SENATOR MORRILL ACT OF 1862

First page of the 1862 Morrill Act.
Image Courtesy of the National Archives.

"In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Land Grant College Act proposed by Justin S. Morrill of Vermont. Each state would be given an amount of land that they could sell to provide funds for establishment of an Agricultural and Mechanical College. 

In 1868, Ohio accepted the provisions of the Morrill Act. The state of Ohio received 630,000 acres of land script, which sold at an average of 54 cents per acre for a total of $340,894.70.

 In 1870, The Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College was established on the "Neil Farm" north of Columbus, Ohio." 

-Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.

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• U.S Department of the Interior | Bureau of Land Management
• Reference Center for BLM Records
• General Land Records Document Records Search
• High Country News | Land-Grab Universities
• Land-Grab Universities Report
• GitHub Repository for the HCN investigation, "Land-Grab Universities" including the "Morrill Act of 1862 Indigenous Land Parcels Database."
• Note: Control+F or Command+F on a Mac will bring up a search box which you can use to search for specific text within the data.
• Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties 
• Charles J. Kappler.1902-1971. Digitized by Oklahoma State University Library.
• Indian land cessions in the United States (Maps Only)
• Charles C. Royce and Cyrus. Digitized by the Library of Congress.
• Indian Land Cessions in the United States, 1784-1894 United States Serial Set, Number 4015 | American Memory Special Presentation
• Library of Congress
• Browse by Date, Signing Tribal Nation, State/Territory
• Land-Grant Colleges and Universities Map | USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Morrill Act | Ohio History Central
• Ohio History Connection
• Morrill Land Grant College Act | United States Senate
• National Archives
• Online Research Tools and Aids | Find Records and Information About Records
• Records of the Bureau of Land Management [BLM] Table of Contents and Overview of Records Locations
• Morrill Act (1862) | OurDocuments.gov
• NativeLand.ca
• "a registered Canadian not-for-profit organization. We have a majority-Indigenous Board of Directors, representing people who have close ties to land bases, communities, and deep knowledge about Indigenous ways of being and knowing. The Board of Directors is further informed by an Advisory Council, consisting of a variety of specialists in mapmaking, GIS, relations with Indigenous communities, and more. Together, these two forces help to face and deal with many of complex issues that mapping Indigenous territories involves..."
• Primary Documents in American History | Morrill Act
• The Library of Congress
• Indigenous Digital Archive Treaties Explorer | Museum of Indian Arts + Culture, National Archives, National Archives Foundation
• 374 Ratified Indian Treaties digitized original documents
• Land Cessions
• Connecting historical and present day nations involved in the treaties
• Look at places: Enter a zip code, name of state, use your location, or zoom in on a map
• Tribal Connections Map | U.S. Forest Service
• "designed to illustrate the relationship between lands administered by the Forest Service, Indian lands, and lands ceded to the United States as documented in the 67 maps from "Indian Land Cessions in the United States", compiled by Charles C. Royce and published as the second part of the two-part Eighteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1896-1897."
• "Intervention: Indigenous Studies Reflections on The Land-Grab Universities Project"Native American and Indigenous Studies Journal. Vol 8, No 1, Spring 2021. | Project Muse [Note: Available Free to the Public through October 2021]
• "Editors' Introduction: Reflections on the Land-Grab Universities Project." (pg 89-91) K. Tsianina Lomawaima, Kelly Mcdonough, Jean M. O'Brien and Robert Warrior.
• "Morrill Issues and Academic Liberalism" (pg 92-96) David R. Roediger.
• "The Wealth of Knowledge: Land-Grab Universities in a British Imperial and Global Context." (pg 97-105) Caitlin P.A. Harvey.
• " "Drawing a Line from their Institution": One Origin Story of Indigenous GIS Design." (pg 106-111) Mark Palmer.
• " "Unrefutable Responsibility": Mapping the Seeds of Settler Futurity and Seeding the Maps of Indigenous Futurity." (pg 112-122) Marcel Brousseau.
• "Stolen Lands and Stolen Opportunities." (pg 123-128) Randall Akee.
• "Repaying a Debt? The Performance of Morrill Act University Beneficiaries as Measured by Native Enrollment and Graduation Rates." (pg 129-138) Donna Feir and Maggie E.C. Jones.
• "Myths, Erasure, and Violence: The Immoral Triad of the Morrill Act." (pg 139-144) Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy and Amanda R. Tachine.
• " "We Grow the Ivy": Cornell's Claim to Indigenous Dispossession." (pg 145-150) Judy Kertész and Angela A. Gonzales.
• "Campuses, Colonialism, and Land Grabs before Morrill" (pg151-156) Alyssa Mt. Pleasant and Stephen Kantrowitz.
• "Reckoning with the Original Sin of Land-Grant Universities: Remaining Land-Grant Fierce While Instisting on Contrition and Prepentance." (pg 157-161) Stephen M. Gavazzi.
• "The Future Is in the Past: How Land-Grab Universities Can Shape the Future of Higher Education." (pg 162-168) Theresa Stewart-Ambo.
• "The Future of Land-Grab Universities." (pg 169-175) Meredith McCoy, Roopika Risam and Jennifer Guiliano.
• "Looking Forward from Land-Grab Universities." (Pg 176-182) Tristan Ahtone and Robert Lee.
• The University of Chicago Library | Finding Guide to the Land Grants Collection circa 1870

Videos

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• Land-Grab Universities: Owning the Truth and Sharing the Path to Make Amends Webinar YouTube Video | Stephen M. Gavazzi. 
  • Keynote address by Trstan Ahtone and Robert Lee, Co-authors of the Land-Grab Universities Report with High Country News. Sponsored in conjunction with the Humanities Collaboratory. October 6, 2021.
• Land Grab Universities  YouTube Video | DUSP MIT
• September 30, 2021
• Taking a Hard Look: Is Cornell a Land-Grab University? YouTube Video | Cynthia Robinson
• April 29, 2021.
• Impact Investigations Series: Localizing the "Land Grab Universities" Story YouTube Video | Fund for Investigative Journalism
• February 4, 2021.
• Land Grab U: Land-Grant Universities and Indigenous Peoples YouTube Video| UCSB Interdisciplinary Humanities Center
• January 28, 2021.
• UC Land Grab: A Legacy of Profit from Indigenous Land September 25, 2020 | issi
• Part 1 YouTube Video
• Part 2 YouTube Video
• Talks @ Pulitzer: Indigenous Lands and the Land-Grant University System YouTube Video | Pultizer Center
• April 21, 2020.
• What is a land-grant university? | The Lantern Who Knew? Episode 2.

Ohio and The Ohio State University

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Stepping Out & Stepping Up: The Land-Grant Truth and Reconciliation Project

Principle Investigator: Stephen M. Gavazzi, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

Community Partner: Michael Roberts, First Nations Development Institute

Co-Investigators:

• Marti Chaatsmith, Newark Earthworks Center, [enrolled citizen of the Comanche Nation, and direct descendant of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma];
• Casey Hoy, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, Entomology, InFACT;
• John Low, Comparative Studies, Newark Earthworks Center, [enrolled citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians];
• Brian Snyder, Office of Academic Affairs

• Stepping Out of Our Comfort Zone & Stepping Up to Our Responsibilities
• "Dotting the "I" at The Ohio State University: In a Movement Toward Truth and Reconciliation, First Nations Partmers with Ohio State in Acknowledging Native Lands and People"
• First Nations Institute
• Grappling with the Land Grant Truth | Inspire Podcast
• Podcast Episode Transcript.
• "How We Address Access, Equity, and Inclusion with a Focus on Native Peoples." [external YouTube link]
  • Presentation and moderation of discussion at the Western Region Joint Summer Meeting (virtual). Phillips, J., and Gavazzi, S. M. (2021).
• "InFACT and Partners to Pursue Racial Justice with First Nations Tribes" | Initiative for Food and Agricultural Transformation (InFACT). December 2020.
• "Intervention: Indigenous Studies Reflections on The Land-Grab Universities Project" Native American and Indigenous Studies Journal. Vol 8, No 1, Spring 2021. | Project Muse [external link]
  • "Editors' Introduction: Reflections on the Land-Grab Universities Project." (pg. 89-91) K. Tsianina Lomawaima, Kelly Mcdonough, Jean M. O'Brien and Robert Warrior.
  • "Morrill Issues and Academic Liberalism" (pg 92-96) David R. Roediger.
  • "The Wealth of Knowledge: Land-Grab Universities in a British Imperial and Global Context." (pg 97-105) Caitlin P.A. Harvey.
  • " "Drawing a Line from their Institution": One Origin Story of Indigenous GIS Design." (pg 106-111) Mark Palmer.
  • " "Unrefutable Responsibility": Mapping the Seeds of Settler Futurity and Seeding the Maps of Indigenous Futurity." (pg 112-122) Marcel Brousseau.
  • "Stolen Lands and Stolen Opportunities." (pg 123-128) Randall Akee.
  • "Repaying a Debt? The Performance of Morrill Act University Beneficiaries as Measured by Native Enrollment and Graduation Rates." (pg 129-138) Donna Feir and Maggie E.C. Jones.
  • "Myths, Erasure, and Violence: The Immoral Triad of the Morrill Act." (pg 139-144) Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy and Amanda R. Tachine.
  • " "We Grow the Ivy": Cornell's Claim to Indigenous Dispossession." (pg 145-150) Judy Kertész and Angela A. Gonzales.
  • "Campuses, Colonialism, and Land Grabs before Morrill" (pg151-156) Alyssa Mt. Pleasant and Stephen Kantrowitz.
  • "Reckoning with the Original Sin of Land-Grant Universities: Remaining Land-Grant Fierce While Insisting on Contrition and Prepentance." (pg 157-161) Stephen M. Gavazzi.
  • "The Future Is in the Past: How Land-Grab Universities Can Shape the Future of Higher Education." (pg 162-168) Theresa Stewart-Ambo.
  • "The Future of Land-Grab Universities." (pg 169-175) Meredith McCoy, Roopika Risam and Jennifer Guiliano.
  • "Looking Forward from Land-Grab Universities." (Pg 176-182) Tristan Ahtone and Robert Lee.
• Land-Grab Universities: Owning the Truth and Sharing the Path to Making Amends Webinar | Humanities Collaboratory YouTube
• October 6, 2021 12 - 2 PM EST. 
• “Let Us Tell the Story of Our Land and Place: Tribal Leader Interviews Concerning the Seizure and Sale of Territories Benefiting Land-Grant Universities." [external link]
  • Williams, R. B., Gavazzi, S. M., Roberts, M. E., Snyder, B. W., Low, J. N., Hoy, C., Chaatsmith, M. L., and Charles, M. Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education. Volume  33, No. 4- Summer 2022.
• "Paying Old Debts"  [external link] Williams, R.B., Gavazzi, S. M., Roberts, M.E., Chaatsmith, M.L., Hoy, C., Low., J. N., and Snyder, B. W. Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education. Vol. 33, No. 2. 2021. 
• "Reckoning with the Original Sin of Land-Grant Universities: Remaining Land-Grant Fierce While Insisting on Contrition and Repentance." (pg. 157-161) Stephen M. Gavazzi.
• "Stepping Out and Stepping Up Project Aims to Recognize Land-Grant Universities as Indigenous-Owned Land" [external link]
  • Shree Luitel, The Lantern, Nov. 18, 2021.
• "Stepping Out & Stepping Up: Towards Truth & Reconciliation with Dispossessed Native American Tribes" Stephen M. Gavazzi and Brian Snyder. December 17, 2020.
• "Two Steps Land Grants Should Take to Fight Racial Injustice"
  • Steven M. Gavazzi, Inside Higher Education, May 7, 2021.
• "Update on Racial Justice Project: Toward Truth and Reconciliation with Dispossessed Native American Tribes"
  • May 20, 2021.
• "US Universities Ponder Massive Debt to Native Americans" [external link]
  • Paul Basken, The Higher Education Times, October 19, 2021.
• What is a land-grant university? Who Knew? a video series by The Lantern. [YouTube external link] April 1, 2022.

Newark Earthworks Center

• About Us
• Research
• Historic Ohio Nations
• Indigenous Land Acknowledgement

Ohio State Office of Diversity and Inclusion

• Beyond a Land Acknowledgement: Recognizing Shortcomings, Mobilizing Possibilities Panel February 3, 2021. YouTube.
• Michael Charles, Doctoral Candidate, Diné, Citizen of the Navajo Nation
• Shannon Gozales-Miller, PhD, Southern Ute- not enrolled
• Melissa Jacob, PhD, Citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians
• Timothy San Pedro, PhD
• Deondre Smiles, PhD, Leach Lake Band, Ojibwe
• Moderator: Jacquelyn C. A. Meshelemiah, BSSW, MSW, LSW, PhD, Associate Vice Provost for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion
• Applying for Seed Funds for Racial Justice: An Information Session. August 17, 2020. Youtube.

Office of Student Life | Center for Belonging and Social Change
Land Acknowledgement

Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center

• "A Brief History of OARDC."  R.E. Whitmoyer.
• History of The Ohio State University (PDF)

"Connecting The Ohio State University to Ohioans: History in Pictures" | OSU Extension

Ohio Memory | Ohio History Connection

• Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College Brochure, 1873.
• Ohio Interrogation Points
• Joseph W. Tannehill, 1917. Internet Archive and University of California Libraries.
• Specifically Pages 41 and 44.

"Democratizing American Higher Education: The Legacy of the Morrill Land Grant Act"

• David J Staley, Origins, The History Departments of The Ohio State University and Miami University. Vol 6, issue 4- January 2013.

Land-Grant Universities for the Future: Higher Education for the Public Good  

[OSU Login required, Project Muse]

• Stephen M. Gavazzi, E. Gordon Gee, C. Peter Magrath. John Hopkins Press. 2018.