The Bentley Historical Library will be closed on Friday, July 4, and Monday, July 14, 2025.

 

Magazine

  • Reaching for the Stars
    Spring 2022

    In the late 1800s and early 1900s, women fought to study the stars just like their male colleagues. The Detroit Observatory was training ground for four unparalleled women astronomers.

    Complete Story
  • The Copper Line
    Spring 2022

    After copper miners went on strike in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in 1913, violence wasn’t far behind. Documents at the Bentley reveal multiple sides of a terrible conflict.

    Complete Story
  • Michigan’s Moderates
    Fall 2021

    The 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.”

    Complete Story
  • We Demand Education
    Fall 2021

    Louisa 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.

    Complete Story
  • What Time Is It Now?
    Fall 2021

    A 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.

    Complete Story
  • Flying Saucers and Swamp Gas
    Fall 2021

    A 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.

    Complete Story
  • M Glow Blue
    Summer 2021

    U-M sported a fully functional nuclear reactor, complete with a 55,000-gallon glowing reactor pool. Bentley collections help tell the story of why the reactor was built, and what happened to it.

    Complete Story