Jeff Semler |
It is time I get back to my chronicle of the 150th anniversary of the Land Grant University system.
To review briefly, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act that allowed for the establishment of a college for the purpose of educating the “industrial class” in agriculture and mechanics.
In Maryland, the 1862 land-grant college was the University of Maryland, College Park. That is where I will pick up the story — with a brief history of the Maryland Agricultural College.
The college was chartered May 6, 1856.
In 1858, according to articles appearing in two Baltimore newspapers, The Daily Baltimore Republican and The Sun, Charles Calvert was a descendant of the first Lord Baltimore, who founded the Maryland Colony. Calvert was owner of Riversdale Plantation, and sold 420 acres of it for the construction of the college.
Being a progressive farmer, he believed in a scientific approach to agriculture, and was a founding member and president of the Maryland Agricultural Society.
In 1860, Calvert was elected as a Unionist to the 37th Congress representing Maryland’s Sixth District, serving from March 4, 1861, to March 3, 1863, but was not a candidate for renomination in 1862. He resumed agricultural pursuits until his death in May of 1864 at Riversdale.
The first degrees were awarded in July 1862, the same month Lincoln signed the Morrill Act. In February 1864, the state legislature accepted the provisions of the Land Grant Act. However, the war was not kind to the college, as it begrudgingly hosted troops under the command of both Ambrose Burnside and Jubal Early. Shortly after the Confederate troops left in July 1864, the college declared bankruptcy and became a preparatory school.
Once peace was restored and reconciliation had begun in February 1866, the legislature appropriated money for half ownership of the college, which at that point became, in part, a state institution. And so, in October 1867, the college reopened with 11 students.
By 1873, the enrollment had risen to a steady 100 and the debt was paid off.
Then in 1887, the Hatch Act created federally funded agricultural experiment stations. The trustees offered up the college farm and Rossborough Inn for that purpose. Today, there are a total of nine research and education centers across the state.
To disseminate information gleaned from the experiment stations’ research, the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 created the Cooperative Extension Service associated with each U.S. land-grant institution. This act authorized ongoing federal support for extension services.
By 1919, the college was organized into seven schools: agriculture, engineering, arts and sciences, chemistry, education, home economics and graduate school (including summer school). And, the preparatory school was abolished.
While today, to many, the University of Maryland is more famous for its sports teams, it stands as the state’s flagship university for academics, as well.
The university has more than 2,800 faculty members who teach 25,000 undergraduate students and nearly 10,500 graduate students.
There are more than 100 majors from which to choose, and the university is now one of the nation’s top 20 public research universities and is an economic catalyst for the state.
Today, University of Maryland Extension continues to bring the university to the people.
Jeff Semler is an Extension educator, specializing in agriculture and natural resources, for the University of Maryland Extension. He is based in Washington County. He can be reached at 301-791-1404, ext. 25, or by email at jsemler@umd.edu.
To review briefly, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act that allowed for the establishment of a college for the purpose of educating the “industrial class” in agriculture and mechanics.
In Maryland, the 1862 land-grant college was the University of Maryland, College Park. That is where I will pick up the story — with a brief history of the Maryland Agricultural College.
The college was chartered May 6, 1856.
In 1858, according to articles appearing in two Baltimore newspapers, The Daily Baltimore Republican and The Sun, Charles Calvert was a descendant of the first Lord Baltimore, who founded the Maryland Colony. Calvert was owner of Riversdale Plantation, and sold 420 acres of it for the construction of the college.
Being a progressive farmer, he believed in a scientific approach to agriculture, and was a founding member and president of the Maryland Agricultural Society.
In 1860, Calvert was elected as a Unionist to the 37th Congress representing Maryland’s Sixth District, serving from March 4, 1861, to March 3, 1863, but was not a candidate for renomination in 1862. He resumed agricultural pursuits until his death in May of 1864 at Riversdale.
The first degrees were awarded in July 1862, the same month Lincoln signed the Morrill Act. In February 1864, the state legislature accepted the provisions of the Land Grant Act. However, the war was not kind to the college, as it begrudgingly hosted troops under the command of both Ambrose Burnside and Jubal Early. Shortly after the Confederate troops left in July 1864, the college declared bankruptcy and became a preparatory school.
Once peace was restored and reconciliation had begun in February 1866, the legislature appropriated money for half ownership of the college, which at that point became, in part, a state institution. And so, in October 1867, the college reopened with 11 students.
By 1873, the enrollment had risen to a steady 100 and the debt was paid off.
Then in 1887, the Hatch Act created federally funded agricultural experiment stations. The trustees offered up the college farm and Rossborough Inn for that purpose. Today, there are a total of nine research and education centers across the state.
To disseminate information gleaned from the experiment stations’ research, the Smith-Lever Act of 1914 created the Cooperative Extension Service associated with each U.S. land-grant institution. This act authorized ongoing federal support for extension services.
By 1919, the college was organized into seven schools: agriculture, engineering, arts and sciences, chemistry, education, home economics and graduate school (including summer school). And, the preparatory school was abolished.
While today, to many, the University of Maryland is more famous for its sports teams, it stands as the state’s flagship university for academics, as well.
The university has more than 2,800 faculty members who teach 25,000 undergraduate students and nearly 10,500 graduate students.
There are more than 100 majors from which to choose, and the university is now one of the nation’s top 20 public research universities and is an economic catalyst for the state.
Today, University of Maryland Extension continues to bring the university to the people.
Jeff Semler is an Extension educator, specializing in agriculture and natural resources, for the University of Maryland Extension. He is based in Washington County. He can be reached at 301-791-1404, ext. 25, or by email at jsemler@umd.edu.
