• Michigan Today

    From Hopwood to Hollywood to joy in the morning

    Dive into the life of writer Betty Smith, who spent years in Ann Arbor with her first husband. During her time in Ann Arbor, she audited playwriting classes and learned from Kenneth Thorpe Rowe.

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  • Bentley Historical Library

    Cold War, Warm Welcome

    In 1961, the Kennedy Ad-ministration sent the U-M Symphony Band to the Soviet Union in hopes of thawing relations between the two countries through the common language of music. Could young musicians succeed as diplomats?

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  • 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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  • Bentley Historical Library

    The Carillon and the Egyptologist

    The carillon bells in Burton Memorial Tower on U-M’s campus are played or their original keyboard thanks to an unlikely savior: a U-M Egyptologist.

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