Bentley Historical Library

News Stories

  • Citizen Grain

    The Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, now the Kellogg Company, evolved from a whole-scale effort to return health and vitality to illness-plagued citizens across the country. But a bitter rivalry between brothers John Kellogg and W.K. Kellogg forever altered the business and the nature of their relationship.

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  • On Top of the World

    Annie Smith Peck came to U-M just after women were admitted, and excelled in spite of prejudice against female scholars. Then, she started climbing mountains, and further redefined what most people thought women could do. Her answers to a U-M survey in 1924 reveal her determination and focus.

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  • Pearl Kendrick and Infectious Disease

    Sixty-five years ago, scientist and educator Pearl Kendrick became a lecturer in the Department of Epidemiology at U-M. It was a capstone in an incredible career that would change the landscape of infectious disease and save countless lives.

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  • Discovering African American Roots

    When U-M alumna Nicole Persley had her DNA tested, she discovered she was African American. With help from Bentley archivist Brian Williams, Persley found her paternal grandfather, Dr. Alonzo Persley — a black graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School in 1915.

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  • Supper Salad is Served!

    The Susan Wineberg cookbook collection at the Bentley Historical Library provides insight into the murky (and sometimes wobbly) depths of Jell-O salad. For any intrepid cooks who like to pair their Jell-O with, say, fish, we’ve included some old-but-bold recipes.

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  • Detroit Observatory Slated for a Makeover

    The University of Michigan Board of Regents has approved plans to renovate the historic Detroit Observatory in a $10-million project that will add approximately 6,000 square feet of space to the campus’s second-oldest building.

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  • Saving the Internet

    Since the early 2000s, the Bentley Historical Library has collected 2,255 websites comprising more than 15 million individual web pages. Join us for a Q&A with Bentley Archivist Dallas Pillen, who explains the importance of archiving websites, and how it’s done.

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