Featured Site
Dormitory History
Explore the long history of the iconic Martha Cook Building, which opened its doors to women at U-M in 1915. Martha Cook was one of the very first dormitories at U-M, and has been a home to thousands of students.
Learn more
News
Pride & Prejudice
Learn about Jim Toy, who stood on the front lines of the gay rights movement in its earliest days. His papers showcase years of perseverance that changed Ann Arbor, and beyond.
Complete Story
Stay Connected
Meet Isabel Planton, our new Archivist for Reference! 🎉
Isabel is looking forward to learning more about the archives at the Bentley, and meeting the researchers who visit our reading room!
“I love working in libraries and archives, because I find helping people with their research rewarding. I think archival research is full of fascinating stories,” Isabel says.
Outside of the archives, Isabel was a skeeball league champion in 2017, and she also loves creating art based on historical illustrations.
Click through to learn more fun facts about Archivist Isabel Planton, and about her two cats, Sassafras and Rhubarb, also known as Sassy and Ruby! 🐱
Welcome, Isabel!
#Archivist #StaffFeature #Welcome #Cats #BentleyHistoricalLibrary #OurStaffAreAwesome
Meet Isabel Planton, our new Archivist for Reference! 🎉
Isabel is looking forward to learning more about the archives at the Bentley, and meeting the researchers who visit our reading room!
“I love working in libraries and archives, because I find helping people with their research rewarding. I think archival research is full of fascinating stories,” Isabel says.
Outside of the archives, Isabel was a skeeball league champion in 2017, and she also loves creating art based on historical illustrations.
Click through to learn more fun facts about Archivist Isabel Planton, and about her two cats, Sassafras and Rhubarb, also known as Sassy and Ruby! 🐱
Welcome, Isabel!
#Archivist #StaffFeature #Welcome #Cats #BentleyHistoricalLibrary #OurStaffAreAwesome
Here’s what the Michigan Union looked like on this day in 1917, while it was still being built!
In the mid-1910s, U-M quickly outgrew its first Union building, which was the former house of Michigan Supreme Court Justice Thomas M. Cooley, who also served as U-M’s Law Dean!
It became clear that the number of students was rising fast enough that a new Michigan Union would need to be built, so alumni raised funds to build the Michigan Union you know and love.
You can see what construction looked like, here, in this photo from Ann Arbor’s early years!
However, everything changed when, only a few days after this picture was taken in 1917, the U.S. joined World War I.
The Students’ Army Training Corps (or SATC) actually used the partly-finished Michigan Union building as a dormitory and mess hall during the war!
“Owing to wartime difficulties, the building was not ready for use by the students until 1919,” the Bentley’s online Historical Tour of Campus notes. By then, it was largely in the form you can see on campus today!
You can learn more about the Michigan Union’s history through the article “How the Michigan Union Came to Be” by James Tobin from the U-M Heritage Project, and through the “Historical Tour of the University of Michigan Campus” on the Bentley’s website.
Today, the Michigan Union building serves as an important hub for students on campus!
📸: Pond family papers
#OTD #TBT #UMich #MichiganUnion #CampusHistory
Here’s what the Michigan Union looked like on this day in 1917, while it was still being built!
In the mid-1910s, U-M quickly outgrew its first Union building, which was the former house of Michigan Supreme Court Justice Thomas M. Cooley, who also served as U-M’s Law Dean!
It became clear that the number of students was rising fast enough that a new Michigan Union would need to be built, so alumni raised funds to build the Michigan Union you know and love.
You can see what construction looked like, here, in this photo from Ann Arbor’s early years!
However, everything changed when, only a few days after this picture was taken in 1917, the U.S. joined World War I.
The Students’ Army Training Corps (or SATC) actually used the partly-finished Michigan Union building as a dormitory and mess hall during the war!
“Owing to wartime difficulties, the building was not ready for use by the students until 1919,” the Bentley’s online Historical Tour of Campus notes. By then, it was largely in the form you can see on campus today!
You can learn more about the Michigan Union’s history through the article “How the Michigan Union Came to Be” by James Tobin from the U-M Heritage Project, and through the “Historical Tour of the University of Michigan Campus” on the Bentley’s website.
Today, the Michigan Union building serves as an important hub for students on campus!
📸: Pond family papers
#OTD #TBT #UMich #MichiganUnion #CampusHistory
April Fools Day according to U-M students 100 years ago! 🕑
In 1925, the student humor magazine “The Gargoyle” published a short article titled: “Complete Day of an April Fooler.”
It included a list of pranks that an “April Fooler” would pull—ranging from relatively harmless (like replacing salt with sugar at the breakfast table) to decidedly not harmless (like creating fake candy, which was often made of soap: please don’t eat soap.)
It also included some pranks people wouldn’t ever think of today (like filling a fountain pen with water!)
Click through to see a few examples of what students in 1925 thought an April Fools` Day prankster would do, from U-M history!
You can explore historical issues of “The Gargoyle” from the archives in our reading room, and you can also find digitized versions of some early “Gargoyle” editions in the online Hathitrust Library.
“The Gargoyle,” also known affectionately as “The Garg,” is a long-running student publication, established in 1909, which is still ongoing today.
#AprilFoolsDay #100YearsAgo #UMich #StudentLife
April Fools Day according to U-M students 100 years ago! 🕑
In 1925, the student humor magazine “The Gargoyle” published a short article titled: “Complete Day of an April Fooler.”
It included a list of pranks that an “April Fooler” would pull—ranging from relatively harmless (like replacing salt with sugar at the breakfast table) to decidedly not harmless (like creating fake candy, which was often made of soap: please don’t eat soap.)
It also included some pranks people wouldn’t ever think of today (like filling a fountain pen with water!)
Click through to see a few examples of what students in 1925 thought an April Fools` Day prankster would do, from U-M history!
You can explore historical issues of “The Gargoyle” from the archives in our reading room, and you can also find digitized versions of some early “Gargoyle” editions in the online Hathitrust Library.
“The Gargoyle,” also known affectionately as “The Garg,” is a long-running student publication, established in 1909, which is still ongoing today.
#AprilFoolsDay #100YearsAgo #UMich #StudentLife
We loved sharing the history of the Martha Cook building at this recent pop-up exhibit! 💙
Bringing the archives directly to campus, Bentley Archivist Meghan Courtney and a team of student docents stopped by during afternoon tea at Martha Cook, and shared scrapbooks, photos, and more, with current students!
Students got the chance to ask questions about history, learn about the lives of historical students at Martha Cook, and even make their own scrapbooks using copies of old photos, sheet music, and newspaper clippings.
We really loved seeing how interested these students were in the history of their community, and it was so wonderful to get to share all of these materials with them!
Click through to see more photos of this pop-up event, and some snapshots of Martha Cook’s early years, from the archives.
Curious to learn more? History from the Martha Cook building can also be explored in the Bentley Historical Library`s reading room, using the Martha Cook Building records, and student history records like the A. Grace Edmonds scrapbooks!
📸: Photos of event by Austin Edmister, featuring a pop-up exhibit at Martha Cook, and the Bentley team, including student docents from the Detroit Observatory, and Associate Director for Public Engagement Meghan Courtney, alongside Bentley Director Alexis Antracoli
📸: Photos of Martha Cook history sourced from the A. Grace Edmonds scrapbooks, the U-M Photo Vertical Files, and the Martha Cook Building records
#UMich #MarthaCook #StudentLife #CampusHistory #PopUp #HistoryExhibit
We loved sharing the history of the Martha Cook building at this recent pop-up exhibit! 💙
Bringing the archives directly to campus, Bentley Archivist Meghan Courtney and a team of student docents stopped by during afternoon tea at Martha Cook, and shared scrapbooks, photos, and more, with current students!
Students got the chance to ask questions about history, learn about the lives of historical students at Martha Cook, and even make their own scrapbooks using copies of old photos, sheet music, and newspaper clippings.
We really loved seeing how interested these students were in the history of their community, and it was so wonderful to get to share all of these materials with them!
Click through to see more photos of this pop-up event, and some snapshots of Martha Cook’s early years, from the archives.
Curious to learn more? History from the Martha Cook building can also be explored in the Bentley Historical Library`s reading room, using the Martha Cook Building records, and student history records like the A. Grace Edmonds scrapbooks!
📸: Photos of event by Austin Edmister, featuring a pop-up exhibit at Martha Cook, and the Bentley team, including student docents from the Detroit Observatory, and Associate Director for Public Engagement Meghan Courtney, alongside Bentley Director Alexis Antracoli
📸: Photos of Martha Cook history sourced from the A. Grace Edmonds scrapbooks, the U-M Photo Vertical Files, and the Martha Cook Building records
#UMich #MarthaCook #StudentLife #CampusHistory #PopUp #HistoryExhibit