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Founded by Gabriel Richard on Aug 26, 1817.1
History
Origins
The proposal for establishing an institution of higher education in Michigan dates back to 1703, during the colonial period of New France. Just two years after founding Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit on the strait between Lakes Saint Clair and Erie in 1701, the French explorer and later colonial governor of Louisiana, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, wrote to King Louis XIV's minister, Louis Phélypeaux de Pontchartrain, from the settlement under the date of August 31, 1703. He urged the establishment of a seminary in the newly formed parish of Sainte-Anne-de-Détroit for the education of both Indigenous and French children in piety and the French language. It remains uncertain whether a seminary was ever established; the surviving registres make no mention of a seminary being created from the proposal. Jesuit superiors in Quebec probably opposed the idea of creating a seminary in the Pays d'en Haut, due to disputes with Cadillac and fears of rivalry with their own institutions. Parish records from 1755 indicate, nevertheless, that Jean Baptiste Rocoux was "Director of Christian Schools", a title likely influenced by Jean-Baptiste de La Salle. He kept a school either at his residence on St. Jacques Street or in a building under the patronage of Ste. Anne's Church. Mentions are made of a seminary of unknown founding at the fort that trained young men for the ministry, but it was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1805. Additionally, there was a French subscription school that stood near the fort in 1775, and an old account book preserved from 1780 contains tuition charges dated as early as 1760.
The colony was surrendered to the British monarchy in 1762 following the French and Indian War. The local French Canadians maintained the Christian schools, which became bilingual; however, the British, who viewed the colony merely as a trading post, did practically nothing for education, leading to stagnation during their rule from 1763 to 1796.
When the colony came under American control following the enforcement of the 1783 Treaty of Paris in 1796, the territorial judges were supposed to be called in to formally define the rights and legal status of the Christian schools under the new constitution. Thereafter, the interpretation of the American right to education in Michigan, grounded in Section 1, Article XI of the Northwest Ordinance, was laid out. Since 1806, parish-minister Gabriel Richard, who presided over the Christian schools and helped plan a new layout for Detroit after the fire in 1805, petitioned for land to found an "institution for higher learning" on several occasions and suggested that a lottery might be used to support the academies he headed. Subsequently, in 1817, during the postwar period following the War of 1812, the Territorial government, at the instigation of Fr. Richard and Judge Augustus B. Woodward and with the support of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, passed "an Act to establish the Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania" within the Territory of Michigan. Enacted on August 26, 1817, the Act effectively consolidated the schools into one institution. Rev. John Monteith, a Presbyterian minister, was named as its first president and Fr. Richard as vice president. Its didactors had authority not only over the university itself but also over education in the territory in general. The legislative act was signed into law by Acting Governor and Secretary William Woodbridge, Chief Judge Augustus B. Woodward, and Judge John Griffin.
The Catholepistemiad, 1817–1821
The university was modeled after an institution established in France a decade earlier, known as the Université imperial, under Emperor Napoleon. The term "Catholepistemiad", a neologism derived from a blend of Greek and Latin roots, can be loosely translated as "School of Universal Knowledge". This entity included an array of schools and libraries under a single administration, with the authority to establish additional schools across the territory. It was not until the legislative council passed the territory's first public school law on April 12, 1827, which made basic education a municipal duty, that the corporation focused solely on higher education.
The university may have initially been funded through private donations and federal land grants. Its first endowment may have been a land grant from the U.S. federal government on May 20, 1826, issued under "an Act concerning a seminary of learning in the territory of Michigan" and based on the Treaty at the Foot of the Rapids and the Treaty at Detroit. This grant was issued in accordance with a gift from Catholic members of indigenous tribes to the university's initiator, Gabriel Richard, with half allocated to Ste. Anne Parish and the other half directed toward the creation of the university. Shortly after its founding in 1817, the university received a $250 subscription from the Freemason Zion Lodge of Detroit. Of the total amount subscribed to establish the university, two-thirds came from the Zion Lodge and its members. Early benefactors included Joseph Campau (1769–1863) and his nephew John R. Williams (1782–1854).
The cornerstone of the University Building, located on Bates Street directly across from the 1818 "Stone Church" of Ste. Anne Parish in Detroit, was laid on September 24, 1817. By the following year, a Lancasterian school, taught by Lemuel Shattuck, and a classical academy, taught by Hugh M. Dickey, were in operation. The city library of Detroit, incorporated on August 26, 1817, was initially located in the University Building, with university teachers serving as librarians. Over the years, the University Building was occupied by various teachers, including D. B. Crane, who taught Latin and Greek and established a chemistry laboratory in the building. The University Building later served as the Detroit Branch School after the university moved to Ann Arbor.
In 1821, by a new enactment, the university itself was created as a "body politic and corporate", maintaining its corporate status through various modifications to its charter. The new act placed the corporation under the control of a board of trustees. Rev. Monteith joined the board shortly but left the university for New York a year later, despite being offered the chairmanship. The trustees continued to manage the schools and classical academy, but established no new schools. By 1827, the first public school law mandated that local governments organize their own school districts within each township. Thereafter, the university leased the Detroit schoolhouse to private teachers, and the first school in Detroit under this law opened about the first June by an order of the trustees. However, the school soon closed following the passing of its teacher. The following year, the Bridge School in Raisinville Township was established under local governance.
Early years in Ann Arbor, 1837–1851
Following Michigan's admission to the Union in 1837, an organic act was passed on March 18, 1837, to reorganize the university under a twelve-member board of regents. The regents met in Ann Arbor and accepted the town's proposal for the university to relocate to Judge Henry Rumsey's farmland.
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The approved campus plans for the university were drawn up by the architect Alexander Davis. Davis designed an elaborate Gothic main building with a large lawn in front, wide avenues, and botanical gardens, all arranged to evoke the French château aesthetic. He also provided possible sites for future buildings; however, the plans were never executed. Instead, four houses for professors were authorized. Historians attribute the abandonment of the original plan to the financial constraints the university faced as a result of the Panic of 1837. Construction began in 1839, and in 1841, Mason Hall, the first campus building, was completed, followed by the construction of South College, a nearly identical building to the south, in 1849, leaving a gap for a future grand centerpiece.
The first classes in Ann Arbor were held in 1841, with six freshmen and one sophomore taught by two professors, Joseph Whiting and George Palmer Williams. Asa Gray was the first professor appointed following the university's move to Ann Arbor in 1837. He and the regents were both involved in stocking the university library. In 1846, Louis Fasquelle, a native of France, was appointed as the first professor of modern languages, primarily teaching French and writing textbooks. French became the first modern language taught at the university. During the first commencement in 1845, eleven graduates, including Judson Collins, were awarded Bachelor of Arts degrees.
After the university moved to Ann Arbor, the regents created several branches across the state, with the Detroit Branch School being the most significant. Advocated by R. C. Gibson in 1837, it opened in the renovated University Building on Bates Street in 1838, initially serving boys with one principal and one assistant. The school operated four terms a year, with its first public examination held in 1838. Many students were parishioners of Ste. Anne Church, and notable alumni included Anson Burlingame and E. C. Walker. Other branches were established in cities like Pontiac, Kalamazoo, Niles, and Tecumseh, but struggled with enrollment, leading some to merge with local colleges, such as Kalamazoo College, which was affiliated with the University of Michigan from 1840 to 1850.
The administration during the early years of the university was complicated and designed to keep it tightly under state authority. The university's business was often intertwined with state affairs. The position of chancellor of the university, created by the organic act in 1837, was never filled, and the positions on the board of regents, appointed by the governor, were often held by state officials. The lieutenant governor, the justices of the Michigan Supreme Court, and the chancellor of the state all served as ex officio members of the board, with the governor himself chairing the board. The regents' powers were shared with a rotating roster of professors, who were responsible for some vague aspects of the university's administrative duties; however, all important decisions had to be made by the governor and his party. There were several attempts to gain independence from the state legislature, but progress was slow until the late 1840s, when the regents gained leverage, supported by Michigan citizens. This shift culminated in a revision of the organic act on April 8, 1851, which freed the university from legislative control, transitioned the regent positions from appointed to elected, and established a president selected by the regents.
1851–1910
Henry Philip Tappan became the university's first president in 1852, with the ambition to shape the institution as a model for future universities. During his decade of service, he overhauled the curriculum, expanded the library and museum collections, established the law school, and supervised the construction of the Detroit Observatory. He secularized faculty appointments by prioritizing merit in selections, breaking away from the retrograde tradition of regents distributing positions among Protestant denominations. In 1855, Michigan became the second university in the country to issue Bachelor of Science degrees. The following year, the country's first chemical laboratory was built on campus, specifically designed for chemistry education, providing additional space for classes and laboratories. Tappan's tenure also saw the creation of the Michigan Glee Club, the oldest student organization at the university, and the publication of the first student newspaper, The Peninsular Phoenix and Gazetteer, in 1857. Despite these accomplishments, Tappan's 11-year presidency was marked by considerable tension. His impartial stance on religion faced backlash during a time of heightened religious fervor. Due to changes in the Board of Regents and discontent with his administration, he was forced to resign in 1863.
In 1863, Erastus Otis Haven took office as president, having been a professor at the time and needing to prove his right for the presidency. The campus was divided by conflicting views among students, faculty, and regents regarding Tappan's restoration, the homeopathy crisis, and the Civil War. Haven's administration faced routine administrative difficulties and struggled to garner support for increased state aid, despite achieving modest gains. The university, which had received a fixed $15,000 since 1869, still required additional funding. Frustrated, Haven resigned in 1869 to become president of Northwestern, a Methodist institution, a move that sectarians viewed as a setback for secular colleges. The presidency remained vacant from 1869 to 1871, with Professor Henry Simmons Frieze serving as acting president. During this period, the university raised funds for University Hall, overhauled admissions with a diploma system, and introduced coeducation. Women were first admitted in 1870, although Alice Robinson Boise Wood was the first woman to attend classes in 1866. In 1871, Sarah Killgore became the first woman to graduate from law school and be admitted to the bar of any state in the United States. Frieze, a champion of music education, also established the University Musical Society. By the late 1860s, the university had become one of the largest in the nation, alongside Harvard in Cambridge. However, it faced ongoing issues with student discipline, including class rushes, instances of hazing, and rowdiness in chapel. Frieze attributed these problems to a lack of centralized faculty control.
The first African American to graduate from the university was Gabriel Franklin Hargo in 1870 when he earned a law degree. The first African American to earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of Michigan Medical School was William Henry Fitzbutler, which he earned in 1872. Mary Henrietta Graham became the first African-American woman to be admitted to the university in 1876, and she was also the first to graduate in 1880 when she earned a Bachelor’s of Philosophy degree in literature.
James Burrill Angell became president in 1871 and would remain in the post for nearly four decades. His tenure would be remembered as the most successful in the university's history. Tappan's reforms in the 1850s set the university on a path to becoming an elite institution, but it was Angell who completed that transformation. Shortly after Angell's arrival, University Hall was completed at vast expense; it would remain the university's major academic building right up until the 1950s. During his presidency, Angell restored campus discipline, raised entrance and graduation requirements, and persuaded the legislature to increase state aid. Angell's tenure saw the addition of many extracurricular activities, including the intercollegiate football team. Though a reformer, Angell was not authoritarian; he encouraged open debate and aimed for near-unanimous agreement before implementing changes, rather than pushing through with only a narrow majority. This approach enabled him to address knotty issues on campus, including the long-standing homeopathy problem. Angell transformed the curriculum to focus on electives, expanding course offerings. That led to a faculty of great minds in many fields, from John Dewey in philosophy to Frederick George Novy in bacteriology. In 1875, the university founded the College of Dental Surgery, followed by the establishment of the College of Pharmacy by Albert B. Prescott in 1876. That year, the university awarded its first Doctor of Philosophy degrees: to Victor C. Vaughan in chemistry and William E. Smith in zoology. They were among the first doctoral degrees to be conferred in the nation.
With his presidency, Angell focused the university on preparing a new generation of statesmen for public service. Angell himself was frequently called upon by the White House for diplomatic missions. In 1880, President Rutherford Hayes appointed him as Minister to China, where he successfully negotiated an immigration treaty that facilitated foreign student enrollment. Later, in 1887, 1896, and 1897, President Grover Cleveland appointed him to fisheries and waterways commissions. That same year, President William McKinley named him Envoy Extraordinary to Turkey. By the late 19th century, the university had gained an international reputation, in large part due to Angell's diplomatic efforts. The university was one of the largest hosts of the pensionado scholars during the early 20th century, welcoming Filipino youths who usually came from elite, upper-class backgrounds and traveled across the Pacific Ocean from the Philippines to study in the United States. Among them was Santiago Artiaga, the late governor of Bukidnon. Meanwhile, Michigan alumni such as Dean Conant Worcester and George A. Malcolm helped shape the institutions of the Philippines. Despite his extensive travels, Angell remained deeply connected to his students; campus lore has it that the aging president's memory was so sharp that he knew every student by name. Angell retired in 1909, and seven years later, he died in the President's House, which had been his home for forty-five years. His successor, Harry Burns Hutchins, who was once his student, would lead the university through World War I and the Great Influenza epidemic.
1910–1950
In 1910, Harry Burns Hutchins assumed the presidency, becoming the first alumnus to hold that position. He had spent seven years in Ithaca, New York, where he was called by Andrew Dickson White and Charles Kendall Adams to establish the Cornell Law School. Hutchins then became the dean of the law school at his alma mater, where he introduced the case method of instruction. Hutchins was acting president when Angell was absent. During his presidency, Hutchins established the Graduate School, doubled enrollment, and increased the faculty. He secured more state aid and alumni support to fund the university's capital needs, including the gothic Law Quadrangle, Martha Cook Building, Hill Auditorium, and Michigan Union, which became campus landmarks. Hutchins enhanced the university health service, but wartime distractions plagued his presidency. The influenza epidemic, which caused student deaths from poor care, deeply troubled him. Well-liked by the regents who encouraged him to remain president, nonetheless, Hutchins retired in 1920.
History of admissions policies
In August 1841, the university first published its admission requirements for incoming freshmen. These criteria placed a strong emphasis on proficiency in ancient languages, particularly Latin and Greek. Prospective students faced an examination process that assessed their knowledge across various subjects, including arithmetic, algebra, English grammar, geography, Latin literature (Virgil and Cicero's Select Orations), Greek literature (Jacob's or Felton's Greek Reader), Latin grammar (Andrews and Stoddard's), and Greek grammar (Sophocles's).
A decade later, the university made a significant change to its admission policy. In 1851, it introduced a more flexible approach by waiving the ancient language requirement for students not pursuing the traditional collegiate course and allowing admission without examination in classical languages for these students. This adjustment can be viewed as a prelude to scientific education, signaling a gradual shift from the classical curriculum to a more diverse and modern academic offering.
In the early days of the university, admission requirements varied across different departments, and most admissions were based on referrals. However, in 1863, a standardized entrance examination was introduced, establishing a single set of qualifications for admission to all academic and professional departments. The university administration at the time praised the implementation of this entrance examination, recognizing its contribution to enhancing the admission process.
History
The university's athletic history dates back to the mid-19th century, beginning with the founding of the Pioneer Cricket Club in 1860. Varsity sports began in 1866 with the formation of the baseball team, followed by the football team in 1879 and the men's tennis team in 1893.
In 1896, the university became a founding member of the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives, which later evolved into the Western Conference (1896–1899) and eventually became known as the Big Ten Conference (since 1950).
In 1905, the university found itself at the center of a national controversy regarding violence and professionalism in college football, which sparked discussions about potentially banning the sport from college campuses. That fall, Stanford President David Starr Jordan wrote a series of articles in Collier's, accusing various universities, including Michigan and its rival Chicago, of engaging in "professionalism". He labeled coach Fielding Yost as the "czar of Michigan's system" and claimed he was traveling across the country "soliciting expert players" who were not true student athletes. In response, Michigan President James Burrill Angell called for a reform conference on football and appointed Albert Pattengill to represent Michigan at the event.
The 1906 Angell Conference in Chicago led to several reform resolutions, including placing faculty in charge of gate receipts, banning summer training and the "training table", and capping admission prices for college athletic events at fifty cents. A key resolution targeted Michigan's highly paid football coach, Fielding Yost, by prohibiting the hiring of professional coaches. Michigan was expelled from the Big Nine Conference in April 1907 for noncompliance, partly due to the Yost Resolution. The university rejoined the conference in 1917 after a nine-year absence.
In 1926, Harvard made an agreement to play football against Michigan, dropping Princeton from its schedule due to past rough matches. Princeton perceived this move as a threat to the 'Big Three' relationship, fearing it would lose its status as a rival to Harvard and be relegated to a secondary class. By the 1930s, the 'Big Three' was restored and expanded into the Ivy League in 1939.
In 2023, during the NCAA's investigation into sign-stealing allegations against the football team's staff members, the university's board of regents considered the possibility of leaving the Big Ten Conference due to dissatisfaction with the conference's handling of the investigation. In 2025, the university again raised the possibility of leaving the Big Ten Conference to become independent, opposing the Big Ten's proposal for a media rights sale. Regent Jordan Acker stated that if Big Ten intended to move forward with the deal without the university, it "would be the end of Michigan, as far as I can see, in the Big Ten Conference."
From Wikipedia’s article on University of Michigan, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5