Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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PUERTO RICO Morrill Act of 1862 provides at least one school in each state. The proof that this gave a monumentous boost to Kansas Among First To Get Morrill Land Kansas maintains a claim of having the first land-grant college on the basis that the Kansas Legis- lature was the first state legislature to designate a specific school to be the recipient of grants under the provisions of a bill introduced in Congress by Sen. Justin S. Morrill and approved July 2, 1862. The act entitled each state accepting its terms to 30,000 acres of land for each of the state ' s repre- sentatives in Congress. This was to provide for at least one college, the main object of which would be to teach courses in agri culture and mechanic arts. The Morrill Act was accepted by Kansas; and on Feb. 16, 1863, the legislature approved the loca- tion of a land-grant college on the site then occupied by Bluemont Central College. A second act desig- nated the college as the Kansas State Agricultural College, and placed it under a Board of Regents. higher educations is easily seen by the number of land- grant schools that are now located throughout the nation. Known as the defender of equality, Lincoln demonstrates a knowledge of educational needs by signing the Morrill Act. 17

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J ie t nic t ma u act donating tu tic tandt to t te Sevetat SPtateb an filovide cotte ye4 fol tne benefit of aalicttttule and tnec tanicat alts. Be ft enacted ty t te SPenate and 3ott6e of Refile entatities of t te Unit of ' d tnelica in SongieSS aSSetn ted: 37tat t tele 6e planted to t te eveiaJ SPtateA, fot. tne fatifu e neleinaftel mentioned an atnou-nt of ftii tic tand, to 6e afifiolttoned to eacn SPtate a quantity eqttat to t u ' )fif t iott and acle fol eac i SPenatot and R efnebentative in onplete to tvnicA tAe SPtateb aie )44 tecte ' veJtf entitled ty tne afiftot onment tnde) tne cen trt of eiy iteen Atmdted and tiocfy: SPectio n 4. f nd 6e it faltnei enacted, .... tnat tne intele t ( fiom tnon eu deli wed fiuni ate of t ie tandb) of wnic i b iatt 6e inviolaMp afi ilofiliated, ty eac i SPtate t tic i utfty ta e an,d ctaitn t te benefit of tn act, to the endowtnent, 4ttfi io)t and Hiaintenance of at tea t one cottege w iele tAe leading object bnatt 4e tvitnottt exctndinif ot ie) Scientific and cJab icat btudieb; and t ' t c ftf ffty tnititalM tacticb; to teacA m i 6tanc te of teaming 06 ale legated to ap icttttit e and t te tnecAanic at 4, in oldel to filotnote t te ti e ' uit and ft iacticaJ education of t te indu t ' tiat ' cta beb in tne bewelat tttltuitt and ilocettiottA of fife, i loved ti 2, J862 it enacted fy ie 3!epitatule of tAe SPtate Srection . Tnat tne cotteipe, in tne foleaoina fileam te mentioned (a cottepe Act ft t emdel t ie ftlov ionA of t te j((ollitt jtfct), 6e and t te bante nele p located at and f n a a cettain tlact of tand situated and eina in tne county of Ritev and t te SPtafo afolesaid. ' S i i i f.rt-f . ' : ttfftty Jff, 4863. The above printed excerpts from the Morrill Act and its acceptance in an act by the Legislature of Kansas tell briefly the legal origination of Kansas State University. Kansas was the first legislature to designate a specific sch ool to be the official land grant school in their State, thus being the foundation for K-State ' s claim as to being the first land grant school. 16

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A view of the campus from the present site of Aggieville shows the bareness and lack of buildings in the surround- Transfer of Campus Followed by Conflict Soon after Bluemont was officially designated the land-grant school in Kansas, a dissatisfaction arose with the inadequacies of the Bluemont campus. It was felt that the rural location of the building was a perennial drawback and descriptions of both the College building and the boardinghouse that accom- panied it referred to rather inferior workmanship. The first building on the present campus was designed as a barn and built in 1873. Two years later, following complaints that the cattle had better quarters than the students, work was begun on remodeling the barn into an Industrial Hall for classes. In 1875 the move from old to new campus was largely effected. Financially the school was aided greatly by the passage of the Hatch Act, which went into effect in 1888, appropriating to the school $15,000 a year, and the second Morrill Act of 1890, which provided $15,000 a year with $1,000 annual increase each year through 1900. Kansas State ' s peaceful progress was rudely inter- rupted in the late 1890 ' s when a great deal of friction erupted between the faculty and President Will. This was largely because Will preferred privacy and com- munication by notes to group meetings and confer- ences. Also, it was reported that he suffered several 18 ing area. Although the campus was young, Anderson Hall still cast its silhouette along the profile of the hill. short-comings as an administrator. He was supported in office by a Democratic Board of Regents, who made his job a political football. Despite the hard- ship imposed on the school by the friction, he was not removed until the Republicans regained domi- nance on the Board in 1899. Displaying some mechanical wonders with which K-State engineers had to deal is a class scene of the early 1900 ' s.