Elsworth/Bowie: 80 Years of Cooperative Living in 2020!
The original Elsworth Cooperative, left, and the Annex, right. They were located on Albert Street, in what is now a parking garage with senior living above! One day during the winter term of 1940 three freshmen rooming in Wells Hall were doing some very simple cooking on a small hotplate in one of their rooms. Their names were James Lyons, Ralph Newton and Delmar Ruthig. As they were eating the hot snack they had prepared, Ruthig remarked that there ought to be some way for a number of congenial students to live together: not only to provide themselves with room and meals more economically, but also to enjoy the group fellowship during their student years at college…
--George Motts, MSU professor and Elsworth advisor
In the beginning… (by Jim Jones)
existed so far only in the strength of their own faith. That faith was justified. Shortly after school closed we learned that the house at 218 Albert Street could be bought at $8,700 on a land contract provided (1) a $1,000 down payment could be made by July 1… An emergency letter and urgent appeal to the 23 boys – all were under 21 – brought in a growing flow of hard earned dollars that reached a total of $1,075 just 24 hours before the July 1 deadline!
Elsworth (now called Bowie) has been one of the most important cooperatives in Michigan State’s history. Started in 1940, Elsworth was just the second independent housing co-op in East Lansing, following Hedrick in 1939. A group of eight students soon met with Dr. Orion Ulrey, the faculty advisor to Hedrick, and several other faculty members, and by the end of the spring term had organized themselves into a cooperative association. Motts continued his sto- Comes the war ry: The house was purchased, and just in time. Thus began a busy summer. The 23 On December 7 of the next year, Japan boys had left for their homes to earn money to help finance the house that attacked Pearl Harbor, and the world
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Wind Through the Pines
