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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Digitization by the Numbers
Summer 2021New digital collections have transformed research and teaching, and made the history of the University of Michigan much more available to the world.
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Black and Blue
Summer 2021Willis Ward was a celebrated U-M athlete. Interviews and papers from the Bentley reveal Ward’s experiences on a campus that thought itself progressive, but in reality was highly segregated.
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Michigan’s “Black Bart”
Summer 2021How a stagecoach robber and murderer was brought to justice, and how the details of the case — including a one-of-a-kind photo — made it to the Bentley.
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It Was a Man’s World
Summer 2021In the early 1970s, government pressure was mounting for U-M to give women a level playing field on campus, but the University’s all-male administration was slow to act. A group of determined women demanded accountability and action.
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The Great Debate
Summer 2021In April 1920, two leading astronomers met on stage in front of a packed audience at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, defending their respective “models” of the universe.
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From the Top
Summer 2021Early aerial photos of U-M’s campus were taken by an aviation pioneer. by Lara Zielin When Talbert Abrams received his pilot’s license at age 21, it was signed by none other than one of the famous first-to-flight siblings, Orville Wright. Abrams, originally from Tekonsha, Michigan, enlisted in the Marine Corps during World War I, and… Complete Story
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Challenging the Interpretations of the Past
Winter 2021When the name of a building or statue is challenged, some worry that the past will be hidden, changed, or damaged, but this is not true. What is being challenged is only an interpretation of the past.
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