{"id":1591,"date":"2024-04-26T20:11:48","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T20:11:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/?p=1591"},"modified":"2026-01-13T03:57:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T03:57:46","slug":"hays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/hays\/","title":{"rendered":"Hays House, 605 Butterfield Dr. (1937)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Hays House, November 2003. Photo by Kevin S. Forsyth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

James Grant Hays, Jr. (1890\u20131975, M.A.C. \u201911) was born and raised in Swissvale, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Agricultural College in 1911 and two years later became proprietor of his own registered Holstein dairy farm near Howell. The 120-acre farm was described as \u201cself-sufficient\u201d since, in addition to milking about forty cows daily, the venture \u201cgrew hay, oats, wheat, corn, garden produce and a variety of nursery and cut flowers for sale in Detroit.\u201d Many members of the herd at Hays\u2019 \u201cKumboss Holstein Farm\u201d were direct descendants of M.A.C.\u2019s most famous cow, Belle Sarcastic<\/a>.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
This advertisement for Hays\u2019 farm frequently appeared in the pages of the M.A.C. Record<\/em> in 1915. Its tagline perhaps explains the farm\u2019s odd name. Image source: MSU Archives<\/a><\/span>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jim Hays†<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0married Bessie Lucille Andrews (1889\u20131979, M.A.C.\u00a0\u201914) in 1916, and at some point they partnered with Herman and Esther Andrews (M.A.C.\u00a0\u201917 and \u201920 respectively; no obvious relation to Bessie) in running the farm. In 1922, Mr. Hays returned to the College to become \u201ca vital member of the Dairy Department at M.S.C. and M.S.U., and did much public speaking and extension contact for the department over the years.\u201d He retired as Associate Professor in 1955 and was a 1958 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award.2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This house was designed for the family by the eldest of their three sons, James G. Hays III (1916\u20131941, M.S.C. \u201938), while he was still in college. The style is International Modern, which emphasizes modern materials such as steel, glass, and concrete; minimal ornamentation; and the maxim \u201cform follows function.\u201d Interior details, innovative for mid-Michigan at the time, include a poured concrete staircase with stainless steel and chrome railings, and a kitchen with built-in appliances and floor-to-ceiling cabinetry. While many homes in this style (in East Lansing and elsewhere) have later been altered with more traditional siding and even pitched roofs, this house stands as an excellent and atypically unmolested example of International Modern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Architect James G. Hays III also was co-founder of the Spartan<\/em> student magazine in 1936. \u201cJimmie,\u201d as he was known by family and friends, died of Hodgkin\u2019s lymphoma just three years after graduation, and his parents established a memorial scholarship in his name. This was funded in large part with proceeds from James Jr.\u2019s frequent lecture appearances on \u201cThe Wonders of the Dairy Cow,\u201d a popular attraction in large part due to Hays\u2019 wit\u2014and a comically rudimentary mechanical cow for visual aid. \u201cCounty agricultural agents or officers of agricultural groups, if asked about the best entertainment for rural or city gatherings would likely say, \u2018Why, Jim Hays and his cow.\u2019\u201d3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The J. G. Hays House is an East Lansing Landmark Structure<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

  1. Karson, email of 25\u00a0May\u00a02006. Forsyth (2017). \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  2. Karson, email of 25\u00a0May\u00a02006. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  3. Kuhn<\/a>, p.\u00a0391.\u00a0The Record<\/a>, 54(7), Nov.\u00a01949, p.\u00a06. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>
    1. † East Lansing Historic Commission documents spell \u201cHayes\u201d with an \u201ce\u201d but a family friend and numerous entries in the Minutes of the Board assure that this is in error.\u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/span><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      James Grant Hays, Jr. (1890\u20131975, M.A.C. \u201911) was born and raised in Swissvale, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the Agricultural College in 1911 and two years later became proprietor of his own registered Holstein dairy farm near Howell. The 120-acre farm was described as \u201cself-sufficient\u201d since, in addition to milking about forty cows daily, the venture \u201cgrew […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"Karson, email of 25\u00a0May\u00a02006. Forsyth (2017).\",\"id\":\"24ca2920-85cc-4f0f-8a2f-41d8d7a24f09\"},{\"content\":\"Karson, email of 25\u00a0May\u00a02006.\",\"id\":\"88208d1c-66fe-42fa-bc45-31558e626f20\"},{\"content\":\"Kuhn<\/a>, p.\u00a0391.\u00a0The Record<\/a>, 54(7), Nov.\u00a01949, p.\u00a06.\",\"id\":\"bb2c660d-f2eb-4073-a059-abfe852969f9\"}]"},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-landmark-structures"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1591"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5383,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591\/revisions\/5383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevinforsyth.net\/ELMAC\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}