History of Ann Arbor, Michigan
Encyclopedia
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, began with settlers from various eastern states in early 1824.
Founding
The original founders were John AllenJohn Allen (pioneer)
John Allen was an American pioneer and a co-founder, along with Elisha Rumsey, of the U.S. city of Ann Arbor, Michigan.-Early life:...
from Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and Elisha Rumsey
Elisha Rumsey
Elisha Walker Rumsey was an American pioneer and co-founder of the U.S. city of Ann Arbor. He and John Allen founded Ann Arbor in 1824.-Early life:...
from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. On May 25, 1824, the town plat
Plat
A plat in the U.S. is a map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. Other English-speaking countries generally call such documents a cadastral map or plan....
was registered with Wayne County as "Annarbour"; this represents the earliest known use of the town's name.
Their wives' names were both Ann (in the latter case, either Ann Rumsey or Ana Rumsey, depending on the text consulted). One account states that Allen and Rumsey decided to name the settlement "Annarbour", for their spouses (after discarding the alternative names Allensville and Anapolis) and for the stands of bur oak in the 640 acres (2.6 km²) of land they had purchased for US$800 from the federal government. The Native Americans of the region knew the settlement as Kaw-goosh-kaw-nick, after the sound of Allen's grist mill.
Rumsey died in 1827; Allen eventually became the town's postmaster, newspaper publisher, village president, and all-around promoter.
The 19th century
Several mills, a tanneryTanning
Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...
, and a general store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
flourished in the settlement. The general store (or tavern, again depending on the source) was painted bright red and the corner on which it was established, at Huron and Main, became known as Bloody Corners. In 1836, Ann Arbor lost a bid to be established as the state capital. However, in 1837 Ann Arbor won a bid to be the new site for the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
when it offered forty acres (160,000 m²) of land for the site. The Michigan Central Railroad
Michigan Central Railroad
The Michigan Central Railroad was originally incorporated in 1846 to establish rail service between Detroit, Michigan and St. Joseph, Michigan. The railroad later operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois in the United States, and the province of Ontario in Canada...
arrived in 1839, making the town a major regional transportation hub.
Ann Arbor became the seat of Washtenaw County
Washtenaw County, Michigan
Washtenaw County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 344,791. Its county seat is Ann Arbor. The United States Office of Management and Budget defines the county as part of the Detroit–Warren–Flint Combined Statistical Area...
in 1827, incorporated as a village in 1833, and was chartered as a city in 1851, which was also the year that John Allen died. The town became home first to large numbers of German
Ethnic German
Ethnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...
immigrants (particularly from the state of Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
) and escapees from the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849), though Canadians
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
accounted for the largest percentage of Ann Arbor's immigrants during most of the 19th century.
The 20th century and progressivism
During World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Germans became targets of animosity because of their alleged sympathy for the German state, and four professors in the University's German department were dismissed because of what was alleged by the regents to be an "excess" of faculty in the department.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
's nearby Willow Run
Willow Run
The Willow Run manufacturing plant, located between Ypsilanti and Belleville, Michigan, was constructed during World War II by Ford Motor Company for the mass production of the B-24 Liberator military aircraft....
plant turned out B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
bombers and the population of Ann Arbor exploded with an influx of military personnel, war workers, and their families.
In 1960, Ann Arbor was the site of major speeches by both major presidential candidates, John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
. On October 14, 1960, Kennedy outlined his proposal for what would become the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
on the front steps of the Michigan Union
Michigan Union
The Michigan Union is a student union at the University of Michigan. It is located at the intersection of South State Street and South University Avenue in Ann Arbor, Michigan....
(a plaque still marks the spot). On May 22, 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
unveiled his Great Society
Great Society
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States promoted by President Lyndon B. Johnson and fellow Democrats in Congress in the 1960s. Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the elimination of poverty and racial injustice...
initiative during a University of Michigan commencement address.
During the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
, Ann Arbor became a locus for both the American civil rights movement and the anti-Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
movement. It was, for example, the site of the first major meetings of Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
in 1960. After a number of protests and an extensive public campaign, the city passed its first fair housing
Fair housing
In the United States, the fair housing policies date largely from the 1960s. Originally, the terms fair housing and open housing came from a political movement of the time to outlaw discrimination in the rental or purchase of homes and a broad range of other housing-related transactions, such as...
ordinance in 1963.
In June 1969, students and protesters took over portions of South University Avenue over the course of three days of protests and rioting. However, the police, drawn from many surrounding communities, and many with their names and badges covered up, took back the streets with the use of tear gas, police dogs, and the threat of firearms. Between 1972 and 1976, the city council went through a period in which three members of the Human Rights Party (HRP) were elected and fought for several measures that at the time seemed radical, including a pioneering anti-discrimination ordinance, an ordinance reducing penalties for possession of marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
(the famous "five-dollar pot law"), and a rent control
Rent control
Rent control refers to laws or ordinances that set price controls on the renting of residential housing. It functions as a price ceiling.Rent control exists in approximately 40 countries around the world...
ordinance. In 1973, Kathy Kozachenko
Kathy Kozachenko
In April 1974, Kathy Kozachenkos successful bid for a seat on the Ann Arbor, Michigan city council made her the first openly gay or lesbian candidate to run successfully for political office in the United States....
was elected to the Ann Arbor city council, becoming the nation's first openly gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
candidate to run successfully for elected office.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
, Ann Arbor was home to many influential rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
bands, such as the MC5
MC5
The MC5 is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan and originally active from 1964 to 1972. The original band line-up consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson...
, Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
, Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
, Brownsville Station, George Clinton
George Clinton (funk musician)
George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...
, Bob Seger
Bob Seger
Robert Clark "Bob" Seger is an American rock and roll singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist.As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s...
and the Silver Bullet Band, Mitch Ryder
Mitch Ryder
William S. Levise, Jr , better known by his stage name Mitch Ryder, is an American musician who has recorded over two dozen albums in more than four decades.-Career:...
, and The Rationals. Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
was a dance major at the University of Michigan in the late 1970s. In 1969, avant-garde jazz bandleader Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
and his Arkestra spent about a month living in an Ann Arbor frat house, with poet-impresario John Sinclair
John Sinclair (poet)
John Sinclair is a Detroit poet, one-time manager of the band MC5, and leader of the White Panther Party — a militantly anti-racist countercultural group of white socialists seeking to assist the Black Panthers in the Civil Rights movement — from November 1968 to July 1969...
and his radical White Panther Party
White Panther Party
The White Panthers were a far-left, anti-racist, White American political collective founded in 1968 by Lawrence Plamondon, Leni Sinclair, and John Sinclair. It was started in response to an interview where Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, was asked what white people could do...
for next-door neighbors.
Four years after leaving the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, Gerald R. Ford – a former student and college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
player at Michigan – opened his Presidential Library in Ann Arbor. His Museum is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
.
The economy of Ann Arbor underwent a gradual shift from a manufacturing base to a service and technology base over the course of the 20th century, a shift which accelerated in the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
and 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
. As of 1999, Ann Arbor was home to 25 research centers and libraries.
During the same period, land values have increased and the city has gentrified
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
. Some long-time residents have been driven out by high prices.
Conservative groups and movements have also started within the city. The Word of God
Word of God (community)
The Word of God is an ecumenical, charismatic, missionary Christian community that started in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is composed of Christians from many different church backgrounds. The Word of God began in 1967 as an evangelistic outreach to students at The University of Michigan...
, a charismatic Catholic movement of national scope, started in 1967. Ann Arbor also became the site of the Thomas More Law Center
Thomas More Law Center
The Thomas More Law Center is a prominent conservative Christian, not-for-profit law center based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and is active throughout the United States. Its stated goals are defending the religious freedom of Christians, restoring "time honored values" and protecting the sanctity of...
, a leading religious-conservative advocacy group founded in 1999.
The 21st century
On November 2, 2004, a proposition to legalize medical marijuana was passed by a margin of 74% to 26%. Though the city attorney and police chief subsequently declared the law unenforceable, possession of marijuana for personal use has been essentially decriminalized in Ann Arbor for three decades, punishable only by a $25 civil-infraction fine and no criminal record. However, the much harsher state law applies to possession on university property (see Cannabis laws in Ann Arbor).The same day, voters approved a greenbelt
Green belt
A green belt or greenbelt is a policy and land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an...
plan: the city government would acquire development rights to agricultural land bordering Ann Arbor to prevent sprawling development
Urban sprawl
Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
. Since then, local debate has hinged on whether (and how) to accommodate development within city limits. The Greenbelt has, at times, been controversial because if other planned measures (like increasing the city's density) stall, already high property values could rise further, pushing low and middle income residents to new exurb
Commuter town
A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential, from which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Many commuter towns act as suburbs of a nearby metropolis that workers travel to daily, and many suburbs are commuter towns...
s beyond the greenbelt.
Timeline
- 25 May 1824: Annarbour, Wayne County, Michigan TerritoryMichigan TerritoryThe Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan...
. - 1827 - 1832: Annarbour, Township of Ann Arbour, Wayne County, Michigan Territory.
- 1833 - 26 January 1837: Village of Ann Arbour, Township of Ann Arbour, Washtenaw CountyWashtenaw County, MichiganWashtenaw County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 344,791. Its county seat is Ann Arbor. The United States Office of Management and Budget defines the county as part of the Detroit–Warren–Flint Combined Statistical Area...
, Michigan Territory. - October 1835: Village of Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor Township, Washtenaw County, 'defacto' State of Michigan.
- 14 December 1836: Following the Toledo WarToledo WarThe Toledo War , also known as the Michigan-Ohio War, was the almost entirely bloodless boundary dispute between the U.S. state of Ohio and the adjoining territory of Michigan....
, the Frostbitten Convention in Ann Arbor concedes the Toledo Strip and accepts the western three-fourths of the Upper Peninsula, allowing the State of Michigan to become a U.S. state. - 26 January 1837: U.S. Congress recognizes the State of Michigan and dissolves the Territory of Michigan. Village of Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor Township, Washtenaw County, State of Michigan, United States of America.
- 1837: University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
received land. - 1946: Thomas FrancisThomas Francis, Jr.Thomas Francis, Jr. was an American physician, virologist, and epidemiologist. Francis was the first person to isolate influenza virus in America, and in 1940 showed that there are other strains of influenza, and took part in the development of influenza vaccines.- Life and achievements :Francis...
and Jonas SalkJonas SalkJonas Edward Salk was an American medical researcher and virologist, best known for his discovery and development of the first safe and effective polio vaccine. He was born in New York City to parents from Ashkenazi Jewish Russian immigrant families...
develop a killed-virus InfluenzaInfluenzaInfluenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
vaccine. The concept is later used to manufacture a killed-virus PoliomyelitisPoliomyelitisPoliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute viral infectious disease spread from person to person, primarily via the fecal-oral route...
vaccine. - 1964: Emmett LeithEmmett LeithEmmett Leith was a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Michigan and, with Juris Upatnieks of the University of Michigan, the co-inventor of three-dimensional holography.Leith received his B.S. in physics from Wayne State University in 1949 and his M.S. in physics in 1952...
and Juris Upatnieks invent three-dimensional holography. - In 19__, human genome research leads to discovery of Cystic Fibrosis and Sickle Cell Anaemia genes.
- In 2010 - 11, Hipsters take over the downtown area once ruled by the homeless.
External links
- "The Making of Ann Arbor" -- comprehensive site with primary documents, hosted by the Ann Arbor District Library
- Pictorial History of Ann Arbor 1824 - 1974
- Libraries & Archives Directory for University of Michigan
- The University of Michigan - Bentley Historical Library
- Ann Arbor History, hosted by the University of Michigan