On Christmas Eve 1980, a fire ravaged the University of Michigan’s Economics Building. Nearly everything in the building was destroyed or damaged beyond repair, including thousands of books and manuscripts.
While the fire eradicated scores of priceless research, the university saw another loss as well: the building that was once the nation’s first chemical laboratory built for a university.
Shortly after Henry Tappan took office as U-M’s first president, he declared in a December 1855 report that there was a strong need “to erect a chemical laboratory for the analytical courses” on campus.
The Board of Regents approved the construction, and U-M became the first university in the country to build a chemical laboratory for students and faculty. While other universities at the time had similar laboratories on campus, U-M’s building was the first “designed, erected and equipped solely for instruction in chemistry.”
The one-story building cost $6,000 and included three rooms with 26 laboratory tables. It was officially named the Chemical Laboratory of the University of Michigan.
Silas H. Douglass, an assistant to a professor of chemistry, served as the construction superintendent. Douglass went on to become a leader in scientific education as he encouraged students in the laboratory to conduct their own experiments.
The years following the building’s construction saw a boom of interest in laboratory sciences. Students in dentistry, engineering, medicine and pharmacy had access to the building as well.
The Chemical Laboratory went through several expansions and renovations, and by 1868, the building had 135 laboratory tables.
Over the years, it became evident the building was ill-equipped to host serious experiments. The structure was not fireproof, and several fires caused damage throughout the years. Due to a lack of adequate ventilation, “dense and acrid fumes” often dimmed visibility in the close quarters.
Dental student Walter G. Dunham made headlines in 1895 when he caused an explosion in the laboratory while conducting qualitative analysis on chromium. Dunham was struck in the eye by a piece of glass but was otherwise unharmed.
The chemistry lab relocated to a new building in 1908, with the most recent of two expansions occurring in 1988.
Bricks from the building that survived the 1980 fire were crafted into a bench on the Diag that still sits by the northeastern corner of the Hatcher Graduate Library.
— Katie Kelton, The University Record
