Roger Wilkins, BA ’53/JD ’56/HLHD ’93, was a civil rights activist, professor, journalist, and member of the LBJ administration. But as a U-M student, this future leader’s grades were unimpressive, so he asked why he’d been admitted to the Law School. The answer surprised him.

U-M’s Clements Library holds some 60,000 picture postcards dating to the late-19th/early-20th centuries. Vintage photos and scrawled notes open a fascinating window into Michigan’s past. Help make this historic trove digitally searchable.

Shirley Wheeler Smith was Michigan’s classic behind-the-scenes man in 1949 — chief financial officer, liaison to the Regents, and all-around troubleshooter — until he wrote an ‘America’s-Pastime’ story that took him to Hollywood.

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.

The Michigan Union button, a tiny symbol of loyalty pinned to the lapel, once held tremendous power for alumni. One 1904 graduate traveled around the world to replace the button he lost in World War II.

In 1965, U-M professors took the lead in stirring national opposition to the war in Vietnam. Their example inspired a new form of campus protest nationwide.

On a sad day in November, U-M foresters felled the Diag’s decayed ‘Tappan Oak,’ so named by the Class of 1858. But thanks to a solitary student, that is not the end of the story.

Herb Elfring, BS ’50, is one of the few remaining survivors of Japan’s 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. At age 99, the Army radar specialist remembers this ‘day that will live in infamy’ as though it happened yesterday.

No, it wasn’t designed as a fortress against student radicals. But it could have been, based on architect Alden Dow’s ‘Michigan Modern’ aesthetic. The administration’s homely headquarters has gained few admirers since opening in 1968; now it’s staring down the wrecking ball.