Michigan Cooperative House

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Michigan Cooperative House, founded in 1932 as Michigan Socialist House, is believed to be the oldest independent housing cooperative in North America. It was located at 335 E. Ann Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan, near the University of Michigan campus, and now is located at 315 N. State Street. It is one of the co-op houses making up the Inter-Cooperative Council.

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[edit] History

Michigan Socialist House was founded in 1932 by a group of students in the University of Michigan Socialist Club as an experiment in putting socialist values into practice and a way to defray the costs of living for students during the Great Depression. Throughout the 1930s, the members of Michigan House managed to provide themselves with full room and board for only two dollars a week, making headlines. In 1939, the members of the house voted to change the name to Michigan Cooperative House, though many people still refer to it by its original name.

Today, Michigan Cooperative House continues to provide housing, food and community living for students and non-students in Ann Arbor.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  • Mericle, Amy, Suzanne Wilson, and James Jones. In Our Own Hands: A History of Student Housing Cooperatives at the University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-Cooperative Council, 1994. ISBN 0-9639935-1-8