East Lansing in Ingham County, Michigan — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Justin S. Morrill Hall of Agriculture

By Joel Seewald, July 19, 2017

1. Justin S. Morrill Hall of Agriculture Marker - Side 1

Inscription.
Side 1 When completed in 1909, Agriculture Hall was the grandest structure at what that year officially became known as Michigan Agricultural College. Invoking antiquity with its massive concrete Tuscan columns and neoclassical style, it nevertheless became a symbol of the modern land-grant college and contemporary approaches to agricultural research.

Built on the site of the college's original cattle barn, the 190-by-86-foot building also included a two-story livestock-judging pavilion, which occasionally served as an auditorium. Together with the circa 1900 Women's Building to the northwest, it bracketed "laboratory row," including the first Agriculture Hall — now Albert J. Cook Hall.

With the razing of the campus's first Justin Morrill Hall — originally the Women's Building — in 2013 due to structural deterioration, this building was renamed the Justin S. Morrill Hall of Agriculture.

Roots of the MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources as well as its extension service and research stations, date back to the university's founding in 1855, spurred primarily by Michigan farming interests. The agricultural college that occupies this building also was shaped by the development of America's land-grant college system in the years following

Justin S. Morrill Hall of Agriculture Marker - Side 1 Image image. Click for full size.

By Joel Seewald, July 19, 2017

2. Justin S. Morrill Hall of Agriculture Marker - Side 1 Image

Michigan Agricultural College students pose with dairy cows.

passage of the Morrill Act in 1862.

Side 2 The 1887 Hatch Act funded land-grant college agricultural experiment stations. A second Morrill Act in 1890 added direct appropriations to support the colleges and, for states refusing to integrate campuses, funded separate African American colleges. The 1914 Smith-Lever Act appropriated federal funding for cooperative extension services of the sort that the college already had begun to offer throughout Michigan.

Agriculture Hall's construction coincided with reorganization of programs in agriculture, horticulture, veterinary science, and forestry as a division (now, college). Agriculture program head, Robert S. Shaw, became division dean and noted that the work of most departments included elements of education, experimentation, and extension—the three pillars on which MSU's agricultural college continues to stand. From 1928 to 1941, Shaw served as president of Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science.

Erected by Michigan State University.

Location. 42° 43.861′ N, 84° 28.798′ W. Marker is in East Lansing, Michigan, in Ingham County. Marker is at the intersection of West Circle Drive and Auditorium Road, on the right when traveling

Justin S. Morrill Hall of Agriculture Marker - Side 2 image. Click for full size.

By Joel Seewald, July 19, 2017

3. Justin S. Morrill Hall of Agriculture Marker - Side 2

east on West Circle Drive. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 446 West Circle Drive, East Lansing MI 48824, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Dora Hall Stockman (within shouting distance of this marker); Harry J. Eustace Hall (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Michigan State University (about 700 feet away); The Rededication of the Beaumont Tower Bells (about 700 feet away); The Nation's Pioneer Land-Grant University (approx. 0.2 miles away); Women's Building (approx. 0.2 miles away); Sleepy Hollow (approx. 0.2 miles away); "That a Ladies Course be Organized" (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in East Lansing.

Also see . . .
1. Morrill Land Grant Acts. Wikipedia article (Submitted on August 11, 2017, by Joel Seewald of Madison Heights, Michigan.)

2. Hatch Act of 1887. Wikipedia article (Submitted on August 11, 2017, by Joel Seewald of Madison Heights, Michigan.)

3. Smith-Lever Act of 1914. Wikipedia article (Submitted on August 11, 2017, by Joel Seewald of Madison Heights, Michigan.)

4. Robert S. Shaw (b. 1871 d. 1953). Article from the Michigan State University Archives & Historical Collections. (Submitted on August 11, 2017, by Joel Seewald of Madison Heights, Michigan.)

Categories. • Education •

Justin S. Morrill Hall of Agriculture Marker - Side 2, Left Image image. Click for full size.

By Joel Seewald, July 19, 2017

4. Justin S. Morrill Hall of Agriculture Marker - Side 2, Left Image

Extension service members demonstrate new farm mechanics at a county fair.

Justin S. Morrill Hall of Agriculture Marker - Side 2, Right Image image. Click for full size.

By Joel Seewald, July 19, 2017

5. Justin S. Morrill Hall of Agriculture Marker - Side 2, Right Image

Students attend a horticulture lecture, circa 1892.

Justin S. Morrill Hall of Agriculture and Marker image. Click for full size.

By Joel Seewald, July 19, 2017

6. Justin S. Morrill Hall of Agriculture and Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on August 11, 2017. This page originally submitted on August 11, 2017, by Joel Seewald of Madison Heights, Michigan. This page has been viewed 76 times since then and 9 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on August 11, 2017, by Joel Seewald of Madison Heights, Michigan.