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 Sporting Chance
Spring 2024Women 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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The Business of the Hour
Spring 2024Belford 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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Fields of Gold
Spring 2024One 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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Seeing Stars Through the Clouds
Spring 2024For 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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Language Lessons
Spring 2024What do you do when the descriptions of archival collections are outdated, even racist?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.
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Picture This
Spring 2024Thousands of historical photos will soon be available digitally as part of a new effort to better serve local communities.
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Teaching Black History in the Early 20th Century
Spring 2024An adult-education class brought Black history to life in a Depression-era Ann Arbor classroom.
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