Oakland University grew from a 1,400-acre estate gift
Matilda and Alfred Wilson gave Michigan State their estate and $2 million in 1957; Oakland University opened to undergraduates two years later.
The chicken-coop story is true, but it belongs to the warm-up rather than Oakland University’s opening day. In fall 1958, continuing-education courses met in a building from the Meadow Brook poultry farm. The first classrooms picked up the nickname “Poultry Parlors.” The regular undergraduate program opened the next year in new campus buildings.
The larger story began on January 3, 1957. Matilda Dodge Wilson, the widow of auto pioneer John Dodge, and her second husband, Alfred Wilson, gave Michigan State University about 1,400 acres, the estate’s buildings, and $2 million to establish a college in Oakland County. The gift included future ownership of Meadow Brook Hall while the Wilsons retained the right to live there for the rest of their lives.
Oakland’s archives say the new school opened in 1959 with about 570 students, 24 faculty members, and two academic buildings. Its first name was Michigan State University-Oakland. It was designed as an autonomous institution sharing MSU’s president and governing board, not simply another department in East Lansing. The name changed to Oakland University in time for the first diplomas in 1963, and the state granted the university full autonomy in 1970.
The address can still confuse a local map search. Oakland uses a Rochester mailing address, but the main campus actually crosses the city line between Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills. The 1957 gift explains why the campus feels more like an estate than a city block. Meadow Brook Hall, now a public museum, is the clearest surviving piece of that beginning.
Where to see it
Oakland University's main campus spans Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills even though its mailing address says Rochester. Meadow Brook Hall is on campus and open for public tours.
Sources
Last reviewed against the listed sources: July 16, 2026.