economics increased from 950 in 1914 to 1,440 in 1923. The increased enrollment in
commerce following World War I highlighted the growing differences between the objectives of economics and those of
business, suggesting the need for a new school whose establishment would benefit both fields. Students in the College of
Literature, Science, and the Arts who completed requirements of the College and whose scholarship was of sufficiently high
standards were admitted to a combined curriculum in letters and business administration. Students could earn a bachelor
of arts at the end of the first year in business administration and the master of business administration degree at the end of
the second year.
In planning for the new school, the faculty recognized the merits of basing professional study on a liberal education. The
constantly increasing influence of business leaders on economic, social, and political institutions served to emphasize the
importance of a cultural background for the business leaders of the future. For these reasons, the idea of establishing an
undergraduate school of business was never given any serious consideration. The new school was to offer two years of work
in business administration following work in liberal arts. The challenge was to decide whether two, three, or four years of
background in liberal arts were to be required. In the end, the new school followed the lead of the Amos Tuck School at
Dartmouth, which required three years of collegiate preparation.

264

1924

School of Business Administration Organized

The School of Business Administration was formally organized in 1924 and housed in Tappan Hall. Edmund Ezra Day served as the first Dean
and, simultaneously, as Chairman of the Department of Economics. This ensured a close relationship between the two programs. It was largely
patterned after the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, but without the distinctive term “Graduate” in its name. Permission
to use the name “Graduate School of Business Administration” on diplomas, official announcements, publications, transcripts, letterheads, news
releases, and for other official purposes was not granted by the University until the 1960s.
Edmund Ezra Day came to Michigan with an undergraduate degree from
Dartmouth and a Ph.D. from Harvard. He was appointed to organize the new
school. Day’s tenure, however, was relatively short. He took a leave of absence
during 1927-28 and formally resigned his post soon afterward to join the Rockefeller
Foundation. Day later served as President of Cornell from 1937 to 1949.

Edmund Ezra Day

The school grew rapidly during the 1930s, creating a Bureau for Business Research, forming a Bureau for Industrial Relations, and eventually
offering a bachelor’s degree in business administration, primarily designed to meet the needs of the Armed Forces. By the end of World War II,
enrollments had increased to over 1,200, and the school had clearly outgrown its cramped space in Tappan Hall. Final plans for the School’s
first building were completed in 1944-45, making the building the first construction to be undertaken on the University campus following World
War II. The appropriation for the building was approved by the legislature in a special session in 1946, and construction started the following
September. Classes were held in the new building in the fall term of 1947, twenty years after the building was first proposed to the Regents.

Computer &
Executive Education- 1985

Executive Residence - 1985
Sam Wiley Hall - 1999 (below)
Business Administration Building - 1947

Paton Accounting Center - 1976

Under Dean Floyd Bond, the Business School expanded with the Paton Accounting Center and Hale Auditorium. But its most significant
expansion and rise to national leadership occurred under the leadership of Dean Gilbert Whitaker, who raised the private support to build a new
library, classrooms, and a major conference center for the School’s Executive Management Education program. This latter program, ranked as
one of the best in the world, generated the resources to recruit outstanding students and faculty, while expanding the school’s programs at the
international level (with programs in Korea, Hong Kong, Brazil, and France).
In the 1990s the School expanded its executive programs by adding a hotel. With major gifts from donors, the School added Wiley Hall, the
Davidson Institute for Emerging Economies, and the Zell Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. In 2004, the School received a $100 million
naming gift from Stephen Ross, a New York real estate developer, and became the Ross School of Business Administration.

Architectural Drawing of Ross School of Business Administration Building

265

Undergraduate Degree Program

Master’s of Landscape Architecture

MS in Natural Resources and Environment

Graduate Non-Degree Program

Ph.D. in Landscape Architecture
Dual & Student-Initiated Programs
Ph.D. in Natural Resources and Environment

Graduate Certificate Program
266

Forestry & Conservation
Natural Resources

The School of Natural Resources and Environment has been a pioneer
in developing a scientific understanding of ecosystems, including their
conservation, management, and restoration. The School trains, assists
in policy-making, and teaches the skills necessary to manage and
conserve the earth’s resources on a sustainable basis. Faculty and
student expertise span three major academic concentrations: Resource
Ecology and Management, Resource Policy and Behavior, and Landscape
Architecture. The first program of its kind in the nation, founded in the
late 1880s, the School awards Bachelor of Science, Master of Science,
Master of Landscape Architecture, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees.
267

1881

Forestry

1903

Department of Forestry

The School of Natural Resources grew out of the Forestry Department and later School of Forestry, which played a prominent role in
the University’s history. The first forestry course was given in 1881 by Professor Morgan Volney Spalding in the Department of Political
Science. Michigan was the first university in the United States to offer regular coursework in forestry. This forestry offering lapsed after four
years; however, it was introduced once again in 1903.

In 1903 a Forestry Department, headed by Filibert Roth, was created in the Department of Literature, Science and the Arts. Forestry offered
a combined undergraduate and graduate program that included four years of the usual coursework for the B.A. with forestry electives along
with one year of graduate study. Under Roth’s direction the curriculum and the faculty expanded to keep pace with the evolving forestry
profession. The University of Michigan became one of the nation’s best-known forestry schools. Professor Roth retired in 1923.

The Natural Sciences Buliding opened in 1913 and housed the Department of Forestry

1927

School of Forestry & Conservation

In 1927 an independent School of Forestry and Conservation was created. Samuel Trask Dana was named the school’s first dean. Dana
recruited new faculty and developed a more comprehensive curriculum. Enrollment, which had declined due to the uncertainty following
Roth’s retirement and the impact of the Depression, began to grow steadily after 1931. Spurred by the work of the Civilian Conservation
Corps and other government conservation activity, enrollment reached 187 full-time students in 1939-40. With the onset of World War II,
the number of students dropped precipitously, only to be followed by a postwar boom in enrollment.

Samuel Trask Dana

Filibert Roth

Forestry Field Trip

Camp Filbert Roth

268

1949

School of Natural Resources

In 1949 Dana’s plan called for the creation of an expanded School of Natural Resources, which would offer degrees in regional planning
and general conservation in addition to the traditional training programs in forestry, wood technology, wildlife management, and
fisheries management. The new School of Natural Resources was organized into five departments: Forestry, Wood Technology, Fisheries
Management, Wildlife Management, and Conservation. The first three departments were carried over from the old Department of
Forestry. Fisheries Management had been located in the Zoology Department of LS&A. Since its work had become more applied, the
fisheries program was moved to the School of Natural Resources. The Conservation Department developed from a $100,000 grant from
the Charles Lathrop Pack Foundation and offered a number of interdisciplinary programs, including natural resources economics with the
Economics Department and environmental planning and water resources with the School of Public Health.

By the mid-1960s conservation had become the largest SNR department. To better reflect its expanded curriculum, the Conservation
Department’s name was changed to Resource Planning and Conservation in 1969. While the Conservation Department was growing, other
departments experienced little or no growth, prompting some significant reorganization of the school. The Wood Technology Department
was phased out in 1964 and its faculty transferred to Forestry. In 1965 the administrations of the Fisheries and Wildlife Management
Departments were combined, but separate curriculums were maintained. Also in 1965, the school acquired a new department with the
transfer of Landscape Architecture from the College of Architecture and Design. The School of Natural Resources has also been host to
several interdepartmental projects, including the Remote Sensing of the Environment Program, the Environmental Simulation Laboratory,
and the Sea Grant Program. Over the years SNR has acquired or managed several forest properties for educational and scientific purposes.
These have included the Eberwhite Woods in west Ann Arbor, the Saginaw Forest property farther west of Ann Arbor on Liberty Road, the
Stinchfield Woods property near Dexter, the Ringwood tract near Saginaw, and Camp Filibert Roth in Iron County.

1992

School of Natural Resources & Environment

Despite the environmental movement, enrollments in the School of Natural Resources declined during the 1970s. In the early 1980s it
became a target for a 33% budget cut, which was primarily achieved by focusing its effort more on graduate education and research. In
July of 1992 the School added “Environment” to its title and began the task of renovating the Dana Building (the former West Medical
Building) into a facility appropriate for 21st-century education and research.

Dana Building - Former West Medical Building - Built in 1904

269

The image above shows a choral rehearsal in the University Hall Auditorium in the late 1800s. The image
below is of William Bolcom’s, “Songs of Innocence and of Experience,” performed in the newly renovated
Hill Auditorium on Thursday, April 8, 2004. In 2006 Bolcom received four Grammies for this work.

270

Music

The first professor of music was appointed in 1880. One of the oldest and
largest schools of music in the United States, the School ranks among
the top conservatories and schools of music in the country. Degrees are
offered at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels in nearly all fields of
music, dance, and theater. The School of Music views its mission as keeping
an exuberant and undiluted love of the arts alive in all who are associated
with it, while striving to prepare specialists who are knowledgeable and
well-rounded musicians, dancers, and theater artists.
271

Music in Ann Arbor & the University

In the early 1880s, great interest developed in music, in both the
community and the University. In the spring of 1879, a Messiah Club
was formed by singers from several of the Ann Arbor church choirs. In
the autumn, the organization adopted the name, the Ann Arbor Choral
Union. Its membership included persons connected with the University
and the community. The Choral Union carried on the Messiah Club’s
activities, giving concerts in local churches.

Before this movement had crystallized, the University Musical Society
was organized to bridge the music of the community with that of the
University. The University Musical Society was not to be a performing
body, but an executive and administrative organization. Its purpose
was to stimulate musical taste in the University and the community.
Three faculty served as president of the Musical Society in the early
years.

Presidents of the Musical Society

Henry Frieze
1879-81, 1883-89

Alexander Winchell
1881-83, 1889-91

Francis Kelsey
1891-1927

In the fall of 1880 the Literary Department offered
a course in music. Calvin B. Cady, a distinguished
young musician from Oberlin, Ohio who had studied
at the Leipzig Konservatorium and had been elected
conductor of the Choral Union was appointed to the
newly established instructorship in music.
William Pettee

Calvin Cady

1881

1891

The Ann Arbor School of Music was opened in September, 1881,
and classes were conducted in a building at the corner of State and
Huron Streets. Later the same year, the school became a division of the
incorporated University Musical Society. The school did not survive
due to lack of funds.

In December of 1891, William Pettee, Professor of Mining Engineering,
announced: “The University Musical Society has all the power it needs
to proceed to the establishment of a School of Music,” and it was
resolved that a school of music be established “as soon as the necessary
financial support could be secured.”

1892

1893

In January, 1892 a special committee that was reorganizing the school
collected one hundred subscriptions of sixty-five dollars each ($6,500),
whereupon the Board of Directors of the University Musical Society
passed a resolution establishing the “University School of Music.” It
opened for instruction in October, 1892, in rooms rented in Newberry
Hall. The school was not part of the University.

The rooms in Newberry Hall proved inadequate, however, and in 1893
a group of Ann Arbor citizens formed the School of Music Building
Association. About two hundred individuals and firms subscribed
for approximately six hundred shares of stock at $25 each, a total of
$25,000. A site at 325 Maynard Street was purchased, and a building
was constructed.

Newberry Hall

University School of Music - 325 Maynard

272

1916

In 1905, students in the Literary Department were permitted to elect courses in practical music in the University School of Music for which
they received credit toward the bachelor of arts degree. In 1916 alterations were made to the School of Music building on Maynard.

Renovated School of Music on Maynard Street

1929

School of Music Becomes a Part of the University of Michigan
In 1925 the University School of Music Building Association gave the title of the building on Maynard Street to
the University Musical Society, and the School of Music Building Association was dissolved. In 1929 the University
Musical Society transferred the title of the building to the University when the School of Music was made a formal
academic unit of the University. However, the School had long since outgrown the Maynard facility. Recitals,
which were required from all degree-candidates in applied music, had to be scheduled a year in advance because
borrowed facilities in other campus buildings were overtaxed and in heavy demand. In the 1930s the Varsity Band
moved from Morris Hall into new quarters in Newberry Hall, which had a larger auditorium and acoustics more
closely resembling those of the halls in which the Band played at concerts. However, the acoustics were not at
all appreciated by the women living next door in Helen Newberry Hall, who voiced their objection to President
Ruthven. After the first rehearsal, the band moved back to Morris Hall.

Morris Hall

Newberry Hall

273

1936

Proposed School of Music on Ingalls Mall
The proposed School of Music building was to be built next to the carillon
tower since the tower would house
classrooms. It was also to be sited next
to Hill Auditorium, making the location
ideal for rehearsals and performances.

1940s & 1950s

School of Music Facilities
William Revelli, the band director,
observed that the band was making
strides—moving from a building that
was built in 1854 (Morris Hall) to one
that was built in 1886 (Harris Hall).

In 1945, the University Band and the
wind instrument department were
located in their new quarters in Harris
Hall on the northeast corner of State
and Huron Streets.

Harris Hall

In 1946 the School of Music enrollment was frozen at 600 because of the severe space restrictions. To accommodate the students, the School had
to operate their meager facilities from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. There was a critical shortage of space for classrooms, practice facilities,
and concert halls. The school was forced to overflow into makeshift quarters in 13 other campus-area buildings, including several churches.
Faculty members had no conference room for staff meetings, and their offices were scattered over several campus buildings. Many faculty shared
their offices with pianos and other musical instruments. One professor’s office also doubled as an emergency fire exit.

School of Music Library
28 seats for 610 students

Faculty offices were overcrowded.

Hallways of Music Building
Used for Student Practice

Practice rooms were few and cramped.

274

Students practiced In unsuitable places.

1964

School of Music Moves to the North Campus

In the early 1950s a new building for the School of Music was number one on the University’s priority list of capital outlay construction needs.
On May 17, 1957 a $3,900,000 contract was let for the building. But again the project was stalled for lack of appropriations, and the plans were
filed away.
Finally in the early 1960s, state funding was obtained for a new building located on the University’s North Campus. The noted Finnish architect
Eero Saarinen (who had also developed the early master plans for the North Campus) was given the commission, and construction began.
In 1963 the new North Campus Music School Building was completed, solving the space problem and consolidating all musical activities under
one roof. The tri-level building included space for 171 practice rooms, 21 classrooms, 46 teaching studios, 25 faculty offices, two rehearsal halls,
a library with a 27,000-volume capacity, and several audition studios and recording rooms.
Dean Wallace said one of the most important aspects of the building was the faith the University
had reaffirmed in music and the arts. “This building has become a symbol for the humanities taking their
rightful place next to the sciences in the atomic age.” (Michigan Alumnus, October 1, 1962, p. 14)

Music benefited from the spectacular Saarinen-designed complex on North Campus and the extraordinary performance venues on the Central
Campus (Hill Auditorium, Power Center, Lydia Mendelsson). Yet several of its programs in the performing arts were scattered about the Central
Campus, with dance (which was transferred from Physical Education in 1974) in the Central Campus Recreation Building complex, while the
theatrical arts (Musical Theatre was established in 1981, and the Theatre Department was transferred from the LS&A Speech and Drama
Department in 1984) were in dilapidated quarters in the Frieze Building. In 2005 construction was begun on a major new facility on the North
Campus, the Walgreen Center for Theatrical Arts, containing the Arthur Miller Theatre. In July of 2006 the name of the School was changed
to the School of Music, Theatre and Dance.

Walgreen Drama Center

Walgreen Drama Center

275

Second Career Nursing Program

Baccalaureate Program
RN & BSN & RN to MS Program

Gerontological Clinical Nurse Specialist
Medical-Surgical Clinical Nurse Specialist
Occupational Health Clinical Nurse Specialist
Nursing & Business Administration
Psychiatric-Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist
Nursing & Health Services Administration
Ph.D. Program
Postdoctoral Program

Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
Nurse Practitioner Program

Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner

Family Nurse Practitioner
Adult Nurse Practitioner

Gerontological Nurse Practitioner

Certified Nurse - Midwife Program

Infant, Child, Adolescent Health/Pediatric Nurse Practitioner

Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner

Nursing Management/Administration

Women’s Health
Entrepreneurial Nursing

Nursing & Healthcare Policy

Nursing Informatics
276

Nursing

The School of Nursing has had an unsurpassed reputation of excellence
for more than one hundred years. It has been a national leader in the
advancement of nursing knowledge and the promotion of new trends in
health care. The School’s baccalaureate programs include a four-year
B.S.N. Program, a Second Career Nursing Program, and an R.N.-B.S.N.
Completion Program. At the master’s level, the School of Nursing, through
the University’s Rackham School of Graduate Studies, offers advanced
study in clinical specialist, nurse practitioner, and management roles. The
School’s prestigious Ph.D. and Postdoctoral Programs prepare nurse
scientists to develop the knowledge necessary to support and advance
nursing practice.
277

1870s

There is no reference to nurses in the official records of the first University Hospital of 1869. When the Hospital
was enlarged in 1876, a recommendation was made that two nurses be employed, one male and one female.
“In my student days there were comparatively few nurses, in the modern sense,
and a good deal of the work was done by practical nurses, the students, and helpers
generally. There was attached to each ward a wardmaster and wardmistress who
were responsible for the care of the patients and gave the students their orders.”
Dr. W. J. Mayo in a letter to Dr. Peterson in 1937 (Encyclopedic Survey,
p. 997) (Peterson, MS, II: 115)

First Hospital 1869

1890s

Professional nursing education began in the United States in 1873.
By 1900 there were 432 schools of nursing operating nationwide.

Pavilion Hospital 1876

Training School for Nurses
In 1891 the University of Michigan Training School for Nurses was organized. This program was established by
the Medical School so that qualified nurses could be found to staff the new University Hospital. At its founding the
Training School was limited to a student body of eight. The original curriculum consisted of a two-year, non-degree
program. In 1902 the Regents extended the basic curriculum to three years. Entrance requirements established by
the turn of the century specified that students must be women, between the ages of 22 and 32, of superior education
and refinement.

1910s
The connection between the hospital and the nursing program was strengthened in 1912 when the Training School
for Nurses was reorganized and placed under the direct control of the University Hospital. In 1912 there were
about 100 students. In 1915 a first full-time instructor was hired, and the admissions requirement was a high school
diploma. In 1919 a second five-year program leading to the conferring of a university degree was established.

Catherine Street Hospitals

Early Nurses’ Residence was behind Palmer Ward

Hospital Ward

Nurses Assisting in Surgery Clinic

278

Hospital Ward

Nurses’ Diet Kitchen 1916

Nurses’ Class of 1916

Nurses’ Graduating Class of 1960

Pemberton-Welch
Nurses’ Residence

The Pemberton-Welsh Nurses’
Residence opened in 1921 and
provided rooms for seventy-five
nurses.
Homeopathic Nurses’ Cap

Allopathic Nurses’ Cap

Homeopathic Nurses’ Residence (left)

279

“There’s a new look among the
University’s student nurses this fall.
Results of the intensive search by a
student committee for a new uniform
that would best combine charm and
convenience are modeled above.”
(Michigan Alumnus, 1950-51)

1920s

New University Hospital & Couzens Hall

By 1924, 190 nurses were in training. The administrative nursing staff included, in addition to a matron and a dietician,
a principal of the training school, a superintendent and an assistant superintendent, a director of the Hospital education
department, and two instructors. When the new hospital opened in 1925 the program in the Training School for Nurses was
reorganized. The instruction in basic sciences was given by regularly appointed members of the faculties, the instruction in
practical medical work by the professors in the Medical School, and the instruction in therapy and practical nursing by the
nursing staff. A reorganization five years later provided for one semester’s work on the University campus.

1925

Couzens Hall
In 1923, U. S. Senator James Couzens gave $600,000 for a building to house student and graduate nurses. The residence was
felt to be an indispensable part of the new Hospital. Completed in August of 1925, it provided 250 rooms, mostly singles,
accommodating about 260 women. The basement had facilities for instruction, an amphitheater, faculty offices, laboratories,
classrooms, an assembly hall, and a game room.

Couzens Hall

Couzens Hall

New University Hospital - Couzens Hall (lower left)

James Couzens

James Couzens 1871-1936, U.S. Senator, industrialist, and philanthropist. Couzens was born
in Ontario, Canada and moved to Detroit in 1887. He entered into partnership with Henry
Ford in 1903 and served as vice president and general manager of the Ford Motor Company. In
1919 he sold his interest to the Fords for $35 million. As mayor of Detroit from 1919-1922, he
installed municipal street railways. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1922-1936. He acted with
the Progressive Republicans, advocating high, graduated income taxes and public ownership of
utilities. He established the Children’s Fund of Michigan with $10 million, gave $1 million for
relief in Detroit, and began a loan fund for the physically handicapped. His support of the New
Deal cost him the senatorial renomination in 1936.

In 1926 nursing students met the same admission criteria as students entering the College of Literature, Science and the Arts,
although they received their basic science instruction through the Medical School. In 1928 the program’s official title was
belatedly changed to the University Hospital School of Nursing of the University of Michigan.

1941

School of Nursing
In 1940 there were 177 students in the University Hospital School of Nursing and 198 graduate nurses on the Hospital staff.
There were also 146 students enrolled in the courses in public health nursing. In 1941 the Regents established the nursing
program as an independent university teaching unit, the School of Nursing. Although recognized as independent, the school’s
senior administrative officer was not given the title of dean until 1955. In 1944 it was agreed that the combined course in the
liberal arts and nursing should be phased out in favor of a new program leading to a bachelor of science in nursing degree.
In 1952 the curriculum was radically revised. The three-year program was discontinued and replaced by a four-year program
leading to a BSN degree. In 1961 the curriculum was expanded to include the school’s first master’s degree in psychiatric
nursing. The next year, 1962, a master’s degree program in medical-surgical nursing was begun. In 1967 the school once again
extensively revised its curriculum, and the reforms were placed into effect in 1968. In 1967 the school also launched a major
continuing education program for practicing nurses, funded through the Michigan Association for Regional Medical Programs.
In the early 1970s the school expanded its degree programs by offering for the first time a research-based Ph.D. in Nursing.

280

1958

School of Nursing Building
The school’s capabilities dramatically increased in 1958 with the opening of a separate building
for the School of Nursing, constructed as a part of the Medical Science I complex. By 1970 the
school had approximately 1,000 students, one of the largest enrollments in the nation.

School of Nursing
Part of Medical Science I

The School of Nursing was located for many years in Medical School buildings, but with the increasing
focus on graduate education and research, new facilities were needed. In the 1990s a major renovation of
space in the North Ingalls complex (the former St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital) provided adequate facilities.

School of Nursing - Former St. Joseph’s Hospital

281

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

HEALTH BEHAVIOR & HEALTH EDUCATION

BIOSTATISTICS
HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES

HEALTH MANAGEMENT & POLICY

HUMAN NUTRITION

POPULATION FELLOWS PROGRAM

PUBLIC HEALTH GENETICS

OCCUPATIONAL & ENVIRONMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY

INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE
OCCUPATIONAL & ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE

GENERAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
REPRODUCTIVE & WOMEN’S HEALTH

TOXICOLOGY

DENTAL PUBLIC HEALTH
HOSPITAL & MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY

INTERNATIONAL HEALTH

282

Public Health

The University’s first professor of hygiene was appointed in 1887; the
first degree in hygiene was granted in 1897; and the School of Public
Health became an independent unit in 1941. Doctor of Philosophy
programs, established in 1947, now include concentrations in biostatistics,
environmental health, epidemiology, health behavior and health education,
and health organization and policy. The School of Public Health
emphasizes epidemiology and population-based studies of health and
illness through multi-disciplinary approaches to community-based health
problems and health care delivery while adhering to the basic mission of
helping to maintain and improve the health of all people by disseminating
knowledge, training health professionals and providing advisory and
other services to agencies and individuals. Since the 1980s the school
has focused on AIDS/HIV, substance abuse, smoking, air pollution, and
health gerontology.
283

1887

Department of Hygiene & Physiological Chemistry
Although the School of Public Health officially dates from 1941, the university had been a pioneer in public health
education since the 19th century. In 1887 the State Board of Health suggested that the university establish a professorship
of hygiene. Professors Victor Vaughan, Albert Prescott, and John Langley devised a plan for the creation of a Department
of Hygiene. Victor Vaughan headed the new Department of Hygiene and Physiologic Chemistry.

Victor Vaughan

1889

Albert Prescott

John Langley

Hygienic Laboratory

The Hygienic Laboratory was established in 1889 and was the first
laboratory of its kind in the country. It contained “all the apparatus
employed by Koch” and positioned the University of Michigan at the
forefront of American bacteriological research. The laboratory was
used for instruction in bacteriology, for research into the etiology of
disease, and as a test site for food and drink suspected of contamination.
The laboratory was housed in the Physics Building.
The first degree in Hygiene was awarded in 1897. From 1897 to 1916
the master’s degree in public health was offered through the Medical
School. In 1911 the Regents established the degree of Master of
Science in Public Health and approved the curriculum and degree of
Doctor of Public Health that same year. In 1916 the program was
transferred to the Graduate School.

1921

Physics Building - Hygienic Laboratory

Division of Hygiene & Public Health

An effort to coordinate all health sciences work on campus led to the creation of the Division of Hygiene and Public
Health in 1921. Professor John Sundwall led this division from 1921 until 1941. In addition to the public health
program, the division at various times included the University Health Service, the physical education program, and a
number of courses taught in other schools and departments.
John Sundwall received his B.S. (1903) and Ph.D. (1906) from the University of Chicago and an M.D. (1912) from
Johns Hopkins. His teaching career started at the University of Chicago. He then went to the University of Utah
where he served as professor of anatomy and dean of the Medical School. He spent several years as hygienic expert
and assistant surgeon in the U.S. Public Health Service. From 1912 to 1918 he served at the University of Kansas,
then went to the University of Minnesota where he accepted a similar post as Professor and Director of Hygiene and
Public Health, establishing the first comprehensive student health service in the country.
John Sundwall

1941

School of Public Health
In 1934 Michigan became the first university to offer an organized program in the field of preventive medicine. In 1939
the Board of Regents approved the creation of a School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine with the stipulation that
“no addition to the budget of the Division of Hygiene and Public Health as adopted in 1939 would result from this action.”
The school was organized in three departments: Public Health Practice, Epidemiology, and Environmental Health. The
Department of Public Health Practice included the fields of public health administration, economics, education, nursing,
dentistry, physiological chemistry, mental health, and nutrition. The Department of Epidemiology encompassed public health
laboratory practice, immunology, and health statistics. The Department of Environmental Health covered public health
engineering and industrial health. The school offered programs leading to master’s and doctoral degrees in public health and
to a bachelor’s degree in public health nursing. Later programs included the Departments of Tropical Diseases, Biostatistics,
Population Planning, Community Health, Hospital Administration, and Medical Care Organization.

284

The Rockefeller and W. K. Kellogg foundations provided grants
of $500,000 each for operating expenses. The grants also covered
construction costs of the school’s building completed in 1943. Dr.
Henry Freeze Vaughan, former Commissioner of Health in Detroit
and the son of Victor Vaughan, was named the first dean of the School
of Public Health in 1941, and served until he retired in 1959. The
building was named in his honor in 1971.

Henry Frieze Vaughan Building 1941

The Thomas Francis, Jr. Public Health Building was named in honor
of the renowned epidemiologist, who had served on the faculty from
1941 to 1968. The $7 million project was financed with two federal
grants, and a gift of $2.5 million from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
The seven-story building was connected to the original building by a
walkway at the third level The new facility consolidated the activities
of the School, previously scattered in 13 different locations.

Thomas Francis, Jr. Public Health Building 1971

Henry F. Vaughan

From its inception, the School of Public Health has supported an active program of research. In 1950 a grant from the W. K.
Kellogg Foundation permitted the creation of an undergraduate degree program in public health aimed at meeting the increasing
demand for personnel to serve as administrators and technicians in government public health agencies. The School sponsored
frequent institutes and in-service programs for health workers, administrators, and public officials. As in the nineteenth century,
the School of Public Health proved responsive in fulfilling its service obligation to Michigan. Thomas Francis, Jr., head of the
Epidemiology Department, served as chairman of the Armed Forces Influenza Commission and directed the research at the
school’s Virus Laboratories that developed an influenza vaccine during World War II.

1955

Salk Polio Vaccine Field Test

The School of Public Health has long been ranked as one of the leading
programs in the nation, perhaps best known for its work on poliomyelitis.
Under the direction of Dr. Thomas Francis, the school was the largest recipient
of grant funds from the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (later
known as the March of Dimes). Francis conducted numerous epidemiological
studies, and Jonas Salk began the work which led to the development of a
polio vaccine. The field test of Salk’s vaccine was directed by Francis, in what
was the largest mass experiment in medicine ever undertaken.
Dr. Hatcher, Dr. Francis, Dr. Salk, Basil O’Connor

New Facilities for the School of Public Health
By the 1990s laboratory space became a major concern, and through a combination
of private and University support, a major new building was constructed.

285

Social Work

The program in Social Work began in 1921 and was granted the status of
a School in 1951. At the master’s level, the School prepares professional
practitioners to work with individuals, children and their families,
organizations, and communities, in such fields as substance abuse, aging,
mental health, education, child and public welfare, and public policy.
The unique Joint Doctorial Program in Social Work and Social Sciences
prepares students for academic careers. Graduates of both programs
are found in leadership positions around the world. The School of Social
Work consistently ranks as the leading school in the nation.
287

1921
In May of 1921 a curriculum in social work was expressly designed to meet the growing demand for trained professionals in the
various fields of public and private philanthropy. Under the direction of Professor A. E. Wood, staff members in sociology developed a
curriculum in social work which included background courses in the social sciences, specialized professional courses, and field work.

1927
The successful development of a program in social work was recognized in 1925, when the University was granted membership into the
Association of Schools of Professional Social Work. This Association encouraged the maintenance of the high standards of the School’s
undergraduate program and the initiation of a graduate-level curriculum. In 1927 the Regents authorized a certificate in social work to
be awarded to students who completed a year’s work experience in addition to their undergraduate degree requirements.

1935

Institute of Health & Social Sciences

In response to the thinking of social work educators at the time and the recommendations of a committee of Detroit citizens, the
University moved to reorganize its program in social work. With financial support from the Horace H. and Mary A. Rackham Fund
and the McGregor Fund, the Institute of Health and Social Sciences was established. It was later renamed the Institute of Public and
Social Administration. The new Institute, housed in the Horace H. Rackham Education Memorial Building in Detroit, accepted its first
students in the fall semester of 1935, offering a two-year program leading to the Master of Social Work degree.

Rackham Education Memorial Building in Detroit

The enrollment of the Institute’s program in social work from 1935-45 averaged 1000 students. During the early years of the program
many students were employed part time to finance their education, and therefore most graduates required from four to six years to
complete their degrees. Others were forced to discontinue their studies with the advent of World War II. In addition to the program in
Detroit, the Institute ran a statewide extension program that reached over 500 students.

1945

Institute of Social Work

By 1945 the Institute of Social Work was formed, and the social work curriculum was redefined. The Institute remained in Detroit and
set as its goals the design of a curriculum to enlarge the technical side of training for work in the general field of social and public welfare
and to relate it to the broader aspects of political and social life. The curriculum included courses in the major divisions of social work:
social case work, group work, community organization, public welfare, research and statistics, administration, and field work.

1951

School of Social Work Established

In July of 1951 the University of Michigan established the School of Social Work to replace the Institute of Social Work. The University
transferred the operation of the School from Detroit to Ann Arbor. President Alexander G. Ruthven noted that the School would
concentrate its attention on the educational needs of other communities throughout the state and would place special emphasis on the
field of public welfare and its administration.

288

Fedele Fauri was named Dean of the School of Social Work and Professor of Public
Welfare Administration in 1951. Faculty review of the curriculum resulted in the addition
of courses to reflect a focus on public welfare services and social administration. There
was renewed emphasis on statewide services through consultations, development of field
placements, extension courses, summer institutes, and workshops. These activities represented
a supplementary but vital function of the School in assisting social agencies in communities
throughout the State to improve their social work services.
Fedele Fauri

From the house on Washington Street, where it had its modest beginning the School relocated to new quarters in the Frieze Building in
the late 1950s. As enrollments increased, Dean Fauri saw the need for a separate divisional library for social work to meet the educational
requirements of students and faculty. A Social Work Library was established in April of 1958 in the Frieze Building.

Frieze Building - Old Ann Arbor High School

Frieze Building Addition 1957

Enrollment increased throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, made possible by an increase in full-time faculty funded by the University
and by federal training grants and year-round operation of the University, whereby students could enter the School in January and
complete four continuous terms and receive the master of social work degree after one year and four months, as opposed to the normal
two academic years of study. For many years the School of Social Work, ranked as the nation’s leading school, was housed in inadequate
space in the Frieze building. Although efforts were made to raise funds for a new facility, this proved difficult for a School with modestly
paid social workers as alumni. Finally in the 1990s the University allocated $30 million to build a new School of Social Work Building
on the Central Campus.

School of Social Work

289

ARCHIVES & RECORDS MANAGEMENT
HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION

Library School - Summer of 1918

LIBRARY & INFORMATION SERVICES

NURSING & INFORMATION

INFORMATION ECONOMICS, MANAGEMENT & POLICY
LAW & INFORMATION

DOCTORAL PROGRAM

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION & INFORMATION

PUBLIC POLICY & INFORMATION
SOCIAL WORK & INFORMATION
290

Library Science - Information

A formal program for librarians began in 1926 when the Department of
Library Science was created in the College of Literature, Science and
the Arts. In 1948, offerings became entirely graduate, and a doctoral
program was inaugurated. Establishment of an independent school,
committed to the interdisciplinary study of information and library
principles, came in 1969. In response to the rapid change brought on by
technology, the School broadened further in the 1990s. It now pursues a
highly interdisciplinary approach to educate professionals who will serve
as leaders in the information age. Recognizing this broader mission, the
School was renamed the School of Information in 1996.
291

1909

Library Education

The first program in library education at the University of Michigan began in 1909, when the University Librarian,
Theodore Koch, began a summer program in “library methods.” In 1918, Koch’s successor, William Warner Bishop,
raised the entrance requirement for this summer program to a minimum of thirty hours of college credit.

Theodore Koch

Library in the Original Law Building 1863 - 1883

1926

Department of Library Science in LS&A

In the spring of 1926 the Regents authorized the creation of the Department of Library Science with Bishop as its
chairman. Two degrees were offered: A Bachelor of Arts, conferred after one year of work, and a Master of Arts,
conferred after two years of work. In 1930 a bachelor’s degree was required for admission to the program. William
Bishop retired from the department chairmanship in 1940 and was succeeded by Rudolph Gjelsness.

William W. Bishop

The University Library
1883 - 1920

1948

Bachelor’s Degree Eliminated - Doctoral Program Begun
In 1948 Gjelsness led a major curriculum revision which eliminated the bachelor’s degree. Thereafter, the master’s
degree was awarded after two semesters and one summer of work beyond the bachelor’s degree. A doctoral program
was also begun.

Rudolph Gjelsness

The General Library Reading Room 1920
(Melcher’s Lunettes moved from University Hall)

292

The General Library Reference Desk 1920
(Parthenon Frieze moved from the 1983 Reading Room)

1969

School of Library Science

In 1964, Gjelsness reached the mandatory retirement age and was succeeded by Wallace J. Bonk. Bonk suffered a
heart attack in 1967 and resigned the chairmanship to return to teaching. Professor Russell E. Bidlack, who had been
a member of the faculty since 1950, was named acting chairman. In November 1967 a panel of library leaders, who
had been invited to visit and examine the department, recommended that the department be made a separate school.
On October 18, 1968, the Regents approved the request, and the change became effective on July 1, 1969. Bidlack was
named the school’s first dean, a position which he held until his retirement in 1984. University Librarian Richard M.
Dougherty became interim dean pending the arrival of Robert M. Warner as dean in April 1985.
Schools and Colleges often
had their own libraries The
photograph on the left is the
Architecture Library in Lorch
Hall. The image on the right
is the Engineering Library in
West Engineering.

Russell Bidlack

1986

School of Information & Library Studies

Robert Warner was appointed dean after serving as Archivist of the United States. Under Warner, the school began
to grow and change. The first visible sign of this came with the Regents’ approval of the school’s name change in July
of 1986, to the School of Information and Library Studies. The name change reflected a changing emphasis in the
curriculum and the changing nature of the field of librarianship through the use of computers and electronic media.

Robert Warner

Undergraduate Library 1957

1996

Dow Instructional Center - North Campus

School of Information
The School of Information evolved from the highly ranked School of Library Science, which itself had transitioned
from a department in LS&A to a separate school in the 1969. The change in title represented a bold experiment to build
a new discipline capable of educating professionals in the emerging area of information services, drawing heavily upon
the knowledge base developed over centuries by librarians.
The founding dean, Daniel Atkins, was a computer engineer (and former dean of engineering), and he rapidly recruited
a cadre of exciting faculty from within the University and beyond. The School is housed in West Hall (the old West
Engineering Building), with a satellite facility in the old Computer Center on North Campus (known as SI-North).

Daniel Atkins

West Hall

SI-North

293

294

295

296

297

Art

Education in the visual arts has been provided to students since the
nineteenth century. The professional Master of Fine Arts degree was first
awarded in 1960, and the School of Art was established as a separate unit
in 1974. The School provides a comprehensive range of baccalaureate
and graduate degree programs in art and design, including photography,
sculpture, fibers, metalwork and jewelry design, new genres, medical and
biological illustration, and scientific illustration. The School was renamed
the School of Art and Design in 1996.

299

1876

Drawing Taught in Engineering

In 1876 Charles Denison was appointed instructor in Engineering and Drawing and Assistant in Architecture.

Charles Denison

“Charles Denison’s nickname was
‘Little Lord Chesterfield,’ for he was the
Beau Brummel of the University. His
slightly curly hair matched the shine on
his boots. His ties matched his socks.
His wardrobe contained unnumbered
suits of clothes and overcoats for all
kinds of weather. The collars of some
of his topcoats were of expensive fur. He
had all kinds of haberdashery, including
more than forty shirts. He did not have
these laundered in Ann Arbor, but sent
them each month to Chicago for ‘proper’
laundering.”
Mortimer Cooley
(Scientific Blacksmith, p. 96)

Charles Denison’s Classrooms

Professor Denison, “Denny” to
his students, “would go around the
free-hand drawing room inspecting the
drawings. He would stop at a desk,
look the work over, and say in a voice to
be heard by all, ‘Very good, very good.’
He would then take the student’s pencil
and begin changing a line here and
there, calling out the changes as they
were made, until the drawing had taken
on an entirely new and correct form.”
Herbert J. Goulding ’93e (Michigan
Technic, November, 1941, p. 10)

1906 - 1927 Drawing, Painting & Design in the Department of Architecture
Drawing, painting, and the theory of design first appeared in the curriculum of the Department of Engineering and Architecture as
service courses for architectural students. The first courses in drawing were given by Alice Hunt in 1906. All drawing and painting
instruction during these years was offered in a large sky-lighted studio on the fourth floor north in the New Engineering Building. Here
the temper of the time in art education was expressed by a regiment of plaster casts and a battalion of still-life tables, many of the latter
carrying carefully set arrangements of pottery and colored draperies. The emphasis of the period was upon naturalism, and all types of
subject matter were treated as if they were still life.
During the early 1900s Architecture shared quarters with Engineering in the New Engineering Building and the Engineering Shops. By
1920 the number of students in Architecture reached 300 with some 200 students enrolled in other colleges taking one or more courses in
Architecture. Almost all of the drafting and drawing rooms were made by the simple expedience of erecting a partition and announcing
“this is a drawing-room because it’s the only place in which there can be one!”

1

2

Engineering Shops (1) New Engineering Building (2)

The initial layout of the design courses was the work of two architects, Emil Lorch and Caldwell Titcomb. By 1921, interest in the
field had increased, and Detroit designer Herbert A. Fowler carried the major load of design teaching for the next decade. From 1926
to 1932 he was given valuable assistance by Titcomb, who inaugurated two important courses, History of Applied Arts and Design of
Interiors. In 1924 a curriculum in decorative design leading to the degree of bachelor of science in design was approved.

300

1927

New Architecture Building - Lorch Hall

In 1927 Architecture moved into its new building, Lorch Hall. The third floor was devoted to classes in design, and the fourth floor to
those in drawing and painting. “It is safe to say that never have prospects for artistic development at Michigan seemed brighter. The
completion of the new Architecture Building, with all of the valuable equipment which it affords the student, has given added impetus to
the creative study, and this, with the Faculty as a nucleus, has given rise to a Campus art colony that seems destined to make itself known
beyond the local environs” (Michigan Alumnus, 1928).
Drawing from life and casts was done in the long studio room on
the fourth floor. Here ceiling-high arched windows admitted the
northern light, providing an ideal place for the student to draw or
paint. In the 1920s a special arts course for teachers was introduced
into the summer session. The instructor was Jean Paul Slusser, a
graduate of the University who had also studied art at the School of
the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and in the Woodstock landscape
classes of the Art Students’ League of New York. The summer
session students sketched or painted on the lawn of the Lawyers
Club, down by the river, or any place that was picturesque.
John Paul Slusser

Lorch Hall

Professor Slusser’s Summer Class

1935

In 1935 a curriculum in decorative design was approved. Five major options were offered: Interior Design; Advertising Design; Stage
Design; Applied Design; and Drawing, Painting, and Design. The greater attraction of the program was soon demonstrated by an increased enrollment, and this in turn made it possible to build up the faculty by additional appointments. A kiln, first set up in the East
Engineering Building and then moved to Lorch Hall, allowed the introduction of ceramics courses. For many years this work was supervised by Mary Chase Stratton, owner and co-founder of Pewabic Potteries of Detroit. Looms were also acquired for the teaching of
weaving, to allow students to learn through practice as well as theory.

1940s

During WWII the presence of male students in the design program dropped precipitously. The College was able to keep most of its staff
together and continue its operations due in large part to the steady enrollment of women in the drawing, painting, and design classes. In
1948 the Extension Service offered drawing, painting, sculpture and ceramics, for college credit, at both the Grand Rapids Art Gallery
and the Kalamazoo Art Institute.

1951

A new visual arts program was announced in 1951. This was a single curriculum suited to the various interests and professional needs
of degree candidates, while at the same time providing courses for the general university student seeking some art training. Art for
beginners, taught by members of the drawing and painting staff for non-architectural students, was a required laboratory course for a
basic survey lecture course in the fine arts given in the Literary College. Home in the Community was a studio course in interior design
for students outside the College.

1974

School of Art

1996

School of Art & Design

In 1974 Art broke away from the College of Architecture and became the School of Art. Both schools moved into their new building
on North Campus.

In 1996 the name was changed to the School of Art & Design.

301

An indoor riding hall was available during the winter.

1904 Literary Class
Football Team

1903 Basketball Team

1912 Literary Class
Hockey Team

1912 Literary Class
Basketball Team

1903 Literary-Engineering
Relay Team
George P. Codd ’91 and James R. Angell ’90

Field Hockey on Palmer Field

302

Kinesiology

Kinesiology has been part of the University of Michigan curriculum since
the turn of the century, and today’s Division of Kinesiology joined the
ranks of the schools and colleges in 1984. Undergraduate students major
in movement science, sports management and communication, physical
education, and athletic training, preparing for careers ranging from
physical therapy and cardiac rehabilitation to athletic administration and
sport law. Master’s and doctoral students often continue their careers in
higher education or research.
303

The Quest for a Gymnasium
“There was no ‘Gym’. The nearest approach to a gymnasium so-called was an old open barracks with a board roof and sides, resting on poles sunken in the
ground, not heated and used only in warm weather. It had a sawdust or ground tan bark floor. It was built between 1858 and 1860, and stood near where
the present heating plant is. Its apparatus consisted of a few bare poles, ropes and rings.” Dr. W. F. Breakey ’59m (Michigan Alumnus, April 1901)
In 1868 President Haven presented to the Regents a petition signed by 250 students asking for a gymnasium. In 1870 the faculty recommended
the establishment of a Department of Hygiene and Physical Culture and the construction of a gymnasium. Still no steps were taken. The plea
continued until 1891, when Joshua Waterman offered $20,000 for a gymnasium on condition that an equal amount be raised from private sources.
The Waterman Gymnasium opened in 1894. In 1895 Regent Levi Barbour offered land valued at $25,000, and Regent Charles Hebard donated
$10,000 for a women’s gymnasium.

Eliza Mosher
Barbour Gymnasium (left) Waterman Gymnasium (right)

1896

Physical Education Required for All Students

In 1896 Eliza M. Mosher, M.D. was named Professor of Hygiene and Women’s Dean in the Literary Department. At her request, the Regents
made Physical Education a required program for all students. As the first head of Women’s Physical Education, Dr. Mosher began classes in the
unfinished Barbour Gymnasium. The Barbour Gymnasium was not fully furnished and equipped until the early 1900s.

1900 - 1920

Fielding Yost Comes to Michigan
In 1901 Fielding H. Yost was hired as head football coach at a salary of
$2,300 plus living expenses (twice that of a full professor).
In 1905 the Women’s Athletic Association was established. This new
organization was an outgrowth of the Women’s Athetic Committee of
the Women’s League.
In 1911 Michigan Law made teaching of Physical Education in schools
compulsory for all communities of 10,000 or more. In 1919 this
mandate was expanded to populations above 3,000.
In 1912 the Department of Intramural Sports was created, giving
structure to the student games that were already being played among
the academic units.

304

1920 - 1970

Department of Physical Education

In 1921 the Department of Physical Education was created as part of the new School of Education. A few months later the Regents established
an umbrella Division of Hygiene and Public Health encompassing Men’s and Women’s Physical Education, Intercollegiate Athletics, the gymnasiums and intramural sports. Fielding Yost was named the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. Dr. John Sundwall became the first Director of
the new Division of Hygiene and Public Health, overseeing Physical Education. In 1923 Dr. Margaret Bell was appointed Associate Professor of
Physical Education. A master’s degree was created in 1931 and Ph.D. degree in 1938.

John Sundwall

Margaret Bell

Paul Hunsicker

Dee Edington

In 1941 Fielding Yost retired, and Physical Education, Athletics and intramural sports were reorganized. Fritz Crisler was named Director of
Physical Education and Athletics. Until this time the Physical Education professorial titles of Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor
and Instructor were used. In 1941 they were changed to Director, Supervisor, Associate Supervisor, and Assistant Supervisor. But in 1967 the
University returned to professorial titles for the Physical Education faculty.
In 1949, with the appointment of Paul Hunsicker as Professor and Chair of Physical Education, the Department began to emphasize research.
In 1970, in response to student demands during the activist 60s, the physical education requirement was dropped. In 1977 Dee Edington was
named chair. Waterman & Barbour Gymnasiums were demolished, and Physical Education moved into the new Central Campus Recreation
Building, completed in 1977.

In response to student activist
demands during the 1960s, the
physical education requirement
was dropped.

Students Protest

Fritz Crisler

1990

Division of Kinesiology

The Division of Kinesiology began its existence as the physical education program within the School of Education. Although the department was
originally targeted during the 1980s with the same 40% cut as Education, the presence of a significant number of varsity athletes in the school
created pressure on the University to preserve its capacity, and hence it was spun off as an independent unit. This reputation as a less demanding
major for the football team has made it difficult politically for Kinesiology to assume the more standard title of college or school. However, its
more rigorous programs have evolved both in quality and difficulty and are now among the most challenging undergraduate programs in the
University.

Kinesiology

Kinesiology

305

Public Policy

The School of Public Policy prepares graduates for distinguished
careers in policy analysis and management and promotes improved public
policy through research. Its curriculum combines rigorous grounding in
contemporary social science, opportunities to develop expertise in a
variety of policy domains, and practical experience. Graduates work in
government and the private and nonprofit sectors, using their knowledge,
judgment, and new ideas to solve social problems, both domestic and
international. The School traces its history to the founding of the Institute
of Public Administration in 1936, the first university program in the United
States to provide a systematic course of study in municipal administration.
The Institute became the Institute of Public Policy Studies in 1968 and was
renamed the School of Public Policy in 1995. In 1999 it became the Gerald
R. Ford School of Public Policy.
307

1913

Bureau of Reference & Research in Government

Government activities are so diverse and so intermingled with our daily life that a useful service can be performed by a research agency
concerned primarily with governmental issues. The need for a center of information on government was recognized by the University
as far back as 1913, when the Bureau was established as a division of the Department of Political Science under the name of the Bureau
of Reference and Research in Government.

1918

Bureau of Government

In 1918 the title of the Bureau of Reference and Research in Government was changed to Bureau of Government. For the next twenty
years the small appropriation available to the Bureau was used chiefly to develop a library for students in the municipal administration
curriculum.

1934
An expansion in Bureau activities was made possible in 1934 by a grant for governmental research from the Horace H. Rackham estate,
and for the first time it became possible to initiate a broad program of research extending over a period of several years. At that time the
Bureau was reorganized into a separate unit of the University. To broaden the scope of its activities a faculty advisory committee was
appointed, consisting of representatives from the Law School, the School of Education, and the departments of Economics, Sociology,
and Political Science.

1936

Institute of Public & Social Administration

By 1935, the University community perceived a need for training in various administrative functions in the state. Requests came from
the Department of Political Science (for training in public administration) and from the Department of Forestry and Conservation and
the Department of Geography (for training in the field of land utilization). These diversified training programs were assembled in an
Institute of Public and Social Administration.
The Institute of Public and Social Administration was established in 1936 as an integral part of the Graduate School to provide
professional curriculums in social work and public administration, to coordinate technical offerings in these and in other closely related
fields, and to provide facilities for research. Its special objectives were to equip men and women for professional service in social work
and public administration and to train investigators. The Institute aimed to foster study and investigation and thus contribute to a better
understanding of human nature and behavior as exhibited in our complex social and economic life.
Since a public health course already existed, this part of the program was omitted from the proposed curriculum. Under these
circumstances, the Institute of the Health and the Social Sciences was changed early in 1936 to the Institute of Public and Social
Administration. The executive committee in charge was responsible to the Executive Board of the Graduate School. The Bureau of
Reference and Research in Government was also placed under the jurisdiction of the Institute, and the program of research in land
utilization and land-use planning was instituted at this time.

1940
The curriculums in 1940 provided for a two-year program both in public administration and in social work and led to the professional
degrees, respectively, of master of public administration and master of social work. The purpose of the reorganized Institute was to
expand activities in research, training, and service in those social and governmental fields which require technical knowledge and skills
based on the formal social sciences and related disciplines. It also endeavored to coordinate the curriculums and to supplement them
where necessary, so that students might gain a more adequate understanding of the nature of voluntary and governmental organization
and thus be better prepared to act as citizens and to fill responsible public and social positions.
“Contemporary government is exceedingly complex and controversial, and adequate analysis of governmental problems requires tedious and prolonged study. In
general, problems selected for investigation must be timely. This does not preclude investigations of a more theoretical nature which may not be of immediate
interest to the public, but which may have significance in the fields of public finance and public administration. In every study great care is taken to state all
of the pertinent facts accurately and impartially. The research program of the Bureau is designed to assist and improve government in Michigan, and to be of
service to Michigan citizens by furnishing them with information on leading questions in taxation and government. Careful examination of governmental issues from the financial, administrative, economic, and legal standpoints will provide a basis for the intelligent treatment and understanding of these problems.”
Robert S. Ford (Encyclopedic Survey, p. 1060, available online at Humanities Txt Iniative (www.hti.umich.edu)

308

Haven Hall

Haven Hall

Haven Hall

Bureau of Government Library

Bureau of Government Library

The Bureau of Government Library was housed in Haven Hall. In 1957 the building was destroyed by an arsonist.

1968

Institute of Public Policy Studies
In 1968 the program’s name was changed to the Institute of Public Policy Studies.

1995

School of Public Policy Studies
In 1995 the Institute of Public Policy Studies became the School of Public Policy Studies.

Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

1999

The University’s program in public policy began first as an Institute of Public Administration and later became an Institute for Public
Policy Studies closely affiliated with LS&A. In 1995 the program was upgraded to a school with the capacity to offer graduate degrees (a
master’s in public policy) and host tenured faculty. In 1999 the school was renamed the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy in honor
of the 38th President of the United States. Although the program moved about within LS&A for years, eventually ending up in Lorch
Hall adjacent to Economics, its new home will be a magnificent new facility, Weill Hall, that will serve as the informal entrance to the
Central Campus.

Weill Hall - Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

Lorch Hall

309

The Presidents and the President’s House
1840s - The Professors’ Houses

The third floor was added
during Tappan’s tenure.

In 1864 the Havens added the
one-story kitchen (left).

In 1852 President Tappan moved into the
west Professors’ House on South University,
thus making it the President’s House.

In 1891 the Angells added the
library (left) and side porch (right).

1870s & 1880s
“The Angell House”

In the 1920s the Burtons added the sun parlor and sleeping porch on the east side, and
enclosed the back porch. A garage with bedrooms above was added behind the kitchen.

In the 1940s the Ruthvens added the President’s Study on the northeast corner of
the house and a plant room between the sun parlor and the President’s Study.

311

The first buildings appearing on the University of Michigan campus in 1840 were four “Professors’ Houses,” designed to
provide living quarters for the faculty. Over the next several decades, each of these houses would be modified many times to
meet various needs, including space for the first University Hospital, the School of Dentistry and the Homeopathic Medical
College, and the College of Engineering. However, the house to the west on South University was offered to Michigan’s first
president, Henry Tappan, as a residence for him and his family, after which it became the President’s House. This house has
served over a century and a half as the President’s House of the University.
Over these years the house has evolved quite considerably to accommodate the various Michigan presidents and their families,
and to meet the needs of the times. This section provides a chronological history of the President’s House and the families who
have lived in it.

Jasper Cropsey Painting 1855 - President’s House (left)

Henry Philip Tappan 1852-1863
Henry and Julia Tappan arrived in Ann Arbor with their two children, John (21) and Rebecca “Barbie” (16). Tappan was the
visionary president who set the University’s course as a great research university. He had very sophisticated tastes for frontier
culture of 1850s Michigan. He enjoyed wine with his meals and was frequently seen striding across the campus with his large
German mastiffs dogs, Leo and Buff. One local newspaper characterized him as “the most completely foreignized specimen of
an abnormal Yankee we have ever seen.”

These photographs are of the west Professors’ House on North
University. The house that the Tappans moved into on South University
was identical.

Henry Tappan

House Facing Street

Julia Tappan

312

House Facing Diag

The Tappans lived in what would become the President’s House,
furnishing it to their own tastes and adding the third floor to the
structure. Although greatly admired by students and later by history,
Tappan earned numerous enemies with his European mannerisms and
his sometimes abrasive nature. He was fired by the Regents in 1863
who then named Erastus Haven as his successor. (See page 18)
There was a great uproar in the community, with petitions and resolutions
to have Tappan reinstated. This continued for several months. The
Tappans left for Europe expecting to be called back. Erastus Haven
arrived in Ann Arbor and chaired the August Regents’ meeting. The
new Board of Regents took office on January 1, 1864. They felt it ill
advised to overturn a decision made by the previous board. Tappan was
not reinstated.
On Tuesday, September 26, 1863, a public auction was held at the
President’s House to sell the Tappans’ possessions. The auction flyer
(now in the Bentley Library) for the sale of the Tappans’ household lists
each room with its contents. Items on the third floor are included.

The Third Floor

Erastus Otis Haven 1863-1869
Following his selection as Tappan’s
successor, Haven returned to
the campus with his wife, Mary
Francis, to serve as Michigan’s
president for the next six years.
Although he returned to a campus
and community that was greatly
upset over the removal of Tappan
he was able to win their support.
During his tenure, a kitchen was
added to the west side of the
President’s House.
Erastus Haven

Kitchen (left)

Mary Francis Haven

Henry Simmons Frieze 1869-1871
Henry Frieze, a professor of Latin Language and Literature, served as President pro tempore during the two years while the
Regents searched for a new President. Frieze had recommended James Angell for the position. During the long negotiations
with Angell, Frieze was asked to accept the presidency but declined. Frieze did not live in the President’s House, preferring to
emphasize the temporary nature of his position by remaining in his own home next door. Henry Frieze was the last professor
to live in the east Professors’ House on South University.

East Professors’ House
South University

Henry Frieze

313

James Burrill Angell 1871-1909

James Angell

Sarah Angell

James Angell was courted for the Michigan presidency for two years, and he accepted the position the third time it was offered. The renovation
of the President’s House was a key factor in his decision. Many letters on this topic went back and forth to the Regents and Henry Frieze.
“It has occurred to me that I ought to ask you a little more definitely what you think could be done to the house. It seems to me to need absolutely, paper and paint, bath
room with hot and cold water, and some arrangement for a dining room closet, and a furnace. My family has never lived in a house without the above named conveniences,
which the house lacks, and composed as it is of persons from very advanced age to infancy. I should not feel willing to ask them to dispense with them, unless there were
an absolute necessity. I am well aware that such a change would entail a pretty heavy outlay at first, but once done it would be done for all the future. The attic would
hold a tank which could be filled from the roof.” Shirley Smith (From Vermont to Michigan, p. 135)

These photos show the President’s House after 1883. (The Library Tower, completed in 1883, is visible.)

During Angell’s 38-year tenure, the President’s House was referred to as the “Angell House” and was altered quite considerably. In 1891 a west
wing was added to give Angell a semi-circular library and more bedrooms. Also, two large rooms were made from the original pair of rooms
on either side of the ground floor hallway. A porch was added to the east side of the house. Technology also was upgraded, when the house
was wired for electricity. However, the barn, orchard, and vegetable garden remained at the rear of the house.

314

The Angell Family on the President’s House Steps
Sam Baylis

Dr. Victor Vaughan recalls fondly that “The center of intellectual and social life in Ann Arbor was in the home of
President and Mrs. Angell. The Faculty was one large family group, the members mingling with no stressed formality. We
entered the President’s residence by the back door on the Campus. The front door was only for strangers or when receptions were
being given. Not infrequently the bell brought the President himself to the door in his slippers and with a gracious welcome on
his face.” Victor Vaughan (Michigan Alumnus, December 4, 1926, p. 196)
Mrs. Angell died on December 17,
1903. In 1909 the Regents accepted
President Angell’s resignation at
the age of 80. President Angell
continued living in his home until he
died at the age of 88. He was cared
for by Sam Baylis and Kate Martin
during his last years in the President’s
House.

James Angell died on April 1, 1916.
Private services were held in the
President’s House. At the end of the
service, the Glee Club, standing in
the front yard, sang “Laudes Atque
Carmina.” Students lined the streets
to pay their last respects to their
beloved “Prexy.”

Harry Burns Hutchins 1910-1920

Angell was succeeded by Harry Burns Hutchins, dean of the Law School
since 1895 and long-time friend of Angell. Hutchins remained in his
own home on Monroe Street. He was the only Michigan president not
to live in the President’s House.
The President’s House remained vacant after Angell’s death, unused
except as a Red Cross headquarters during World War I and as
temporary housing for Professor Hugh Cabot of the Medical School.
Harry Hutchins

Mary Louise Hutchins

The Regents dine at President Hutchin’s home.

The Hutchins home on Monroe Street at Packard.

315

Marion Leroy Burton succeeded
Hutchins in 1920. Burton served
as President of Smith College from
1910 to 1917, and the University
of Minnesota from 1917 until
1920. After the war the University
badly needed more buildings and
faculty. Burton stated: “A state
university must accept happily the
conclusion that it is destined to be
large. I insist that excellence does
not inhere in size.”

Marion Leroy Burton 1920-1925

During Burton’s brief tenure, the President’s House was thoroughly
renovated at his request. A sun parlor with a sleeping porch above was
added to the east side. The back porch was enclosed, and a garage with
bedrooms overhead was added to the northwest side. Burton’s tenure
was cut short by his death in 1925 after a year-long illness.

Marion and Nina Burton

Clarence Cook Little 1925-1929

Clarence Cook Little

Katherine Little

Clarence Cook (Pete) Little came
from the University of Maine
where he had served as president
for three years. He paid little
attention to the President’s House
during his four-year tenure.
Embroiled in almost continual
controversy, Little resigned in
1929. His domestic life was also
in shambles. In 1929 he divorced
his wife on grounds of 12 years’
desertion. He had lived alone in
the President’s House.

Little in the Dining Room

Alexander Grant Ruthven 1929-1951

Alexander Ruthven came to Michigan in 1903 as a graduate student.
He was a professor of zoology and director of the museum. Florence
Ruthven was also a graduate. The Ruthvens displayed a sense of nostalgia in restoring some of the original furnishings to the President’s
House and filled the public rooms with many items from their own
collections. Many of these antiquities are now housed in the Kelsey
Museum.

Alexander Ruthven

The Ruthvens were well known
for their student teas. The house
was filled with antiquities, and
tours were given during the teas.
The pictures (above) show them
greeting guests. Eleanor (their
dog) is in attendance.

The Ruthvens Greeting Guests at a Student Tea

Florence Ruthven

A private study was added in the
northeast corner for the president,
and a plant room between the sun
parlor and the President’s Study
for Mrs. Ruthven.
President’s Study

Plant Room

316

In 1951, after a twenty-two year
tenure, Ruthven retired and was
succeeded by Harlan Hatcher.
Hatcher came from Ohio State
where he had received all of his
degrees. He was a professor of
English and served as dean and
vice president for faculty and
curriculum.

Harlan Henthorne Hatcher 1951-1967

Harlan Hatcher

Shortly before the Hatcher family
arrived, the Inglis House estate
had been given to the University
to be used as a President’s house,
and the Hatchers were invited to
live there. However, they chose
to live in the President’s House on
campus.

Anne Hatcher

Inglis House Formal Gardens

Inglis House from the Meadow

Inglis House Living/Dining Room

The Inglis Family
James & Elizabeth
Betty & Jim

Inglis House Library

The twenty-two-room President’s House was sufficient for the Hatchers’ needs,
and they asked only that a glassed-in dining porch and stone terrace be added at
the rear of the house. The interior of the house was extensively refurbished.

Library

Dining Room
Glassed-in Porch and Stone Terrace

Living Room

317

Robben Wright Fleming 1968-1979
Robben and Sally Fleming came
to Michigan from the University
of Wisconsin where he had served
as chancellor.
As Sally noted in her oral
history: “When we first came to see
the house, it was quite an experience,
because the place was much larger
than anything either of us had ever
lived in and we were wondering how
in the world we were ever going to
make this huge place into a home.”

But the Flemings were able to
make the house their home by
creating small conversation areas
in each room to make the house
seem cozier.

Robben Fleming

Sally Fleming

The multi-story Graduate Library
was constructed directly behind
the President’s House during the
Fleming’s tenure. About ten feet
of the back yard was taken up for
about three years while the large
structural pieces were erected and
the building took shape.

Harold Tafler Shapiro 1980-1987

Harold and Vivian Shapiro had been on the faculty and members of
the Ann Arbor community for 15 years when he was named president in
1980. They were accompanied by their four daughters. The Shapiros
added a personal touch with paintings and other decorative items from
their own collection.
With the help of Virginia Denham, the University interior designer, all
of the Shapiro’s furniture was brought in to furnish the upstairs and to
fill in the downstairs. The house was left essentially intact. The carpets
and drapes remained. The only changes were to replace the wallpaper
in the dining room and hall and re-upholster the dining room chairs.
Harold Shapiro

Vivian recalls in her oral history: “The children were not very happy about
the move, and they simply did not want to deal with it, so I packed up their stuff
from our private home and each of their bedrooms got the boxes of their things.”

Vivian Shapiro

Dining Room

Living Room

President’s Study

Sun Porch

Plant Room

Library

318

James Johnson Duderstadt 1988-1996
Like the Shapiros, Jim and Anne
Duderstadt had been members
of the University faculty and Ann
Arbor community for almost 20
years when he was appointed
president in 1988. Following the
Shapiro presidency, the University
had launched a major renovation
of the President’s House between
presidents to install a new
heating/air conditioning system,
fire protection systems, and
handicap access.

James Duderstadt

Anne Duderstadt

Dining Room - Dinner with
President & Mrs. Ford

The Duderstadts were able
to leverage the small budget
($70,000) for carpet replacement
into a major renovation of the
house, restoring many features
such as its hardwood floors.
Donations
from
Michigan
furniture manufacturers provided
new furnishings for many of the
rooms. A talented group of young
gardeners, including several
students, restored the gardens and
grounds of the President’s House.

Living Room
A Visit with the Dalai Lama

Celebrating the University’s 175th Year
The Hatchers, Shapiros, Smiths, Duderstadts & Flemings

Dining Room

Sun Porch - Music Room

Living Room

Plant Room

319

President’s Study

Library

Lee C. Bollinger 1997-2001

Lee Bollinger

Jean Bollinger

Because of Lee Bollinger’s relatively short tenure, he and his wife Jean made only modest changes to
the President’s House. They carpeted the upper floors and furnished their personal living quarters
with contemporary furniture.

Mary Sue Coleman 2002 -

Mary Sue Coleman

Kenneth Coleman

Once again, the University launched a major renovation project during the transition to the presidency
of Mary Sue Coleman. Over $1 million was spent to update extensive mechanical systems and
replace the traditional family kitchen with a catering kitchen.

The Old Kitchen - The President Makes “Victory Apple Pies”

The New Kitchen - The President Prepares to Entertain Students

320

In the 2000 renovation of the President’s House, the windows were replaced to
recreate the twelve-divided-light windows of the original Professors’ House.

Original Professors’ House (facing street)

Original Professors’ House (facing diag)

The two photos above show the
original Professors’ House with
the twelve-divided-light windows.

The President’s House is the only
surviving building from the 1840
campus, although very little remains of that original house. The
history of the President’s House,
therefore, is in the alterations and
changes that were made by each
President as they transformed the
house to make it their home.

Two-divided-light windows replaced the originals in 1891, when
the Angells added the library and
the porch (below).

President’s House - 2002

1870s & 1880s - Twelve-Divided-Light Windows

1891 - Two-Divided-Light Windows

321

The University of Michigan Seals & The Controversy Over the Founding Date
(These words have been taken directly from an article in the Michigan Alumnus
of March 23, 1929, p. 463. Written by Shelby B. Schurtz ’08, ’10l )

After much frustration about the neglect of preserving the history of the University of Michigan, the Alumni Association
established an Alumni Committee on History and Tradition. One of their projects was to establish the founding date of the
University. After three years of intensive study, the committee determined that the universal custom of universities was to
signify their founding date by their corporate seals and determined further that the erroneous common understanding was that
Michigan was founded in 1837. In investigating the history and traditions of Michigan, the committee discovered the University
was founded on August 26, 1817. As a result, the committee asked the Board of Regents to require the use of the correct date,
August 26, 1817, in all seals, diplomas, catalogues and other literature issued by the University or its authority hereafter.

The University has had several
seals. Its first seal, commonly called
the “Epistemia” seal, was adopted
September 12, 1817. The Temple of
Wisdom Seal—six pillars support a
dome—light shines from above on the
dome.

On April 5, 1843 the “Minerva”
seal was adopted. This seal was
used from 1843 to 1896. Minerva
is shown pointing a youth to the
Temple of Wisdom.

On October 16, 1895, a new seal was adopted by a full vote of the Regents. The Lamp of Knowledge Seal, with a rising sun back
of the shield taken from the State of Michigan coat of arms. The “Epistemia” and the “Minerva” seals were fully described.
However, the 1895 seal came with no description. It is a fact that there is not a scratch of a pen showing the adoption of 1837
upon the seal of the University, it just “grew up” and made its appearance in 1896 “out of the air!” For the first seventy-eight
years of its history the University’s seal was without the date 1837 - the date 1837 is a relatively modern invention. All that the
Board of Regents proceedings show upon this subject is that on October 16, 1895, “On motion of Regent Dean, the new seal of
the University was adopted by a full vote.” What the new seal was is not shown, which lack of description is in strange contrast
with the very full description of the “Epistemia” seal adopted September 12, 1817, and the “Minerva” seal adopted April 5,
1843! If 1837 ever was authorized upon the seal no record of the University shows it!

322

The University of Michigan Seals & The Controversy Over the Founding Date
The only instance where 1817-1837 was discussed by the Regents was back in the 1850s when the enemies of the University
argued that the University had no existence prior to 1837 and therefore could not have title to the land deeded by the Federal
Government and the Territory of Michigan to its ancestor of 1817. In 1850 the Board of Regents rushed into court and claimed
the University was founded in 1817, and by such claim substantiated by the courts managed to retain the University lands!
Indeed, the Supreme Court said: “The present University is the same legal body with the University founded in 1817.”

The University of Michigan from its foundation in 1817 until 1867 was supported entirely from its Federal Land Grant endowment
and the fees derived from students. In 1867 the Legislature made its first appropriation for the University. “Obviously then until
1867, the institution was not in any sense a state university—it was still a United States Land Grant University.” It is true that
the Michigan idea of education, beginning with the University and stretching down through all the lower grades to the primary
school, was the pattern for all the other state universities throughout the West, but this idea dates from the University of Michigan
of 1817, and it in turn was borrowed from the German and French systems of education in force in 1817 (Harvard Bulletins
in Education, Graduate School of Eduction, Harvard University, Number VIII, January, 1923. “University of Michigan: Its
Origin and Development” by Richard Rees Price. A.M., published by Harvard University, p. 21).
The Catholepistemiad or University of Michigan of 1817 describes accurately a typical German institution of the day in
the quaintly pseudo-classic nomenclature which Jefferson very narrowly failed to saddle upon the entire Old Northwest, and
which still remains in such names as Rome, Ithaca, Athens, Sparta, Constantine, etc. No, our idea of a state system of public
instruction did not spring into being in 1837, it was embodied in the foundation stature of 1817, and instead of “springing into
being” it was borrowed from Germany and France, whereas all the other American institutions of learning up to that time were
copied after the English Universities (Shelby B. Schurtz ’08, ’10l, Michigan Alumnus, March 23, 1929, p. 463).

323

References
Russell E. Bidlack, “The University of Michigan General Library: A
history of its beginnings, 1837-1852,” dissertation, University of
Michigan, 1954.

The Michigan Alumnus

Mortimer Cooley’s notes on the History of the College of
Engineering from its inception to the 1940s (Cooley Files, Bentley
Historical Library).

The Michigan Alumnus documents the activities of the University,
chronicling its progress and serving as a medium for news of alumni
activities. The magazine was launched as a private enterprise by
Alvick Pearson in 1894. He sold it to the Alumni Association
in 1898. The Michigan Alumnus was published as a monthly until
1921 when it appeared as a weekly. In 1934 the Quarterly was
inaugurated, so longer, in-depth, articles could be published.
Editors of the early years included Shirley Smith, Wilfred Shaw,
and T. Hawley Tapping. Wilfred Shaw’s drawings and etchings
of Michigan campus scenes and personalities were used in many
Michigan Alumnus Quarterly Reviews and other publications.

James J. Duderstadt, On The Move: A Personal History of the College
of Engineering in Modern Times (Ann Arbor: Millennium Project,
The University of Michigan, 2003).

The Michiganensian

Ruth Bordin, The University of Michigan: A Pictorial History (Ann
Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1967).
Mortimer E. Cooley, Scientific Blacksmith (Ann Arbor: University
of Michigan Press, 1947).

Elizabeth M. Farrand, History of the University of Michigan (Ann
Arbor: George Wahr, Register Publishing House, 1885).

The first Michiganensian was published in April of 1897, the result
of a consolidation of The Palladium, The Castalian, and Res Gestae.
In 1900 it was suggested that the Michiganensian should be given
more the character of a yearbook, should be paged and indexed,
and made the Michigan reference book of the year, giving the
names of the winners of the various University contests, lists
of society members, etc. The yearbook became a profusely
illustrated book of some five hundred pages bound in durable
covers. It included articles and photographs on various aspects of
the Schools and Colleges, on the various campus activities, and a
section recounting the athletic achievements of Michigan teams,
during the year.

Paul E. Lingenfelter, “The Firing Of Henry Philip Tappan, University
Builder,” M.S. Dissertation, University of Michigan, 1970.
Burke A. Hinsdale, and Isaac Newton Demmon, History of the
University of Michigan (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press,
1906).
Michigan Alumnus, (Ann Arbor: 1894-present).
Michigan Technic (Ann Arbor: 1882-1980s).
Michiganensian (Ann Arbor: 1897-present).
Howard H. Peckham, The Making of the University of Michigan,
1817-1992, edited and updated by Margaret L. and Nicholas H.
Steneck (Ann Arbor: Bentley Library, 1967, 1994).

The Michigan Technic
The Michigan Technic was first published in 1882, although it was
initially known as the “Selected Papers Read Before the Engineering Society
of the University of Michigan.” It was the oldest engineering college
magazine in America. In 1887 the publication was formally given
the name of the Technic. During the Technic’s early years, the staff
had no faculty supervision, and they had to personally pay for any
losses incurred. Later, the College of Engineering gave assistance
by paying for a full-page advertisement in each issue. In this
way each department received publicity once a year. The Technic
was also supported with profits from publishing the Michigan
Engineer’s Song Book and from the Slide Rule Ball.

Regents’ Proceedings (online at www.umich.edu/~bhl/).
Frederick Rudolph, The American College and University - A History
(Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 1990).
Wilfred B. Shaw, The University of Michigan (New York: Harcourt
Brace and Howe, 1920; 2d ed., Ann Arbor: George Wahr, 1934).
Wilfred B. Shaw, editor, The University of Michigan: An Encyclopedic
Survey (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1947).
Shirley Smith, James Angell, An American Influence (Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press, 1954).

The University of Michigan:
An Encyclopedic Survey

Henry P. Tappan, A Discourse delivered by Henry P. Tappan, at
Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the Occassion of His Inauguration as
Chancellor of the University of Michigan, December 21st, 1852.
(Detroit: Advertiser Poser Presses, 1852).

In 1937 to celebrate the centennial of the University of Michigan
in Ann Arbor, the Committee on University Archives suggested
than an “Encyclopedia” of the University should be compiled to
document the history of the institution. Wilfred Shaw was chosen
Editor-in-chief. Over two hundred faculty and staff wrote the
history and activities of the various divisions of the University,
according to a carefully considered format. The resulting four
volumes contain the most complete account of the University and
its history. (Digital text available at www. umich.edu/~bhl/)

Victor C. Vaughan, A Doctor’s Memories (The Bobs-Merrill
Company, Indianapolis, 1926).
Andrew Dickson White, Autobiography of Andrew Dickson White (New
York: The Century Company, 1905)
Patricia S. Whitesell, A Creation of His Own: Tappan’s Detroit
Observatory (Ann Arbor: Bentley History Library, 1998).

324

Acknowledgments

Burke A. Hinsdale

Isaac Newton Demmon

Burke Hinsdale, was a professor of pedagogy at the University
of Michigan. His book, History of the University, was a scholarly
treatise on the rise of state universities, with numerous pictures and
biographies of members of the Michigan faculty. The manuscript
was not complete at the time of his death and was finished by
Professor Isaac Newton Demmon.

Ruth Bordin

Ruth Bordin received a B.A. 1938 and an M.A. 1940 in history
from the University of Minnesota. She was discouraged from
pursuing a Ph.D. because at the time many felt that a wife and
mother could not also be a scholar. Throughout her life, however,
Bordin was actively involved in research, teaching and writing.
From 1957 to 1967, Bordin was a curator at the Michigan
Historical Collections, which proceeded the Bentley Historical
Library. From 1967-71 and 1975-78 she lectured at Eastern
Michigan University.
In 1967 Bordin published The University of Michigan: A Pictorial
History for the University’s Sesquicentennial. Her other major
publications included: Women and Temperance; The Quest for Power
and Liberty; Francis Willard: A Biography; Washtenaw County: An
Illustrated History; Alice Freeman Palmer: The Evolution of a New Woman;
and Women at Michigan.

Wilfred B. Shaw

Wilfred Shaw served as Director of Alumni Relations and Editor
of the Quarterly Review from 1907-1929. He wrote The University of
Michigan, a history of the University from its inception through the
administration of President Burton. He also served as editor for
The University of Michigan: An Encyclopedia Survey.

Howard Peckham

Shirley W. Smith

Howard Peckham received his B.S. in 1931 and his M.S. in
1933 from the University of Michigan. From 1936 until 1945
he served the Clements Library as Curator of Manuscripts and
also as Lecturer in Library Science. From 1945 to 1953 Peckham
was Director of the Indiana Historical Bureau and Secretary of
the Indiana Historical Society. He returned to the University of
Michigan in 1953 as Director of the William L. Clements Library
and Professor of History. His book, The Making of the University of
Michigan, was published in 1967.

Shirley Smith received his Michigan degree in 1897. In 1898 he
was an instructor of English in the Department of Engineering.
He continued his studies and received an M.S. in 1900. A year
later he became Secretary of the Alumni Association, serving until
1904. He was away from campus for four years before returning
to became Secretary of the University in 1908. He served as
Secretary for twenty-two years under four presidents, Harry
Hutchins, Marion Burton, Clarence Cook Little, and Alexander
Ruthven. He wrote two biographies: James Burrill Angell: An American
Influence and Harry Burns Hutchins and the University of Michigan.

325

Acknowledgments
MORT’S MAP

Myron Mortenson

Myron Mortenson graduated
from the University of Michigan
with a B.S. in Civil Engineering in
1931. He worked as an engineer in
the Plant Department until 1954
when he became Chief Draftsman.
Mort’s great contribution to the
University of Michigan history is
his map with footprints of all of the
buildings of the University from
the beginning to the 1970s.

CHRONOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN CAMPUS
ANN ARBOR
PLANT DEPARTMENT
by MORT
HIS LABOR OF LOVE

326

Acknowledgments
With gratitude and appreciation to all who created and preserved the images of the University of Michigan.

George Robert Swain

Janet & Melvin Ivory

George Swain received his B.A. in 1897 and his M.A. in 1900
from the University of Michigan. Swain was an educator and a
photographer. He taught school and served as principal to several
schools. In 1913 Swain returned to the University of Michigan,
serving as university photographer until 1949. He accompanied
Professor Francis Kelsey of the Latin Department on four trips
to Europe as a photographic technician, photographing valuable
manuscripts for the university collection.

Melvin Allison Ivory, another prominent photographer, came
to Ann Arbor in the mid-1920’s from Lansing, where he had done
amateur photo finishing for his father’s two drugstores. While an
undergraduate at the University of Michigan, Ivory became the
official photographer for the Michigan Alumnus, Michiganensian, and
the Bureau of Alumni Relations. Ivory’s wife Janet joined him
in his work. The Ivory collection in the Bentley dates from the
1920’s to the early 1970s. The collection documents Ann Arbor
and the University of Michigan. Ivory produced cover art for the
Michigan Alumnus. This gave him the opportunity to experiment
aesthetically with unusual angles, lighting and subject matter.

In 1924 and 1925 Swain was part of a university expedition which
conducted excavations at Antioch in Pisidia. He and Professor
Kelsey drove university cars from Brussels to Naples and three
hundred miles across Asia Minor.
Swain’s office was located in the campus library, where he produced
negatives for latern slides that were used in conjunction with
lectures in fine arts and engineering. Negatives were developed
in his home darkroom at 1103 Packard Avenue, since the use of
chemicals was forbidden in the library building.

Bentley Library

Many of the images that illustrate this Michigan Saga are from the
Bentley Historical Collections. Many others originally appeared
in the Michigan Alumnus, the Michiganesian, and the Michigan Technic.
The Bentley Library was established in 1935 to serve as the official
archives of the University of Michigan and to document the
history of the State of Michigan. Our thanks to the Bentley staff
for their assistance.
The map of Thomas Jefferson’s original sketch of his plan for the
Northwest Territory (page 1), courtesy of the Clements Library.
The campus aerials and architectural sketches, courtesy of the
Plant Extension Department.
The President’s House new kitchen (page 320) courtesy of the
Michigan Daily.
The Papyrus Hunter’s Caravan
Dodge and Graham Brothers Cars Presented to the University For
the Far East Expedition

The contemporary campus images are from Jim Duderstadt’s
photo collection.

Others who documented the history of the University of Michigan
include: J. Jefferson Gibson who photographed the Medical
School and compositions of classes, J. Fred Rentschller who
served as apprentice to Gibson until 1890 when he opened his
own studio, and Sam Sturgis.

Special thanks to Dan Fassahazion and Andy Klesh for their
technology assistance, Julie Steiff for editing this manuscript,
Barbara Wood and Paula Yocum for pre-press assistance, and Jim
Duderstadt for writing the Forward, for his careful edits, wordsmithing, and knowledge about higher education in general and
the University of Michigan in particular.

327

“HAIL TO THE VICTORS”
(These words have been taken directly from an article in the Michigan Alumnus of October, 1979, p. 9.)
The year was 1898. Freshmen were still being lured off campus on snipe hunts, suffering impromptu haircuts by upper classmen and
wishing they were sophomores. The student body was more football crazy than ever.
The Michigan Daily followed every move of the Michigan team, reporting the details of each day’s practice. The fever grew as the
Chicago game approached. Both Michigan and Chicago had been mowing down opponents all season.
The Michigan Central Railroad equipped two special trains to take 600 students and Ann Arbor fans to Chicago’s Marshall Field
for the big game on a bitter cold November 24. Arrangements had been made so that the results of the game would be phoned long
distance back to the Opera House in Ann Arbor.
The Game was strenuous and rough, and while there were minor injuries, no man from either side had to be replaced. One of
Chicago’s extra points was blocked, keeping Chicago’s score to 11 points. Michigan scored two touchdowns—one on a spectacular
65-yard run by Widman—and converted both extra points. Forevermore, the final score would read Michigan 12, Chicago 11.

“We were crazed with joy,” recalled Elbel. “We paraded in the dark. We yelled and followed our U-M Band, singing to the tune of Hot Time in
the Old Town. It struck me quite suddenly that such an epic should be dignified by something more elevating, for this was no ordinary victory.
My spirits were so uplifted that I was clear off the earth, and that is when The Victors was inspired. Very shortly, the strain of Hail to the Victors came
to mind, and gradually the entire march. Sweeping inspiring strains are not made—they flash unawares.
And so it was with the Victors. I could hardly have written it on order—neither did I speculate for one moment how many people ever would hear it. I
put in a lot of ‘hails’ and I knew the fellows would get them in with the proper emphasis. Through them, the title suggested itself, and I dedicated it to
the Michigan team of 1898.
After the game and snake dance, Louis walked to his sister’s house in Englewood, about a mile and a half from Marshall Field.
When I got to my sister’s house, somehow I had the presence of mind to write down the notes of that song. And, when I got to South Bend the next day,
I not only tried out the song on my piano, but finished the entire refrain. Then the idea of a big march came to me, and I completed the whole work on
the train that took me back to Ann Arbor for Monday’s classes.”
When the Daily resumed publication on Monday, the headline on page one began with the words “Champions of the West.”
Louis Elbel’s victory song, inspired by one of the greatest games in football history, would ring out around the world forevermore.
(Michigan Alumnus, October, 1979, p. 9)
Louis Elbel was born in South Bend, Indiana on October 28, 1877.
He was one of eight children. His Grandfather Elbel brought the family
over from Arzberg, Germany, in 1851, and settled in South Bend to be
near former neighbors from Bavaria. The family was unusually musical.
The Elbels had enough different musicians to establish the Elbel Band
and Orchestra in 1860, and, when Louis arrived 17 years later, it was
almost predetermined that he would be a musician of some kind.
He once explained how he became a pianist: “As a boy of six, I was
sent to Europe where relatives did there utmost to make me take up
study of the violin. Not having any zest for the instrument, I became
attached to the piano upon returning home and received my first lesson
from my brother Richard. At age 10, I had committed (to memory) 40
pieces.”

Louis Elbel - 1898
From the Track Team Photo

Elbel’s natural ability made him a child prodigy. He went on a musical
tour of the West at the age of 12 and then traveled to Boston to study
the piano further. By the time he was a high school senior, Louis Elbel
was considered South Bend’s most promising piano genius. None of
his brothers and sisters had gone to college, so his decision to get a
college education was a first in his family. He picked Michigan partly
because of the Music School and because two older friends from South
Bend were already there (Michigan Alumnus, November, 1977, p. 5).

328

Louis Elbel
Directs The “Victors” 1940

Victors
Now for a cheer they are here, triumphant!
Here they come with banners flying,
In stalwart step they’re nighing,
With shouts of vic’t’ry crying,
We Hurrah, hurrah, we greet you now,
Hail! Far we their praises sing,
For the glory and fame they’ve bro’t us,
Loud let the bells them ring,
For here they come with banners flying.
Far we their praises tell,
For the glory and fame they’ve bro’t us,
Loud let the bells them ring,
For here they come with banners flying,
Here they come, Hurrah!
Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conqu’ring heroes,
Hail! Hail! to Michigan the leaders and best,
Hail! to the victors valiant,
Hail! to the conqu’ring heroes,
Hail! Hail! to Michigan the champions of the West.
We cheer them again, We cheer and cheer again,
For Michigan, We cheer for Michigan,
We cheer with might and main
We cheer, cheer, cheer with might and main we cheer.
Hail! to the victors valiant,
Hail! to the conqu’ring heroes,
Hail! Hail! to Michigan the champions of the West.
Louis Elbel, 1898

329

I

Index
	
Art in Engineering Drawing, 300
	
Denison, Charles, P300
	
Lorch Hall, P301
	
Flag, P299
	
Slusser, John Paul, P301
Baird, Charles, P77
Barbour Gymnasium, P50
	
Activities, P51
	
Sarah Caswell Angell Assembly Hall, P51
Barbour, Levi, P50
Bentley Historical Library, vii, 326
Betsy Barbour Residence Hall, P63
Big Stones, P1 Business Administration, P80
Bollinger, President Lee C. (1997-2001), P112
Bordon, Ruth P98
Building of the 1960s and 1960s, P100
	
Aerospace Building, P100
	
Alumni Center, P100
	
Art and Architecture Building, P100
	
Bentley Historical Library, P100
	
Business Administration Assembly Hall, P100
	
Dental School, P100
	
Hatcher Graduate Library, P100
	
Highway Safety Institute, P100
	
Institute of Science and Technology, P100
	
Bursley Residence Hall, P100
	
North Campus Computer Center, P100
	
North Campus Recreation Building, P100
	
North Ingalls Old St. Joe’s Hospital, P100
	
Northwood Apartments, P100
	
Power Center, P100
	
Thomas Francis Public Health Building, P100
	
Track and Tennis Building, P100
	
Very Bates Residence Halls, P100
	
William A. Patton Center, P100
William D. Revelli Hall, P100
Buildings of the 1980s, P103
	
Chemistry Buildings
	
East University Mall, P106
	
Economics Building Fire, P103
	
Electrical and Computer Engineering Building,
P103
	
Herbert H. Dow Building, P103
	
Ingalls Mall, P106
	
Law Library Addition, P103
	
Willard Dow Chemistry Laboratory, P103
Business Administration School, 262-265
	
Business Administration Building, P265
	
Flag, P263
	
Early courses, 262
	
Patton Accounting Center, P265
	
Ross School of Business Administration, P265

Acknowledgements, 325
Bentley Library, 326
	
Bordin, Ruth, P325
	
Demmon, Isaac Newton, P325
	
Peckham, Howard, P325
	
Hinsdale, Burke A., P325
Ivory, Melvin Allison, P327
	
Mortenson, Myron, P326
Mort’s Map, P326
	
Shaw, Wilfred B., P325
	
Smith, Shirley W., P325
	
Swain, George Robert, P327
Activism, student, vii
Administration Building, P80
Alice Lloyd Residence Hall, P80
	
Lloyd, Alice, P80
Alumni, 150-154
	
Alumni Chapter on the Moon, P154
Alumni Question, P150
Apollo 15, P154
Darrow, Clarence, P155
	
Gemni Astronauts, P155
	
Ford, Gerald, P155
Lindberg, Charles August, P155
Michigan National Dinner (1911), P152-153
	
Wallenberg, Raoul, P155
Alumni Center, P100
Alumni Memorial Hall, P59
Art Gallery, P59
University Club, 59
Angell Hall, P68
	
Angell Hall Design by Albert Kahn, P67
	
Positioning with University Hall, P68
Angell, President James Burrill (1871-1909)
Angell and Cooley Families, P157
	
Angell Funeral Cortege, P55
Prexy James Angell, P55
	
Retirement (1909), P54
Angell, Sarah, P51
Sarah Caswell Angell Assembly Hall, P51
Animal House, P70
Ann Arbor Land Company, 4
Ann Arbor, University move to in 1837, 4
Architecture School, 248-251
	
Early Architecture Courses, 250
	
Flag P249
	
Landscape Architecture, 254
Lorch Hall, P251
	
Lorch Hall Sculpture Garden, P248	
	
Architecture and Urban Planning School, P255
Art and Design School, 299-301
II

	
Tappan Hall, P262
Business School Expansion, 1980s, P104
	
Executive Conference Center, P104
	
Library and Classrooms, P104
Burton, President Marion Leroy (1920-1924) P66
Burton Memorial Tower and Baird Carillon, P77
	
Albert Kahn Design, P77
	
Baird, Charles, P77
	
Eliel Saarinen Design, P77
	
Saarinen, Eliel, P77
Campaign for 55 Million, 98
Campus Projects for the 1990s
	
Athletic Campus, P110
		
Schembechler Hall, P110
		
Tisch Tennis Center, P110
	
Central Campus, P108
		
Heutwell Student Visitor Center, P108
		
Physics Building, P108
		
School of Social Work, P108
		
Tisch Hall, P108
		
Undergraduate Library Renovation, P108
	
Medical Campus, P110
		
Cancer and Geriatrics Center, P110
		
Child Care Center, P110
		
East Medical Center, P110
		
Medical Science I, II, III, P110
	
North Campus, P109
		
FXB Building, P109
		
Lurie Engineering Center, P109
		
Media Union (aka Duderstadt Center) ,
P109
		
North Campus Fountain Plaza, P109
		
Robert H. and Ann Lurie Campanile
Catherine Street Hospitals, 48
	
Allopathic Hospital, P48
	
Homeopathic Hospital, P48
Catholespistemiad, 1, 2
	
Seal, 3
	
University of Michigania, 1
Cemetery, University, 5
Chemical Laboratory, P14, 14
Chemistry and Pharmacy Building, P58
Civil War (1861-1863), 118
	
Tappan announces Civil War, P118
	
UM Civil War Soldiers, P118
Clark, Burton R., vii
Clements Library, P66
	
Clements, William L., P66
Coleman, President Mary Sue (2003-2015), P113
Colonial college, vi
Commencement, 148
	
Ferry Field Commencement, P149
	
Field House Commencement, P149
	
Michigan Stadium Commencement, P149
	
University Hall Commencement, P148

Constitution, Michigan, 4
Cook, William, P68
Cooley, Thomas McIntyre, P16
Cousin, M. Victor, 4
Couzens Hall, P68
Couzens, Senator James, P68
Crary, Isaac, P4, 4
Cropsey, Jasper, P12-13
Cropsey Painting of Early Campus, P12-13
Dana Building, P269
Davis, Alexander, 4
	
University Building, P4
Dearborn Campus of University of Michgain (UMD), 91
	
Fairlane Estate, P91
	
Henry Ford and Harlan Hatcher at UMD, P91
	
Social Sciences Building, P91
Dental Building Addition (1905), P53
Dental School, P93, 216-221
	
Dental Clinic, P216
	
Dental Pavilion Hospital, P218-P219
	
Dental Surgery College, P218
	
Flag, P217
	
New Dental School Building, P220
	
Tooth Fairy sculpture, P221
Dental Surgery College (1875), 38
	
Dental Building, South University P48
	
Taft, Jonathan, P38
	
Wating, John Andrew, P38
Detroit Observatory, P14, 14, P25-26
	
Brunnow, Franz, 15
	
Director’s Residence, P23
Detroit University Building, P3
	
University presence, 3
Diag, P8-9
	
Early, P80 East Engineering, P67
Dow Chemistry Laboratory, P103
Duderstadt, President James Johnson, P106
	
Ann Arbor Rock, P106
	
Billion Dollar Campaign, P106
	
Michigan Mandate, Michigan Agenda for Women,
P106
	
Plaque of Architectural Drawings, P106
Duderstadt Center (aka Media Union) P109
East Hall, P67
East Physics Laboratory, P6
East Quadrangle, P79
Education School, 257-259
	
Burke, Aaron Hinsdale, P258
	
Flag P257
	
Payne, William Harold, P258
	
Science and the Art of Teaching, 258
	
University Elementary School, P259
	
University High School, P259
Electrical and Computer Engineering Building, P103
Engineering (Early History), 14-15

	
Denison Archway, P52
	
Denison, Charles, P52
	
New Engineering Building (1904), P52
Engineering (1882-83), 41
	
Cooley, Mortimer P41
	
Early Engineering students, P41
	
Engineering Blacksmith Shop, P41
	
Engineering Building, P46
	
Expansion of Engineering, 46
	
Foundry and Forge Shop, P46
	
New Engineering Shop, P46
	
Winslow, Robert P 41
Engineering College, 231-243
	
Carl Gerstacker Building, P241
	
Central Campus Engineering, P230
	
Computer Science and Engineering, P241
	
Cooley, Mortimer, P233, P235
	
Davis, Joseph, P233
	
Denison, Charles, P233
	
Douglas, Silas, P233
	
East and West Engineering Buildings, P236-P237
	
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science,
P240
	
Engineering Courtyard, P234
	
Engineering Shops, P234
	
Flag, P231
	
Francois-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Aerospace Building, P240
	
Greene, Charles, P235
	
Herbert H. Dow Building, P240
	
Maya Lin Wave Field, P240
	
Media Union (aka Duderstadt Center), P241
	
New Engineering Building, P234
	
North Campus Aerial Views, P238-P239
	
North Campus Engineering Move, P238-P239
	
North Campus Engineering Today (2000), P240P241
	
North Campus Engineering, P230
	
North Campus View from Arboretum, P242-P243
	
Peck, William Guy, P232
	
Pettee, William, P233
	
Robert H and Anne Lurie Bioengineering Building, P241
	
Robert H. and Ann Lurie Tower, P241
	
Robinson, Stillman, P233
	
Scientific Blacksmith Shop, P233
	
Winchell, Alexander, P232
	
Wood, DeVolson, P232
Epistemia Seal, P3
Faculty, first, 7
	
Colclazer, Henry, P7
	
Douglas, Silas H., P7
	
Fasquelle, Louis, P7
	
Gray, Asa, P7
	
Houghton, Douglas, P7

	
Sager, Abram, P7
	
Ten Brook, Andrew, P7
	
Whiting, Joseph, 7
	
Williams, George Palmer, P7
Faculty, later, 15
	
Boise, James, P15
	
Brunnow, Franz, 15
	
Frieze, Henry Simons, P15
	
Haven, Erastus, P15
	
La Ford, Corydon, P15
	
Peck, William Guy, P15
	
White, Andrew, P15
	
Winchell, Alexander, P15
	
Wood, Devolson, P15
Fishbowl, P89
Firing of Henry Tappan, P18, 18
	
Angell quote, 18
First Michigan graduates, 6
Fleming, President Robben Wright (1868-1979), P99
Fleming Administration Building, P92
Flint Campus of University of Michigan (UMF), 90
	
Hatcher Opens UMF Campus, P90
	
Riverside Campus UMF, P90
University Center UMF, P90
	
William S. White Library, P90
Ford, Gerald, P155
Ford Nuclear Reactor, P124
Francois-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Aerospace Building, P240
Frieze, Henry Simmons, P15, P29, P92
	
Frieze Classroom, P29
	
President Pro Tempore (1869-1871), 29
Frieze Building, P92
Goverance
	
Board of Regents established, 11
	
Faculty, early, 11
Hail to the Victors, 328
	
Eibel, Louis, P328
	
Victors words, 329
Halo on Michigan Stadium, P112
Hatcher, President Harlan Henthorne (1950-1967) P88
Haven, President Erastus Otis, P15, P22, 22, P28
	
Correspondence with Winchell, 2
	
President (1863-1969), 22, 28
Haven Hall, P89
Heating Plant, P39
Helen Newberry Residence Hall, 63
Herbert H. Dow Building, P103
Hill Auditorium (1913), P60-P61
	
Concert Hall, P60
	
Hill, Arthur, P60
History and Traditions Projects, P111
	
175TH Celebration, P111
	
History and Traditions Committee, P111
	
Restoration of Detroit Observatory, P111
Horace H. Rackham Graduate School, P80

Homecoming Parade Protest, P125
Homeopathetic Medical College, P 38, 38
	
Homeopathetic Hospital, P39
	
Jones, Samuel Arthur, 38
Hutchins, President Harry Burns (1909-1920), P58
Hutchins, Harry, James Angell, Andrew White, P27
Institute for Social Research, P92
Institute of Science and Technology, P100
Institutional saga, vii
Intramural Sports Building, P71
Jefferson, Thomas, 1
Jenney, William LeBaron, P40
Jollie, the Janitor, P16
Kahn, Albert, P65
Kellogg Institute of Graduate and Postgraduate Dentistry,
P80
Kerr, Clark, vii
Kinesiology School, 302
	
Athletic teams, P302
	
Barbour and Waterman Gymnasium, P304
	
Bell, Margaret, P305
	
Chrisler, Fritz, P305
	
Department of Physical Education, 305
	
Eddington, Dee, P305
	
Flag, P303
	
Hunsicker, Pal, P305
	
Kinesiology Building, P305
	
Sundwall, John, P305
	
Yost, Fielding, P304)
Korean Conflict (1950-1953), 125
Land-Grant University, vi
Landscape Architecture, 254
Lane Hall, P80
	
Lane, Victor H, P80
Law Building, P17
Law Department (1859), 16
	
Building, P17
	
Campbell, James, P16
	
Cooley, Thomas McIntyre, P16
	
Law School Addition (1883), P49
	
Law School Second Addition (1898), P52
	
Walker, Charles, P16
Law School, 208	
Allan and Alene Smith Library, P215
		
Smith, Alene, P215
		
Smith, Allan, P215
	
Cook, John P., P213
	
Cook, William Wilson, P212
	
Dining Hall, P213
	
Flag, P209-215
	
Hutchins Hall, P215
	
John P. Cook Dormitory, P213
	
Law Building Addition, P210
	
Law Building Second Addition, P211
	
Law Building, P210

	
Law Quadrangle, P212-P215
	
Lawyers Club, P212
	
William W. Cook Legal Research, P214
Law Quadrangle, P68
	
Completion, 76
	
Hutchins Hall, P76
	
John Cook Residence Hall, P76
	
William W. Cook Legal Research Library, P76
Legislative Council, 3
Library Science (aka Information, 290	
Flag, P291
	
Library School facilities, P291-292
	
Library School, P290
	
SI North, P293
	
West Hall, P293
Life Sciences Institute, P112
Literature, Sciences, and the Arts, 172
	
Albert Kahn Design for New LS&A Building,
P180
	
Angell Hall, P180-P181
	
Buildings, P176-P177
	
Courses of Study, 174-175
	
Flag, P172
	
LS&A Campus (2005), P186-P187
	
New and Renovated Buildings (1960s-2000) P184P185
	
Second Hand Buildings, P182-P183
Little, President Clarence Cook (1925-1929) P70
Lorch Hall, P309
Madelon Stockwell Residence Hall, P79
Mary Markley Residence Hall, P93
Mason, Governor, 4
Mason Hall, 5, P5, P1, P89
Martha Cook Residence Hall, P63
Martha Cook Portrait, P63
Stature of Portia, P63
Medical Building Addition, P22
Medical Building (New) (1904), P53
	
Original Medical Building, P22
Medical Center Expansion in the 1950s, 1960s, P94-95
	
Kresge Medical Research I and II, P94-95
	
Medical Science I and II, P94-95
	
Mott Children’s Hospital, P94-95
	
Outpaient Clinic (now Med Inn), P94-95
	
School of Nursing, P94-95
	
Towsley Center for Continuing Education, P94-95
	
Women’s Hospital, P94-95
Medical Center Growth in 1980s, P 104-105
Replacement Hospital Project, P104
W. W. Kellogg Eye Center, P 104
Medical Department (1850), 10
	
Nagele, “Doc”, P10
Medical Department Expansion (1889), p 47
	
Anatomical Laboratory, P47
	
Men’s Dissecting Room, P47

	
Women’s Dissecting Room, P47
Medical Faculty (1850), 10
	
Allen, J. Adams, 10
	
Denton, Samuel, P10
	
Douglas, Silas P10
	
Gunn, Moses, P10
	
Sager, Abram, P10
Medicine, 1886
Biosciences Building, P207
	
Catherine Street Hospitals, P196-P199
	
Early Faculty, P190
		
Denton, Samuel, P190
		
Douglas, Silas, P190
		
Gunn, Moses, P190
		
Palmer, Alonzo, P191
		
Sager, Abram, P190
	
Early Medical Students, P188
	
First Medical Building, P190
	
Flag, P189
	
Homeopathic Medical College, P193-195, P197
	
Life Sciences Institute, P207
	
Medical Building Addition, P191
	
Medical School Buildings, P200
	
Pavilion Hospital, P192-P195
	
University Hospital (Old Main), P201
	
University Hospital (Old Main), P201
	
University Medical Center (1970), P202-P203
University Medical Center (1970), P202-P203
University Medical Center (1986), P204-P205
University Medical Center 21st Century Additions, P207
University Replacement Hospital Project, P206
Mexican War (1846-1848), 118
Michigan Colors (Maize and Blue), P126
Michigan Difference Fund-Raising Campaign, P113
Michigan League, P7
Michigan League (Women’s League), P7, 164-169
	
Activities, 164-165
	
Angell, Sarah, P164
	
Building Sketch, P166
	
Construction, P166
	
Fund Raising, 166
	
Hussey, Ethel Fountain Hussey, P164
	
Interiors, P168-P169
	
Palmer, Alice Freeman, P164
Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project, P85, P124
	
Ford Nuclear Reactor, P124
	
Phoenix Memorial Laboratory, P124
Michigan Saga, v
Michigan statehood (1837), 4
Michigan Stadium, P72-73
Michigan Territory, 1, 3
	
Territorial Act, 1
Michigan Union, P62, 156-163
	
Bates, Henry Moore, P156
	
First Michigan Union Clubhouse, P157

	
Michigan Union Dinner, P156
	
Michigan Union Events, 160-161
		
Michigras Parade, P160
		
Michigan Union Opera, P161
		
Parker, Edward F., P156
	
New Michigan Union, 159
		
Artists Sketch, P159
		Construction, P159
		Interiors, P162-P163
	
Pond House, P158
Montieth, John, P2
Mosher-Jordan Residence Hall, P78
	
Mosher, Eliza, P78
	
Myra Johnson, P78
Mortensen, Myron, v, P226
Mort’s Map, v P326
Mortimer Cooley Memorial Laboratory, P85
Museum of Natural History, P40, P70
Museums and Botanical Gardens, 329
	
Botanical Gardens, P229
Music School, P93
Music School on Maynard Street, P70
Music, Theatre, and Dance School, 270	
Flag, P271
	
Hill Auditorium Concern, P270
	
Morris Hall, P273
	
Newberry Hall, P272, P273
	
Old School of Music (Maynard), P272, P273,
P274
	
Proposed School on Ingalls Mall, P274
	
Saarinen Designed School on NorthCampus, P275
	
University Hall Concert, P270
	
University Musical Society, 272
	
Walgreen Drama Center, P275
Nadia Sculpture, P17
	
Rogers, Randolph, P17
Napoleon, 1
Natural Resources and Environment School, 266-269
	
Dana Building, P269
	
Dana, Samuel Trask, P268
	
Degree programs, P266
	
Flag, P267
	
Forestry Department, 268
	
Roth, Filbert, P268
Natural Sciences Building, P62
	
Chemistry, P62
North Campus (1970s) P86-87
North Campus Farmland Location (1950), P82-83
Saarinen Plan for North Campus, P84
Northwest Territory, 1
	
map P1,
Northwest Ordinance, 1
North Woods Design for North Campus, P106
Nursing School, 276-281
	
Couzen, James, P280

	
Couzens Hall, P280
	
Flag, P277
	
Nursing Caps, P279
	
Nursing Training Programs, 278-279
	
School of Nursing Building, P281
Old Main Hospital, P68
Palmer, Alonzo Benjamin, P 23
Palmer Field and Women’s Athletic Building, P7
Pavilion Hospital, P48
Peck, William Guy, P15
Peckham, Howard P98m 326
Pharmacy Building, P92
Pharmacy School
	
Move to South University, P38
	
Pavilion Hospital, P38, P39
	
Prescott, Albert, P38
Pierpont, Wilbur, P8
Pharmacy School, 222-228
	
Cheever, Henry Sylvester, P224
	
Chemistry Buildings, P228
	
Classrooms P222
	
Douglas, Silas, P224
	
Flag, P223
	
Houghton, Douglas, P224
	
Pharmacology, P227
	
Pharmacy Classes in Chemistry Laboratory, P226
	
Prescott, Albert Benjamin, P224, P225
Phoenix Memorial Laboratory, P124
Physics-Astronomy Building, P92
Physics Building, P46
Physics Laboratory Addition (1905), P5
Pierce, John, P4, 4
Post-War Expansion of Campus Ends, 98
Power Center, P100
Presidents	
	
Tappan, Henry (1852-1863) P312
		
Julia Tappan, P312
	
Haven, Erastus Otis (1863-1869) P313
	
Frieze, Henry Simmons (1869-1871) P313
	
Angell, James Burrill (1871-1909) P314
		
Sarah Angell, P314
	
Hutchins, Harry Burns (1910-1920), P315
		
Mary Louise Hutchins, P315
	
Burton, Marion Leroy (1920-1925), P316
		
Nina Burton, P316
	
Little, Clarence Cook (1925-1929), P316
		
Katherine Little, P316
	
Ruthven, Alexander Grant (1929-1951), P316
		
Florence Ruthven, P316
	
Hatcher, Harlan Henthorne (1951-1967), P317
		
Anne Hatcher, P317
	
Fleming, Robben Wright (1868-1979), P318
		
Sally Fleming, P318
	
Shapiro, Harold Tafler (1980-1987), P318
		
Vivian Shapiro, P318

	
Duderstadt, James Johnson (1988-1996), P319
		
Anne Duderstadt, P319
	
Bollinger, Lee C. (1997-2001), P320
		
Jean Bollinger, P320
	
Coleman, Mary Sue (2002-2014), P320
		Kenneth Coleman
Presidents House, P311-P321
Professor Houses, P5, 5, P8-9
Professors Monument, P6
Public Health School, 282-285
	
Flag, P283
	
Hygiene and Physiological Chemistry, 284
	
Langley, John, P284
	
New Public Health Building, P285
	
Prescott, Albert, P284
	
Salk Polio Vaccine Field Test, P285
	
Thomas Francis Public Health Building, P285
	
Vaughan, Victor, P284
Public Policy School, 307
	
Bureau of Government, 308
	
Bureau of Reference and Research in Government, 308
	
Flag, P307
	
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, 309
	
Institute of Public and Social Administration, 308
	
Institute of Public Policy Studies, 309	
	
Lorch Hall, P309
	
Weill Hall, P309
Public university, vi
Quadrantic Club, P31
Rackham School of Graduate Studies, 244	
Flag, P245
	
Horace H. Rackham Graduate School, P246-P247
	
Interiors, P247
Replacement Hospital Project, P104
Residential College, P93
References, 324
Regents, Board of, 4
Richard, Gabriel, P2
Romance Languages Building, P40
Rogers, Randolph, P17
Nadia Sculpture, P17
Rummell Painting of Michign Campus (1910), P56-57
Rumsey-Noland farm, 4
Ruthven, President Alexander Grant (1929-1951), P76, 76
Saga, v
	
institutional, vii
	
photographic, Saarinen, Eero, P84
Schools and Colleges
	
Dates of Establishment, 171
	
Flags, P171
Schembechler Hall, P110
Scientific Course (1854) 15
Chemical Laboratory, P14, 14
	
Detroit Observatory, P14, 14

	
Ottley, Jimmie
Sequicentennial Celebreation, 98
Shapiro, President Harold Tafler (1980-1987), P102
Shapiro Undergraduate Library, P108
Shaw, Wilfred
	
Ann Arbor site of University, 4
Simpson Memorial Institute, P6
Simpson, Thomas and Christine, P68
Social Work School, 287-289
	
Flag, P287
	
Frieze Building Addition, P289
	
New School of Social Work Building, P289
	
Rackham Education Memorial Building in Detroit,
P288
	
Social Work in Old Ann Arbor HS Building, P289
Spradlin, Paul, P10
Spanish American War (1898), 119
	
Charles de Nacrede, P119
	
Mortimer Cooley, P119
	
Victor Vaughan, P119
	
Walker R. Parker, P119
South College, P5, 5
	
Classroom, P5
South Quadrangle, P88
Student Activities Building, P8
Students and Religion	
	
Land Hall, P133
	
McMillan Hall, P133
	
Newberry Hall, P133
	
Sackett Hall, P133
	
Student Christian Association, P133
Student Campus Haunts
	
Comedy Club, P132
	
George Hills Opera House, P132
	
Post Office, P132
Student Dances, Balls, & J-Hops, P144, P145
	
Gregory House, P144
	
Hangsterfer Hall, P144
	
J Hop, P145
	
Majestic Theater, P146
Student Games and Traditions, P142, P143
	
Cap Night, P146
	
Class Day, P149
	
Commencement, 148
		
University Hall Commencement, P148
		
Ferry Field Commencement, P149
		
Field House Commencement, P149
		
Michigan Stadium Commencement, P149
	
Flag Rush, P143
	
Freshman and Sophomore Rush, P142
	
Freshman Pageant, P147
	
Latern Night, P147
	
Laws over Lits, P143
	
Swing Out, P149
	
Tug of War across Huron River, P142

Student Health Services, P80
Student Intellectual Activities, P137
	
Cercie Francais, P138
	
Freshman Banquet, P138
	
Literary and Engineering Banquet, P139
	
Literary Society, P137
Student Life, P127, P130, P131
	
Early Students, 128
	
Layout of early Michigan campus, P129
	
Mason Hall and South College, P128
	
Sketch of a Student Suite, P128
	
Student Diaries and Letters, 129
	
Student Social Activities, P133
	
Students and Religion, P133
	
University Building, P128
Student Protests, P125
Student Publications, P137
	
Early Michigan Daily Staff, P137
Student Publications Building, P77
	
Conference Room, P77
Student Social Activities and Recreation, P136
	
Comedy Club, P141
	
First Michigan Band, P138
	
Glee Club and Mandolin Club, P141
	
Glee Club, P139
	
Huron River activities, P136
	
Michigan Marching Band P139
	
Michigan Orchestra, P138
	
Michigan Union Opera, P141
	
Smokers’ Club, P141
	
Velocipedes and Riders, P136
Student Traditions and Customs
	
Burning of Mechanics, P135
	
Caps, P134
	
Class Canes, 134
	
Hair Cutting, 134
	
Picket Fence, P134
Tappan Hall (1894), P49
Tappan, Henry Philip, 11, P11
	
Contributions to higher education, 19
	
Description, 11
	
Dogs Buff and Leo, P11, 16, P140
	
Firing, 18
	
Oak, 16
	
Tappan chalet in Switzerland, P19
	
Tappan plaque in Vevey, P19
Teaching, Science and Art of, 39
	
Payne, William Harold, P39
Tisch Hall, )108
Toledo, War of, 4
Thomas Cooley Home, P156, P158
Trustees, Board of, 3
Twentieth Century Campus Buildings, P114, P115
	
Asian Studies, P114, P115
	
C. S. Mott Children’s and Women’s Hospital,

P114, P115
	
Cardiovascular Center, P114, P115
	
Computer Science and Engineering, P114, P115
	
Kelsey Museum, P114, P115
	
Museum of Art Addition, P114, P115
	
Neurosciences Laboratory, P114, P115
	
Perry Building Addition, P114, P115
	
Public Health, P114, P115
	
Rachael Upjohn Depression Center, P114, P115
	
Robert and Ann Lurie Biomedical Engineering
Building, P114, P115
	
Ross School of Business Administration, P114,
P115
	
Ross Student Academic Center, P114, P115
	
Walgreen Center for the Performing Arts, P114,
P115
	
Weill Hall, Gerald Ford School of Public Policy,
P114, P115
Undergraduate Library (UGLI), P89
University Building, P5, 5
University Campus, early, 5
	
Cropsey Painting (1855), P12-13
	
Drawing from Northeast, P11
	
Early Diag, P8-9
	
Mason (University) Hall, P6
	
Sketch, P5
	
South College, P6, P14
University Campus (1863), P20-21
	
Campus Fence Posts, P26, P27
	
Campus Fence Turnstile, P26
	
Campus Fence, P26
	
Law Building, P20-21
	
Mason Hall, P20-21
	
South College, P20-2 University Campus (1900),
P26
	
White, Andrew planning trees, P27, 2
University Campus (1880s) P43-44
University Campus by Richard Rummell (1910), P56-57
	
Rummell Painting of Michigan Campus (1910),
P56-5
University Campus (1920s) P261-262
University Campus (1930s), P74-75, P252-P253
University Campus (1960s)
University Campus (2005), P186-P187
University Elementary School, P70
University Hall, P35
	
Auditorium, P37
	
Choir Rehearsal, P37
	
Construction, P35
	
Frieze Memorial Organ, P37
	
Short Dome, P36
	
Tall Dome, P36
University High School, P67
University Hospital 1869), P201
	
Dr. Beakey’s Clinic, P 2

	
Dr. Nacrede’s Clinic, 23
	
First University Hospital (1869), P23, 23
University Hospital (Old Main), P68
University in Wartime
Mexican War (1846-1848), 118
Civil War (1861-1863), 118
	
Tappan announced Civil War, P118
	
UM Civil War Soldiers, P118
Spanish American War (1898), 119
	
Victor Vaughan, P119
	
Mortimer Cooley, P119
	
Charles de Nacrede, P119
	
Walker R. Parker, P119
War Memorials, 119
	
Alumni Memorial Hall, P119	
	
Moro Castle Mortar, P119
World War I (1914-1918) P120-121
World War II (1941-1945) P122-123
Korean Conflict (1950-1953), 125
Vietnam Conflict, 125
University Library, 44, P45
	
Art Gallery, P45
	
Book Bindery, P45
	
Colglazer, Henry, P44
	
Gray, Asa P44
	
Library in Law Building, P44
	
New Library (1833), P45
	
Reading Room, P45
	
Sculpture Galler, P45
	
Tappan, John, P44
University Library (New, 1920) P64
	
Architectural Rendering, P64
	
New General Library, P65
	
Parthenon Frieze Reference Desk, P6
	
Reading Room, P64, P65
	
Stacks, P64
University Library Reading Room, P294-297
University Medical Center (1970), P202-P203
University Medical Center (1986), P204-P205
University Replacement Hospital Project, P206
University Medical Center 21st Century Additions, P207
	
Biosciences Building, P207
	
C. S. Mott Children’s and Women’s Hospital, P207
	
Cardiovascular Center, P207
	
Life Sciences Institute, P207
	
Rachel Upjohn Depression Center, P207
University Museum, 40, P70
	
Museum of Natural History, P40, P70
University Seals, P322-P323
	
Controversy over founding date, 322
University Terrace, P80
Victor Vaughan House, P78
	
Vaughan, Victory, P78
Vietnam Conflict, 125
War Memorials, 119

	
Alumni Memorial Hall, P119	
	
Moro Castle Mortar, P119
Walgreen Drama Center, P275
Waterman Gymnasium, P50, 40
Weill Hall, P309
West Quadrangle, P78
White, Andrew, P15
Whiting, Joseph, 5
Whitesell, Patricia, P111
Winchell, Alexander, P15
Wolverine Mascot, P126
Womack, Farris, P107
Wood, Devolson, P15
Woodward, Augustus, P2, 2
Woodbridge, William, P2
	
Educational system, 2
	
Professorships, 2
Women at Michigan, 30
	
Anderson, San Louie, P3
	
First women (1870), 30
	
Freeman, Alice, P30
	
Graham, Mary, P30
	
Hamilton, Alice, P30
	
Holman, Harriet, P30
	
Hubbard, Caroline, P30
	
Inouye, Tomo, P31
	
Jordan, Myra, P30
	
Madelon Stockwell (First woman student, ’72), P30
	
Salman, Lucy, P30
	
Sanforth, Effie, P30
	
Smith, Carrie,P30
	
Steward, Margaret, P30
	
Thomas, Ella,P30
	
Women Class of 1875, P31
Women’s Hospital, P80
World War I (1914-1918) P120-121
World War II (1941-1945) P122-123
Yost Fieldhouse, P71