University of Michigan Law Quad's corbels tell a story

Cook died in 1930, three years before the project was completed. The Cook Law Quadrangle, as it is officially known, is made up of Hutchins Hall, the John P. Cook dormitory, the Lawyers Club dormitory, and the Legal Research Building.

Two major additions are being made to the law school right now: A new academic building, across from the Law Quad on Monroe Street, and a two-level student center, the Robert B. Aiken Commons, which is designed as the new "heart" of the law school. Both facilities are scheduled to open in January 2012.

Among the more curious of the Law Quad's features are its corbels - better known as gargoyles, or atlas figures - manning the three entrances to the quad along South University Avenue.

In 1993, Ilene Forsyth's "The Uses of Art: Medieval architecture in the Michigan Law Quadrangle" explained the origins of the corbels. Fortunately for non-architecture lovers who are nonetheless curious, a page on the law school's Web site, based on Forsyth's research, reveals what the Law Quad's architects had in mind when designing each of the 22 corbels.

Corbels off the central passage were designed in homage to several University of Michigan presidents credited with making the university great, such as James Burrill Angell, Marion Leroy Burton and Erastus O. Haven. President Harry Burns Hutchins, meanwhile, is represented in corbel form and his name lives on through the law school's main academic building, Hutchins Hall. Hutchins's corbel is also the face of the law school's construction project.

No women, no regents and no professors are represented on the corbels.

The west passage, nearest to the corner of South University and South State Street, offers a spare collection of four corbels, all themed to represent academic pursuits at the university, from astronomy to business to medicine to military science.

It's been decades since the university has taken an active role in preparing its students for military service. Outside of the ROTC program - which is all but mandatory for universities using federal funds - the opportunities for military training are more or less non-existent at the university.

That wasn't always the case, particularly when the Law Quad was built, between "the war to end all wars" and the only war in history that was more destructive - World War II.

During World War II, campus life was turned topsy-turvy as all physically-able men were required to take 4.5 hours a week of "physical hardening" courses, and cannon blasts marked the start and end of each day.

The Law Quad's east passage, off the corner of Tappan and South University, features corbels embodying some of the great pastimes of the university, from learning (the architect, the engineer, and of course the jurist) to athletics (the football player in fall, the hockey player in winter).

Other corbels in the east passage honor each of the four seasons.

Next time you're taking a walk in the Law Quad, take a closer look at the corbels. They tell a pretty interesting story about how the University of Michigan saw itself in the early 20th century.

James David Dickson can be reached at JamesDickson@AnnArbor.com