Check Out “A Tour of MSU’s Historic Faculty Row,” Now Live!

Even during a quarantine, archaeology does not stop. While we have not been able to get out into the field until recently, we at CAP have been working hard to create historical background summaries of areas that will be impacted by construction (a critical part of archaeology, as it helps us to understand what might be impacted and what we might find in the field) as well as develop new outreach activities that can be done at home. One method through which we can share our work are story maps, created using the open access StoryMapJS tool created by Northwestern University’s Knight Lab.

Today, we wish to share with you a StoryMap that tells the tale of Faculty Row, a historic neighborhood that once occupied part of MSU’s campus. As you can probably tell from the name, this neighborhood served as a home for the permanent faculty and staff, before the development of East Lansing. While it was a home for faculty, Faculty Row was also a central hub of activity on the early campus, as there were few other diversions for students in those days. Faculty often invited students into their homes, and students often included Faculty Row in their yearly rituals, such as serenading Faculty Row as part of the night shirt parade (Kuhn 1955:210). In this story, we provide you with some of this background, as well as highlight each home that was part of Faculty Row.

You can find our StoryMap, “A Tour of MSU’s Historic Faculty Row,” by clicking here and under the “digital cultural heritage” tab on our website. We hope you enjoy it, and we hope that next time you are on West Circle Drive you are able to imagine the sleepy college neighborhood that once stood there.

Author: Jeff Painter

References Cited

Kuhn, Madison
1955   Michigan State: The First Hundred Years.  The Michigan State University Press, East    Lansing.