The land-grant system's tripartite mission of teaching, research, and Extension was intended to improve the American livelihood while making contributions to the advancement of U.S. agriculture and economic development. To date, historical analyses within the field of agricultural education have focused on special interest topics rather than a…

How can digital art--based research counter Indigenous eradication and settler replacement enacted by land-grant universities (LGUs)? How can non-Indigenous settlers ethically engage in decolonizing work? With these questions, our art-based research project emerged from a spring 2021 Pennsylvania State University (PSU) graduate seminar, Land…

Inspired by participation in the 2014 version of the Stewardship of Public Lands seminar, hosted by the Yellowstone Association Institute and sponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities' American Democracy Project, the author's first goal was the creation of a "Sophomore Seminar" course themed on "Parks,…

This article provides a historical review of the FCS profession beginning with the Progressive Era and founder Ellen Swallows Richards. The review includes a summary of significant historical events and legislation, that reveal how the FCS profession addressed the needs of individuals, families, and communities from inception to the present. From…

This conceptual paper examines the colonial conditions of possibility for a formative moment of US public higher education, the Morrill Act of 1862, and considers how these conditions continue to shape the present. The federal government's accumulation of Indigenous lands in the nineteenth century helped provide the material base for land-grant…

Land-grant colleges were created in the mid-nineteenth century when the federal government sold off public lands and allowed states to use that money to create colleges. The land that was sold to support colleges was available because of a deliberate project to dispossess American Indians of land they inhabited. By encouraging westward migration,…

America's sprawling system of colleges and universities has been built on the ruins of war. After the American Revolution the cash-strapped central government sold land grants to raise revenue and build colleges and schools in newly conquered lands. During the Civil War, the federal government built on this earlier precedent when it passed the…

In 1866, military drill and instruction became part of the curriculum of Maryland Agricultural College as a result of the passage of the Morrill Act of 1862, a law setting the terms for the establishment of agricultural colleges across the USA. The introduction of military instruction meant a direct inclusion of physically active coursework that…

With the triumph of Tea Party candidates and other conservatives in 2010, many in the new Congress are pressing to get the federal government out of education. Eliminating or curtailing federal involvement in education would be a wrong-headed, simplistic move for several reasons: (1) It ignores the nation's history; (2) It would erode the state…

From institutional histories, this article documents misconceptions that the early land-grant colleges were unique in the land-grant heritage, derived from student demand, "revolutionized" post-Civil War agriculture and industry, and enjoyed state favor. Our neglect to understand their dominant national role and incremental educational…