When dozens of Native Americans gathered along the Maumee River in northwest Ohio in 1817 to sign a treaty brokered by territorial governor Lewis Cass, their signatures — simple “X” marks, as they were — set into motion the richest custom at the University of Michigan. By making a gift of land to the fledgling “University of Michigania” in Detroit, the Indians were the first benefactors, beginning a practice that stretches deeper into the institution’s past than the practice of teaching, the sharing of a library, or the granting of diplomas. For nearly two centuries, philanthropy has shaped the university with gifts of land, artwork, scientific specimens, books and cash.
— From “A Tradition Never Broken,” by Kim Clarke, presented at the University of Michigan Heritage Project website, celebrating U-M’s 2017 bicentennial.
