Suggested Research Topics - Green for Blue: The University of Michigan's Postwar Chase for Funding

Shortly after World War II, administrators at the University of Michigan began to recognize the urgent need to anticipate and plan for a tremendous growth in student enrollment, plant extension, and research at the university. In order to meet the demands for funding these various developments, coordinating administrative bodies were organized or expanded. These groups involved the president of the university, the vice president and chief financial officer, the board of regents, the university architect, the vice-president for development and communication, and the newly-formed Development Council. Their task was to create fund-raising programs for soliciting support from the state legislature, from loyal Michigan alumni, and, especially, from major corporations. Initiatives presented to potential supporters included the development of research and technology on the new North Campus, where hordes of returning war veterans could find housing on former farmland shared with buildings housing classified research on the peaceful use of atomic energy.

Even though the university had the disadvantage of no major fund-raising campaigns since the drive to build the Michigan Union (1919), its mid-twentieth century program yielded even more than its slogan $55 million target, especially from private corporations. This achievement cast the university as a model in fund-raising for public higher education. Its self-proclaimed challenges and subsequent accomplishments, recorded in archival collections, reveal much about the strategic planning of public universities after the war.

How did the University of Michigan approach major industries, in the Detroit area and elsewhere? What role did the newly-established Development Council play in activating alumni? What did capital outlay requests to the state legislature indicate about the university's priorities? What influence did the Board of Regents have on fund-raising priorities and strategies? How did the Ann Arbor community respond to the university's ambitions?

Examples of Primary Source Collections and Other Resources:


In an effort to encourage creative thinking about possible research topics for students unfamiliar with archives and their inevitable complexities, archivists and student employees of the Bentley Historical Library have authored "suggested research topics ." The purpose of these is not to define a topic but rather to stimulate thinking about a topic where the holdings of the Bentley Library are particularly strong.