Newhouse, 35 Other House Members Honor Legacy of Justin Smith Morrill

Representatives Dan Newhouse, Collin Peterson and 34 other members of the House of Representatives have brought forth a resolution looking to honor Justin Smith Morrill, the founder of the Land Grant University system by awarding him the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously.

In the resolution, Newhouse said, as a farmer and graduate of WSU, he’s grateful for Morril’s work and that, “Morrill is a man who has provided generations and millions of Americans – particularly those from working class families and rural communities – with access to higher education throughout the nation.”

Ron Mittelhammer, Dean of WSU’s CAHNRS program noted they are supportive of this resolution and that, “Morrill was an educational visionary whose work in Congress resulted in nothing less than a new educational order in the United States. Through legislation that he sponsored, ‘Land Grant’ Universities were ultimately created and supported in every state, and these institutions were charged with having broad scientific and practical reach, as well as explicit public purpose.”

Morrill served in Congress from 1855 to 1898.

You can read the full resolution here.

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