Archives + Special Collections

Fr. Edward J. Dowling: Artist, More than Just Great Lake Ships August 2014

Father Edward J. Dowling taught for many years in the College of Engineering at the University of Detroit. His life-long interest in the Great Lakes made him an expert in maritime shipping. The archives holds more than 58,000 items related to his love for the Great Lakes. Although the majority of the items are photographs and negatives of ships, it also has some of his art works. He was an artist of some distinction and most of his works were about the ships that would travel through the Great Lakes. He did, however have drawings other than ships. I thought I would post a few of them here. These scans really don’t do justice to the art work, the colors seem a bit muted from the original work. An entire list of all his art works can be found on the University of Detroit Mercy Special Collections page: Father Edward J. Dowling, S.J. Marine Historical Collection.

Night Train Express, St. Mary’s Kansas, 1934

St. Mary’s College, Kansas Buildings, 1938

Books on Desk, 1937

Sunset on Lake, 1937

Uncategorized art, Fr. Edward J. Dowling, Marine Historical Collection Pat Higo Updated: August 6, 2014

Before there was a UDMercy McNichols campus-some of the early residents and workers August 2014

Back in the early 1800′s, the site that is currently the McNichols campus of University of Detroit Mercy, was a swamp surrounded by tamaracks, willows and cranberry bushes. The land was drained and cleared to be converted into truck farms. These are some of the early residents and workers in the area before some of the land was purchased by Father McNichols for $120,000 back in 1921. Other sections of the campus were either gifted or purchased a bit later.

John Eugill, one of the original settlers of the University districts. His farm of 40 acres adjoined the present campus. Picture taken July 26, 1925 on his 90th birthday.

Uncategorized early residents, farms, Rev. John P. McNichols Pat Higo Updated: July 30, 2014

A Celebration of Heritage: Our Lady of Mercy Chapel August 2014

Mercy College of Detroit opened on September 24, 1941, the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy.

From the back of the picture card: “For over 60 years, the Chapel was a place to “be” with God. Because is was the Motherhouse of the Detroit Region of the Sisters of Mercy until 1966, all the Sisters gathered in the chapel four times a day for Mass, recitation of the Office, meditation and spiritual reading. Students often joined the sisters for the early morning Mass, and frequently throughout the day, Sisters, students and visitors would visit the Chapel for personal prayer and reflection. In the 40′s and ’50′s alumni often returned to campus on thier wedding days and the bide and groom would ask God’s blessing on their life together. The spirit of the Chapel, represented by the stained glass windows, will endure on the McNichols campus for future generations.”

The stained glass windows of Our Lady of Mercy Chapel were moved to the College of Health Professions facility on the McNichols campus after the campus on Outer Drive was sold and the Administration building taken down.

Uncategorized chapel, Mercy College of Detroit, Sisters of Mercy Pat Higo Updated: July 22, 2014

1925 INDIA: A Night in the Orient at University of Detroit July 2014

The University of Detroit Alumni Association sponsored a lavish production about India. The purpose of the program was to “assist the Faculty Board of Trustees in the $10,000,000.00 building expansion program for a greater University of Detroit”. At the time of this event, the stadium was about the only building complete on the Livernois Avenue/Six Mile campus. In the program they did show a potential plan for the buildings. The plan to build a fairly large church never got off the ground.

The setting for the drama in the stadium was built on an elaborate scale, five hundred and fifty feet in length and portrayed the temples and tombs of the Mughal Emperors of Ancient India. From the program:”The opening of the drama shows the city at dawn. Natives are seen winding their way from Ghat, or Holy Bathing Place, to the Temple. The gates of the Temple slowly open, showing the funeral pyre of a departed Hindu, and as the fires are set on the Altar, the ancient custom known as “Suttee,” or “The immolation of the widow on her husband’s pyre” is depicted.” Seems to me a bit of a downer way to open a program. The rest of the first half have scenes of a bazaar and a parade with elephants, and horses, with entertaining performances by acrobats and even a ballet!

The second half of the program depicted a major battle with “the roar of artillery…flash from the great guns…crash and roar of crumbling temples and the vivid leaping flames from the burning building. (T)he British troops gain access to the city and soon subdue the rebellious insurgents, and order replaces chaos as the beautiful city smolders in flames.” After the battle scene there is a big display of fireworks.

Apparently the spectacle was a big success. The local papers claimed that 100,000 people attended and there were still a couple of more performances yet to go.

Since this program was produced over a summer, there is no student newspaper coverage of the event. All there is in the archives is the program booklet. It does however, have some interesting ads.

Pat Higo, Archives and Special Collections Librarian

Uncategorized Alumni Association, buildings Pat Higo Updated: July 25, 2014

From UD High School Student to UD College Student to UD President-THREE Times! July 2014

The initial founding of the University of Detroit in 1877 included a collegiate and an academic or what we would consider today “high school” division. This system continued until 1928, when the UD high school was academically separated from the collegiate division. It was not until 1947 that the administration and financial connections between the high school and college were separated into two distinct institutions.

In another one of my ebay purchases, I picked up a 1929 University of Detroit High School class picture. There was one name that had a familiar ring-Laurence V. Britt. Turns out, he became President at the University of Detroit from 1960-1966. A research check through Fr. Muller’s book to find that he was not the first UD High School student to come into the position of college president at the University of Detroit. As his two previous predecessors of UD High School to university president, he also attended UD as a college student (Class of 1933).

The first alumnus president was William J. Millor, S.J., graduated from the high school in 1918 and college in 1923. He served as the president of the university from 1944-1949.

The next UD President to come from the high school was Rev. Celestine J. Steiner, S.J. The high school register show he graduated in 1917 and then attended UD where he played on the UD college football team for two years 1917-1918. He served as president of the university from 1949-1960.

Just as a side note, Mercy College of Detroit also had an alumnus serve as president of the college, Sr. Agnes Mary Mansour graduated in 1953 and served as president of Mercy College from 1971-1982.

I tried to google to see how many other colleges had alumni serve as president of their college. Maybe someday someone with a lot of time on their hands can create that kind of list. What I did find is an article about Dartmouth College which has to be tops in the category, they have had TEN alumni serve as president of their college!

So while the university can put on their alumni list lawyers, politicians, engineers, business men and women, etc., they can also list university presidents as leaders of the community produced through education at the University of Detroit Mercy.

Pat Higo, Archives and Special Collections Librarian

Uncategorized alumni, high school, Rev. Celestine J. Steiner, Rev. Laurence V. Britt, Rev. Willian J. Millor Pat Higo Updated: July 8, 2014

7/11 Are you feeling lucky? Las Vegas Night as U of D July 2014

St. Francis Club at the University of Detroit sponsored a Las Vegas Night back in February, 1975. For a $5 admission fee, you would get $500,000 worth of play money gambling chips, all the beer and wine you could drink (!), dancing, gambling and a chance at 50 door prizes given away throughout the evening. The door prizes included dinners, merchandise, clothing, books and many other items donated by local businesses. The profits from the evening would be used to repair the St. Francis Club facilities.

The available games included Black Jack, roulette, craps, and fortune wheels. The tables were open from 7 pm to midnight.

At midnight there was a special auction for items that could be “purchased” with the paper money that the gamblers had accrued during the evening’s events. The items that were auctioned included a dinner and evening for four with Fr. Malcolm Carron S.J. U of D President at one of Detroit’s finer restaurants , one month passes to a local health spa, a case of wine, a gothic kneeler complete with red velvet pads donated by the Office of Campus Ministry and $10 of merchandise from Wrigley Foods (all those old time Detroiters raise your hands if you remember Wrigley foods!).

According to the Varsity News, the evening was a big success. About a thousand people attended the event. About half were students at UD, students from other schools made up the rest. Invitations had been sent out to other local colleges and the St. Francis Club provided free bus service to UD for students attending Mercy, Madonna, and Marygrove Colleges and Grace, Mercy and Henry Ford Schools of Nursing. Technical problems with the transportation left only three of the seven buses available. There is no report as to who got left out.

Between 11 pm and midnight, two million in additional chips could be purchased for only one dollar. Promptly at midnight the crowd moved to the student lounge for the auction. Only the chips received at the door, won gambling or purchased throughout the evening could be used in the auction. Several items in the auction went for over one billion casino dollars; the evening with Fr. Carron went for a bid of two billion. A total of $12 billion in chips was collected at the auction.

The first Las Vegas Night was such a success, a second one was held in October 1975. Alas, only about half the number of people attended and that was apparently the end of casino type gambling on the U of D campus. I guess you could say their “luck” ran out.

Pat Higo, Archives and Special Collections Librarian

Uncategorized Las Vegas Night, St. Francis Club Pat Higo Updated: July 3, 2014

Happy 4th of July!!!! July 2014

Uncategorized Pat Higo Updated: June 19, 2014

Why UDM colors are red, white and blue June 2014

Just about everyone in the state of Michigan knows that University of Michigan colors are maize and blue and Michigan State is green and white. Most universities have just two colors, so how did University of Detroit Mercy get three colors: red, white and blue? It sounds very patriotic, but that is not how the colors came about.

First the University of Detroit story:

The University of Detroit colors were red and white, based on the university’s seal. The story of the seal goes back to 1261 in Spain with the union of the families of Dona Inez de Loyola and Don Lope de Onaz. From these ancestors descended St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus. The family crest showed the two wolves with a kettle hanging between them on one side, and seven red bars on the other side to represent the seven heroes of the family who distinguished themselves in a famous battle of Beotibar in 1321 in which 800 Spaniards were said to have defeated 70,000 French, Navarrese and Gascons.

In 1895 Fr. James F.X. Hoeffer, S.J. chose a button or seal of the Onaz y Loyola coat of arms for the St. Ignatius College in Chicago. He suggested the other Jesuit schools also adopt the seal with colors and variations as they saw fit. Not long afterwards, U of D adopted the seal according to an article in the Tamarack issues dated October 1897. The colors chosen: “White-the clear, bright light of the intellectual unfolding; red-the pulsing, throbbing flush of the heart’s awakening!”

The Mercy College of Detroit seal:

Mercy College of Detroit also has many images symbolic of the institution’s origins. This description is given in commencement programs: “The Mercy College of Detroit Coat of Arms consists of a shield which is symbolic of the Order of Mercy. The silver cross in the red “chief” (upper compartment of the shield) also represents the Order of Mercy. The colors of the lower part of the shield are black and gold, the colors of the Archdiocese of Detroit. The open book upon the shield is the traditional symbol of a college. Upon the open pages is inscribed the motto of Mercy College of Detroit: Maria, Sedes Sapientiae (Mary, Set of Wisdom). The three canettes are taken from the arms of the Archdiocese of Detroit and therefore are symbolic of the Archdiocese and the City.”

Hard to say when the entire seal was adopted. The shield part seems to be almost immediate since I was able to find it in the 1942-1943 college catalog. The total seal does not show up until the 1947-1948 catalogue. I have not been able to find any written documentation as to why the colors for Mercy College came to be blue and white. All I can tell you is that it seems that most of the memorabilia and banners I have for Mercy College have a blue and white color scheme and the basketball uniforms and cheerleaders outfits were also blue and white.

At any rate, when the two institutions consolidated in 1990, all the colors combined to the red, white and blue combination you will see today in the logo and the university seal which you can see on this link. (It is only for use on official documents, which is why it is not posted here.)

If you attend any commencement ceremony, the colors of the hood for those with a master’s and doctorates degrees from the University of Detroit Mercy will have the red, white and blue colors showing. Whenever I attend commencement, I always check out the different colors all the faculty get to wear and think the next time I go for a degree, which university has a color I would like to wear.

Have a safe and happy Fourth!

Pat Higo, Archives and Special Collections Librarian

Uncategorized logo, seal Pat Higo Updated: June 18, 2014

A day in the life of some puppies-1951 UD mascot Titania June 2014

Before the current Tommy Titan mascot, the University of Detroit had a St. Bernard named Titania as a mascot. There was a photo shoot using her puppies that I thought I would share with everyone. I provided some captions, but feel free to make your own.

If you don’t mind-I’ll take the photos.

What did you do to them?

Umm, guys the camera is over here.

Lunch break!

Maybe a short nap will be ok.

It looks like a regular camera. Are you sure the government isn’t watching us?

They are going to have to clean these out before they wear them!

Pooped pup

Pat Higo, Archives and Special Collections Librarian

Uncategorized mascot, St. Bernard, Titania Pat Higo Updated: June 18, 2014

The things you find when you need to move June 2014

In preparing to move all my stuff on and around my desk (they are redoing the entire floor in the room I am located in), checking my files, I stopped to browse through some University of Detroit Board of Trustee minutes from 1912 to June 1930. Most of the stuff is pretty boring: filling positions of board members that have left, passing on the list of graduates, various financial dealings, and discussions of new programs. There was one session that I found to be interesting, and a bit of a mystery as to why things did not end the way it was described in the documentation-just keep reading and you will see what I mean.

On November 28, 1914, the board formally accepted a gift of property from Mrs. C. J. Reilly. She would be allowed to remain on the property during her life and if her sister, Marie L. Lansing, outlived her, she too would be allowed to remain in the home until her death.

Inserted in this page is the more formal letter of the disposal of the property to the University of Detroit. There is no date on that page. Lansing was the first name of the son and the last name of the sister who must not have been married. The land for the McNichols campus was not purchased until 1921. The funds for the building was received in 1922 as announced in the Varsity News, March 15, 1922. The building dedicated in honor of the two sisters was dedicated in 1926, but the building is named “Lansing-Reilly” not “Reilly-Lansing” as written in the document. Even Fr. Muller notes in his book on the history of UD that the the wording more properly is “Reilly-Lansing Memorial”. There does not seem to be any explanation as to why the order of the names changed. Was it for aesthetics, alphabetical or political? I don’t know if there is anyone around who would know the background of the naming of the the building.

Pat Higo, Archives ans Special Collections Librarain

Uncategorized Board of Trustees, Lansing-Reilly Pat Higo Updated: June 4, 2014

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