• Bentley Historical Library

    Beyond These Hallowed Halls

    In 1899, Oscar W. Baker Sr. was accepted into the University of Michigan Law School, becoming the 100th African American student to attend U-M. After graduation, Baker would make remarkable contributions and achievements working for racial and social justice. The Bentley’s new African American Student Project helps fill in some of the information about this exceptional alum.

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  • Bentley Historical Library

    Tragedy on the Ice

    When a faculty member recommends his prize pupil for a daring expedition in Greenland, disaster strikes on multiple fronts.

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  • Heritage

    The Campus that Never Was

    This is a story about the University of Michigan before it really began, and about a road it did not take. Was the road not taken better or worse? It depends on the eye of the traveler. But the moment of choice had a definitive impact on how the University would look, at first and ever after.

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  • Heritage

    “These Young Americans”

    During World War II, the University of Michigan recruited hundreds of Japanese American men and women held in internment camps to work and live on campus. With the University's perception of Japanese people being dictated by racism and war, they were not welcomed when they applied as students.

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  • Michigan Today

    Adieu, Elbel Field

    In February 2023, the University announced it soon will ease a chronic shortage of space for first-year students by building a $500-million complex of five residence halls on Elbel Field. But around Ann Arbor, a hint of nostalgic melancholy trailed the news.

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