Heritage/Tradition

  1. “Insanitary conditions"

    In 1910, U-M students attended class in unventilated buildings; spit on the floors and sidewalks; and contracted tuberculosis in alarming numbers. Good times!

  2. Field of dreams

    The campus landmark that once led to Ferry Field today connects 150 years of athletics to academics, and past to present. Plus: First-known photos of U-M football.

  3. Episode 2: How one cranky grad changed U-M history, featuring James Tobin

    Sure, we know the War of 1812, but how about the War of 1817? It happened right here at U-M – in 1929. Listen in, as resident Michigan Today historian James Tobin recounts the controversy regarding the exact founding date of the University of Michigan.

  4. When animals went to school

    What is it about pranksters and our four-legged friends? More than once Michigan’s hallowed halls of learning have hosted actual asses and pigs.

  5. Episode 1: Now playing, featuring James Tobin

    Michigan Today proves truth is more poignant than fiction in our new audio feature, ‘Listen In, Michigan.’ We kick off this venture by looking into the University of Michigan’s colorful history, when outhouses still dotted the Diag and medical students knicked cadavers from the graveyard – for school, of course

  6. The last B.M.O.C.

    William “Buck” Dawson – who claimed membership in 19 student organizations (not to mention meeting Marlene Dietrich) – may have been the last of a passing breed, the Big Man on Campus.

  7. The ’50s in your ear

    Michiganensian’s short-lived audio yearbook “Memories in Sound” featured recordings of Duke Ellington’s band at J-Hop, Michigan vs. Ohio State, and more.

  8. Just nuts

    Michigan has enjoyed a very long romance with its campus squirrels, certainly since the days of the Diag as a scrubby wheat field.

  9. Baseball on the Diag

    In the years after the Civil War, springtime in Ann Arbor generated U-M’s first sporting craze: “base ball.”