The Bentley Historical Library will be closed for winter break December 23, 2024 – January 1, 2025.

Bentley Historical Library

Fall 2024

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  • Men crouched in a circle for a Tuskegee AAF Training Command Briefing in 1943.

    Patriotism at Freeman Field

    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.

    … Complete Story
  • Historic photo of a painted mural by C. Popovich.

    Rescuing History

    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.

    … Complete Story
  • A woman student at U-M playing Ice Hockey in the 1990s.

    Frozen Out

    Forgotten start dates. Varsity status denials. Archived records at the Bentley show how the U-M women’s ice hockey team has repeatedly been iced out.

    … Complete Story
  • A man on a tractor at the Sunrise Farm Cooperative.

    Michigan’s Failed Anarchist Utopia

    Founded during the Great Depression, the Sunrise Cooperative Farm Community was created on a dream of equality. But as records reveal, the dream was short-lived.

    … Complete Story
  • John Nakamura, a soldier in World War II and a former U-M student.

    Up, Lad, Up

    John Nakamura was a smart, conscientious U-M student hoping to become a journalist. Then the United States entered World War II. His path was altered, but never his heart.

    … Complete Story
  • Poet Angela Morgan poses in a long white dress.

    The Great Ideals Marching Through Her

    As the United States entered World War I, poet Angela Morgan picked up her pen. Her papers reveal the struggles she endured to change hearts and minds with the written word.

    … Complete Story