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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Michigan’s Moderates
Fall 2021The legacies of three long-serving political giants will be the topic of scholarly debate for years to come. But as their Bentley papers show, they were all similarly “moderate.”
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What Time Is It Now?
Fall 2021A visionary academic, a knowledge-loving businessman, and new technology to plot the stars would converge on a small hill at U-M, changing Detroit—and the campus—forever.
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We Demand Education
Fall 2021Louisa Reed-Stowell was a brilliant botanist who fought tirelessly for women’s equality, especially in education. Despite her prestigious contributions in the field, U-M would discriminate against her time and time again.
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Flying Saucers and Swamp Gas
Fall 2021A rash of UFO sightings across Michigan in the mid-1960s launched investigations by the highest levels of the U.S. government. What was happening in the skies? Was it spaceships or swamp gas? The answer may depend on whose papers you peruse.
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Scratching the Surface
Summer 2021To write his new memoir, multimedia journalist and educator Harvey Ovshinsky had to research his own collection at the Bentley.
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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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