Category: M.A.C. Events
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The Reorganization of 1861
The earliest years of the Michigan Agricultural College were a constant struggle for its very existence. Since the field of scientific agriculture was quite a new concept in the United States, many doubted whether it was really beneficial for the state’s young men to attend the school. The uncleared land of the experimental farm meant…
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John C. Holmes and the Founding of M.A.C.
John Clough Holmes (1809–1887) was, by all accounts, the man most responsible for the establishment of the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan. Professor Beal called him “the most important agent” of the school, while President Abbot said, “To no one man is the College so much indebted as to John Clough Holmes.” Yet…
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The Semicentennial Celebration of 1907
Its early difficulties far behind it, by the turn of the twentieth century the Michigan Agricultural College had reached a position of prominence and high regard among the nation’s agricultural and mechanical colleges. Many M.A.C. graduates had gone on to become deans, directors, and professors at other colleges, spreading the influence of the pioneer land-grant institution far…