Past Stories

The recent 50th anniversary of Gerald R. Ford’s presidency recognized his accomplishments on a national scale and made it easy to forget he was also an exceptional U-M football player.

When Walt Di Mantova visited the archives to investigate a possible family connection to the Manhattan Project, he found more than he bargained for regarding J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Records show how Lucinda Hinsdale Stone's tireless advocacy for women's education, even in the face of adversity, changed women's lives at U-M and across the state of Michigan.

U-M's ninth president opposed the U.S. war in Vietnam. His papers at the Bentley reveal how his experiences in an earlier conflict showed him firsthand the tragic loss of young people.

Staff from the archives at the Bentley share the special holdings that have made an indelible mark on their hearts and minds, with some of their favorite pieces of Michigan history.

A visiting researcher from the University of the Philippines has found significant documents—and locations—in Bentley collections, including photos that show the aftermath of World War II.

An unusual picture sparked a quest to find answers that started at the Bentley, and took researcher Edward Mears across the world, searching for details about his grandmother's life at U-M in the 1930s.

Bentley historian Andrew Rutledge investigates an Ohio historical marker that claims U-M was once destined to be in the Buckeye State, using historical maps to reveal the truth.

Archived records at the Bentley show how, in 1945, a protest led by officers on Indiana’s Freeman Field paved the way for racial desegregation in the military.

A collection of black-and-white photographs sat dormant for a decade. Then, the owner took a closer look, and wondered if those photos belonged at the Bentley.