University of Minnesota - Gopher Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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An Historical Sketch. To j et a correct view of tlie University ol ' Minnesota, with its present condi- tion and its future tendencies, it is necessary to place its early history in ])crs])ec- tive. Yet the events recorded reach back no further than the active particijiation of middle aged men. EXTERNAL EVENTS-Early Incidents. On February ' 25, 1851, the (jovcrnor of the Territory of Minnesota, Alexander Ramsey, approved an act of incorporation by which the University of the Terri- tory of Minnesota began its legal existence. The same act located the institu- tion at or near the Falls of Saint Anthony. That tells substantially the whole story of its first year, for at the first meeting of the Board of Regents designated in the act — Messrs. Henry H. Sibley, Franklin Steele, Alexander Ramsey, Isaac Atwater, B. B. Meeker, Socrates Nelson, C. K. Smith, William R. Marshall, N. C. D. Taylor, Henry M. Rice, . braham Van Vorches, John H. Stevens and G. J. Y. Rhieldaffer— held the third day of June following, in the city of Saint Anthony, nothing but a situation confi-onted them. There was no endowment, no money, The fe University of Minnesota The (Original l nh-ersity Buiklinf , Architect ' s Ideal, 1850. had been appropriated, and the work of the Board consisted in talk — talking over the location of the new institution, the raising of means for its support, arousing the interest of citizens and suggesting anything and everything to ensure the suc- cess of the new enterprise. Following this meeting came the first gift to educa- tion which Minnesota had received. It was the gift of Regent Steele, formally tendered to the Regents in 1852, of a site on which to build the University. Means were obtained for erecting a building U])on thisgroimd, now occupied by the Exposition building of Minneapolis. Under the principalship of Rev. E. W. Merrill, in November 1851, the preliminary school of the University was opened to students. For three years and a half, with an average attendance of sixty scholars, Mr. Merrill prosecuted his work. By the end of this time it was seen that Franklin Steele ' s gift was inadequate to meet even the immediate needs of the University. As the Regents looked forward and calculated the growth of a quarter of a century they saw that more ground must he secured. The city of

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The University of Minnesota Graduate Department GRADUATE WORK IS OFFERED IX AI.E THE COLLEGES The College of Science, Literature and the Arts A Sl ' MMER SCHOOL FOR TEACHERS The College of Engineering, Metallurgy and the Mechanic Arts CLASSES I. lA-DFSTRIAL ART The College of Agriculture THE SCHOOL OF AGRICVLTCRE THE DAIRY SCHOOL THE SUMMER SCHOOL FOR WOMEX The Department of Medicine THE COLLEGE OF MEDICIXE AXD SURGERY THE COLLEGE OF HOMEOPATHIC MEDICIXE AXD SURGERY THE COLLEGE OF DBXTISTRY THE COLLEGE OF PHARMACY The College of Law In Charge of the Board of Regents THE GEOLOGICAL AXD XATURAL HISTORY SURYEY THE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION — in —

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The University of Minnesota Saint Anthony was gi-o ving; hence it shoiikl be secured at once. Accordingly-, with money that had been obtained from the sale of certain lands, they purchased twcnt3 ' -seven acres of the present campus. This selection of a site was in 1854. The sum of $6,000 was paid for the same, an amount which was large at that time. Until 185G the new territory was ])rosperous even beyond the expectation of the most sanguine settlers, who had come here from New England to establish their homes in a territory declared by the government ' s exploring officers of the ' 30s to be uninhabitable, save for Indiansand herds,and to be unproductive except for a few of the hardiest cereal cro])S. The Ori iiutl riiivcn ity Iliiildiil us It Exists Today. Accordingly, in 1856, there was begun upon the camijus the erection of the University building. The plans for this building, as outlined by the architect duly appointed by the Regents, would do credit to the most sanguine millionaire in founding the University of today. The structure was to consist of a main part of four stories over a high basement, and two wings, each of three stories, over a high basement, the whole to be 277 feet in length. Deciding at fii ' st to erect only a part of the magnificent structure proposed, the Regents, with the few thousand dollars then on hand, entered upon their work. They were urged to do it both b - their own large views of what the temtory was to become and by the clamors of people who were not disposed to see ftmds lying in the territorial treasury unused at a time full of such large needs for expenditure and grand opportunities for