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Timeline [Ford School of Public Policy]

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Project Overview

Creator

Ford School

Format

Timeline

Publication year

2014

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Stay Connected to U-M History

#historyofum

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#TBT to this early view of Hill Auditorium!

Hill Auditorium was first dedicated on this day over 100 years ago! The ceremony was held on Alumni Day during U-M's commencement week in 1913, alongside alumni receptions, baseball games, and class reunions.

It began with a bugle call, and included a grand parade! 🎺 According to the Michigan Daily at the time, the Hill Auditorium dedication parade featured “faculty, regents, and distinguished guests” from “universities all over the globe,” followed by hundreds of alumni.

"On either side marched a guard of honor composed of 100 seniors, each carrying a Michigan flag,” the Michigan Daily reported. “Behind came graduating classes attired in caps and gowns and headed by a drum corps."

You can find more historical photos of Hill Auditorium in the archives at the Bentley with collections like the U-M Photograph Vertical Files and the Ivory Photo Collection, both featured here.

Anyone is welcome to visit and view photos like these in our reading room, and you can also explore historical photos of Ann Arbor with the digitized Ivory Photo Collection online!

#OTD #AnnArbor #HillAuditorium

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#OnThisDay in 1972, Title IX opened the door for women’s varsity sports at U-M! In honor of the landmark moment when Title IX was signed into law, here’s a look back at U-M women’s athletics in the 1970s.

This was a pivotal time for women’s sports at the University of Michigan. U-M women’s varsity teams for field hockey, volleyball, basketball, synchronized swimming, tennis, and swimming and diving all started in the 1973/74 academic year!

That decade would go on to see the start of women’s varsity teams for gymnastics, golf, softball, track, and cross country. More teams were added as the years went by, including sports such as soccer, rowing, water polo, and lacrosse.

You can learn more about how women’s sports at U-M have changed over time with the article “Equal Footing” by Katie Vloet on the Bentley’s website. This article features our amazing volunteer Alyce Sigler, who was a top U-M athlete when she was a student, and who now researches Title IX in the archives!

Are there any women’s sports at U-M whose history you’d like to know more about? Let us know!

#TitleIX #OTD #1970s #WomensAthletics

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In honor of Juneteenth, meet Henry Lincoln Johnson, one of the many U-M alumni impacted by the history of slavery.

Born in Georgia to parents who had been formerly enslaved, Johnson earned his Bachelor's degree from Atlanta University, then traveled to Michigan to study law in 1890. He arrived in Ann Arbor many years before the Law Quad ever existed.

The early Law building, where he attended classes, was located near the corner of the Diag between South State Street and North University Avenue. As one of few Black students at U-M at the time, his time here was likely a lonely experience. Despite this, he was a dedicated student, and was later well known for his skills as a persuasive public speaker.

After graduating in June of 1891, Johnson went on to become the first Black lawyer to practice in Jackson County, Georgia, and an influential politician.

He was appointed by President Taft as the Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia. However, when he was renominated as Recorder of Deeds in 1920, his nomination was defeated due to a vocal group of white politicians who resented his influence.

He went on to push back against discrimination in the court of law on behalf of many Black defendants who faced biased accusations.

Today marks the anniversary of the day enslaved African Americans finally gained freedom. On this day, we remember Henry Lincoln Johnson, and everyone harmed by the legacy of slavery.

#Juneteenth #BlackHistory #UMich #AlumniHistory #1890s

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The Power Center for the Performing Arts is a beloved Central Campus building that hosts all kinds of shows!

But did you know that the Power Center parking structure is also where the "Top of the Park" concert series started in Ann Arbor over 40 years ago?

Ann Arbor locals may remember walking up to the top of the parking structure next to the Power Center, and sitting in metal folding chairs to watch open-air screenings of movies and live music!

There, interrupted only by the occasional low-flying plane or scattered rain shower, they would watch Charlie Chaplin films and modern movies, enjoy things like jazz performances, and have what the 1985 Michigan Daily called "a pretty grand time."

In 2006 Top of the Park moved to the wide expanse of Ingalls Mall due to construction on the parking structure. The larger space proved useful for this growing celebration, and Top of the Park can still be found on Ingalls Mall this year. You might know it as the outdoor portion of the Ann Arbor Summerfest, or A2SF!

You can find this photo of the Power Center, and others like it, in the News and Information Photograph Collection at the Bentley Historical Library, which anyone is welcome to explore in our reading room.

You’re also welcome to re-create historical photos from the archives, among other fun activities, at the A2SF booth for U-M’s historic Frankel Detroit Observatory this afternoon, June 18, starting at 5:00 PM in the Annex near North University Avenue!

#AnnArbor #LocalHistory #TBT #PowerCenter #TopOfThePark #A2SF #AnnArborSummerfest

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Meet Charlotte Brivio! ⭐ Charlotte is fascinated by the history of women's advocacy for the right to vote. She has been exploring this amazing history in the archives as a research fellow at the Bentley!

As part of her PhD in American History at the Sorbonne Université, Charlotte is delving into the lives of women across the United States who tried to cast their votes around the 1870s, many years before women were finally granted the right to vote.

These women hoped to have their votes challenged, in order to be brought to court and argue for their right to vote, Charlotte explains. Her research reveals hundreds of women who tried to vote this way!

One of those women was Sojourner Truth, whose life Charlotte has explored in the Berenice Bryant Lowe papers here, full of newspaper clippings, letters, photos, and even a scrapbook.

Another was Nannette Gardner, a widow in Michigan who successfully voted in 1871, and whose papers contain things like a diary entry from her daughter, describing how her mother brought a bouquet and a banner to the polls.

Although this method of trying to win the vote for women is often seen as part of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton's overall strategy, Charlotte's research shows that it is actually also a grassroots strategy that was used independently by women across the country!

She notes that, after independent women tried to vote in this way, Stanton and Anthony would often arrive after the fact to try to claim that woman's vote as part of their movement, sometimes without even crediting their names. Charlotte is exploring how historical media depicted this strategy for women's right to vote in her dissertation!

Interested in learning more? Anyone is welcome to explore historical Michigan newspapers, the Nannette Gardner papers, and the Berenice Bryant Lowe papers in our reading room, which is free to visit and open to all.

#Archives #MichiganHistory #SuffrageMovement #ResearchFellow #SojournerTruth #NannetteGardner #1870s

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Happy Birthday to the Clements Library! 🥳

An iconic building on U-M’s Central Campus, the William L. Clements Library was dedicated on this day in 1923 as a home for rare books, papers, maps, and more from early American history.

William Clements was a U-M regent who worked closely with Detroit architect Albert Kahn, the designer of many beloved buildings around campus.

When Clements gave his personal collection of historical papers to the university, along with funding for a library to house them, Kahn was his obvious choice as architect. Albert Kahn would go on to say that he wanted most to be remembered for the Clements Library. 🏦

Today, it’s home to the papers of Thomas Gage and Henry Clinton, commanders-in-chief of the British forces in North America before and during the American Revolution, 30,000 maps and plans relating to the Americas, and more!

Click through to see the Clements under construction in 1922, and discover how it looks today. Celebrate the Clements' birthday with free ice cream from Washtenaw Dairy later today, June 15, from 4-6 p.m. on the front lawn! 🍦

The Clements is open for research weekdays 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. on Thursdays, and open for exhibit viewing between 12-4 p.m.

You can learn more about the history of the Clements Library with the archived Albert Kahn Associates records and William L. Clements Library records at the Bentley Historical Library, and you can find early photos of the Clements, like these, in the Bentley’s U-M Photograph Vertical File. The Bentley's reading room has open hours available Tuesday through Saturday, and anyone is welcome to visit.

#HappyBirthday #OnThisDay #ClementsLibrary #UMich #Dedication #CampusHistory

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The wild turkeys are back! We spotted them sunbathing in the library courtyard this morning. ☀️

We appreciate the wild turkeys' interest in Michigan history, but they aren't allowed inside the Historical Library, no matter how nicely they might ask.

We fear their tiny claws might poke through our historical documents. Also, they are wild birds.

You know who is welcome inside, however? Human beings like you! As long as you aren't three wild turkeys in a trench coat, you can visit our reading room, which is open to the public.

If you spot a wild turkey outside, please maintain a safe distance, as always! ❤️🦃

#Wildlife #AnnArbor #NorthCampus #WildTurkeys

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#TBT to U-M's first Medical School building!

Opened in 1850, and modeled after a Greek temple, this building was home to early medical classes at U-M. When it opened, there were just five professors in the Medical School!

This picture was taken in June of 1897, over 100 years ago. The sound of a hand-held bell marked the start of class each morning at the time, and you can actually spot U-M's bell ringer in this photo.

This building no longer exists, except in photos like this one! Today, you can find the Randall Physics Laboratory in the same spot where the old Medical School building once stood.

You can find more photos like this in the U-M Photograph Vertical Files at the Bentley, which anyone is welcome to view in our reading room!

#UMich #MedicalSchool #MichiganHistory #CampusHistory

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#OTD in 1919, Michigan officially ratified the 19th Amendment for women's right to vote. It was the third state in the entire country to do so!

Women in Michigan had been campaigning for voting rights for many years, giving speeches, raising visibility with parades like this one, and more.

This moment was a hard-won victory, and the 19th Amendment would go on to be officially added to the United States Constitution in 1920.

However, the suffrage movement itself was not equal; African Americans, Native Americans, and many other groups were often excluded, and faced voting restrictions white women didn't face. It took many years for all women to have the right to vote in the United States.

Anyone is welcome to check out collections like the Lucia Grimes papers and the Michigan Suffragist periodical in our reading room to learn more about the history of suffrage in Michigan!

#MichiganHistory #OnThisDay #SuffrageMovement #VotesForWomen #DidYouKnow #1910s

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Happy International Archives Day! Did you know that U-M's Bentley Historical Library is free to visit, and our reading room is open to the public?

Come visit us on U-M’s North Campus to see letters, scrapbooks, historical photos and more, from both University of Michigan and state of Michigan history!

There are thousands of collections for you to explore, brought right to your table from shelves just like these.

We're excited to share this history with you! 📖

#UMich #Archives #InternationalArchivesDay #EveryoneIsWelcomeHere

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Meet research fellow Efrîn Özyetis! As an artist and academic with a PhD in Architecture, Efrîn is fascinated by silences in the archives.

She’s particularly interested in the way things that don't get written, and don't get preserved, can reveal information. For example, while exploring the collection of architect Knud Lönberg-Holm at the Bentley, she discovered that the architect's wife, Ethel, may have been an uncredited partner in his modernist work.

Because women were often historically expected to contribute to their husbands' careers uncredited, it's unclear how much of Lönberg-Holm's work was actually done by Ethel, making her a kind of "ghost" in the archives.

Themes of invisible architecture and immigration deeply interest Efrîn, who experienced the complexities of immigration firsthand when moving to France. She enjoys digging into the historical papers of architects like Knud Lönberg-Holm, who moved to the United States in the 1920s and spent several years living in Michigan as a Danish American.

Efrîn’s research at the Bentley Historical Library expands on her dissertation, and focuses on invisible 'architects,' like Knud and Ethel Lönberg-Holm, whose names are not well known but whose influence was widely felt in modernist architecture.

In addition to her research, Efrîn was recently an Artist in Residence at Cité internationale des arts in Paris, France. Click through to see a multimedia art installation she created, interrogating the history of displacement in an art gallery in Paris.

She plans to use her research in the archives at the Bentley to write an article about the influence of invisible architects on architectural thought!

#Archives #Architecture #Modernist #MichiganHistory #ResearchFellow

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Have you ever wanted to see behind-the-scenes in U-M's archives? 👀

Join us for our next tour of the stacks to get an insider's view of the amazing historical materials here at the Bentley Historical Library, on June 10, 2026 at 5:30 PM!

The Bentley is home to thousands of collections featuring history from both U-M and the state of Michigan. Our shelves hold early yearbooks, old maps of Ann Arbor, family papers, historical photos of Michigan Stadium, and so much more.

Our monthly behind-the-scenes tours are free, and open to all. We’d love to see you there!

Details and registration for our June tour can be found at this URL: https://myumi.ch/39jME

The two students you can see here come from an image in the Richard Hill Jr. Photo Collection in the archives, a wonderful resource that includes historical photos of early African American students living in Ann Arbor.

Anyone can request this collection for viewing in our reading room!

#AnnArbor #UMich #BehindTheScenes #Tour #Archives #AnnArborEvents

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