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 then today, my friends, to the pioneer agricultural college of the United States, an institution which has blazed the way and set the pace for all similar enterprises that have since been established to aid in the great work of educating the masses of our people, elevating the standard of American citizenship, and developing our great country.
Blaisdell, p. 27.
That’s a big boast. Was it true? How many M.A.C. graduates ended up at other land-grant institutions, often to initiate the agricultural curriculum at those schools? I decided to find out, and even though I expected to find plenty of examples, I was surprised by just how many I found.
It’s no hyperbole to say that M.A.C. grads scattered far and wide and carried their learning to the nation and the world. They received appointments at the land-grant colleges or experiment stations of at least 49 out of 50 states. (Only the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa eludes my search.) The first to join the faculty of another school was William Willard Daniels (M.A.C. B.S. ’64, M.S. ’67, D.Sc. ’98), who was appointed Professor of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin in 1867.
M.A.C. might have been less influential among Historically Black Colleges and Universities, but of the nineteen land-grant HBCUs that were mandated by the second Morrill Act (1890), so far I have found six that appointed M.A.C. graduates to faculty positions.
M.A.C. graduates helped to build agricultural colleges (and agricultural departments in existing colleges) around the world—in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Japan, Philippines, Puerto Rico, and no doubt others. In the United States and abroad, by the time of Warner’s 1907 speech well over one hundred Aggies had had a direct role in furthering the land-grant mission.
Moreover, an amazing measurement of the Michigan Agricultural College’s impact is the sheer number of Aggies who were the first appointees in their field at other land-grant institutions; or were honored with namesake buildings, chairs, etc., at those schools; or, in several cases, both. The list that follows—as compiled so far—tallies more than twenty of those alumni.
Albert Nelson Prentiss (’61, M.S. 1864) was one of the original seven graduates of M.A.C. He stayed to teach botany and horticulture and earn a masters degree before heading to Cornell University in 1868 to become their first Professor of Botany, Horticulture, and Arboriculture.
John Swift (’68, M.S. 1871) was the first Professor of Botany, Horticulture, and Landscape Gardening at the University of Maine.
Charles Edwin Bessey (’69, M.S. 1872) became the first Professor of Botany and Horticulture at the Iowa Agricultural College (now Iowa State University) in 1870, where he created the first undergraduate botanical laboratory in the United States. After several years (and roles, including acting president) there, in 1884 he went to the University of Nebraska to teach botany and horticulture, and serve as Chancellor on two separate occasions. The Zoology and Botany building at Lincoln is named for him. (Bessey Hall at M.S.U. is named for Charles’ son Ernst, who was taught by his father at Nebraska, earned his Ph.D. at the University of Halle in Germany, then taught at Louisiana State before succeeding William Beal as head of the Botany Department at Michigan State, 1910–1944.)
Edward Mason Shelton (’71, M.S. 1874) was the first Principal of the Queensland Agricultural College in Australia. A residence hall was built and named for him in 1936; it is still standing but was renamed in 1992.
Robert Fairchild Kedzie (’71, M.S. 1874), middle son of Professor Robert C. Kedzie, was the first Professor of Chemistry and Physics at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of the State of Mississippi (now Mississippi State University) when it opened in 1880.† His untimely death in 1882 cut short a promising career.
Charles Lee Ingersoll (’74, M.S. 1877) was the first Professor of Agriculture and Horticulture at Purdue, starting 1879. He left in 1882†† for the Colorado Agricultural College (now Colorado State University), where he became President and Director of the Experiment Station. Colorado State has a residence hall named for him. Ingersoll moved on to the University of Nebraska in 1890 for an appointment as Professor of Agriculture, Dean of the Industrial College, and Director of the Experiment Station, until his death in 1895.
Charles Christian Georgeson (’78, M.S. 1882, D.Sc. 1916) is known as the “father of agriculture in Alaska” since he was the first Director of the Experiment Station there, starting in 1898. Prior to that he had been Professor of Agriculture and Horticulture at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (Texas A&M, 1880–1883), the Imperial College of Agriculture at Tokyo, Japan (1886–1889), and the Kansas State Agricultural College (now KSU, 1890–1897). The Alaska Experiment Station was founded many years before the college at Fairbanks, 1898 and 1917 respectively—the Experiment Station was needed first, to determine whether agriculture could even be attempted, and taught, and researched, in Alaska. Georgeson and his staff proved it was possible.
James Troop (’78, M.S. 1882) was the first Professor of Horticulture and Entomology at Purdue, starting as an Instructor in 1884 when those combined fields split from Agriculture. Troop chaired the Department of Entomology when it split from Horticulture in 1912, and held that position until his retirement in 1920 after a 57-year tenure. Purdue’s Distinguished Professorship in Horticulture is named for him.
Eugene Davenport (’78, M.S. 1884) was Professor of Practical Agriculture and Superintendent of the Farm at M.A.C. before he went to Brazil in 1891 to become the first President of Escola Agricola de São Paulo. He returned to the U.S. to be Dean of Agriculture and Director of the Experiment Station at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where the “Old” Agriculture Hall is named for him.†††
Frank Arthur Gulley (’80, M.S. 1883) was hired less than a month after his graduation to be the first Professor of Agriculture at Mississippi State.† After a stint as Director of the Experiment Station at Texas A&M (1888–1890), he was appointed as the first Professor of Agriculture, first Director of the Experiment Station, and first President at the University of Arizona.
Mary Merrill Carpenter (’81, M.S. 1886) was the second woman to graduate,†††† first to earn a masters degree, and the first woman on staff at M.A.C. She was M.A.C.’s first full-time Librarian, a five-year tenure that today is forgotten and overshadowed by that of Linda Landon (41 years).
Liberty Hyde Bailey (’82, M.S. 1886) designed the first horticulture lab in the United States, at M.A.C. He then moved to Cornell where he was Professor of Horticulture (1888–1913) and the first Dean of the newly reorganized New York State College of Agriculture (1903–13). Among the many places that bear Bailey’s name are the Hortorium and the largest auditorium at Cornell, a residence hall in M.S.U.’s Brody neighborhood, and a former elementary school in East Lansing.
Edward Ralph Lake (’85, M.S. 1888) was the first Professor of Botany, Forestry, and Horticulture at the Agricultural College of the State of Washington (now Washington State University). In 1897–1898 he served one term in the Oregon Legislature, then became Professor of Botany and Horticulture—and a member of the Board of Regents—at the Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University).
Clare Bailey Waldron (’87) was the first Professor of Botany at North Dakota Agricultural College, now North Dakota State University. He held a variety of subsequent posts including Dean of Agriculture 1915–1924. NDState’s Plot Seed Laboratory is named for him and his younger brother Lawrence Root Waldron, whom Clare taught at N.D.A.C.
Perry Greeley Holden (’89, M.S. 1895) was the first Professor of Agronomy at Illinois, the first position of its kind in the United States. Later he was Vice-Dean of Agriculture at Iowa State, and then Director of Iowa State’s Agricultural Extension Service—again, the first in the U.S.
Charles Edward Ferris (’90) started at the University of Tennessee in 1892 as an Instructor in Drawing. He was their first Dean of Engineering (1907–1940). He had a 50-year tenure at Knoxville and their Engineering Building (built 1930) is named for him.
Frederick Blackmar Mumford (’91, M.S. 1893) and Herbert Windsor Mumford (’91) were born three years apart, but graduated in the same year and pursued parallel careers. Frederick was at the University of Missouri, Herbert at Illinois. Each became Dean of Agriculture and Director of the Experiment Station at their respective schools, and Mizzou and Illinois both have a “Mumford Hall of Agriculture.”††††† Sadly, both Mumford careers were shortened when Herbert was involved in an auto accident in May 1938; he died of complications two weeks later and his brother Frederick’s retirement was announced the same day.
Kenyon Leech Butterfield (’91, M.S. 1902) taught rural sociology, but his true calling was being a champion for Agricultural Extension as a three-time college President: Rhode Island College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts (1903–06, now URI), Massachusetts Agricultural College (1906–24, now UMass Amherst), and M.A.C./M.S.C. (1924–28). All three have residence halls named for him.
Omar Orlando Churchill (’03) has a residence hall named for him at North Dakota State, where he was Professor of Agronomy. Later he taught at Oklahoma State as well.
Burton Orange Longyear (’03, M.For. 1925) was the first Professor of Botany and Forestry at Colorado State, where he had a 32-year tenure. He also served as the State Forester of Colorado, 1912–1915.
Gideon Edward Smith (’16) was the first African-American varsity athlete in any sport at M.A.C., where he played tackle on the football team and twice earned All-Western Conference honors. After graduation, in quick succession he held academic and athletic appointments at three different land-grant HBCUs: Instructor in Chemistry and Commander of Cadets at the West Virginia Collegiate Institute (now West Virginia State University); head football coach at the Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute (now Virginia State University); and Horticulturist at Princess Anne Academy (now University of Maryland Eastern Shore). Then, starting in 1921 as head football coach at Hampton University (the former land-grant designate of Virginia, 1872–1920), he built an impressive 97–46–12 record over 20 seasons.
- † Two of Mississippi State’s original four professors, Kedzie ’71 and Gulley ’80, were from M.A.C.↩︎↩︎
- †† Ingersoll’s replacement at Purdue was William Carroll Latta (M.A.C. ’77, M.S. 1882).↩︎
- ††† At various times during his 27-year tenure at Illinois, Davenport had many titles including Professor of Thremmatology, Professor of Animal Husbandry, Director of the Farmers Institutes, and ultimately Vice President.↩︎
- †††† See The Twenty-One.↩︎
- ††††† Yes, UIUC has two Halls of Agriculture, and both are named for M.A.C. grads. The “Old” one is named for Eugene Davenport ’78. The “New” one is named for Herbert Mumford ’91.↩︎
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