By Matthew Thorburn
"There are a great many strange things to be seen here and are very interesting to a backwoodsman like me. If one had the ability to remember all that he sees and hears here during the course of lectures he would come out a well informed man," U-M student Milton Barnard wrote to his father on November 6, 1870.
History has always been my background," Robert Warner chuckles. And the history of the University of Michigan, he points out, is in every student's and graduate's background. "We're all part of a very long and interesting tradition."
Warner, dean emeritus of the School of Information and Library Studies, professor of library science and honorary University historian, is also chair of the University's History and Traditions Committee.
Established in 1991 by President James J. Duderstadt, the Committee's role is to preserve, promote and facilitate the understanding of the history and traditions of the University.
It is important to remember, Warner says, "that everything is built on a foundation of past events. History gives us a perspective and dimension to our lives and our civilization." For instance, knowing that John F. Kennedy announced the creation of the Peace Corps on the steps of the Michigan Union adds a whole new meaning to walking up those steps.
The Committee has overseen the publication of several histories of the University. Howard Peckham's The Making of the University of Michigan, revised and updated by Nicholas and Margaret Steneck, was published in 1994 and is now in its second printing. The University of Michigan: A Seasonal Portrait, a photographic tour of campus life throughout the year, was published last year.
The University of Michigan Scrapbook, a video that incorporates historical photographs from the Bentley Library to depict student life throughout the history of the University, was also completed in 1994.
The Committee studies ways to make significant historical information and artifacts accessible to the general University community and campus visitors. The recently acquired diary of George Pray, a member of the first U-M graduating class (1845), along with his books, bed coverlet and the trunk in which he brought his belongings to the University, will be exhibited in the new Visitor's Center addition to the Student Activities Building on Maynard Street.
"We want to let new students know someone like George Pray shared much of the same sense of discovery they feel," Warner says. "If you knew a lot of University history before you set foot on campus, you'd feel a lot more at home here."
The Committee's work in books, exhibitions and other media that will help students and alumni learn more of the University's rich history reminds us of how much the University has changed in some areas---technology, student demographics, courses offered---and how little in others, such as student life.
Though the student protests of the 1960s are the most recent in memory, "they're not a new thing," Warner points out. Student protests have been around about as long as students have.
"Last night we burned Regent McIntire in effigy on account of his hostility to Mr.
Tappan," U-M student John Hinchman wrote to his mother on October 4, 1863. "We had a great time of it."
Support for a Traitor
A little-known protest took place in Windsor, Ontario, on November 14, 1863, when a group of U-M students traveled across the border to protest against President Lincoln and the Union cause during the Civil War. The students published an address to Clement Vallandigham, an Ohio congress man and Southern sympathizer who was declared a traitor by the US government. The Bentley collection includes a rare copy of their pamphlet.
The consistency in student psychological makeup is apparent from other letters that the Committee plans to exhibit. In an earlier letter (January 18, 1863) to his mother, for example, John Hinchman mentioned the campus visit of one of America's most renowned writers and thinkers---even though the student had better things to do that day than attend the affair:
"R.W. Emerson lectured here on Friday evening but I did not get to hear him. I went and
called on Miss Marbin. She was very glad to see me."
The anxiety expressed by John S. Newberry in September 1846 as he contemplated graduation in the following spring is also familiar to students today:
"Undoubtedly the pleasantest part of my life is fast passing away, that is my college life. I am now drawing rapidly to the end of my studies and soon must go forth into the world to carve my own way. Often and anxiously does the thought press upon me, What should I do?"
The committee is also undertaking a recorded oral history of the University composed of interviews with all living past University presidents and their wives, conducted by Enid Galler. "A lot of the University's history is in people's minds," Warner explains. "Much of the history goes through the president's office in one way or another."
Other projects include a series of historical markers to denote significant buildings and events on campus, such as the President's House and the site of the Salk polio vaccine announcement in the Horace Rackham Building.
In addition, the Committee awards citations of merit for historical activities undertaken by other units on campus. Most recently it recognized the School of Architecture and Urban Plannng for publishing More than a Handsome Box: Education in Architecture at the University of Michigan, 1876-1986.
Other Committee members include Francis X. Blouin, director of the Michigan Historical Collections; Prof. Nicholas Steneck, Department of History; Anne M. Duderstadt, institutional advancement officer for the Development Campaign for Michigan; and Carole Lamantia, staff associate, Office of the President.
The following offerings of the History and Traditions Committee are available: The Making of the University of Michigan, by Howard Peckham's, revised and updated, 1994, $14.95 paper; the photographic collection The University of Michigan: A Seasonal Portrait, 1994, $19.98; and the video The University of Michigan Scrapbook, a photographic depiction of student life throughout the history of the University, 1994, $10.00. Orders may be placed through Michigan Today.
Matthew Thorburn '97 of Lansing, Michigan, is a News and Information Services student intern.
. . . March 1996
'Last night we burned Regent McIntyre in effigy'