A Brief History of East Lansing

Category: M.A.C. People

  • Sarcastic Lad’s progeny today — a reconsideration

    In my article about Belle Sarcastic and Sarcastic Lad, reprinted in the Summer 2022 issue of the Spartan Dairy Newsletter, I wrote, “Today it is estimated that thousands of registered Holsteins worldwide can trace their bloodlines to Sarcastic Lad.” This bold claim was plausible given the available evidence, and I still believe it to be…

  • The Twenty-One

    The only women who were graduated from the Michigan Agricultural College prior to the Women’s Course When Williams Hall was completed in 1869, the Board of Agriculture decided the dormitory could accommodate female students in some of its first floor rooms, and ten women were enrolled in 1870. They only remained in school for that…

  • The Seeds of Knowledge, Sown Far and Wide

    A shorter version of this article was originally published as a tweet thread on 12 Feb 2022, the 167th anniversary of the founding of the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan. Michigan Governor Fred Warner (M.A.C. w/’84), in his speech at the Semicentennial celebration of the Michigan Agricultural College in 1907, said: You come…

  • 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…

  • The Architects

    The earliest years of the Michigan Agricultural College were marked by a slow rate of construction, its buildings designed by several different architects. The original trio of buildings—College Hall, Saints’ Rest, the brick horse barn, all 1856—are generally attributed to John C. Holmes. These were followed in 1857 by a quartet of professors’ residences by Scott…

  • The Women’s Building — Morrill Hall (1900–2013)

    Women were first admitted to the Michigan Agricultural College in 1870, ten in that first year.† They were housed in the first floor of the new Williams Hall dormitory, but only for a year, after which the hall was assigned exclusively to men. As a result, none of the original ten completed a degree at M.A.C. In…

  • Professor Manly Miles

    Manly Miles, M.D., (1826–1898) was a pioneer of scientific agriculture, becoming the first—and only—professor of practical agriculture in the United States when he was appointed to that newly created position at the State Agricultural College of Michigan. His contributions to the science not only helped to put M.A.C. in the forefront of the field, they…

  • The Baker Family

    In the late 19th and early 20th century, at least three generations of the Baker family were an integral part of the Michigan Agricultural College and East Lansing history. Many Bakers were graduates of the College and a large percentage of them achieved national prominence in their professions. The story begins with Lieutenant Luther Byron…

  • The Local Societies and the Union Literary Society House (1890–1953)

    One of the Michigan Agricultural College’s primary duties beyond the teaching of scientific agriculture was to prepare young men (and, later, women) for leadership positions in their home communities. An important part of this goal was practice in public speaking, debate, and writing skills. As a result students organized societies that held regular forums for…