From 1959 to 1964, Michigan State University had plans to build the Technorama, a year-round exhibit space showcasing modern agriculture technology and ideas. Companies would rent exhibit space to showcase their latest products and techniques for visitors to apply to agriculture and their homes. Although the project was approved and designed, it did not come to fruition.
The Technorama started with an idea in 1953 by Arthur Farrall, head of the Department of Agriculture Engineering, to display farm machinery with financed exhibits. The idea gained traction after MSU’s Centennial of Farm Mechanization exposition in 1955. As one of the events to commemorate its 1955 Centennial, MSU held a large agricultural exposition called the Centennial of Farm Mechanization, with a theme of 100 years of progress in agricultural engineering. The six-day event was held in August 1955 with over 100 acres of exhibitors, agriculture demonstrations and a pageant showing the life of a farm family over a hundred years. The event was so popular that the organizers of the event, including event chairman Arthur Farrall, had requests for the exhibition to become an annual occurrence. A committee was formed with Farrall as chairman, and a proposal for the Technorama was submitted to university administrators and the Board of Trustees.
Arthur Farrall UA 8.1.1 Box 1520 folder 73
Although the Board of Trustees and administration continued their support in the early 1960s, the project was eventually discontinued. Some funding was secured and exhibit contracts signed but the Technorama committee was not able to raise enough money. Concerns had also been raised about the commercial nature of the project at an academic institution. Arthur Farrall was stepping down as head of the department of Agriculture Engineering in 1964. With enthusiasm waning, the Board of Trustees officially ended the project at their March 19, 1964 meeting.
Technoram Progress report UA 17.16 Box 775 folder 17Technorama exhibitors brochure UA 17.16 Box 775 folder 17
Written by Sarah Roberts
Sources from the MSU Archives: UA 17.16 Arthur Farrall papers
UA 2.1.12 John Hannah papers Box 51 folder 7-8, Box 61 folder 42
UA 3.0 Provost Office Records
UA 8.1.1 Faculty Biographical Files- Farrall, Arthur
UA 15.1 College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Records
UA 1.0 Board of Trustees meeting minutes and supporting documents for September 18, 1953, January 22, 1960, April 13, 1962, July 19, 1962, March 19, 1964
William J. Beal taught at Michigan Agricultural College (M.A.C., now known as Michigan State University, MSU) from 1870 until he retired in 1910. He then moved to Amherst, Massachusetts to live with his daughter and son-in-law, Jessie Beal Baker and Ray Stannard Baker. Even in retirement, Beal stayed busy with various projects including writing the first history of M.A.C. Beal began writing at the end of 1910 and submitted his draft to the Board of Agriculture (now the Board of Trustees) for publication in February 1913. But his book wouldn’t be published until October 1915. Included in an envelope at the back of the book are two documents. One was a map of the city of East Lansing copyrighted by Chace Newman. The other was a unique timeline titled, M.A.C. Represented by a Stream, designed by Beal, that detailed the important events in the history of M.A.C. from 1850 to 1913. This timeline is the topic of today’s blog because it is an amazing document that needs to be shared. Unfortunately, there is little historical information regarding this timeline which ultimately leads to more questions.
The river timeline of M.A.C. that was included in Beal’s book, circa 1913 (A009741)
At the University Archives & Historical Collections (UAHC), we hold the timeline that was included in Beal’s book and six photographs with matching glass plates. The six photographs show a large version of the timeline that was hung up in sections across a chalk board in a classroom. The two photos below show the same first portion of the timeline from 1850 to 1863 but one is a close-up view. What is great about this photo is that the small sketch in the corner has so much more detail than the small paper timeline. A tree stump and some brush are discernible in the paper timeline but in the close up photo, a pond, some cattails, a jumping frog, and a turtle on a log are easily seen.
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This photo below shows the timeline from 1867 to 1885.
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The next two photos below show the timeline from 1882 to 1899 and are almost identical except for the bottom right portion; one photo has more events listed. Since everything else is identical between the photos, I will speculate that these photos were taken when Beal and others were creating the timeline.
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The last photo below shows the timeline from 1900 to 1907 and you can see some changes from the large timeline banner to the paper timeline. The events and river drawing match, but the “L. Snyder” has been altered from the previous images. The “L. Snyder” was rewritten to stretch out the words into the rest of the timeline. Even in the paper timeline, “Snyder” was rewritten to stretch out the name to fill up the timeline until 1913 where it ends. There is no photo showing the large banner from 1908 to 1913. In this photo, there is extra material hanging off the chalkboard at the side that is blank. That may be the piece that became 1908 to 1913 but we don’t have evidence of that.
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The photos of the large banner and the paper timeline are one in the same. Everything matches, even down to the scale of the timeline which means the large banner was created first and was copied to make the paper timeline that appears in Beal’s book. Also interesting is that the photos and glass plates of the large banner were originally held at the MSU Museum. They were transferred to UAHC on April 30, 1970 as part of the Chamberlain collection.
Hoping to find out more about the river timeline, I contacted the MSU Museum and, lo and behold, they have a large river timeline banner. It is currently viewable through their online collections portal, http://5033.sydneyplus.com/MSU/Portal/portal.aspx?lang=en-US (search its Object ID #: 5039.5). With that knowledge, I was excited to see it and then equally surprised that it was different than the timeline included in Beal’s book. I asked if I could come see this banner in person, which the Museum graciously allowed.
To see this timeline banner in person blew me away! Drawn on thin cotton muslin, the timeline is 36” wide and 22’8” long. It was so long that the curators, Mary Worrall and Lynne Swanson, had to roll it back up on itself to show us the entire banner timeline. I took facsimiles of the photos with us to compare against the Museum’s timeline to see the differences. In my opinion, it appears that the Museum’s copy is a rough draft of the final timeline that appears in Beal’s book since there are differences between the two. The Museum’s version has the drawing of the stump within the events versus the far corner; the names of the presidents appear above the river instead of being within the river; the beginning of the timeline is structured differently; their dates stop at 1898.
Also, the Museum’s timeline has visible corrections. A piece of muslin was stitched to cover up two events that originally were found at the beginning of the timeline to move them down the timeline. This timeline is also covered in little pieces of paper throughout that were used to cover up mistakes that were made.
I inquired about the provenance of the timeline and was surprised to find out UAHC transferred the item from our own collection! Looking through our paperwork, the timeline was donated to the Archives along with other MSU historical documents from Madison Kuhn in 1973. Madison Kuhn was the former college historian who wrote the book, Michigan State: The First Hundred Years, 1855-1955. As the college historian, Kuhn contacted former alumni, professors, and offices asking for materials to preserve. Within the donation were photographs, documents, film reels, scrapbooks, books, and 3-D objects all related to the history of M.A.C. Since the Archives does not collect books, the books were transferred to the library and the 3-D objects to the museum on April 1, 1980. Part of me wishes the Archives had kept the timeline but I am happy that it was transferred to the Museum because they have the proper skills to preserve and store such textiles.
The river timeline rolled up and properly cared for before being returned to storage.
The river timeline that covered the entryway of the Broad Art Museum, October 11, 2023.
Unfortunately, by the time this blog is published, an exhibit at the MSU Broad Art Museum entitled, Beal Botanical Garden: Celebrating 150 Years of People, Plants, and Place will have ended which featured Beal’s river timeline in the entrance way on the floor of the Broad Art Museum. It was a unique way for people to interact with the timeline and learn some early history of M.A.C.
For the time being, that’s all I have to share about the history of Beal’s river M.A.C. timeline. Many hours have been spent researching trying to determine when the timeline was created, who drew the timeline for Beal, and who determined the events to be included. Hopefully more information will turn up in the future, but for now, I’m just happy to share this one-of-a-kind timeline with the wider audience.
Written by Jennie Rankin. Photos of the MSU Museum river timeline taken by Jennie Rankin.
Sources
Beal, W. J. (1915). History of the Michigan Agricultural College and biographical sketches of trustees and professors. Agricultural College.
Michigan State University. UA Photo Box 47. UA 16.21 Department of Botany. History of the University. M.A.C. Represented by a stream. (W. J. Beal). Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections, East Lansing, Michigan.
A new online exhibit, History of Boxing at MSU, is available to view. Originally, I was going to write a blog post, but it ended up being so long that it worked better as an online exhibit. This piece took a long time to create because there was so little information to be found. I had to dig through our collections, read secondary sources, search newspapers.com, and visit other libraries to try and tell the full story of boxing at MSU.
The 1955 MSU boxing team, January 12, 1955 (A010441)
Jennie Rankin holding up Spartan Saga next to the volumes that Frimodig and Stabley also used for their research, July 26, 2023. Photo by Susan O’Brien.
While researching, two surprising things occurred. One of the secondary sources I relied on was Spartan Saga: A History of Michigan StateAthletics (1971) by Lyman L. Frimodig and Fred W. Stabley. Their book summarizes sports played at MSU, statistics from games and tournaments, NCAA championship results, records, valuable players, and more. Along with that book, I also referenced the Sports Information volume that listed the boxers for each bout, matches, and results and the meeting minutes from the Athletic Council records. When I flipped to the back of Spartan Saga, I saw in the picture of Frimodig and Stabley many of the same volumes I had at my desk! I love seeing archival records in old photographs because it proves how valuable they were then and still are now.
The 1951 N.C.A.A. championship boxing gloves on display at the MSU Broad Art Museum, August 25, 2023. Photo by Jennie Rankin.
The second surprising thing was over at the MSU Broad Art Museum. In the Resistance Training: Arts, Sports, and Civil Rights exhibit, my coworker and I saw in one of the cases a pair of boxing gloves on a wooden plaque indicating that the MSU boxing team won the 1951 NCAA championship. After doing all this research, it was great to see artifacts related to the boxing team. The gloves are on loan from the MSU Museum and that exhibit will be on display from August 19, 2023 to February 18, 2024.
While I am not a sport enthusiast, I was so intrigued by the history of MSU boxing and the boxers that I wanted to share this now lost varsity sport. If you have time, check out the online exhibit to read about the short-lived history of boxing at MSU and view dozens of photographs and related documents, https://onthebanks.msu.edu/Exhibit/162-567-84/boxing-at-msu/.
Class Reunion of 1873 in front of the Rock,
May 30, 1907 (A005341)
Comprised of fifteen graduates, the class of 1873 made an unusual request to the Faculty-Academic Senate. Could they place an 18,000-year-old pudding stone that was found buried within the Delta on campus? Their request was granted, and the seniors were excused from classes on Friday, May 24, to move this large boulder to its selected location: a group of evergreen trees within the “Sacred Circle.” On May 30, 1873, the Rock, the most famous class gift, was dedicated on the campus of the State Agricultural College (now MSU).
The idea of a large boulder as a gift to a university was a common practice back in the 1800s. The University of Michigan had three class boulders placed on its campus in the 1860s and Albion College had one placed in 1893. Also, the Rock wasn’t MSU’s only class gift rock either. The class of 1900 dedicated their own rock but all you will find on campus is the 1900 class fountain instead. To learn why, read The Forgotten Class Stone. Even today, large boulders are still placed on university campuses as memorials.
Students from the class of 1875 pose in front of the Rock, circa 1875 (A001120)
What’s special about our Rock is that it has always been part of the MSU student culture in some fashion. Since its dedication, the Rock has been a photo backdrop. The oldest photo of the Rock in the MSU Archives’ collection is a group shot of the 1875 graduates standing and sitting on the boulder, just two years after it was erected. Today, Beaumont Tower is associated with couples getting engaged but that honor once belonged to the Rock. In the 1940s and 1950s, the Rock was known as the “Engagement Rock” for that reason. By the 1970s, the Rock became a gathering spot for students to protest various political issues which led to the current use of the Rock: painting a message.
The Rock was moved from its original location near Beaumont Tower to its current location on Farm Lane next to the Auditorium in September of 1985. It was moved because when people were painting the Rock, they were also painting and damaging the surrounding trees, bushes, and sidewalks. By moving the Rock to the location at Farm Lane, it would be settled in a clearing where it was hoped other items would be free from damage.
Man guides the Rock as it is lowered by a crane in its current position off Farm Lane, September 17, 1985 (A006451)
The remarks given on the day of the Rock’s dedication with transcription. Author unknown. May 30, 1873. Transcribed by Rebecca Yeomans-Stephenson. (A010305)
Today, the Rock is so much more than a just a painted boulder. It’s become a place where students and the Spartan community can express their feelings, whether it’s joy, anger, frustration, or sorrow. At the Rock’s dedication, it couldn’t have occurred to the 1873 graduates that this gift would reach icon status here at MSU. Those fifteen men graduated and went on with their lives: seven farmers, two lawyers, one clerk, one instructor at M.A.C., one merchant, one grocer, one physician, and one surveyor/engineer.
To learn the most complete history of the Rock, visit The Rock Exhibit and view related Rock photos.
Written by Jennie Rankin
Sources
Albion College. (1893, June 22). Detroit Free Press. Newspapers.com
Twentieth Annual Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the State Agricultural College of Michigan, 1876. Lansing: W.S. George & Co., State Printers and Binders, 1876.
The MSU Archives has two new collections that touch on the African American Experience at MSU.
The Barry D. Amis collection contains flyers, notes and newspaper clippings about the creation of the Black Student Alliance at MSU containing materials from 1967 to 1970. During his time as an MSU student, Amis helped found and lead the Black Student Alliance (BSA). The collection contains some of the first BSA flyers announcing meetings and listing topics to be addressed, such as a name for the organization and purpose of the group, as well as speakers. Other items in the collection reflect Amis’ activism including letters the editor, a letter and list of demands to MSU administration for more black representation on campus, and newspaper articles about rallies and forums Amis helped organize. There is also a letter from John Hannah to Amis inviting him to meet and a letter from Hannah sending Robert Green and student representatives to the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr. This important collection documents the issues of African Americans on campus, and Amis’ and other African American’s fight for recognition of their needs and equality on MSU’s campus.
The Archives is pleased to introduce another new student life collection in our holdings. The Gayle Robertson collection contains letters Robinson wrote home to her mother, while she was a student at MSU. Robertson attended MSU from 1963-1967 and the letters describe her life as an African American student. While the letters only briefly touch on activism and racism at MSU and society, they do describe her day-to-day experiences at college. She describes dorm life and roommates, dating, classes and studying, experience as resident assistant, and student jobs. She also writes about her worries on paying for college and life after school. While the life of a student today is very different from the 60’s, Robertson’s experience is very relatable to the students of today. The collection also contains six photos that show Robinson and her friends in their dorm rooms. The Archive is excited to share Robertson’s experiences with researchers.
To honor Women’s History Month, we celebrate Dr. L. Eudora Pettigrew, the first African American woman to receive full professorship and the first to head an academic department at Michigan State University (MSU). A force to be reckoned with, her achievements at MSU were an uphill battle that paved the way for other African American women who followed.
Dr. L. Eudora Pettigrew, November 22, 1971. (A010298)
Born in Kentucky in 1928, L. (Luella) Eudora Pettigrew originally didn’t have her sights on higher education but on becoming a concert pianist. She was accepted to study music at the Fontainbleau in Paris but turned down a scholarship. She received her B.A. in music from West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University) (1950). She married and became a housewife, but later divorced and returned to school. She earned her M.A. in rehabilitation counseling (1964) and Ph.D. in educational psychology (1966) both from Southern Illinois University. Pettigrew joined the faculty at University of Bridgeport in 1966 before coming to MSU.
Pettigrew came to MSU in 1970 as an associate professor in the Center for Urban Affairs (later the College of Urban Development) and the College of Education to develop educational programs with an emphasis on urban schools. In 1973, she was promoted to the newly created Department of Urban and Metropolitan Studies (UMS) in the College of Urban Development as a full professor. Pettigrew served as the chairperson for both the curriculum and advisory committees in the UMS and curriculum committee in the College of Urban Development. She then served as the acting chairperson and in 1977, she became the chairperson of the UMS, the first African American woman to chair a department at MSU.
After arriving in East Lansing, she immediately immersed herself in local and state organizations and politics. She was a consultant for the Michigan Education Association’s Minority Affairs Division, a program development specialist with the Lansing Public School Teachers Corps Program, and many more. Pettigrew was appointed by Michigan Governor William G. Milliken to be on the boards of the Michigan Women’s Commission and the Michigan Manpower Planning Council. She was also the chairperson of the Ingham County Equal Employment Opportunity.
Unfortunately, her employment at MSU and local board positions were a constant struggle. Denied promotion, she filed an official complaint that resulted in her being awarded her full professorship. She then had to sue again a few years later to receive her chair position. Pettigrew also resigned from the Ingham County Equal Employment Opportunity committee and returned her certificate of appreciation, because she felt that Ingham County wasn’t committed to equal opportunity. In 1980, she resigned from her position at MSU.
After leaving MSU, Pettigrew continued to set numerous other firsts. From 1980 to 1986, she was a professor of the College of Urban Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Delaware (UD). In 1981, she was appointed Associate Provost for Instruction, making her the first African American to hold a position in central administration at UD. She was than appointed to the position of president of SUNY Old Westbury in 1986, making her the first female African American president in the SUNY system, a position she held until she retired in 1999.
Dr. L. Eudora Pettigrew, October 8, 1973. (A010297)
Along with her academic career, she was very active with the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP) which promotes global awareness and competence as well as peace and international understanding through education. She served as co-chair from 1990 to 1996 and then chair from 1996 to 2002 of the IAUP/United Nations Commission on Disarmament Education Conflict Resolution, and Peace. With IAUP, Pettigrew also served on the UNESCO Peace Program in Palestine and was the European Center’s chair for the IAUP program in Austria on human rights, democracy, peace, and tolerance. Throughout her career, Pettigrew received numerous awards including three honorary doctorate degrees, and in 1991, she received the Distinguished Black Women in Education Award, the National Council of Negro Women’s highest award.
While her time in East Lansing was turbulent, she helped to pave the way for others to ascend the ranks within MSU by standing up for herself and holding her ground. She was committed to raising awareness of African American women, higher education policies and practices, and disarmament education throughout her life. Pettigrew died in 2021 at the age of 91. To learn more about the life and career of Dr. Eudora Pettigrew, view the finding aid for her personal papers that are held by the University of Delaware Special Collections, https://library.udel.edu/special/findaids/view?docId=ead/mss0773.xml.
Pettigrew, L. [Luella] Eudora. (2021, March 12). Notable Kentucky African Americans Database. Retrieved February 1, 2023, from https://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/items/show/1647
Pettigrew, L. Eudora. Faculty/Staff Biographical File, Box 1837, Folder 86, Media Communications Records, UA 8.1.1. Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections, East Lansing, Michigan.
Red Cedar Log, 1976. Pg. 192. Michigan State University: East Lansing, Michigan.
Anyone who has done archival research knows that not everything is online. They will also know that an essential part of conducting archival research is that, sometimes, you must view the materials in person. And yet, during the pandemic, that was impossible. Thankfully, technology today can bring items to light that otherwise would remain in protected conditions. Luckily, we at the University Archives are in the fortunate position to have colleagues in the MSU Libraries who are experts in technology and have top-notch equipment. We are doubly lucky to have colleagues in the Conservation department who are expert in dealing with old and often fragile materials in need of repair.
At the time that the pandemic hit in mid-March 2020, and everyone went into lockdown, and everything closed, we had a researcher scheduled to come to the University Archives to view materials related to the American Civil War. That visit never happened.
Months later, the researcher contacted us again. Our reading room was still closed but an alternative space across campus was available for viewing most, but not all, items. Fragile, oversized items could not be transported for fear that they would not survive the trip across campus.
The item that the researcher had intended to view in person was a U.S. Civil War roll for Company I, 102nd Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops. Two of my brave colleagues brought the muster roll out of storage and examined it. It is 31 inches wide and 21 inches long. It was folded along the left side. When fully opened it is 62 inches wide. They opened it, closed it, and realized that it would be best to not handle it more than was necessary. It was decided that we could not transport it across campus, and the researcher could not come to our closed reading room to view it. What could be done?
Below are a few photographs of the front page of the muster roll and its verso plus a few close-up photographs of the more damaged sections.
(Photographs taken by Jennie Rankin)
First, we contacted the Conservation department. Conservation librarian Garrett Sumner came over to the University Archives to look at the muster roll and gave us an idea of what repairs he could do. The muster roll was transported to the Conservation Lab on a day of good weather. Garrett mended tears. He separated the sheets into two and encased each in covers so that each side could be viewed without having to open the fold. The sheets are now protected for handling.
Next, the muster roll was taken to Digital Imaging Services for scanning. This department is equipped with scanners that can accommodate larger sized materials. Madeleine Ferguson made the scans. The image files were then handed off to Metadata Librarian Lisa Lorenzo who added the images and metadata to the Digital Repository where they can be viewed.
I was able to contact the researcher and provide her with a link to the newly repaired and digitized muster roll. She was delighted and commented that it was “This is fantastic! This copy of the muster rolls is SO much better than what was turned in to the Regimental Books and now lies in NARA [National Archives and Records Administration]– I wish every Captain had kept a copy like this.”
Lastly, our student employee Rebecca Yeomans-Stephenson, transcribed the muster roll. We hope to add those documents to the Digital Repository soon.
A brief historical note about this specific muster roll which is part of the Wilbur Nelson papers. Company I, 102nd Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops was mustered out of Detroit, Michigan. In March 1864, Wilbur Nelson accepted the commission as captain. During the Civil War, Black troops served in segregated units commanded by white officers. Nelson kept a diary in shorthand. This had been previously transcribed and has since been digitized and placed online. You can read it here: https://d.lib.msu.edu/cwc-wnelson/2
I recently learned that the capital letters I and J were used interchangeably during this period. The company name had been transcribed as J but further research indicates that it was company I.
Enjoy the beautiful handwriting of the muster roll. I am glad that we were able to have this item repaired, conserved, and digitized so that we can share it with a wider audience and keep the beautifully repaired original preserved for generations to come.
Ancestry.com. National Archives and Records Administration. U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.
Archives @ MSU 