A photo of the Alpha Phi Alpha banquet in April 1910. — Alpha Phi Alpha Banquet, April 1910 (Richard Hill scrapbook, BL025480)

Keep Exploring U-M History

Take your investigation further by using these additional resources.

Explore This Page:

Campus Libraries and Collections
Student Publications
Articles
Events

A photo of Hazel Losh teaching an astronomy class around 1950. — Hazel Losh teaching astronomy class, ca. 1950 (Hazel Losh papers, HS4350)

There’s More to Discover About the University’s History

The projects and publications collected for searching and browsing on this website offer many ways to learn about U-M’s past, but additional resources exist.

Use The University of Michigan Encyclopedic Survey as a reference, or visit libraries on the Ann Arbor, Flint, and Dearborn campuses that contain vast historical collections covering all aspects of U-M’s history. Check out digital archives of student publications, and explore the articles on U-M’s history that appear regularly in a range of campus publications.

These materials are ready and waiting to be investigated by faculty, students, and staff at U-M and by the broader public.

And if you’re looking to engage further with others researching the university’s past, join a live or virtual event, which are always open to the public.

A photo of University Hall, circa 1890 — University Hall, ca. 1890 (University of Michigan Photographs Vertical File, BL004528)

The University of Michigan Encyclopedic Survey

This comprehensive source provides a good starting point and reference for many questions about U-M’s history.

It provides histories of departments, units, programs, prizes, organizations, and administrations from 1817 to 2017. Although most of the entries are focused on the Ann Arbor campus, it includes histories of UM-Flint and UM-Dearborn as well. The Encyclopedic Survey was first published in 1941 and then updated in 1975. The bicentennial edition, launched in 2017, is a searchable digital edition. In addition to combining access to earlier editions, it includes citations and references to facilitate additional research on a particular topic or theme.

Explore the Encyclopedic Survey

A photo of the University Library’s Fine Arts Galleries in the late 19th century. — University Library, view of Fine Arts Galleries, late 19th century (Museum of Art (U-M) records, HS565)

Campus Libraries and Collections

Campus libraries and archives have a wealth of materials about the University of Michigan’s history.

Interested in doing your own investigation of U-M’s past? Get started on identifying resources and materials to begin your research with the collections listed below!

Bentley Historical Library

1150 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

The Bentley Historical Library is home to the University of Michigan’s archives. These thousands of collections date back to 1817 and reflect all of the university’s presidential administrations as well as the work of U-M schools and colleges. The archives document student movements and organizations, performances, athletics, campus residences, cultural events, and the built environment. Researchers will also find evidence of the university’s relationships with the cities of Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint, as well as the State of Michigan and communities around the world.

Visit the Bentley Historical Library

University of Michigan Library

913 South University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Consistently ranked as one of the top academic research libraries in North America, the University of Michigan Library makes available an extraordinary array of resources and services. The library has physical locations throughout campus and offers a wealth of resources in traditional as well as digital formats, encompassing more than 8.5 million print volumes and one of the finest digital collections in the world.

Visit the University of Michigan Library

UM-Dearborn Campus Archive

4901 Evergreen Road, Dearborn, MI 48128

Since 1980, the UM-Dearborn Campus Archive has offered access to publications, photos, and records that document the history of the campus. Records date back to the opening of the campus in 1959, with the bulk of the records spanning the 1970s to the early 2000s. Collections primarily focus on core offices and units on campus, including the Office of the Chancellor; Office of the Provost; Student Government; College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters; and Office of External Relations. Housed inside the Mardigian Library, the archive offers research visits by appointment as well as remote research support.

Visit the UM-Dearborn Campus Archive

Mardigian Library

4901 Evergreen Road, Dearborn, MI 48128

The Mardigian Library has been a campus hub for academic success, knowledge creation, and collaboration for Dearborn students, faculty, and staff since it opened in 1980. The librarians in the Library Resource Center (LRC) are happy to provide individualized and subject-specialized research support in-person or remotely. The library also provides access to millions of resources, including journals, databases, e-books, loanable tech, and print resources that are available on and off-campus.

Visit the Mardigian Library

A photo of the Frances Willson Thompson Library.

Genesee Historical Collections Center

303 East Kearsley Avenue, 227 Frances Willson Thompson Library, Flint, MI 48503

The Genesee Historical Collections Center opened in 1974 to house the official history and primary source documents of the various units at the University of Michigan-Flint. The records begin with the planning and founding of the Flint campus in the mid-1950s and continue with administrative records, student life materials, and papers from individual offices and colleges. It is located on the second floor of the Frances Willson Thompson Library in downtown Flint, Michigan.

Visit the Genesee Historical Collections Center

Frances Willson Thompson Library

303 East Kearsley Avenue, Flint, MI 48503

The Frances Willson Thompson Library is at the heart of the University of Michigan-Flint campus. Known as an inclusive gathering space on campus, the library is noted for its comprehensive collections in a variety of formats, its wide array of academic support services, and its caring and knowledgeable people. Students especially appreciate the interactive anatomy models, quiet study areas, and group study rooms, as well as access to the Marian E. Wright Writing Center. The Thompson Library strives to be a place of community for the campus with frequent events, displays and artwork, and a seed library designed to engage students in urban gardening and sustainability efforts.

Visit the Frances Willson Thompson Library

A photo of the 1936 Michiganensian staff. — 1936 Michiganensian staff (Alumni Association (U-M) records, BL003001)

Student Publications

Student publications on the Flint, Dearborn, and Ann Arbor campuses provide an excellent resource for learning more about both everyday life on campus and major events through the voices and perspectives of students.

The Michiganensian, Ann Arbor’s student-run yearbook, and past issues of the Michigan Daily, Ann Arbor’s student newspaper, are available in the digital archives linked below. The Inclusive History Project is currently supporting projects to digitize student publications at the Flint and Dearborn campuses, working with the Genesee Historical Collections Center to digitize UM-Flint’s the Michigan Times (1972-2024) and the Mardigian Library to digitize UM-Dearborn’s Michigan Journal (1972-present), as well as other student-led publications at UM-Dearborn. Digitization is ongoing, and these new digital archives will be launching soon.

A photo of the first issue of The Michigan Daily. — First issue of the Michigan Daily, 1890

The Michigan Daily Digital Archives

The Michigan Daily Digital Archives is a searchable archive of the Michigan Daily, the Ann Arbor campus’s student newspaper, featuring issues from 1890 to 2023. The Daily provides a record of student life at the university in Ann Arbor as well as of events in the city and the state. It is a valuable primary source for learning about everyday life on the campus, major events, and more. This resource is hosted by the Bentley Historical Library.

Explore the Daily

A photo of the cover of the 1911 Michiganensian. — Cover of Michiganensian, 1911

The Michiganensian

The Michiganensian is the annual yearbook published by the senior class of the Ann Arbor campus, beginning in 1897. Each volume contains a wealth of photographs of students, student organizations, faculty, and campus life as well as poetry, stories, and other writings about the university. Every volume has been digitized and is available through HathiTrust.

Explore the Michiganensian

Selected Sources for
Historical Articles

The following projects and publications regularly feature stories exploring aspects of university history.

A photo of the 1890 University of Michigan football team.

The Heritage Project

The Heritage Project is an immersive, digital experience of the University of Michigan’s past. It is a collection of stories about people who have shaped, and been shaped by, one of the world’s great public universities, and the site also includes an interactive timeline of the university’s history.

Explore the Heritage Project

A grayscale photograph from the 1930s of the front of Angell Hall, Ann Arbor campus

Collections Magazine

Twice each year, the Bentley Historical Library produces Collections, a 24-page magazine dedicated to showcasing the very best of the Bentley. The magazine includes historical features drawn from the Bentley’s archives.

Explore Collections Magazine

Robert Kennedy reaches into a crowd while campaigning in Detroit

LSA Magazine

LSA Magazine is the alumni magazine of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) at the University of Michigan. Most editions contain at least one story related to the college’s history.

Explore LSA Magazine

Michigan Alumnus & Michigan Alum

The university’s alumni magazine from 1894 to 2008, Michigan Alumnus, often focused on the history of the university. Issues have been digitized and are available through HathiTrust through the link below.

The magazine, now titled Michigan Alum, continues to discuss the university’s history in feature stories, alumni features, and a column titled “History Lessons.” Their website includes a searchable digital database from 2014 to the present, and requires an Alumni Association member log in.

Explore Michigan Alumnus

Michigan Today

Michigan Today is the monthly online publication for University of Michigan alums. The website includes an extensive range of articles about the history of the university under the heading of “Heritage/Tradition.”

Explore Michigan Today

University Record

The University Record is the university’s official news publication for faculty, staff, and retirees. In addition to reporting on university events, the Record has long included regular features on U-M history. Series of these articles include “It Happened at Michigan,” “This Week in U-M History,” and “Old School.”

Explore the University Record

Events on U-M’s History

Learn more and join the conversation about U-M’s past at live and virtual events featuring some of the leading experts on the university’s history.

A photo of the Center for the Education of Women scholarship winners in 1971.

Inclusive History Project

Inclusive History Project events provide opportunities to engage with the project’s ongoing research into U-M’s history of inclusion and exclusion, and its central questions about where the university has been and where it must go.

Visit the Inclusive History Project

Detroit Observatory

The Detroit Observatory played a key role in establishing U-M as a research institution. It offers tours of its historic facilities and presents exhibits, lectures, walking tours, and other programs related to all aspects of U-M history.

Visit the Detroit Observatory

A grayscale photograph, circa 1941, of Tom Harmon in a graduation robe looking in to Michigan Stadium

Making Michigan Lecture Series

This ongoing series of public talks from the Bentley Historical Library that are hosted at the Detroit Observatory explores the history of the University of Michigan and what it means for its future.

Visit Making Michigan