The Bentley Historical Library will be closed on Friday, July 3, 2026 and Saturday, July 4, 2026 in observance of Independence Day.

 

Bentley Historical Library

Fall 2024

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  • Volunteer Alyce Sigler in the stacks at the Bentley Historical Library, with rows of shelving full of boxes of historical papers on either side of her. Alyce is wearing a floral shirt and khaki pants.

    Equal Footing

    Once a top athlete in the time before gender equity in sports, Alyce Sigler now volunteers at the Bentley, where a bit of serendipity has her researching Title IX.

    … Complete Story
  • A 1904 map verifying that the University of Michigan sold its land in Ohio.

    Could U-M Have Been In Ohio?

    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.

    … Complete Story
  • 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