Spanish was first taught at the University of Michigan in the spring of 1819 only eight years after the first students were admitted. This was only a short course, given by Professor Louis Fasquelle, and the subject was promptly dropped for another twenty years. When it was reintroduced in 1868, however, it was to remain regularly in the catalog, for the first three years as a senior elective and then for twelve years, through 1886-87, as a one-semester course given alternately with Italian. It became a two-semester course in 1884.
Elementary Spanish was the sole offering until, in 1893-94. Professor Edward I. Walter offered a one semester course on Calderon, in 1893-94. Professor Edward I. Walter offered a one semester course on Calderon, in 1895-96 a fourth semester in Don Quixote, was added, and in 1900 opportunities for a third year's work in Spanish was provided. Since the coming of the present senior professor, Dr. Charles P. Wagner, in 1904, the story has been one of constant improvement and expansion. The beginning course, for example, called for but one section in 1903, but required 5 in 1914, 12 in 1916, and15 in 1919, and by 1939-40 the Spanish division of the Romance Languages Department was offering 26 courses, given in 79 classes or sections, of which 18 were elementary, 27 intermediate or advanced, and 4 for graduates only. At the present time the Michigan student finds ample facilities not only for learning the language, but for practicing it in conversation and composition, studying Spanish and Spanish-American literature, and becoming familiar with the life of the Spanish-speaking countries. Less formal, but important, are the activities of La Sociedad Hispanica, the departmental club which sponsors a series of lectures and annually stages a Spanish play.
The story of Spanish at the University of Michigan reflects the constantly growing appreciation of Americans for the nearness of their Spanish-speaking neighbors in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America, and their desire for a better mutual understanding. It is not a matter of the last few years alone, but a record of growth that can be traced back for at least hall a century.
The Michigan Alumnus
February 6, 1943, Page 260
