64 SEA GRANT COLLEGES 



gaining greater understanding of the higher education principles that evolved 

 from the land- grant system. Review of the basic philosophy, and of the federal- 

 state relations that fostered the pattern, should be helpful. If your mission is to 

 strengthen marine science through the development of an effective center or 

 centers for teaching and research in an academic environment, then fundamentals 

 that were developed in the land-grant college system should help you avoid some 

 of the mistakes. The mission that you define is of paramount importance. With 

 a clearly stated mission the organization should be structured so as to accom- 

 plish the mission in the most effective manner possible, taking into account as- 

 sociated experiences. 



BACKGROUND 



First of all, let me summarize briefly how the land-grant philosophy origi- 

 nated and what fostered its development. 



The history of 17th and 18th century America reflects a growing conscious- 

 ness of the need for education and experimentation in agriculture. It grew from 

 the roots of a free democratic society transplanted to a vast virgin land of unde- 

 veloped resources. While Europe was experiencing an age of enlightenment, in- 

 tellectuals on this side of the Atlantic, like Benjamin Franklin, and political 

 leaders like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, encouraged forming phil- 

 osophical and agricultural societies. The latter became the forerunners of the 

 structural framework now provided by the federal government and the states for 

 scientific research and education (1, p. 2). 



From their early beginnings, agricultural research and education were 

 free from any guilt complex about their public nature. This is in contrast to 

 private institutions of higher learning. The latter, proud of their traditional 

 freedom from governmental authority, interpreted the two to be identical. Some 

 resisted incorporation in the belief that this would make them public institutions 

 and subject to government control. The founders of the land-grant colleges were 

 well aware of the problem, namely to create a framework for combining respon- 

 sibility with authority without destroying academic freedom. 



This is revealed clearly in the writings of Jonathan Baldwin Turner of 

 Illinois. He was the professor from down-state Illinois who obtained Abraham 

 Lincoln's pledge to sign the land-grant legislation if he, Lincoln, became Presi- 

 dent. Lincoln did sign the measure on July 2, 1862. It had been reintroduced 

 following Lincoln's election. Buchanan had vetoed an earlier draft in 1858 (4, 

 p. 8). In each case the author was Senator Justin Smith Morrill of Vermont. 



Son of a Vermont blacksmith. Senator Morrill was the product of our early 

 democratic culture in New England. He himself wrote that existing colleges of 

 his youth were "based upon the classic plan of teaching only those destined to 

 pursue the so-called learned professions." His bill offered hope and opportunity 

 to "those at the bottom of the ladder who want to climb up." A man of industry, 

 integrity and dedication. Senator Morrill devoted his congressional career- -12 

 years in the House of Representatives, 32 in the Senate- -to creative service for 

 his country. Not only was he the legislative father of the Land-Grant Act, but 

 through his patience, tact and political skill brought about many other national 

 improvements, including, for example, creation of the Library of Congress in 

 Washington (3). 



The philosophical changes in higher education, as brought about through pas- 

 sage of the Land-Grant Act, are ably discussed in COLLEGES FOR OUR LAND 

 AND TIME, by Edward Danforth Eddy, Jr. For 200 years the curriculum of higher 

 education was restricted and narrow, consisting chiefly of "philosophy, theology, 

 dead languages, and mathematics." As late as 1850, not a single college had a 

 laboratory or anything like a laboratory in its physical plant (4, p. 4). The Land- 



38 



