Michigan State University Chemistry Professor

Michigan's 1850 constitutional convention called for the creation of "an agricultural school (Article 13, Section 11)." On February 12, 1855, a state legislative act officially created the "Agricultural College of the State of Michigan." The College underwent several name changes and today, Michigan State University celebrates its 150th anniversary!

To mark the occasion, we're spotlighting this classroom photo from 1892. Here, chemistry professor Robert C. Kedzie lectures to his students on petroleum. (The blackboard writing and the kerosene lamps on the lab bench identify the lecture topic.)

Kedzie (born in Delhi, New York in 1823) led a remarkable life. He was in the first graduating class of the University of Michigan Medical School, having received his medical degree there in 1851. During the Civil War, he served as a surgeon in the 12th Michigan Infantry. He was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh and subsequently discharged. He relocated to Lansing and became a chemistry professor at the now-renamed State Agricultural College. He remained in that position until his death in 1902. Robert C. Kedzie also served as a Representative in the Michigan Legislature (1867-68). He was a member - and, for a time, president - of the State Board of Health and a president of the State Medical Society. His son, Frank S. Kedzie, was President of Michigan Agricultural College (as the future MSU was named at the time) in 1915-21.

The Archives of Michigan houses many photos depicting various eras of Michigan State University's history. It also houses the 1850 State Constitution and journals of that constitutional convention (mentioned above).

The Library of Michigan contains several books on MSU history. Recent additions include Michigan Agricultural College: The Evolution of a Land-Grant Philosophy, 1855-1925 by Keith R. Widder (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2005) and the Arcadia Press photo history East Lansing: Collegeville Revisited by Whitney Miller (2002). The Library also houses some books authored by Robert C. Kedzie. This includes an 1878 annual address of the Michigan State Board of Health and a book entitled The Cholera in Kalamazoo (Kalamazoo, Michigan: Kalamazoo Public Musuem, 1961 edition).

Michigan State University's Web site currently includes a Sesquicentennial Page (http://www.s150.msu.edu/history.php) to commemorate the University's anniversary. The MSU Chemistry Department provides a portrait and biography of Robert C. Kedzie (http://www.chemistry.msu.edu/Portraits/PortraitsHH_Detail.asp?HH_LName=Kedzie). For unique archival resources on Michigan State University, visit MSU's Archives and Historical Collections (http://www.msu.edu/unit/msuarhc/).

-Bob Garrett, Archivist
E-mail: garrettr1@michigan.gov

Click Archives of Michigan to visit the Archives of Michigan home page.

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Archives of Michigan
Michigan Library and Historical Center
702 W. Kalamazoo Street
Lansing, MI 48913
Phone: (517) 373-1408
E-mail: archives@michigan.gov