History
“In every way, the Northwestern Michigan College is a people’s college. It was conceived in a regional desire for education and is being financed from the pockets of the poor and rich alike.”
TRAVERSE CITY RECORD-EAGLE, SEPTEMBER 17, 1951
These words were part of an “opening day” story about NMC in the local newspaper — and they describe the whole mission and spirit of the institution, then and now. NMC was established because the citizens of northwest Michigan wanted the benefits of higher education for their children and themselves.
Citizens’ commitment and involvement has distinguished NMC from the beginning. “It’s a can-do college,” one of our trustees has said. “Always has been.” From the college’s earliest home in borrowed facilities at the local airport, NMC moved in 1956 to a spacious 100-acre campus under the pines and today has facilities at four additional locations in the Grand Traverse area.
NMC has become a source of “education” in the largest sense, a source of meaningful new knowledge, skills and experiences. This is our mission, after all, to “provide lifelong learning opportunities to our communities.”
Three volumes of NMC history have been published (the links below are to PDF versions of the books):
- “Northwestern Michigan College: The First Twenty Years, 1951–1971,” by Preston N. Tanis, published in 1973 and reprinted in 1992
- "Northwestern Michigan College: The Second Twenty Years, 1971–1991,” by Al Shumsky, with Carole Marlatt, published in 1994
- "Under the Pines: The Third Twenty Years, 1992–2011,” published in 2013
Access the Archives
Browse the NMC Archives digital repository to access student publications like newspapers, magazines, and yearbooks:
Browse Collections
Specific requests for materials not available in the digital repository can be made using the 'Request Materials' form:
Request Materials
Submit to the Archives
Use the forms below to submit records for consideration for accession to the NMC Archives.
The first linked form is a fillable PDF intended to be submitted along with physical records. The second is a web form that allows current NMC employees to upload digital records for consideration.