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The First Women
Read about the lives of some of the first women to ever attend U-M, in their own words, in this story by the U-M Heritage Project, featuring quotes from the archives.
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Learn how Eva Jessye led a Broadway choir, stood with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and taught at the University of Michigan. Her work changed the arts—and America.
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Flashback to U-M’s very first varsity softball team!
The brand new team kicked off their season in 1978 by defeating Northwestern and Chicago State in Illinois, and then had their first home win over Grand Valley State.
"There were no stands and only a handful of fans, but that didn`t bother the women`s softball team, the newest addition to the Michigan sports scene,” the Michigan Daily reported, “Ferry Field came alive as the Maize and Blue fast-pitch squad pulled out an exciting 1-0 victory over Grand Valley State College in their first-ever home game.”
They went on to have 12 wins and 6 losses, finishing their very first season with a winning record!
“A lot of women already at Michigan had wanted to play fastpitch softball,” Coach Gloria Soluk said. “The newly formed team gave them the opportunity.”
That first team was the beginning of U-M’s varsity softball legacy, which now includes 11 Big Ten tournament championships!
📸: News & Information photographs
#GoBlue #Softball #UMich #Wolverines #MichiganHistory #WomensHistoryMonth
Flashback to U-M’s very first varsity softball team!
The brand new team kicked off their season in 1978 by defeating Northwestern and Chicago State in Illinois, and then had their first home win over Grand Valley State.
"There were no stands and only a handful of fans, but that didn`t bother the women`s softball team, the newest addition to the Michigan sports scene,” the Michigan Daily reported, “Ferry Field came alive as the Maize and Blue fast-pitch squad pulled out an exciting 1-0 victory over Grand Valley State College in their first-ever home game.”
They went on to have 12 wins and 6 losses, finishing their very first season with a winning record!
“A lot of women already at Michigan had wanted to play fastpitch softball,” Coach Gloria Soluk said. “The newly formed team gave them the opportunity.”
That first team was the beginning of U-M’s varsity softball legacy, which now includes 11 Big Ten tournament championships!
📸: News & Information photographs
#GoBlue #Softball #UMich #Wolverines #MichiganHistory #WomensHistoryMonth
Happy International Women’s Day!
Here are five remarkable women from Michigan history!
You can find out more about these women’s lives in the archives, by exploring:
⭐ The Louisa Reed Stowell papers
⭐ The Ruth Ellis papers
⭐ The Michigan Alumnus Magazine (most mentions of Dr. Ida Kahn occur between the 1890s and 1930s)
⭐ The Sojourner Truth scrapbook and ephemera in the Berenice Bryant Lowe papers
⭐ The Nannette Gardner papers
In addition to these, there are so many other remarkable women from Michigan history to discover!
You’re welcome to visit the Bentley during our open hours, and learn about even more amazing women from Michigan’s past.
To all of the women in Michigan today: we can’t wait to see the history you make!
#InternationalWomensDay #MichiganHistory #WomensHistoryMonth
Happy International Women’s Day!
Here are five remarkable women from Michigan history!
You can find out more about these women’s lives in the archives, by exploring:
⭐ The Louisa Reed Stowell papers
⭐ The Ruth Ellis papers
⭐ The Michigan Alumnus Magazine (most mentions of Dr. Ida Kahn occur between the 1890s and 1930s)
⭐ The Sojourner Truth scrapbook and ephemera in the Berenice Bryant Lowe papers
⭐ The Nannette Gardner papers
In addition to these, there are so many other remarkable women from Michigan history to discover!
You’re welcome to visit the Bentley during our open hours, and learn about even more amazing women from Michigan’s past.
To all of the women in Michigan today: we can’t wait to see the history you make!
#InternationalWomensDay #MichiganHistory #WomensHistoryMonth
Meet Alice Hamilton! An early student at U-M`s Medical School who went on to do life-saving work and research, she graduated in 1893.
"Those were very happy and exciting years,” Dr. Hamilton wrote in her autobiography about her time at Michigan. She described how training at U-M “fostered a spirit of inquiry, a habit of following a problem to its solution.”
While working as a professor at Northwestern University after graduation, she volunteered to help people in poverty access medical care at Hull House in Chicago.
There, she noticed a pattern in the illnesses of the people she helped: their workplaces.
So, Dr. Hamilton began investigating the impacts of toxic workplace hazards, such as lead poisoning.
Her research was foundational for laws protecting the health of workers in the U.S.!
Today, the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame describes her as the “Mother of Industrial Health.”
Dr. Hamilton was granted two honorary degrees by U-M, in 1910 and 1948, and became the very first woman to join Harvard`s faculty in 1919.
Click through to see photos showing what her life was like at the University of Michigan in the 1890s, and to learn more about her remarkable work!
#WomensHistoryMonth #StudentLife #AliceHamilton #MedicalSchool
Meet Alice Hamilton! An early student at U-M`s Medical School who went on to do life-saving work and research, she graduated in 1893.
"Those were very happy and exciting years,” Dr. Hamilton wrote in her autobiography about her time at Michigan. She described how training at U-M “fostered a spirit of inquiry, a habit of following a problem to its solution.”
While working as a professor at Northwestern University after graduation, she volunteered to help people in poverty access medical care at Hull House in Chicago.
There, she noticed a pattern in the illnesses of the people she helped: their workplaces.
So, Dr. Hamilton began investigating the impacts of toxic workplace hazards, such as lead poisoning.
Her research was foundational for laws protecting the health of workers in the U.S.!
Today, the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame describes her as the “Mother of Industrial Health.”
Dr. Hamilton was granted two honorary degrees by U-M, in 1910 and 1948, and became the very first woman to join Harvard`s faculty in 1919.
Click through to see photos showing what her life was like at the University of Michigan in the 1890s, and to learn more about her remarkable work!
#WomensHistoryMonth #StudentLife #AliceHamilton #MedicalSchool
If you’ve ever driven to Canada, chances are you’ve benefited from Cornelius Henderson’s work without even knowing it.
Cornelius Henderson was one of the earliest African American students to earn an engineering degree at U-M, graduating in 1911. When he attended U-M, he was the only African American student in his engineering class.
Over the course of his life, Cornelius helped create many remarkable structures, including two major crossings between the US and Canada: the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, and the Ambassador Bridge.
At the time it was built, the Ambassador Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world!
You can learn more about Cornelius Henderson’s life at U-M, and beyond, in the article “Strong as Steel,” by Dr. Rashid Faisal, on the African American Student Project website.
📸: 1911 Michiganensian yearbook portrait, and a 1928 Ambassador Bridge photo from the William Christian Weber Papers
#CorneliusHenderson #UMich #BlackHistory #MichiganHistory
If you’ve ever driven to Canada, chances are you’ve benefited from Cornelius Henderson’s work without even knowing it.
Cornelius Henderson was one of the earliest African American students to earn an engineering degree at U-M, graduating in 1911. When he attended U-M, he was the only African American student in his engineering class.
Over the course of his life, Cornelius helped create many remarkable structures, including two major crossings between the US and Canada: the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, and the Ambassador Bridge.
At the time it was built, the Ambassador Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world!
You can learn more about Cornelius Henderson’s life at U-M, and beyond, in the article “Strong as Steel,” by Dr. Rashid Faisal, on the African American Student Project website.
📸: 1911 Michiganensian yearbook portrait, and a 1928 Ambassador Bridge photo from the William Christian Weber Papers
#CorneliusHenderson #UMich #BlackHistory #MichiganHistory