University of Michigan

How was U of M founded and how did it come to be built in Ann Arbor?

The school was originally built in Detroit in 1817 under the name “ the Catholepistemiad or University, of Michigania.” The building of the school was financed by sale of Indian lands ("The").
The University of Michigan was not truly a state university because Michigan was not a state in 1817. At the time, the school was a federal government creation ("The").
“Actually, the first incarnation of the University of Michigan (aka “Catholepistemiad”) was not a university but rather a centralized system of schools, libraries, and other cultural institutions borrowing its model from the Universite Imperiale de France founded by Napoleon a decade earlier” (“The”)
- Changed when Michigan entered the Union in 1837 - focus on higher education ("The")
Ann Arbor offered forty free acres for the school; therefore, outbidding every other offer (Marwil 13).

When was the University of Michigan founded?

For a while, there was much controversy over the date on which the University was founded. Technically, the school was established in Detroit on August 26, 1817; however, some people think it wasn't technically established as a university until Michigan was established as a state in 1837.
The seal originally stated the founding date as 1837. Regent Lucius L. Hubbard explained to the committee (the ones that decide on the date upon the seal) that the problem with having 1837 on the seal is that others will think that is the year the university was founded, when really, that is the year that Michigan was founded as a state and the Board of Regents was established at the school ("The")

<--- Seal that states 1837 as the foundation date

Seal that states 1817 as the foundation date --->

How did the founding of University of Michigan change Ann Arbor society?

“The University promised a significant future for Ann Arbor, a dependable influx of immigrants through whose presence the village would prosper economically, culturally, and architecturally” (Marwil 16).

What did/does the University of Michigan mean to Ann Arbor then/now?

Then: One of the earliest examples of a research, public, and first university (“The”)
Then and Now: prides itself on the diversity of its student (“The”)

"Michigan's famous fight song, The Victors, was written in November of 1898. Louis Elbel, a music student at the University, wrote the words and the music in celebration of a last minute 12-11 Michigan victory over rival Chicago, giving U-M its first Western Conference football championship. The Victors was first played in public by John Philip Sousa's band in May of 1899 in Ann Arbor. Sousa later called it the 'best college march ever written.'" ("Michigan")

Report abuse