calsfoundation@cals.org
January 24, 2011
The Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862 provided 30,000 acres of land to each state to be used for the establishment of a college of agriculture, the “mechanical arts,” or engineering. Few are aware that the act also mandated the teaching of “military tactics.” Arkansas Industrial University, now the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington County), fulfilled this requirement with the creation of a uniformed cadet corps. Shown here is early 1890s student and future president of the university, John C. Futrall, outfitted in his cadet uniform.