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The sites featured here provide various approaches to understanding U-M’s history, from feature stories to comprehensive archival collections.

Bentley Historical Library

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Meet your archivists (and their cats! 🐈)

We’re excited to share some fun facts about some of the amazing archivists and librarians who work at U-M, along with their beloved feline friends!

Discover the answers to questions like:

🥋 Which Special Collections archivist has a Black Belt in Taekwondo?

🕓 Which cat wants to eat dinner at 4 AM?

🏈 Which Bentley Historical Library archivist has seen 25 varsity sports live?

💕 Which cat likes to snuggle?

⚽ Which Clements Library cataloger played soccer in high school?

📖 Which cat likes hiding in bookshelves and pretending to be a book?

Click through to see the answers! ❤️🐾 And feel free to share fun facts about your cat, too!

Happy National Cat Day 🤝 Happy American Archives Month!

#Archivists #Cats #NationalCatDay #AmericanArchivesMonth #Cute #CatsAreSoGood

Meet Marc Tsuno! ⭐

“I love working in archives, because not only am I handling unique historical material, but also I can play an active role in making these amazing materials accessible!” Marc says.

Marc is currently helping process a large collection, including audio and video recordings from U-M’s history! 🎥

“Many of these materials have preservation concerns,” Marc points out, “So it's important that we process this collection to make sure it's available to researchers and the public well into the future.”

A new student assistant at the Bentley, Marc has a BA in History, with a minor in Museum Studies, and he is currently working towards his MSI in Library Science at U-M.

In the future, Marc hopes to continue working in archives, helping library patrons find what they need for their research.

He also hopes to continue his work preserving historic videos and audio recordings so that everyone can enjoy them!

Welcome to the Bentley, Marc! 🎉

Click through to learn more about the collection Marc is working on in the archives. 📖

#BentleyHistoricalLibrary #Archives #UMich #OldVideos #Preservation #Welcome #OurStudentsAreAwesome

On this day in 1927, Michigan Stadium was officially dedicated with a football game against Ohio State! 🏈

Here are five fun facts you might not know about Michigan Stadium’s dedication game:

🪵 Extra wooden bleachers were added around the top of the stadium to create seating for the large crowd!

🌼 The captains of both teams were presented with massive bouquets of flowers during the opening ceremonies!

🎵 Songs played during the dedication included the “Star Spangled Banner” and “The Yellow and Blue!”

✈️ Local planes “made of nuisance of themselves” by flying overhead, according to the Detroit Free Press!

(Footage from one of these planes even survives in the archives, showing remarkable aerial views of the stadium.)

🎺 The Michigan and Ohio State bands both performed, forming the initials of their teams on the field!

“As a football spectacle,” the Michigan Alumnus magazine wrote about U-M’s 21-0 victory, “It wholly surpassed anything in Michigan history.”

The crowd's size was described as "nearly triple" the population of Ann Arbor at the time!

Click through to see a panoramic photo of the dedication game, from over 90 years ago! ⭐

📸: Photo from the University of Michigan Photographs Vertical Files

#OTD #MichiganStadium #Umich #FootballHistory #GoBlue #Wolverines #Dedication #1920s

Find U-M’s historical libraries on campus! 🔎

Here are three historical libraries at U-M, and how you can visit them:

⭐ The William L. Clements Library is located snuggly between Shapiro, Hatcher, and the President’s house!

At the Clements Library, you can see historical resources about the Americas, especially 18th and 19th century American history.

You are welcome to make an appointment to visit the reading room on Central Campus, or you can visit to see the rotating reading room exhibit any weekday from 12-4pm!

⭐ The Bentley Historical Library is located on North Campus!

At the Bentley, you can see all kinds of U-M and state of Michigan history, including old yearbooks, football photos, and more.

You are welcome to drop in during the Bentley’s open hours, Monday through Friday, 10 AM to 4 PM! No appointment is required.

⭐ The Special Collections Research Center is located on the 6th floor (Room 660) of Hatcher Library!

At the Special Collections Research Center, you can see important collections of unique, rare, primary source, and other materials.

You are welcome to visit the Special Collections Research Center on the 6th floor of the Hatcher Library, by appointment, Wednesday through Friday.

Classes and visitors are welcome in Special Collections presentation and exhibit spaces throughout the work week!

Have fun exploring the many historical libraries at U-M! 📖

#UMich #Libraries #Archives #VisitTheLibrary #KnowYourResources #HereToHelp #SupportYourLocalLibrary #AmericanArchivesMonth

How people assume you use U-M’s historical libraries, vs. how you actually use them! ⭐

One of the most common assumptions people make about the archives is that everything is locked away in an ivory tower that only very serious researchers can visit.

In fact, anyone is welcome to visit the Clements Library, the Bentley Historical Library, or the Special Collections Research Center at U-M!

No University of Michigan affiliation is required. We’re here to help you! 📖💙

Click through to learn more about what people assume about historical libraries, vs. the reality!

#AmericanArchivesMonth #Mythbusting #Archives #UMich #HistoricalLibraries #SupportYourLocalLibrary #WeAreHereToHelp #HappyResearching!

In 1920s Ann Arbor, you could watch football in Hill Auditorium! 🏈

Years before they could gather in the living room to watch games on TV, Michigan fans would visit Hill Auditorium to watch away games on a machine called a “grid-graph!”

The grid-graph, seen here, was a glass board, covered in carefully labeled lights. 💡

Those lights helped fans track who had the ball, what the score was, whether there had been a touchdown, and even where the football was on the field!

The Michigan Daily described it as “a miniature electric football gridiron.”

Purchased in 1922, and initially used by the Alumni Association to help students watch football games that were happening far away, the grid-graph grew so popular that it started being used in Hill Auditorium for away games!

"Cheerleaders will lead the crowd, and it is expected that a true football atmosphere will prevail, as it did last fall,” the 1923 Michigan Daily announced.

When they weren’t accompanying the football team, the U-M band would also come play songs in Hill Auditorium during these games, filling the space with music! 🎵

Are you planning on watching the Michigan game this weekend?

📸: Images from the Athletic Department records, and the U-M Vertical Photograph Files

#UMich #TBT #FootballHistory #GoBlue #Wolverines #Athletics #AnnArbor #HillAuditorium

Meet Carole Chee, our new Reference Assistant! ⭐

“I'm a recent graduate of Hope College, where I double majored in English Literature and Women's & Gender Studies," Carole says.

"I'm passionate about the power of stories to foster empathy, curiosity, and community!”

Now, Carole assists with archival research at the Bentley!

Here are just a few of the things she does in the archives:

🖥️ Answering online reference questions from around the world!

📨 Sending out interlibrary loans of historic microfilm!

📖 Helping patrons access archival books, papers, photos, and more!

“For first-time visitors, my advice is to be unafraid of asking questions!” Carole says.

“We really are here to help. These files and stories are here for you to delve into and fall in love with.”

Welcome to the Bentley, Carole! 🎉

📸: Carole on a visit to the Colosseum, earlier this year, showcasing her interest in history

#Archives #Welcome #ArchivesWork #NewHire #ReferenceAssistant #OurStaffAreAwesome

We’re excited to share six newly processed historic collections from U-M libraries! 📖

Our archivists are always working behind the scenes to make sure everyone can explore historic papers and photos like these!

From the William L. Clements Library:

✏️ A sketchbook from William H. Whiton of Tennessee, with drawings of his life, business, and politics, from over 160 years ago!

🚢 A sketchbook from Worden G. Wood, who served in the US Navy during the Spanish-American War in 1898, including sketches of ships.

From the Bentley Historical Library:

🎨 The Jon Lockard papers, from a Michigan artist & professor who helped advise on the creation of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial!

🍎 The papers of teacher and World War II veteran W. Scott Westerman, including clippings about his work for equal rights in Ann Arbor schools.

From the Special Collections Research Center:

🖋️ The Victor Perera Papers, documenting the life and work of Victor Perera, Sephardic-American writer, journalist, and political activist, born in Guatemala in 1934.

📚 The Eleanor Leacock Papers, created by a prominent Marxist and feminist anthropologist, full of details about feminist theory, and the history of racism in American education in the 1940s-1980s.

October is American Archives Month, so it’s a great time to go visit U-M’s many libraries and archives, to learn about history!

How many libraries have you visited at U-M? 📖💙

#NewCollections #UMich #Archives #Libraries #SupportYourLocalLibrary #ClementsLibrary #SpecialCollections #BentleyHistoricalLibrary #AmericanArchivesMonth

⭐ Here are a few finds from the archives that really surprise people:

🌼 A historic valentine with pop-up paper flowers that seem to bloom when you open the card!

🐥 Parrot feathers labeled with the parrots’ names, in an old scrapbook!

🎸 Large group photos of U-M's early “Mandolin Club!" (It was surprisingly popular!)

Test your archives knowledge! Click through to see a quick quiz about what else you can find at the Bentley Historical Library.

What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever seen in the archives?

#Archives #AmericanArchivesMonth #BentleyHistoricalLibrary #MichiganHistory #TestYourKnowledge #PopQuiz

🕑 Views of Ann Arbor’s Main Street from over 100 years ago!

Here are just a few of the things you could have seen on Ann Arbor’s Main Street, in its early history:

🐴 Horse-drawn carts carrying groceries to a local store

⚡ Electric streetcars, running on wires and rails

🧱 A dirt road that was paved over with bricks

📰 The “Ann Arbor Argus” building, home of an early local newspaper

🎀 Striped awnings and beautifully-draped curtains

Do you spot any buildings you recognize?

If you want to see more photos like these, check out the Sam Sturgis photo collection, and the Postcard collection!

📸: Photos sourced from the Sam Sturgis photo collection, and the Postcard collection

#AnnArbor #AnnArborHistory #LocalHistory #ElectricStreetcar #BrickRoad #FlashbackFriday

⭐ Archival myth-busting, in honor of American Archives Month!

Did you know that the archives are more than just papers and books? 📖

The Bentley's archives also contain digitized newspapers, thousands of scanned photos, and more! 🖥️

Click through to see some more archival myth-busting, and let us know if you have any other questions about the archives!

Happy American Archives Month! 🎉

#AmericanArchivesMonth #Archives #Mythbusting #BentleyHistoricalLibrary #MichiganHistory #SupportYourLocalLibrary

Do you know the origins of the Little Brown Jug? 🏈

This rivalry trophy between Michigan and Minnesota has a long history, stretching all the way back to 1903! 🕑

That year, during an exciting game that ended in a 6 to 6 tie, the Michigan Wolverines ended up leaving behind a five-gallon pottery jug.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers claimed this jug, and painted it with the words: “Michigan jug, captured by Oscar, October 31, 1903.”

(Oscar Munson was the Gophers' equipment manager at the time!)

They also painted the game's score on the jug, with Minnesota's "6" much larger than Michigan's.

U-M did not notice the jug was missing until years later, when the captain of the Golden Gophers proposed it as a trophy for the winners of their 1909 football game!

And thus, one of the oldest rivalry trophies of Michigan’s football history was born. 🏆

Congratulations to the Wolverines for taking home the Little Brown Jug once more! 🎉

What’s your favorite football rivalry from Michigan's long history?

📸: Images sourced from the Henry Hatch photos, Athletic Department records, and the News & Information photos

#LittleBrownJug #Wolverines #UMich #FootballHistory #RivalryTrophy #FootballRivalry #GoBlue

When you think of fall in Ann Arbor, what do you imagine? 🍁 Beautiful leaves, football games, and crisp autumn air?

Well, if you were a graduate in U-M’s early history, you might also think about banquets, dances, the glow of the old General Library’s clockface at night, or fireworks sparkling in the sky above Ann Arbor’s train depot!

Lots of wonderful fall memories from Ann Arbor history are preserved in the Alumnae Surveys in the archives, including responses from many of the first women who ever attended U-M.

Click through to read about some of those alumni’s fondest fall memories of Ann Arbor. 😊🍂

What are your favorite things to do in Ann Arbor in the fall?

#AnnArbor #UMich #Fall #Autumn #Memories #Alumni #StudentLife

POV you’re a fall leaf! 🍂🍁

Over 30 years ago, these playful photos were snapped of a U-M worker mowing the lawn on the Diag—from the perspective of the fall leaves on the ground!

Photos like these help show how people have tended to U-M’s landscape across the years, and how that work has changed over time, from using horse-drawn carts, to lawnmowers like this, and beyond.

Shoutout to all the Grounds workers working so hard to keep U-M’s landscape healthy by tending to the trees, gardens, and more! 🌳

If you want to learn more about how U-M's landscape has been cared for in the past, check out:

📸 The News and Information photos, which include pictures like these!

🐴 The Buildings and Grounds records, which go back as far as 1913 and include records of buildings, gardens, and even photos of the horses that once helped pull U-M carts!

Happy fall! 🍂😊

#UMich #Fall #Campus #Landscaping #FallLeaves #UMHistory

We had such a great visit from the student docents from the historic Detroit Observatory today! ✨

These students explored all kinds of papers created by historical astronomers, guided by the observatory’s assistant director, including:

📖 A tiny little travel book, with notes written in cursive!

⭐ A beautiful chart of constellations, called a “planisphere!”

🎂 A notebook that carefully tracked the teatime snacks of U-M’s early astronomers!

🔭 A blueprint for a large historical telescope!

It was wonderful to see these students explore the Detroit Observatory’s long history!

#DetroitObservatory #Archives #StudentDocents #Astronomy #AstronomyHistory

As a 1920s student at U-M, Judith Jiménez got to see both Michigan Stadium and the Michigan League being built! 🔧

Judith was very involved in campus life! She joined several campus clubs, including the Sociedad Hispanica, and the Cercle Francis.

Despite her busy schedule of classes and clubs, however, sometimes she got homesick; she missed the dances that were held in Puerto Rico, where she grew up.

“Perhaps you have heard of Mardi Gras?” Judith asked the Michigan Daily, during an interview in 1928.

She went on to describe her memories of the Carnaval de Ponce, a celebration similar to Mardi Gras, full of “fancy costumes, color, and excitement.” ✨

Still, U-M was a school where she had family; several of her cousins attended, and her father actually worked as a doctor for the University Health Service! 🩺

After graduating with a BA, MA and a doctorate, Judith worked for the campus Health Service alongside her father, helping others! 💙

You can find out more about what life was like for Latine students at U-M using the Michigan Daily Digital Archives, the yearbooks, and the U-M Vertical Files.

You can also see the photo collection of Judith’s father, Buenaventura Jiménez, in the Bentley’s Reading Room!

📸: Photos sourced from the U-M Vertical Files, Department for the Phys. Education of Women papers, Ivory Photographs, and yearbooks

#LatineHeritageMonth #StudentLife #UMich #Alumni #UniversityHistory

Here are some unexpected things movie “Unfrosted” got right about Michigan history, according to the archives!

(We probably don’t have to tell you that the mutant creature in this film, created by combining sea monkeys with pastry dough, was not real! 😂)

Click through the slides to learn more, and let us know if you have any questions about Michigan history as portrayed in other films, in the comments!

You can find more details about the history of the Post vs. Kellogg’s historic cereal rivalry in the Bentley’s archives, in the Post Family papers, and the John Harvey Kellogg papers!

#Unfrosted #FactChecking #Archives #MichiganHistory #BattleCreek #MarjorieMerriweatherPost #JohnHarveyKellogg

#TBT to this 1957 Homecoming display titled “Michigan Tilts Northwestern!”

Featuring a Northwestern knight made of silver paper, jousting against Michigan-themed windmills, it was based on a scene from Don Quixote! 🏇

In the background, you can see a tissue paper crowd, cheering in a hand-painted version of Michigan Stadium.

This is just one of the many Homecoming displays students created over the years, with themes ranging from phoenixes, to dragons, to bowls of cereal! 🥣

Click through to see another 1957 display, showing a scene from Gulliver’s Travels, reimagined with papier-mâché wildcats and a giant football player.

Homecoming is coming up this weekend! 🏈 What was your first U-M Homecoming Game?

📸: Images from the archived News & Information photo collection

#UMich #Wolverines #Homecoming #1950s #HomecomingDisplay

In honor of James Earl Jones, here is a look back at his legacy at Michigan:

James Earl Jones won a scholarship to U-M, and actually began his studies as a pre-med student.

(He later ended up switching to focusing on drama, which he truly enjoyed.)

Jones joined the ROTC while on campus, then spent two years in the army before coming back to finish his education, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1955.

As his success as an actor grew, James Earl Jones visited U-M for events like the opening of the Power Center, as seen in this photo.

He told the Michigan Daily that he felt like U-M gave him a sense of “the scope of humanity.”

He also made time to talk with students, sharing happy memories of fall days on the Diag, and living in West Quad.

Students were so fond of him that they even petitioned for him to be the voice of CRISP, U-M’s old Class Registration telephone system, in 1971. (This petition did not succeed, to their dismay.)

James Earl Jones gave back in many ways to the Michigan community, sharing his time, his voice, his talents, and even co-chairing the William and Claribel Halstead scholarship endowment, helping others access education.

You can learn more about James Earl Jones’ remarkable life and legacy through the Michigan Daily Digital Archives, the Michigan Alumnus magazine, the Claribel Halstead papers, the Raymond Mullins papers, and the Eva Jessye papers.

#JamesEarlJones #StudentLife #MichiganIcon #Wolverine #RestInPeace

Happy Upper Peninsula Day! 🎉

Did you know that the Bentley’s archives include some fascinating history from the U.P.?

Here are four collections featuring Upper Peninsula history, that everyone is welcome to explore:

🌉 The Prentiss Brown papers: Prentiss Brown was a senator from St. Ignace, and the iconic Mackinac Bridge wouldn’t exist without his work!

His papers include speeches, scrapbooks, letters, and more.

📖 The Miners’ Bulletin: These papers mark a crucial point in Michigan's past, describing the astonishing history of the copper strikes of 1913.

🚢 The Lizzie Puro papers: You can explore some early U.P. history with these writings from Lizzie Puro, a Finnish immigrant who arrived in Ironwood over 100 years ago!

🌲 The ⁨⁨Jean Worth papers: Get the details on the history of forestry and farming in the U.P. with these papers and photos, from a newspaperman in Escanaba, spanning the 1860s-1980s.

There’s even more to explore in the archives!

Everyone is welcome at the Bentley, so if you’d like to see these collections, and others like them, you can drop into our Reading Room during our open hours!

Click through to take a brief tour of U.P. history, with pictures from the archives.

We’re curious: what’s your favorite place in the U.P.?

Sources: R. McClelland Brown papers, the historic Postcard Collection, Prentiss Brown papers, Expedition to Lake Superior photograph collection, and the Marquette photograph vertical file

#UpperPeninsula #MichiganHistory #NorthernMichigan #Michigander #UpperPeninsulaDay #906Day #UpperPeninsulaHistory

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