University of Michigan
With a $10 admissions fee, the University of Michigan was open for enrollment. With three major departments; literature, science, and the arts, with a huge focus on medicine, the University of Michigan became one of the premier Universities in the state of Michigan as well as across the Country.
The ground work for the University of Michigan began with John D. Pierce. In 1837 Pierce was assigned to create an educational plan, Article ten of the constitution, which would outline how school were run and be funded. Article VIII stated that "Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." In this plan, there were five sections. Section one and section five largely affected the University. Section one states:
“The Governor shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the legislature in joint vote, shall appoint a Superintendent of Public Instruction, who shall hold his office for two years, and whose duties shall be prescribed by law. “ Section five outlined the way that funding would be distributed to public state universities.
“The legislature shall take measures for the…disposition of such lands as have been, or may hereafter be, reserved or granted by the United States this state for the support of a University; and the funds accruing from the rents or sale of such lands… for the purpose aforesaid, shall be and remain a permanent fund for the support of said University…for the promotion of literature, the arts and sciences, and as may be authorized by the terms of such grant: and it shall be the duty of the legislature, as soon as may be, to provide effectual means for the improvement and permanent security of the funds of said University.”
to this state for the support of a University; and the funds accruing from the rents or sale of such lands… for the purpose aforesaid, shall be and remain a permanent fund for the support of said University…for the promotion of literature, the arts and sciences, and as may be authorized by the terms of such grant: and it shall be the duty of the legislature, as soon as may be, to provide effectual means for the improvement and permanent security of the funds of said University.”
The purpose of the University of Michigan was to “provide the inhabitants of the state with the means of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the various branches of literature, science, and the arts” (Dunbar).
The forty acres of land, which was a gift from the Ann Arbor Land Company, held one main building which consisted of classrooms and student rooms, four faculty houses, and the president’s house. On the first day of class in November 1837, University of Michigan welcomed its first six students and two instructors. Reverend George P. Williams was the mathematics teacher and Reverend Joseph Whiting was the Language teacher. According to Willis F. Dunbar, author of Michigan: History of the Wolverine State, the literacy department ran until 1850, with the opening of the Medical Department, which was followed by the Law Department in 1857.
The campus consisted of the six structures and a heap of un-kept land. Because the land was mostly field, the students and teachers created diagonal pathways by walking from corner to corner. Trees weren’t planted until the 1850’s to give a more familiar and attractive look to the campus. This area was known as the Diag (Advisory Committee).
The Bentley Historical library, located at the University of Michigan, noted that for the 1850/51 school year, enrollment rapidly increased with 159 students, and by 1852, 101 students had graduated. The faculty had increased from two instructors and a librarian to six instructors
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