The Homeopathic Hospital and Children's Ward
Though the incorporation of a Dental College in the University was suggested as far back as 1865, the first steps were not taken until 1873 when the Michigan State Dental Association requested the establishment of a dental course as soon as possible. This was supplemented two years later by a similar petition to the Legislature on the part of a large number of citizens of the State, which led to the appropriation of the sum of $3,000 for each of the next two years for the establishment of a Department of Dentistry in the University. The Regents thereupon took action in 1875, establishing the College, and in addition to the facilities offered by the Medical Department and Chemical Laboratory, created two Professorships in Dentistry. A little later Dr. Jonathan Taft, Ohio College of Dental Surgery, '50, of Cincinnati, was appointed Professor of Principles and Practice of Operative Dentistry and Dr. John A. Watling, Ohio College of Dental Surgery, '60, Professor of Clinical and Mechanical Dentistry. The precedent of long standing in the other professional departments was followed, both in the matter of entrance requirements and the course, which consisted for many years of two terms of six months. This was lengthened, however, in 1884 to nine months and in 1899 a third year was added.
The Dental College first occupied a portion of the Homeopathic Building on the north side of the Campus; later it was removed to one of the old professors' houses on the south side which had been enlarged and fitted up for its reception. Upon the removal of the University Hospital from the Campus in 1891, the building it had occupied, which it may be remembered was an adaptation and extension of one of the residences on the north, became the home of the school. Never well adapted for this purpose and becoming entirely too small with the rapid growth of the College, a new building eventually became necessary. This led to the construction of the present Dental Building, one of the most completely equipped structures for the purpose in the United States. It was dedicated in May, 1909, and cost, with equipment, over $150,000. The department has grown consistently from the first year, when the attendance was twenty students, the lowest in its history, to 353 in 1915-16. Dr. Taft was Dean of the College from 1875 to the time of his death in 1903. Dr. Cyrenus Darling, '81m, of the Medical School then became Acting Dean, resigning active work four years later to be succeeded by Dr. Nelville S. Hoff, Ohio College of Dental Surgery, '76, Professor of Prosthetic Dentistry since 1903, who received the full title in 1911. Upon his resignation in 1918, Dr. Marcus L. Ward, '02d, succeeded to the position.
The Summer Session was first established by the Regents in 1900 as a separate division of the University. Courses in the summer had been given since 1894 under the direction of a committee from the Faculty of Literature, Science, and the Arts, but the Regents had assumed no real responsibility for this work and the fact that the chairman and all the members of the committee, save one, were of the rank of instructor indicates the minor place it assumed in university affairs. With a reorganization in 1900 under the chairmanship of Professor John O. Reed, '85, of the Department of Physics, a new life was given to the School. From that time it grew rapidly, until in the summer of 1919 it had an enrolment of almost 2,000, including students in the Law School, Medical School, Engineering College, and a summer library course, though the majority, of course, were enrolled in the Literary College. When Professor Reed became Dean of the Literary Department in 1907, Professor John R. Effinger, '91, became Dean of the Summer Session. After the death of his predecessor, he in turn became Dean of the Literary College, and Edward H. Kraus, Syracuse, '96, Professor of Mineralogy, who had been Secretary, took his place as administrative head of the Summer Session.
CHAPTER VIII
A STATE UNIVERSITY AS A CENTER OF LEARNING
Michigan's position as a state university has been strongly reflected in its ideals and policies. It could not be otherwise. But this relationship, the source of its strength in many aspects, has also carried with it certain dangers. The University has a two-fold function: it must teach the youth of the State and the Nation; but to do this effectively, it must also aim to do its share in enlarging the field of knowledge by encouraging scholarship and research on the part of members of the Faculties as well as by a certain proportion of the more advanced students. It is this latter function that is too easily overlooked in the demand for the ordinary and more "practical" courses which necessarily form so large a part of the modern curriculum. Yet even the most elementary college work cannot be given properly unless the instructor is in touch with the latest developments and discoveries in his own field, and this familiarity only comes through research, on his own part or by his colleagues.
But more than this the University, if it be worthy of the name, owes it to the State to be a leader and a guide in the development of the highest cultural standards; it should be a reservoir upon which the people of the State can draw for truth and guidance in the difficult problems of modern life. This cannot come without a strong emphasis on original and productive scholarship.