Twice each year, the Bentley Historical Library produces Collections, a 24-page magazine dedicated to showcasing the very best of the Bentley. We welcome you to browse the full publication through our PDF reader or click through individual stories below. You can also access the magazine’s archives by clicking here. If you are interested in subscribing, please email editor Lara Zielin at laram@umich.edu.
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A Dangerous Lady
Spring 2025Records show how Lucinda Hinsdale Stone’s tireless advocacy for women’s education, even in the face of adversity, changed women’s lives at U-M and across the state of Michigan.
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War is a Colossal Mistake
Spring 2025U-M’s ninth president opposed the U.S. war in Vietnam. His papers at the Bentley reveal how his experiences in an earlier conflict showed him firsthand the tragic loss of young people.
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Playing Favorites
Spring 2025Staff from the archives at the Bentley share the special holdings that have made an indelible mark on their hearts and minds, with some of their favorite pieces of Michigan history.
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I Know This Place
Spring 2025A visiting researcher from the University of the Philippines has found significant documents—and locations—in Bentley collections, including photos that show the aftermath of World War II.
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Sleuthing the Story Behind a Photo
Spring 2025An unusual picture sparked a quest to find answers that started at the Bentley, and took researcher Edward Mears across the world, searching for details about his grandmother’s life at U-M in the 1930s.
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Could U-M Have Been In Ohio?
Fall 2024Bentley 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.
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Patriotism at Freeman Field
Fall 2024Archived 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.
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