Past Stories

The legacies of three long-serving political giants will be the topic of scholarly debate for years to come. But as their Bentley papers show, they were all similarly "moderate."

Louisa Reed-Stowell was a brilliant botanist who fought tirelessly for women’s equality, especially in education. Despite her prestigious contributions in the field, U-M would discriminate against her time and time again.

A visionary academic, a knowledge-loving businessman, and new technology to plot the stars would converge on a small hill at U-M, changing Detroit—and the campus—forever.

A rash of UFO sightings across Michigan in the mid-1960s launched investigations by the highest levels of the U.S. government. What was happening in the skies? Was it spaceships or swamp gas? The answer may depend on whose papers you peruse.

U-M sported a fully functional nuclear reactor, complete with a 55,000-gallon glowing reactor pool. Bentley collections help tell the story of why the reactor was built, and what happened to it.

To write his new memoir, multimedia journalist and educator Harvey Ovshinsky had to research his own collection at the Bentley.

Early aerial photos of U-M's campus were taken by an aviation pioneer.

Students and faculty from U-M’s History Department collaborated with the Bentley to find creative ways to produce a successful research project, even without physical access to archival materials.

In the early 1970s, government pressure was mounting for U-M to give women a level playing field on campus, but the University’s all-male administration was slow to act. A group of determined women demanded accountability and action.

In April 1920, two leading astronomers met on stage in front of a packed audience at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, defending their respective “models” of the universe.