Past Stories

Director Alexis Antracoli shines a spotlight on the papers of University of Michigan presidents who have shaped the institution and beyond, preserved at the Bentley Historical Library.

Senator Philip Hart of Michigan was the Senate floor manager for the Voting Rights Act in 1965. His papers at the Bentley reveal the vital role he played during this volatile and consequential year.

In the 1970s, rumors swirled that U-M was going to raze its historic Detroit Observatory. Margaret and Nicholas Steneck worked to help save it, devoting decades to preserving U-M's past.

As the first woman known to have earned a bachelor's degree in architecture at U-M, Bertha Whitman's career was an uphill battle that helped pave the way for future woman architects.

Director Alexis Antracoli shares her thoughts on the archives, including how they show the many ways that people across Michigan history have risen to the challenges of their time.

U-M’s Lantern Night was a chance for the women of the senior class to symbolically pass the torch to younger students. Over time, it evolved to include a dance pageant, and more.

How fashion student Adam Denzler used Bentley collections to painstakingly recreate a 1904 University of Michigan football uniform—down to the drawers.

University of Michigan students Lily Fritsch and Nathan Schreck are part of a new fellowship program that helps preserve and share U-M athletics history.

Meet Michelle Light, whose training at the Bentley changed her career path. Today, she's an associate librarian for Yale's Library Special Collections & director of the Beinecke Library.

U-M's first buildings were the Professors' Houses, built in 1840. Only one stands today. Bentley collections reveal which one has endured, and what happened to the rest.