Monthly Archives: August 2013

Before there was Email, Twitter, and Texting-Telegrams sent to University of Detroit

Before there was the internet to send messages, the telegram was the most efficient and probably the cheaper way to correspond over long distances. The UDM archives has a collection of over 50 telegrams between John P. Scallen (attorney and UD alumni), and Charles (Gus) Dorais while negotiating terms to become the next football coach of the University of Detroit Titans. The telegrams date from January 23, 1924 to March 23, 1925. Some of the telegrams were very short such...

Old Memories of New Beginnings

Its the start of a new school year and I am taking the time to reflect on all the different things I have posted on this blog this past year. If there is more about U of D than there is about Mercy College, it is not just because they are an older institution; material from Mercy College is sadly, simply not available. I like to be able to put pictures with the stories I find, and there are not...

The President’s Cabinet-University of Detroit

The President’s Cabinet was established ” To encourage the active interest and participation of alumni and friends in the maintenance of excellence of higher education at the University” Each year the President’s Cabinet held an awards dinner in which a medallion was awarded, “To honor those individuals who, through creative leadership and extraordinary accomplishments, are contributing to the maintenance of the highest ideal of the American way of life.” Over the years individuals from education, business, government, religion, sports, science...

Speech and Drama Department at Mercy College of Detroit

One of the courses offered at Mercy College through the Speech and Drama Department was a class on “Direction”. Each student was responsible for producing, directing and selecting a one-act play, casting the roles, setting up rehearsals, positioning and moving the characters on the stage. Albert Zolton and James Foote, associate professors of speech and drama, and David Pellman, instructor of speech and drama would act as supervisors as well as consultants to the student play directors. One-acts were not...

Fisher Administrative Center

Programming for the Fisher Administrative CenterĀ  began in September 1963 and groundbreaking for theĀ  building took place on December 17, 1964. Gunnar Birkerts and Associates of Birmingham were chosen as the architects. The 50,000 square feet structure was to consolidate the administrative offices that were scattered among several other buildings around the McNichols campus: Engineering, Commerce and Finance, Chemistry, Science (which is now the School of Architecture), Briggs, Library and Student Union Buildings. The official dedication took place on September...