Proclamation 3426—Centennial of the Establishment of the National System of Land-Grant Universities and Colleges

Whereas July 2, 1962, marks the centennial of the first Morrill Act, approved by President Abraham Lincoln, granting public lands to States and territories in support of colleges to promote "liberal and practical education ... in the several pursuits and professions in life" ; and

Whereas the Act opened the doors of colleges and universities to all with the ability and will to learn, irrespective of heredity, occupation, or economic status; and

Whereas the land-grant institutions in the fifty States and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico carry research and teaching to the citizens of these States and the Commonwealth and to people of other nations, particularly the emerging nations, seeking solutions to economic, social, and physical ills, and enriching the cultural life of the people; and

Whereas the land-grant system of higher education is the Nation's largest single source of trained and educated manpower and now contributes more than one-half of the Nation's trained scientists and nearly one-half of all Regular and Reserve officers entering the armed forces through the military programs conducted at civilian institutions; and

Whereas these institutions have historically maintained and currently maintain close cooperative relationships with the United States Department of Agriculture, which marks the centennial of its establishment on May 15, 1962, and also maintain close working relationships with other departments and agencies of the Government, including the Departments of Defense, the Interior, Commerce, Labor, and Health, Education, and Welfare, the United States Information Agency, and the International Cooperation Administration; and

Whereas the Congress, by a joint resolution approved August 25, 1961, has requested the President to issue a proclamation recognizing the centennial of the establishment of the land-grant system of universities and colleges:

Now, Therefore, I, John F. Kennedy, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim that it is fitting and proper to commemorate the centennial of this historic Act of Congress; and I request that the agencies of the Government cooperate with the land-grant universities and colleges throughout the academic year 1961-1962 in recognizing the historical and present close cooperative relationship of such institutions with the departments and establishments of the Government.

I also request that such centennial be otherwise appropriately celebrated to the end that the occasion may serve to commemorate the unparalleled opportunities for higher education provided by these publicly supported institutions and their efforts through teaching, research, and service to improve the economic, social, and cultural lives of the people of this Nation and of other nations.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

DONE at the City of Washington this twenty-fifth day of August in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-sixth.

JOHN F. KENNEDY

By the President:

DEAN RUSK,

Secretary of State.