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Lawyer Brown Sylvester Smith was one of the many U-M alumni impacted by the history of slavery. He went on to use his legal knowledge to push back against discrimination.

Born to two enslaved parents in Arkansas, Smith was only around two years old when slavery first began to end in the United States. He lost his parents at a young age, and went on to work on a farm in Illinois, where he saved up money to attend university.

After graduating from U-M with his law degree in 1886, Smith spent much of his life as a lawyer in Kansas City, where he battled segregation in the courtroom, and became a City Council member.

Smith also went on to become one of the very first members of the Niagara Movement, an organization started to advocate for civil rights for African Americans by W.E.B. Dubois and William Monroe Trotter (namesake of U-M’s Trotter Multicultural Center @umtrottermc.)

Today on Juneteenth, the anniversary of the day that enslaved African Americans finally gained freedom, we honor his life, as well the many other lives harmed by slavery's legacy.

📸: 1886 Law School portrait composite, and the U-M Photo Vertical File

#Juneteenth #UMich #BlackHistory #History #StudentLife #Alumni #NiagaraMovement

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Did you know? This year marks the 20th anniversary of U-M softball’s first national championship! ⭐

U-M and UCLA battled it out with a tied score until the 10th inning, when Samantha Findlay hit a home run, winning the national championship for Michigan!

It was an exciting victory, but Findlay was more excited to celebrate her teammates, telling the Michigan Daily: “I would take this team over any individual awards, because this team has meant the world to me.” Since then, softball, and women’s athletics at large, have only grown.

Following the winning tradition of their teammates before them, U-M softball alumni Sierra Romero, playing with the Volts (@ausl_volts), and Lauren Derkowski, playing with the Talons (@ausl_talons), will both compete professionally in Athletes Unlimited Softball League’s inaugural season this year!

Good luck to Sierra Romero and Lauren Derkowski, and Go Blue! 💙

These national championship photos, and others like them, are being added to the U-M Athletic Department collection by our amazing student fellows through the Peikert Fellowship, made possible by Fran and Michael Peikert.

📸: Photos by Jackson Laizure & Amir Gamzu, Athletic Department collection

#UMich #Softball #GoBlue #ProBlue #AUSL #SportsHistory #NationalChampionship

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On this day exactly 100 years ago, the U-M Lawyers Club was officially dedicated!

The Lawyers Club was the very first part of the Law Quad to be completed. Several law deans from across the U.S. gave speeches, and a letter from William W. Cook, who funded the Law Quad, was read aloud for the occasion.

(Cook himself refused to visit in person. He preferred to picture the Law Quad in his own imagination, describing the space as a “dream.”)

With gothic architectural features like arched windows of cathedral glass, and stone carvings, the Lawyers Club was created as a beautiful space for students, the first group of whom had already started living there in 1924!

Today, the Lawyers Club is still home to JD and LLM students of U-M’s Law School during the academic year, and the Law Quad remains a beloved space on U-M’s Ann Arbor campus!

You can learn more about the Law Quad’s early history with the Law School records in the archives, and with books like “Giving it All Away: The Story of William W. Cook & His Michigan Law Quadrangle” by Law Librarian Emerita Margaret Leary.

📸: Images sourced from the U-M Photo Vertical File, the book “Addresses Delivered at the Dedication of the Lawyers Club,” and the Michigan Daily Digital Archives

#UMich #OTD #100YearsAgo #LawQuad #LawyersClub #LawSchool #MichiganHistory

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Throwback to June of 1959, when singer Marian Anderson made U-M history not once, but twice, as both the first African American and the first woman to be U-M’s main commencement speaker!

A Civil Rights activist, Marian Anderson famously pushed back against segregation by performing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, when she was denied the chance to sing in Constitution Hall. She went on to win the United Nations Peace Prize, a Congressional Gold Medal, and many other awards for her lifetime of work as a singer and barrier breaker!

She wished U-M graduates "a full, rich life of wonderful service." According to the Michigan Alumnus at the time, her commencement speech at U-M was described as "tremendously sincere, and very well done."

After her speech, she was granted an honorary doctorate in music from U-M!

Click through to see some newspaper clippings about her commencement speech, and see our Commencement Addresses web page for more details.

📸: News & Information Photographs, Michigan Daily Archives

#TBT #UMich #MarianAnderson #MichiganHistory #DidYouKnow #Throwback

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In 1971, pioneering activist Jim Toy helped found U-M’s Spectrum Center to support LGBTQ+ students!

“Growing up in an Ohio village in the 1930s and 1940s, I felt totally alone,” Toy said of his childhood. Then, he discovered the LGTBQ+ community in Detroit, and it changed his life, sparking a lifetime of work to create LGBTQ+ communities for others who needed support.

Toy spoke out against discrimination, educated other people about LGBTQ+ rights and issues, and created groups and spaces to help support LGBTQ+ people in Michigan, including the Spectrum Center for students at U-M, which he co-founded with Cynthia Gair.

Today, the Spectrum Center (one of the earliest student support centers of its kind) uses education, research, and community building to help students thrive at U-M!

Click through to learn more about Jim Toy’s lifetime of advocacy!

You can also learn more about Jim Toy’s work through his papers, preserved at the Bentley Historical Library, which include notes about outreach, newspaper clippings, poetry, posters, and more.

#JimToy #UMich #LGBTHistory #SpectrumCenter #PrideMonth

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TBT to U-M’s Pride celebrations in the 1990s!

U-M’s “Lesbian and Gay Men's Pride Awareness Commitment Week,” often shortened to “PAC Week,” was celebrated in October in the early ‘90s, as you can see in this photo!

“PAC Week” was a community celebration including things like an author talk from Alison Bechdel, coffeehouse gatherings, dances, marches, a candlelight vigil, Coming Out Day, and Jeans Day (a day of awareness for equal rights that focused on wearing blue jeans as a symbol of support.)

According to the Michigan Daily, some supporters wore pink ribbons and hats, and workshops included topics like novel writing, and acting. The focus of the week was on raising awareness of the LGBTQ+ community’s existence and needs, giving people the courage to come out if they wished to, and reminding people in the community that they aren’t alone.

Happy Pride! ❤️

📸: Photo of a “PAC Week” banner, from the Jim Toy papers

#TBT #UMich #Pride #MichiganHistory #LGBTHistory #1990s #DidYouKnow

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The Peony Garden’s first flowers were given to U-M over 100 years ago!

Those very first peonies were donated by U-M Medical School alum Dr. W.E. Upjohn in 1922, and the garden, planted in Nichols Arboretum, was later named in his honor! A peony enthusiast, Dr. Upjohn also published a 1920s peony booklet from Brook Lodge Gardens, with his own descriptions of these flowers, like:

"It is a flower of soft shell-pink color with the sun just rising out of the center." (About the “Jeannot” peony.)

"Of the prominent growers, two call this salmon pink, two mention it as a rose white or lilac white, to me it is a pink with a rose shade. We all agree, however, that it is good." (About the “Albert Crousse” peony.)

"This is a flower having many friends." (About the “Claire Dubois” peony.)

Click through for a brief history of the W.E. Upjohn Peony Garden, with details from the archives!

Peak bloom is predicted for this weekend, so it’s a good time to plan your visit! 🌸 A FREE weekend shuttle will run every 15–20 minutes from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 24–25, May 31–June 1, and June 7-8, picking up from Mitchell Field (1900 Fuller Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48105) and dropping off at Nichols Arboretum.

Details can be found at: myumi.ch/qZA7X

📸: Upjohn Family Papers, Michigan Daily archives, Faculty and Staff portraits, ⁨Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum records

#UMich #PeonyGarden #NicholsArboretum #TheArb #History

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Did you know that part of U-M’s art museum was built in memory of U-M soldiers and veterans?

This building, known as the Alumni Memorial Hall, was opened in 1910. Although this building was first proposed as a memorial to U-M’s Civil War soldiers, the concept was expanded to memorialize soldiers from other wars, too, and alumni worked together to raise the funds to build it.

Initially, it featured gallery spaces for art, as well as spaces for alumni to gather. The galleries looked different back then, including palm fronds and greenery alongside the artwork, but the exterior, with its tall columns, is still recognizable today.

Today, this building is part of the University of Michigan Museum of Art, @ummamuseum, and you can still find plaques dedicated to U-M’s soldiers inside, honoring the legacy they left behind.

This Memorial Day, we honor those who gave their lives to serve.

#MemorialDay #UMich #AlumniMemorialHall #UMMA #CampusHistory

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On this day over 100 years ago, a massive Joan of Arc pageant was held on U-M’s Ferry Field!

One of the largest theatrical plays U-M students had ever produced at the time, the Michigan Daily reported that it included 400 cast members, and a live horse.

Thousands of people turned up to watch as U-M student Miriam Hubbard played the part of Joan of Arc (also known as “Jeanne D’Arc”) in a dramatized story about her life, on May 21, 1914.

“Ferry Field gridiron was the scene last night of a medieval struggle,” the Daily wrote. The lighting effects and the dance scenes won over the crowd. However, as the football gridiron was not actually a medieval city, some allowances had to be made.

“Although the audience laughed when the medieval soldiers planted their modern ladders against the wall, and some didn’t take the losses in the French army quite seriously enough, the affair was remarkably free from incongruities,” the Daily wrote.

The play itself was led by the U-M Women’s League, who used proceeds from the performance to help fund women’s athletic facilities!

📸: Alumni Association records, Margaret Henkel scrapbook, Photo Vertical File

#OTD #UMich #History #FerryField #StudentActors #Theater #1910s

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Students from the “Michigan in the World” program are hard at work in the archives!

This annual paid internship helps U-M students gain critical research skills, while exploring different aspects of Michigan’s history. This year, they’re digging into the history of hate movements in the Great Lakes area, and what caused them, using records from the archives.

To analyze the papers these movements left behind, students ask questions like: who wrote this? What do they want you to believe? What methods are they using to try and convince you that this is true?

“I’ve enjoyed learning how and what information is accessible to people, how to search for and analyze rhetoric, and how it impacts everything else,” says Eden, one of the students in this program.

Alongside faculty and staff from the History Department, the Bentley Historical Library, and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute, these students are examining topics like historical antisemitism in Detroit, while getting hands-on experience with primary sources like letters, press releases, oral histories, and more.

When asked why this work is important, the answer is simple, according to U-M student Jeanette:

“It’s important that hate is something we recognize, so we don’t repeat it.”

In the future, the students in this program will create an exhibit showcasing their work! You can find past "Michigan in the World" projects on the History Department's "Michigan in the World" website.

📸: The Michigan in the World program at the Bentley Historical Library

#UMich #MichiganHistory #HistoryInternship #Archives #StudentResearchers #PrimarySources

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This week we welcomed visitors from the Ethiopian Archives and Library Service! 📖

As part of a series of visits to local libraries and archives, our archivists gave a tour of the Bentley’s facilities, and shared preservation techniques!

We had a wonderful time meeting our archival colleagues, who work to preserve the historical records of Ethiopia, many of which are rare and unique.

Their visit focused on learning about Michigan’s archives and libraries, by exploring things like U-M’s methods for scanning historical documents, in order to help preserve their records of Ethiopian history.

Thank you to the Ethiopian Archives and Library Service team for visiting; it was so nice to meet you!

Special thanks to David A. Wallace from U-M’s School of Information, as well, for organizing these visits to libraries across campus & beyond! ⭐

📸: Photos by Lara Zielin

#UMich #Archives #VisitingArchivists #Preservation #Digitization #ArchivesTour

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Meet Jane, a student history docent at U-M’s Detroit Observatory who just recently graduated from U-M! 🎓

Jane is passionate about history, and her favorite part of working at the Observatory has been sharing fun facts about the history of U-M with the community:

“I loved sharing the winding, drama-filled story of the creation of the Law Quad, and the silly facts about our second director, James Craig Watson, who was once knighted by the Ottoman Empire,” Jane says.

This year, Jane earned her degree in Honors History and Sociology from U-M’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts!

After graduation, Jane is moving to New York City to work as a paralegal at Cravath, Swaine, & Moore LLP, before pursuing law school.

Congratulations, Jane!!! 🎉

#GoBlue #UMich #MGoGrad #Congratulations #DetroitObservatory #Paralegal #FutureLawyer #OurStudentsAreAwesome

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Shira has been doing wonderful hands-on work in the Bentley’s Conservation Lab, as a student history docent for U-M’s Detroit Observatory!

Alongside our expert conservator, Shira has created supportive structures called “cradles” which will be used to exhibit historical items at the Detroit Observatory, on Central Campus!

These cradles help keep old objects like books safely propped up, so that people can enjoy seeing them in display cases, while keeping them in great condition for years to come. 📖

“I love that I get to work with my hands,” Shira says. In these photos, you can see them at work with some historical books in the Conservation Lab!

Shira just graduated from U-M with a degree in the History of Art, with minors in Museum Studies and History, and is particularly interested in art movements like Surrealism, as well as philosophical questions about art.

“I want to keep working with objects, in a museum archive or library,” Shira says, describing their plans for the future. After that, they plan to pursue a master’s degree in library or museum work!

Congratulations, Shira!!! 🎉

#GoBlue #UMich #MGoGrad #Congratulations #DetroitObservatory #ConservationLab #FutureLibrarian #FutureMuseumProfessional #OurStudentsAreAwesome

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We’re so excited to share that Gigi Broyles, one of our amazing student assistants, has graduated from U-M!

Gigi’s favorite part of her time working at the Bentley has been uncovering the stories of former students in the archives!

“Recently, I researched an alumna who graduated from the nursing school in the 1920s,” Gigi says. “Another alumna of the nursing school had come into possession of a nursing school pin that was engraved with a name, and wanted to know more about this fellow nurse who had graduated almost one hundred years ago.”

“Though these two women never got the chance to meet, their ties to the University of Michigan connected them across nearly a century. I love playing a part in stories like that!”

Gigi completed a Junior Fellowship at the Library of Congress last summer, and volunteered as an intern for U-M’s Alternative Spring Break program, working with teens to support their research.

“I love working with young people and had a wonderful time connecting that passion with archival work,” Gigi says.

“Before starting my graduate program at UMSI I would never have imagined I would work at the Library of Congress, and I encourage students to dream big and apply for opportunities that excite them when starting out in the archives!”

Gigi has just graduated with a Master of Science in Information degree, from U-M’s School of Information! 🎓

“My time at the Bentley deepened my appreciation for local history and reference. I hope to find work in public libraries where I can continue connecting people to the books and materials that enrich their lives,” Gigi says.

Congratulations, Gigi!!! 🎉

#GoBlue #UMich #MGoGrad #Congratulations #FutureLibrarian #Archives #OurStudentsAreAwesome

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In honor of Mother’s Day, we’re exploring some of the history of Mother’s Day in Michigan!

Early Mother’s Day celebrations in Michigan highlighted the importance of “wearing a flower in honor of one’s mother,” according to early newspapers like the Detroit News and Michigan Daily!

White carnations were the flower worn for celebrations in the early 1900s, though by the 1910s this had expanded to include red and pink carnations as well. (Over time, white flowers came to be reserved for people who were remembering mothers who had passed away, and were worn in honor of their memories.)

The tradition of giving bouquets, baskets of flowers, and candy to mothers also quickly became popular. Writing letters for Mother’s Day was encouraged, and newspapers sometimes even featured reminders for people to write home to their mothers.

Music became a feature of these celebrations, too, and at least one Mother’s Day school celebration in Flint included singing, violin, mandolin, and zither music, according to the 1899 Flint Journal!

However you celebrate, we hope you have a happy Mother’s Day! ♥️

📸: Ernestine Kahn with her son Edgar and daughter Lydia, circa 1901, from the Albert Kahn Family papers

#MothersDay #MichiganHistory #HistoricalNewspapers #HappyMothersDay

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Throwback to when the bronze block 'M' on U-M’s Diag was installed, on this day in 1953!

A campus landmark just outside of the Harlan Hatcher Library, this block 'M' is the center of the famous U-M legend claiming that any student who steps on the 'M' will fail their blue book exams!

A gift of the Class of 1953, the design of the block 'M' on the Diag was planned by a group of architecture students, and the 'M' itself was made of "semi-polished bronze,” according to the Michigan Daily at the time, and installed on May 8, 1953.

But did you know that this campus landmark was actually inspired by an earlier block 'M' on the Diag?

It’s true! Before the class of 1953 donated the bronze 'M,' there was a brick and tile block 'M' in the very same spot, known among students as “the seal,” which helped inspire the well known bronze design.

According to 1953 Michigan Alumnus magazine, the origins of the first brick block 'M' can be traced to a mason who worked on the Diag courtyard in the 1920s: Perry Kimbel.

"Without anyone's requesting the monogram, and with no one to say it couldn't be done, Perry Kimbel sometime in 1922 went to work with mortar and brick and laid in the monogram which, thirty years later, was to fall to the picks and shovels of the Plant Department," the Alumnus wrote, describing the brick 'M' as an “unrequested gift.”

The bronze block ‘M’ that replaced Perry Kimbel’s brickwork design remains a beloved spot on campus today!

📸: Bentley staff photo of the Block ‘M,’ & the Michigan Daily Digital Archives

#TBT #OTD #UMich #Diag #Campus #AnnArbor #1950s #MichiganHistory

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We are so proud of all the amazing student history workers who have graduated this year! 🎉

Sanil, pictured here, was one of the very first astronomy docents at U-M’s historic Detroit Observatory, a division of the Bentley Historical Library that works to highlight Michigan’s astronomy history!

Sanil has done all kinds of wonderful work as a student docent, leading tours, using historic telescopes, creating workshops about photographing the stars, and giving talks about things like the history of Mars in science fiction.

“I learned a lot while working on my Mars talk,” Sanil says. “It allowed me to research literature and science fiction writing, and see how it has evolved and been influenced by new theories.”

Sanil just graduated from U-M with his Bachelor of Science degree in Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Interdisciplinary Physics, and also earned a minor in Business, on top of everything else!

In the future, he would love to work in a field where astronomy and business intersect, such as space technology. 🚀✨

Congratulations Sanil!!! 🥳

Click through to learn about the types of historical materials Sanil loves to work with the most!

#GoBlue #UMich #MGoGrad #Congratulations #DetroitObservatory #AstronomyHistory #OurStudentsAreAwesome

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In honor of the Class of 2025, we’re taking a look back at U-M’s 1925 commencement! 🎓

According to the Michigan Alumnus magazine, graduating students paraded down the sidewalks of Ann Arbor, making their way down State Street, to Ferry Field, which was the football field at the time.

Michigan Stadium didn’t exist yet; it would open just two years later!

Many of the people watching the long parade of graduates had umbrellas with them, as the sky looked like it might rain; in fact, the weather was so worrying that the Field House had been prepared, just in case graduation had to move indoors.

However, although there was a mild drizzle, according to the Alumnus magazine, “the elements relented,” and the graduates got to have their commencement procession outside after all!

Students crossed the stage on Ferry Field class by class. After the ceremony, there was a performance of the song “The Yellow and Blue,” and triumphant bugle music!

100 years later, we’re excited to share our congratulations to the Class of 2025! 🎉 We know you’ll make all kinds of amazing history!

You can find these photos, and others like them, in historical editions of the Michigan Alumnus magazine in the archives.

#MGoGrad #UMich #StudentLife #MichiganHistory #100YearsAgo #1920s #Commencement

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Throwback to over 100 years ago, when Tomo Inouye attended U-M!

She enrolled in 1899 as a medical student, attending classes in U-M’s very first Medical School building, which used to stand on Central Campus where U-M’s Randall Laboratory stands today.

That early medical building was razed in 1914, and now only survives in places like these historical photos from the archives!

When Inouye first started attending, U-M had just begun to require all medical students to do clinical rotations to gain hands-on experience in U-M's hospitals.

Tomo Inouye earned her medical degree at U-M in 1901, becoming the first Japanese woman known to have graduated from the University of Michigan!

This year, U-M’s Medical School is celebrating its 175th anniversary; you can learn more about early medical students, and U-M’s long history of medical education, on the Michigan Medicine website! 🎉

📸: University of Michigan student portraits collection, U-M Photo Vertical Files, Sam Sturgis photo collection

#TBT #UMich #StudentLife #AAPIHeritageMonth #TomoInouye #History #MedicalSchool

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A beautiful spring moment in Ann Arbor: the trees outside the Bentley Historical Library are in bloom! 🌸

This is one of the most wonderful times of year to visit the archives at U-M!

In addition to these flowering trees, we have daffodils, irises, and lilacs growing in our garden courtyard, just outside of our reading room windows.

If you want to visit to see these flowers in person, and have the chance to explore things like historical U-M yearbooks, our reading room is open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, on U-M’s North Campus, and we’re open to the public!

Stop by and say hi! 🌼

#Spring #FloweringTrees #UMich #NorthCampus #AnnArbor #Archives #SupportYourLocalLibrary

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