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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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M Glow Blue
Summer 2021U-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.
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From the Top
Summer 2021Early aerial photos of U-M’s campus were taken by an aviation pioneer.
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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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