Justin Morrill Letters to UVM President Matthew Buckham

Justin Morrill (1810-1898) served as a US Representative (1855-1867) and Senator (1867-1898) from Vermont, following a successful business career. His signature legislative accomplishments were the Land Grant Acts of 1862 and 1890, which used the proceeds from the sale of federal lands expropriated from tribal nations, to create land-grant colleges. The purpose of these land-grant colleges was to teach agriculture, military instruction, and mechanical arts such as engineering in addition to the traditional science and classical education that was generally taught in colleges at that time. The second Land Grant Act, passed in 1890, funded colleges in the former Confederate states and required each state to offer race blind admissions or set up a separate land-grant college for persons of color, which led to the creation of several of the historically Black colleges and universities. An additional act passed by Congress in 1887 funded agricultural experiment stations under the direction of the land grant colleges. In 1865, the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College was incorporated, after a great deal of debate about whether a land-grant college in Vermont should be a separate institution, or attached to the University of Vermont, Norwich University, Middlebury College or even possibly a merger of those three institutions. Despite the 1865 incorporation, these debates would continue in Vermont for many years to come. With the establishment of the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, Morrill became a trustee of the University, a position he continued to hold until his death in 1898. Matthew Buckham (1832-1910) became President of the University in 1871 and continued in this role until his death in 1910. He had previously graduated from the University in 1851 and served as a faculty member from 1856-1871. His time as president saw the admission of women to the University, the addition of several notable buildings to campus such as Williams Hall and the Billings Library, and the development of the State Agricultural College which had admitted no students to the agricultural course in the six years before he became President. Morrill and Buckham were frequent correspondents and eighty-two of Morrill’s letters to Buckham, along with three to George Benedict and one to Albert Cummins, are preserved in Buckham’s papers at the University of Vermont and are digitized and transcribed in this collection. The letters included here discuss a wide variety of topics, mostly related to the agricultural college and include: federal support for the University, possible donors, military instruction, Morrill’s views on the development of agricultural colleges around the country, competition with Middlebury and Norwich, Vermont legislation such as the 1890 “divorce bill” which would have separated the State Agricultural College from the University, the experimental farm, the academic progress of Morrill’s son James at the University, and the construction of Billings Library along with the potential acquisition of the library of George Perkins Marsh.

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Miniature of Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, June 11, 1892
Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, June 11, 1892
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    • Creator: Morrill, Justin S. (Justin Smith), 1810-1898.
    • Date Created: 1892-06-11
    • Description: Topics include legislative action proposed by the National Grange and various potential candidates for Lieutenant Governor in Vermont.
    • Parent Collections: Justin Morrill Letters to UVM President Buckham
    Miniature of Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, August 6, 1877
    Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, August 6, 1877
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      • Creator: Morrill, Justin S. (Justin Smith), 1810-1898.
      • Date Created: 1877-08-06
      • Description: Morrill writes in response to a letter from President Buckham indicating that the University would be hiring a new professor and offers his thoughts on they type of person the University should hire.
      • Parent Collections: Justin Morrill Letters to UVM President Buckham
      Miniature of Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, October 25, 1888
      Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, October 25, 1888
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        • Creator: Morrill, Justin S. (Justin Smith), 1810-1898.
        • Date Created: 1888-10-25
        • Description: Morrill writes about his recent remarks to the Vermont legislature, which were aimed at garnering support for the Agricultural College at the University of Vermont.
        • Parent Collections: Justin Morrill Letters to UVM President Buckham
        Miniature of Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, November 14, 1890
        Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, November 14, 1890
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          • Creator: Morrill, Justin S. (Justin Smith), 1810-1898.
          • Date Created: 1890-11-14
          • Description: Morrill writes about the debate in the state legislature to separate the Agricultural College from the University of Vermont in 1890. (final page(s) missing)
          • Parent Collections: Justin Morrill Letters to UVM President Buckham
          Miniature of Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, March 15, 1891
          Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, March 15, 1891
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            • Creator: Morrill, Justin S. (Justin Smith), 1810-1898.
            • Date Created: 1891-03-15
            • Description: Morrill writes about prospects for new agricultural and mechanical building and an experimental farm at the University and urges Buckham to seek support from the city of Burlington.
            • Parent Collections: Justin Morrill Letters to UVM President Buckham
            Miniature of Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, July 3, 1893
            Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, July 3, 1893
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              • Creator: Morrill, Justin S. (Justin Smith), 1810-1898.
              • Date Created: 1893-07-03
              • Description: Morrill writes about asking the Governor of Vermont to establish a Military Hall in Burlington and the idea of giving the manuscript of his recent address to the University Library.
              • Parent Collections: Justin Morrill Letters to UVM President Buckham
              Miniature of Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, October 22, 1888
              Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, October 22, 1888
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                • Creator: Morrill, Justin S. (Justin Smith), 1810-1898.
                • Date Created: 1888-10-22
                • Description: Morrill writes with a donation to the Century College fund and about the Watchman's recent efforts to discourage the state of Vermont from providing aid to the University and State Agricultural College.
                • Parent Collections: Justin Morrill Letters to UVM President Buckham
                Miniature of Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, October 23, 1874
                Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, October 23, 1874
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                  • Creator: Morrill, Justin S. (Justin Smith), 1810-1898.
                  • Date Created: 1874-10-23
                  • Description: Topics include lunar eclipse, Buckham's address to the Vermont Dairymen's Association, and legislation being considered in Montpelier that would benefit the University.
                  • Parent Collections: Justin Morrill Letters to UVM President Buckham
                  Miniature of Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, May 30, 1877
                  Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, May 30, 1877
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                    • Creator: Morrill, Justin S. (Justin Smith), 1810-1898.
                    • Date Created: 1877-05-30
                    • Description: Morrill writes about his letter to Lt. Albert Cummins and the estate of Mary Fletcher.
                    • Parent Collections: Justin Morrill Letters to UVM President Buckham
                    Miniature of Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, February 26, 1888
                    Justin Smith Morrill to Matthew H. Buckham, February 26, 1888
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                      • Creator: Morrill, Justin S. (Justin Smith), 1810-1898.
                      • Date Created: 1888-02-26
                      • Description: Morrill writes about Experiment Stations and the possible acquisition of 50 acres by the University and long-term costs of that acqusition.
                      • Parent Collections: Justin Morrill Letters to UVM President Buckham