Picture this!
The Bentley Historical Library’s Image Bank just expanded its online database by more than 17,000 new (actually, old) photos. This digital treasure trove includes vintage shots from Michigan Athletics, The Michiganensian, student photo albums, and more. Most downloads are free. Some images may have copyright restrictions. Enjoy this visual trip through U-M history — just in time for the University’s Bicentennial in 2017. (Text by Lara Zielin.)
-
Arc of a diver
Julie Bachman was a U-M history major and a varsity diver at Michigan from 1977-81. She won two National Collegiate titles, one AAU title, and four Big Ten titles. This 1979 photo is by Robert Kalmbach, a U-M staff photographer who covered Michigan athletics from 1969-2001.
-
Hoop dreams
An unidentified woman hula-hoops on the Diag, circa 1970. This picture is part of the University of Michigan News and Information photo series, which contains thousands of images from U-M news stories dating back to 1946.
-
Miller time
When he was a U-M student, Arthur Miller, BA ’38, majored in journalism, worked for The Michigan Daily, and won two Hopwood Awards for his plays No Villain and Honors at Dawn. He posed for this photo in 1949 (the same year he wrote The Crucible). The image comes from the Bentley’s Alumni Association records.
-
Bromance
When U-M alumnus and legendary journalist Mike Wallace died in 2012, his collection of papers came to the Bentley, including this image of him with Larry King, which is inscribed, “Mike, I love you. Larry.” Wallace was an enthusiastic and generous supporter of U-M’s Knight-Wallace program, endowing an investigative reporting fellowship and donating an additional $1 million to the program. Wallace also gifted the University with a house, which serves as the program’s headquarters.
-
Hear me roar
Alice Hamilton had her “portrait made” as a member of the Medical School class of 1893. Hamilton was a pioneer in occupational medicine, a resident of the Jane Addams Hull House in Chicago, and in 1919 became the first woman appointed to the Harvard faculty.
-
Opening day
When Michigan dedicated its new stadium on Oct. 20, 1927, Ann Arbor’s Ivory Photo — a local photography studio — was right there. A crowd of nearly 85,000 fans watched Michigan down the Ohio State Buckeyes 21-0.
-
Say it loud
In March 1970, Black Action Movement (BAM) students protested on campus to address a lack of diversity at U-M. They demanded that the administration increase minority enrollment, increase financial aid to incoming minority students, and establish a Black Student Center. The University of Michigan’s William Monroe Trotter House (now known as the Trotter Multicultural Center), grew out of that movement. Doors opened in November 1971.
-
Build me up
The is a view of campus from State Street, circa 1863. The two matching buildings (far right) are North Wing and South College, built in 1841 and 1849, respectively. In the center of the image is the original Law Building, completed in 1863.
-
Pick up the pieces
In 1925, renowned architect Albert Kahn designed a state-of-the-art, 700-bed hospital for U-M. The building was demolished in 1989 (pictured here) and replaced by a new 11-story, 550-bed general University Hospital. Only the entrance façade of Kahn’s original building survived.