The MSU Archives & Historical Collections has now entered into the Twitter world! Be sure to follow us for news, fun facts, and random MSU history! – www.twitter.com/msuarchives

Twitter has now become a primary source for news and a huge way of communicating with other; however, we’ve come a long way to get to where we are now. When I was typing out @MSUArchives’ first tweets, I naturally began to wonder about the way that news has been transmitted over the years at MSU.

It all started with The Bubble. The Bubble was the first-known student publication on the Michigan State campus. Published by Frank S. Burton, who identified himself in the publication as “Hezekiah Z. Solemnstyle”, The Bubble was intended to offer a humorous view of campus life. It contained short articles, poems, and notices of events around campus. A total of seven issues of The Bubble were created. After Burton’s graduation in 1868, the newspaper unfortunately ceased publication. It would be thirteen more years before another publication would serve up news for the Michigan State community.

[For more information on The Bubble or to read some of the articles...visit http://onthebanks.msu.edu/Exhibit/1-6-6/the-bubble/ ]

The College Speculum started in 1881 at Michigan Agricultural College. This student publication was first released quarterly and was a literary and scientific magazine. Liberty Hyde Bailey was the first editor-in-chief. Eventually, the publication increased to a monthly magazine and the name became Speculum Publication. In 1895, the magazine ceased publication and The Holcad became its successor.

Before The Holcad was published, The M.A.C. Record was the primary news source on campus. The M.A.C. Record was created in 1896 from a suggestion by a committee of faculty who were charged with looking at ways to improve Michigan Agricultural College. The committee consisted of Howard Edwards, Clinton D. Smith, and Frank S. Kedzie. The Edwards committee suggested a weekly college paper to aid in interpreting the institution to its constituency. Edwards became the first editor and the first issue of the M.A.C. Record appeared on January 4, 1896.

Though students were early members of the editorial board and could contribute to The M.A.C. Record, the faculty maintained editorial oversight of the paper, which meant the paper usually portrayed the faculty point of view. By 1909 students wanted their own voice and began their own newspaper, The Holcad. This paper would eventually become The State News.

[For more information on M.A.C. Record or to read some of the articles...visit http://onthebanks.msu.edu/Object/1-4-420/the-mac-record--home-page/ ]

The Holcad began in 1909 and was a completely student run publication that stemmed from the faculty run M.A.C. Record. The newspaper was seen as a way for students to voice their opinions and represent the student body of Michigan State. In 1925, the newspaper changed its name to the Michigan State News, and eventually the State News.

The M.A.C. Record continued to exist and eventually became the MSU Alumni Magazine, a publication that is still in print today. From the beginning of the M.A.C. Record, alumni were allowed to submit updates of their whereabouts and articles for publication. When the alumni association reorganized in 1913 as the M.A.C. Association and opened its membership to all former students of the college, the faculty transferred control of the M.A.C. Record to them, to be edited by the association’s secretary.  This eventually would transform into the MSU Alumni Magazine.

From The Bubble to The Holcad, and from the M.A.C. Record to The State News, the Michigan State community has seen various ways that information has been transmitted over the years. However, these examples are just a few out of the hundreds of publications that are a part of MSU. Where these newspapers were only published four times a year, we are now able to get our news instantly through venues like twitter.

…so in conclusion…

We think you should follow us on Twitter to get all of your @MSUArchives news!

T.C. Abbot was born on April 29, 1826 in Vassaboro, Maine and spent much of his childhood in Augusta, Maine. At the age of fifteen he enrolled in Colby University (later Colby College) at Waterville, Maine. He graduated in 1845 and received his A.M. (masters) degree from Colby four years later. After receiving the A.M. degree, Abbot taught in Vermont, at the Bangor Theological Seminary in Maine, at Colby University, in Berrien Springs, Michigan, and at the Union School in Ann Arbor. In 1858, Abbot accepted the Professorship of English Literature at the State Agricultural College. He also served as the treasurer of the college in 1860, and as secretary pro tempore of the State Board of Agriculture in 1861 and 1862.

On July 5, 1860, Abbot married Sarah Merrylees, a teacher at the Union School in Ann Arbor. Sarah and Theophilus Abbot had two children: Mary Monat and Joseph Rodney.

The State Board of Agriculture elected Abbott president of the college in December, 1862. Abbot assumed an active role in the administration of the college during his twenty-two years as president while continuing to teach. In 1866, he became Professor of Mental Philosophy and Logic, and four years later received a LL.D. degree from the University of Michigan. He resigned the presidency in 1885, but remained at the college as a professor until his retirement in 1889. Abbott died on November 7, 1892.

The Special Collections have recently given to the archives, two journals belonging to Abbot. The first is a portfolio that he had from 1844-1845 while studying at Waterville College. In this portfolio, it appears as though he copied various essays, poems, hymns, quotes, histories, and passages from famous works. The passages are written in extremely elegant cursive handwriting with the traces and pressures of the pen that was once dipped into his inkwell. He writes in various languages as well, including English, Ancient Greek, and what appears to be Italian.

The second journal appears to be Abbot’s notes on various philosophies. There are notes on methodologies, diagrams of various ideas, charts regarding various subjects, reflections regarding certain ideals, rules of sorts, reactions to other people’s works, and religious thoughts. Although not as neat and tidy as the first, each page of this journal is completely full from top to bottom with various sorts of information.

Seems as though our University’s third president was quite the philosopher.

April 2011 saw the beginning of the 150^th anniversary of the U.S. Civil War.  We created an online exhibit outlining MSU’s  (then Michigan Agricultural College) involvement in the war and have been digitizing and transcribing our letters and diaries to get them online.  Later in the year we did a joint exhibit about Michigan in the war with the Library and the Museum.  That exhibit was in the Library’s display cases from September-November.

Also in April we hosted a workshop on iRODS as part of our Spartan Archive grant.  Over 30 people from institutions in Michigan and the Big Ten came to learn about iRODS from Regan Moore, Director of the Data Intensive Cyber Environments Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

One major internal change that occurred this year was the installation of Archivists’ Toolkit as our new collection management system.  Staff have been busy since May with normalizing records, subject headings, and names.  The UAHC has jumped in with both feet and have been using AT not only to manage collections, but also for our records management information and for cataloging our serials collection.  Two part-time staff members, Megan Badgley and Jennie Russell, have been hired to help with data cleanup.  A third staff member, Purdom Lindblad will begin in January 2012.

There were a couple major changes in services this year.  In November we changed our hours to 9-5, which is the first time in staff memory that the archives has been open to the public during the lunch hour.  Several researchers took advantage of the new hours during the first week of the change and it looks like all is working out for the best.  We added a new service this year – backup media storage.  The UAHC is providing a storage service for removable backup media to MSU’s departments and operational units.

The fall was very busy.  We held our annual American Archives Month trivia contest with the grand prize of sandstone coasters.  We sponsored a showing of the movie Shaft at the East Lansing Film Festival.  Several classes came in and did projects at the archives, leading to a busy research month.  The archives began publishing articles in Insight, the joint Archives/Library newsletter.  Also this fall, we welcomed a new staff member, Tom Wellman, our new University Records Manager.

Last, but certainly not least, the UAHC won a joint award with the Vincent Voice Library from the Faculty Emeriti Association.  The award was won for Outstanding Contributions by an Academic or Support Unit for Creating Opportunities for Faculty Emeriti.  The project behind the award allows faculty to record oral history interviews, which are cataloged and made publicly available in the Vincent Voice Library and have a preservation copy maintained at the University Archives.

Even as the year ends, we are looking forward to 2012 with its new projects and events.  We hope you will visit us in the reading room or at one of our events.  See you next year!

Michigan State President John Hannah

John Hannah was president of MSU from 1941 until his retirement in 1969.  On May 5, 1949 Hannah offered the following advice to graduating seniors:

“Finally, because this will be my last opportunity to talk with you seniors as a group, I want to talk a little about Michigan State College and your personal relationships with it.  Up until the moment you receive your diplomas, you have been free to sever your connections with Michigan State at any time.

“But once you accept your diplomas . . . your status changes and you become a part of Michigan State College forever.  You cannot disown the College, and the College cannot disown you.

“Never forget that the reputation of this College depends to a large extent on the records and reputations of its alumni.  For that reason, Michigan State will always be interested in you and what you do.  And if at any time Michigan State College can be of service to you in the years ahead, do not hesitate to ask for that help.  It will be given to you, freely and willingly.

“There is another side to this relationship: to some degree, you will always be interested in the good name and welfare of this College.  Its stamp of approval is upon you forever, and if its prestige as an educational institution grows, so will the worth of your affiliation with it.  But if it should fall on evil days, the value of your association with it will decline.

“So I must remind you that as you are to feel free to call on the College for help, so the College is free to call upon you for help in the time of trouble.

“Always remember that Michigan State College stands as a great memorial to a great idea fostered by a great system of democratic government.  As a living mechanism for service to the people of Michigan, this nation and the world, it has great, exciting tasks to perform.  As a part of that living mechanism–forever, you will have reason to become increasingly proud of your Alma Mater and mine.  The difficulties of this day will be overcome, and she will go on with your help to greater and more glorious things.”

Michigan State Commencement, 1940s

This scrapbook belonged to Wendell Paddock, a student at MAC from 1888-1893. He was a student studying agriculture and his scrapbook consists of many receipts, invitations, announcements, dance cards, and other sorts of record-type memorabilia. When I first began looking through the scrapbook, I was thinking that I might have to choose another one, because all this had in it were boring documents! However, as I continued looking through it, I noticed that we could learn a lot about Wendell through these old documents he kept.

Wendell enrolled at MAC for the fall term of 1888. When he first enrolled, he was required to pay a fee of $11.75; $5.00 for Matriculation fees, $4.25 for room, and $2.50 in incidentals. His registration card helped us see some of the first classes he took while at MAC. For his first term, he was enrolled in “1 Agriculture”, “F.H. Drawing”, and “Engineering”. Each semester, Wendell would take a variety of classes eventually hoping to achieve his Bachelors of Science degree in Agriculture. Throughout his five years at MAC, Wendell belonged to the Club Boarding Association. Membership in this gave students the ability to live in the college dormitories. Our friend lived in room 131 of Abbot Hall. Wendell also was fairly involved in the college social life.  He was a member of the Olympic Society, the Feronian Society, the MAC Social Club, and was a subscriber to The College Speculum, the school newspaper of the time. He also attended many school dances such as the Olympic Society socials and the Junior Hop.

Then I came across this…

This is a hand written letter to our dear friend Wendell from the president of the university at that time, Oscar Clute. It reads:

Clearly, Wendell was not attending to his duties called for by his job! I thought it was really interesting to see that the president of the university himself, would write Wendell a handwritten letter addressing this issue!

Overall, Wendell seemed like your average college student back in the day. This scrapbook provides a really unique gateway to get a glimpse into Wendell Paddock’s life.

When the University first started, sports were not a main priority set forth by the college; actually the odd three term academic year running from February to November prevented sports from being played. When the academic calendar was changed in 1896, athletics were able to be integrated into the university. Baseball was actually the first organized sport at MAC, followed by boxing, football, and finally basketball in 1899.

No one is quite sure who actually brought the sport to MSU. Nonetheless, the first basketball game at MAC  took place on February 27, 1899. The match up was between the MAC Aggies and Olivet College; unfortunately the Aggies lost 6-7. The team at the time had no official coach, but Walter Brainard, the captain of the 1897 football team, served as their manager. This first game was played at the Armory on the site of the current Music Building. The Armory held about 1,200 people and the baskets and backboards were attached flush to brick walls. The overhead girders were so low that some Aggie players would actually loft long shots over them.  Layups were made easier too as it was possible to spring up on a wooden ledge that encircled the Armory just above the heat pipes.

The games were played at the Armory until 1918 when IM Circle, formally known as the women’s gymnasium was built. This facility could accommodate about 3,500 people on bleachers installed on both the floor level and on a balcony level.  In 1930, the location of the basketball games changed again, as the match-ups were now played in the Demonstration Hall Arena. The new facility could hold about 5,500 people and featured a portable floor so that the ROTC could use the area for drills; both programs shared the space in the building. However, because of the fact that this space was shared by ROTC, the Basketball team, and the indoor polo team, the university often faced scheduling conflicts. Dem Hall would serve as the home court of the team until 1940 when it moved to Jenison Gymnasium.  Jenison would prove to be a great space for the games. With a capacity of 12,5000 the games could be attended by a great majority of the student population. Jenison was home to the basketball games for nearly 50 years until the games were played at the current location of the Breslin Center.

Charles Bemies was the first coach of the team, leading the Aggies to a season record of 5-2 during the one season he coached. The first great era of Aggie Basketball, however, came under the leadership of coach Chester Brewer. In the earlier days of athletics of MSU, there was just one coach who handled all the teams, so not only was Brewer in charge of the basketball team, but he was also head coach for the great Aggie football team as well! The MSU men’s basketball program would go on to have a total of 16 coaches, with two that are in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, Pete Newell (1950-1954) and Jud Heathcote (1976-1995). Current coach Tom Izzo currently leads the program in all time number of wins.

Believe it or not, the first organized women’s basketball team was actually formed before the men’s. In late January 1898, the Lansing High School women’s team defeated the MAC Women’s basketball team 16-2. A week later, the two teams played again, and much to the Aggies despair, they lost again 26-6. The women played four 10 minute quarters. The team started out in rough shape but eventually improved over time. After these first few inaugural years, intercollegiate women’s basketball at MAC faded away but the competitive athletic spirit lived on as they continued to participate in intramural sports.  In 1899 two teams were organized by the freshmen and one by the sophomores to play against each other. Two years later the top players from six intramural teams made up the varsity women’s squad who would stand as the team ready to accept a game offer from another institution. In 1913, the seniors’ team would ask Norman “Baldy” Spencer, a member of the men’s varsity basketball team to coach them in preparation to play against another ladies team. Eventually, the team would go on to become a part of the women’s intercollegiate league and grow into the program it has become today.

Sources:

Frimodig, Lyman L., and Fred W. Stabley. Spartan Saga; a History of Michigan State Athletics,. East Lansing: Michigan State University, 1971. Print.

Widder, Keith R. Michigan Agricultural College: the Evolution of a Land Grant Philosophy, 1855-1925. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State UP, 2005. Print.

1.  Which MAC alum entered college at the age of 15 without a high school diploma?  This alum would later become a leading figure in scientific research at the White House and serve on a commission that was a precursor of the Manhattan Project.

B.  Lyman Briggs

2. While waiting for Snyder and Phillips Halls to open, a housing crunch in 1946 forced nearly 500 male students to live where on campus?

A.  Jenison Gymnasium

3. In 1949, MSC Shadows replaced which popular song as our alma mater?

 C.  Close Beside the Winding Cedar

4.  Which Hollywood beauty joined MSU halfback Billy Wells for a dream date at a pregame Rose Bowl dinner in December 1953?

B.  Debbie Reynolds

5.  In what year did the MAC Aggies first claim a football victory over the University of Michigan Wolverines?

C.  1913

6.  Who was head of athletics when MAC (now MSU) dropped out of the MIAA (Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association)?

D.  Chester Brewer

Please Note:  There was a typing error on the printed version of this form for Question 7.  In the interest of fairness, this question was not counted for or against any person who played the trivia contest.

7.  When Michigan Agricultural College opened in 1857, how many on-site faculty/staff members were employed by the college?

B.  7

8.  Which of the following campus traditions was no longer in effect after 1935?

B.  Freshmen men could not be seen openly with a co-ed

The University Archives is sponsoring a showing of the movie Shaft at the East Lansing Film Festival.  The film will show on Thursday, November 8, 2011 at 7:30p.m. at the East Lansing Hannah Community Center.

In the movie Richard Roundtree stars as John Shaft, “the cat who won’t cop out, when there’s danger all about.”  Shaft is a private investigator who is asked to find the kidnapped daughter of Harlem crime kingpin Bumpy Jonas.  Directed by Gordon Parks, Shaft was originally released in 1971 and features the well-known theme song by Isaac Hayes.

Starring in the movie with Roundtree is MSU alumnus Charles Cioffi as police Lt. Victor Androzzi.  Cioffi graduated from MSU with his B.A. and M.A. in speech in 1961 and 1962, respectively.  1971 was a breakout year for Cioffi in Hollywood.  He also starred in Klute with Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland.

In honor of the Shaft screening, the University Archives will have a booth at the Hannah Community Center where people will be able to enter to win prizes and and learn more about MSU’s connection to Hollywood.

For more information contact the University Archives or the East Lansing Film Festival.   Tickets are $8/general and $6/student and seniors (65+).  Tickets are available through the East Lansing Film Festival website or at the door.

We hope to see you there!

Mondays:  9:00am-5:00pm

Tuesdays:  9:00am – 5:00pm

Wednesdays:  10:00am – 5:00pm

Thursdays:  9:00am – 5:00pm

Fridays:  9:00am – 5:00pm

We hope that our researchers are able to take advantage of these new hours.  Please feel free to give us feedback at archives@msu.edu.