March 27, 1871

The Arkansas legislature empowered the board of trustees to seek a location for the University of Arkansas after the General Assembly passed an act establishing an “Industrial University.” The U.S. Congress had passed the Morrill Land Grant Act in 1862, allowing 30,000 acres of public lands to be sold in each state to supply funds for a perpetual endowment. This fund would provide support for each state’s college of agriculture and the “mechanical arts,” or engineering. While the legislature of Union-occupied Arkansas accepted the terms of the Morrill Act in 1864, the Civil War and Reconstruction delayed further action for some time.