In 1945, Sarah Elizabeth Ray was denied passage on a ferry on the Detroit River because she was Black. She fought the injustice, became a civil rights activist, and her case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, her legacy is being preserved in a collection coming to the Bentley Historical Library.

A new database lists the names and years of attendance of every African American student who enrolled at the University between 1853-1956. It features anecdotes, autobiographies, and biographies — and reveals some significant family legacies.

When Fielding Yost infamously benched Michigan’s best player during one football game in 1934, he set in motion a one-dimensional narrative about the athlete. Now a digital exhibit at the Bentley explores Willis Ward’s expansive and complicated legacy.

College football fans now can view 420 Michigan games played between 1930-86. Originally recorded as team film, the Bentley Library annotated the silent footage to showcase specific action, including halftime shows.

Student films. Journal entries. Tributes to hospital workers. The Bentley Historical Library’s COVID-19 collection provides a poignant glimpse of the pandemic’s impact on the U-M community. Contributions are welcome.

In this episode, we visit the University of Michigan’s Bentley Library archives. ‘Michigan Today’ historian Jim Tobin reads letters, telegrams, and handwritten notes between ‘Esquire’ magazine founder Arnold Gingrich, BA ’25, and two of his quirkiest contributors: Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. If you love language, you must listen in. Utterly exquisite.

As co-founder of ‘Esquire’ magazine, Arnold Gingrich, BA ’25, was a headhunter of literature’s leading talent, from Ernest Hemingway to F. Scott Fitzgerald.

U-M recently launched a searchable database containing more than 100 years of digital copies of the Detroit Jewish Chronicle and the Detroit Jewish News.

Archive includes audio, video, and other historic assets documenting black activism and academia.