Eastern Michigan University Archives

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Biographical/Historical note

Scope and Contents note

Administrative Information

Controlled Access Headings

Technical Requirements Note

Collection Inventory

Vidoes

Microfilm

Clippings

Press Releases

Materials

Programs

Graduation Scrapbooks

Summary Information

Repository

Eastern Michigan University Archives

Creator

Clinton, Bill, 1946-

Creator

Eastern Michigan University.

Creator

Estleman , Loren D.

Creator

Laurence N. Smith

Creator

Wallace, Christopher

Title

Eastern Michigan University Commencement collection

ID

00.C

Date [bulk]

Bulk, 1881-2011

Date [inclusive]

1854-2011

Extent

7.6 Linear feet 6 record center cartons, 4 archive boxes

Language

English

Abstract

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Biographical/Historical note

Established by the State of Michigan in 1849, Eastern Michigan University opened its doors as the Michigan State Normal School in 1853. Michigan had only been a state for 10 years, but as its state constitution made clear, education was to be of primary importance in the region. The new Michigan State Normal School was the first teachers' training school west of the Allegheny Mountains. Unlike today's University, the Normal School initially taught students at a basic secondary level, instructing them in teaching methods and material to cover at a variety of levels.

One hundred and twenty-two students started classes March 29, 1853. Almost half were men. Students could choose from two standardized programs of study instituted by the State Board of Education and outlined in the Michigan State Normal School Catalogue. The first was a two-year plan of study called the English Course. This program sought to instill in teachers a broad range of academic subjects that they would need to cover in primary schools. The second was a three-year degree called the Classical Course. This course focused primarily on language instruction for teachers who would teach at a secondary level or for students who wished to go on to college.

Students entered Normal School at much earlier ages than today. Admission requirements stated that those who wished to take the English Course must be at least 14 years of age and those who wished to study the Classical Course must be at least 13 years of age. When it opened, Normal could admit students with high school diplomas, or students without diplomas who were able to pass the entrance exam. Normal could therefore grant high school diplomas, as well as teaching certificates to qualified graduates. The first commence ceremony at Michigan state Normal college in 1854.

Above all, teaching was the primary focus of the school. Some students might come to Normal as preparation for college, but most were encouraged to enter teaching as profession. Even the tuition codes nudged students toward education. Students preparing to be teachers paid $3 per term or $4 for Classics. Those not planning to teach but preparing for college paid $8 a term for Classics and $6 for English.

Over the next 40 years, Michigan State Normal School grew rapidly, both in numbers of students and in variety of classes offered. During the 1880s, dissention tore the school as professors debated the proper focus of a teaching school. One faction, lead by Charles Fitz Roy Bellows, initiated a movement in 1870 that stated a teaching school should focus primarily on pedagogy, or the art of teaching, and the specific techniques used for this end. The opposition faction believed that teachers also needed a broad academic background in order to offer their students a well-balanced education. After over two decades of divisive debate, Richard Gause Boone, then the principal of the school, set the school on a course toward a broader education. His decision set the stage for today's large, broad-based university.

None of the original buildings survive from Normal’s formative years. Many were wood frame buildings that did not age well. Slowly, the older buildings at the heart of the campus were torn down and others rebuilt on the same land. Only Starkweather Hall and Welch Hall remain from Normal’s early years. These two masonry buildings were constructed in 1896, 43 years after the school opened its doors, and dedicated in March 1897. Their construction signals the profound growth that Normal had experienced in that time. By the mid-1890s, the teacher’s school in Ypsilanti had expanded enough to support not only a larger laboratory school, housed in Welch, but also a building devoted to religious life on campus, housed in Starkweather.

Another important change took place at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1899, Michigan State Normal School changed its name to Michigan State Normal College. This seemingly insignificant change actually describes an important shift in the mission of the school. Richard Gause Boone lobbied to establish Normal as four-year college, rather than a glorified secondary school. Normal entered the twentieth century as Michigan's premier teacher-training school and had become the first teacher-training school in the United States to have a four-year degree program.

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Scope and Contents note

The collection of Eastern Michigan University Commencement records contains programs, invitations, clippings, transcripts from the winter and spring commencement events held on campus. Records span from 1854 when the Eastern Michigan University was known as the Michigan State Normal School until April 2011. the collection is arranged into eight series:  Videos, Microfilm, Clippings, Press Releases, Materials, Programs, Gradution Scrapbooks and Graduate List.

The Video series of commencement proceedings are limited to 1998-2003 with the commencement speaker identified in the title. Content in the  Microfilm series are photographs of graduates with a list of students identified in the Photographic Archival Record file. The  Materials and  Program series contains similar record types, with invitations, ticket stubs, transcripts of proceedings and graduation announcements being included in the files of the  Materials series. The  Scrapbooks series only docuements commencement in the 1930s and contains clippings, invitations, programs, but no photographs.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Eastern Michigan University Archives 2011 October 3

Halle Library, Room 310
Ypsilanti, Michigan, 48197
734-487-0020

Conditions Governing Access note

Researchers are asked to request materials 24 hours prior to visiting the the University Archives.

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Controlled Access Headings

Subject(s)

• Eastern Michigan University
• Michigan State Normal School

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Technical Requirements Note

Materials in box 1, series Videos require the use of a VCR. Materials in box 2, series  Microfilm require the use of a Microfilm reader.

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Collection Inventory

Vidoes 1998-2003
Winter Commencement. Speaker: Chris Wallace 1998      Box Object Text (32307023996508)   1 1 Controlled Access Headings Personal Name(s) Wallace, Christopher
Winter Commencement. Speaker Laurence N. Smith 1999      Box Object Text (32307023996508)   1 2 Controlled Access Headings Personal Name(s) Laurence N. Smith
Morning Commencement 2000 April 30      Box Object Text (32307023996508)   1 3
Afternoon Commencement. Speaker President Bill Clinton 2000 April 30      Box Object Text (32307023996508)   1 4-5 Controlled Access Headings Personal Name(s) Clinton, Bill, 1946-
Winter Commencement. 2000      Box Object Text (32307023996508)   1 6
Morning and Afternoon Commencement 2001 April 29      Box Object Text (32307023996508)   1 7
Fall Commencement 2001      Box Object Text (32307023996508)   1 8
Spring Commencement. Speaker Loren D. Estleman 2002      Box Object Text (32307023996508)   1 9 Controlled Access Headings Personal Name(s) Estleman , Loren D.
Winter Commencement. 2002      Box Object Text (32307023996508)   1 10
Spring Commencement 2003      Box Object Text (32307023996508)   1 11
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Microfilm
1999 December 19      Box Object Text (32307023996516)   2 3-6
2000 December 17      Box Object Text (32307023996516)   2 7-10
2000 April 30      Box Object Text (32307023996516)   2 11-19
Photographic Archival Record
1999      Box Object Text (32307023996516)   2 2
2000      Box Folder Text (32307023996516)   2 1
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Clippings
1859-1929      Box Folder Text (32307023996524)   3 1
1930-1949      Box Folder Text (32307023996524)   3 2
1950-1959      Box Folder Text (32307023996524)   3 3
1960-1969      Box Folder Text (32307023996524)   3 4
1970-1979      Box Folder Text (32307023996524)   3 5
1980-1985      Box Folder Text (32307023996524)   3 7
1986-1989      Box Folder Text (32307023996524)   3 8
1990-1994      Box Folder Text (32307023996524)   3 10
1995-1999      Box Folder Text (32307023991277)   10 2
2000-2005      Box Folder Text (32307023991277)   10 4
2006-2010      Box Folder Text (32307023991277)   10 5
2011      Box Folder Text (32307023991277)   10 6
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Press Releases
1977-1984      Box Folder Text (32307023996524)   3 6
1985-1989      Box Folder Text (32307023996524)   3 9
1990-1994      Box Folder Text (32307023991277)   10 1
1995-1999      Box Folder Text (32307023991277)   10 3
2000-2011      Box Folder Text (32307023991277)   10 7
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Materials
Undated      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 2
1869      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 11
1872      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 14
1876      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 18
1879      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 20
1881-1917      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 22-35
1928      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 46
1931-1932      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 49-50
1934      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 52
1936-1940      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 56-60
1942      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 62
1949-1951      Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 5-7
June 1953      Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 10
1955      Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 13-14
1956 June      Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 16
1957 June- 1962 June      Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 18-25
1963 June-1964      Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 27-28
1969 June- 1970 June      Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 36-38
1971 June- 1981 April      Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 40-60
1981 December - 2001 April      Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 62     Box Folder Text (32307023996557)   7 1-12     Box Folder Text (32307023996565)   8 1-3     Box Folder Text (32307023996540)   6 1-24
2001 December - 2011 April      Box Folder Text (32307023996565)   8 5-8     Box Folder Text (32307023996573)   9 1-12
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Programs
Oversized Programs 1881-1913      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 1
1854      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 3
1859      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 4
1861-1865      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 5-9
1867      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 10
1870      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 12
1873-1875      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 15-17
1877      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   14 19
1880      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 21
1886      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 27
1918-1925      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 36-45
1929-1930      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 47-48
1933      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 51
1935      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 54
1941      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 61
1943-1948      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 63-64     Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 1-4
1952-1953      Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 8-9
1954      Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 11-12
1956 January      Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 15
1957 January      Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 17
1968 January      Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 26
1965- 1969 January      Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 29-35
1971 January 17      Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 39
1981 August      Box Folder Text (32307023996581)   5 61
Week Schedule 1871      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 13
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Graduation Scrapbooks
1934      Bin Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 53
1935      Box Folder Text (32307023996532)   4 55
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Graduate List 2001      Box Folder Text (32307023996565)   8 4
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