Past Stories

Approximately 400 glass plate negatives documenting the history and work of the Detroit News through the late 19th century and early 20th century recently came to the Bentley.

A telegram in the Bentley’s archives reveals a Jewish scientist on the run from Nazi persecutors, and a U-M dean keen to recruit a brilliant mind.

Using an array of high-tech software and hardware, U-M Professor Peter Sparling creates a 3-D dance experience that challenges where and how such performances are archived.

Josephine Gomon was whip-smart, headstrong, and a behind-the-scenes force in Detroit politics at a time when women weren’t expected to do much beyond the kitchen.

Historical materials meet everyone's favorite search engine in this issue's notes from Bentley Director Terrence J. McDonald.

In 1912, a proposed coal power plant just down the street from the Detroit Observatory pitted the University's astronomy faculty against the energy needs of a growing campus. Bentley letters reveal a showdown.

As a student and Michigan Daily photographer, Jay Cassidy captured the turbulent, defiant, electric period of the late 1960s. Now a Hollywood film editor, Cassidy recently gave 5,000 of his photos to the Bentley.

The Great War was over, the armistice signed. But for one group of soldiers, the battles continued when they were sent to the far eastern front, to the frozen climes of Northern Russia.

At 89 years old, famed architect Gunnar Birkerts shows no signs of retiring. His collections at the Bentley showcase his architectural thought processes, leading to the recent opening of his National Library of Latvia.

Before Power Point presentations or Flickr, the best way for a group to see a single image was through lantern slides. The Bentley has hundreds of these slides in its collections, providing a new old way to see U-M.