The Bentley Historical Library’s Reading Room will be closed for the day on November 27, 2024. The Bentley Historical Library will be closed for the day on November 28 & 29, 2024.

Spring 2024

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  • A Riot, a Murder, and a Psychic

    After a U-M student was killed in 1890, a psychic visited town claiming to be able to name the murderer.

    Complete Story
  • Teaching Black History in the Early 20th Century

    An adult-education class brought Black history to life in a Depression-era Ann Arbor classroom.

    Complete Story
  • Language Lessons

    What do you do when the descriptions of archival collections are outdated, even racist? A new initiative at the Bentley is tackling a strategic, long-term fix.

    Complete Story
  • Seeing Stars Through the Clouds

    For both astronomers and the public, predicting the weather was long an impossible dream. That is, until U-M’s Detroit Observatory trained a man who created the weather forecast.

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  • The Business of the Hour

    Belford Lawson’s work as a lawyer and activist changed the course of civil rights in the United States. His incredible story is told, in part, through archived materials at the Bentley. 

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  • A Sporting Chance

    Women at U-M fought to have athletic facilities where they could exercise and play sports, same as the men. The battle highlights the ways in which women had to carve out spaces for themselves on campus time and again.

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  • Fields of Gold

    One researcher’s quest to resurrect a nearly extinct strain of rye seed started in the archives but quickly expanded to seed banks, national parks, a whiskey distillery, and beyond.

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