A Brief History of East Lansing

Category: M.A.C. People

  • 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 (1890–1955)

    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…

  • The Society Houses

    For a look at the origins of the local societies, see The Local Societies and the Union Literary Society House. As the twentieth century dawned, the two chapters of national fraternities that had been established at the Michigan Agricultural College in the 1870s were no longer active. The Iota chapter of Delta Tau Delta disbanded…

  • The “Delta Club”

    In spring 1910, a group of junior faculty (mostly instructors, with a few assistant professors and Experiment Station research assistants) formed the “Delta Club.” Beal only tells us that it was organized in 1910 and in 1913 “occupies the Hewit house.” He gives no description of the group and lumps it in with the literary societies and…

  • Belle Sarcastic (1890—1903)

    Belle Sarcastic was a Holstein-Friesian cow owned by the Michigan Agricultural College in the 1890s. For a dairy cow, she garnered quite a bit of fame in her lifetime, and was a source of great pride for the College. She was bred by H. P. Doane of Duffield in Genesee County, and calved on January 18, 1890.…