Heritage/Tradition

  1. The Tappan Oak: A tale of life, death, and rebirth

    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.

  2. ‘This line of bullets missed me by 15 feet’

    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.

  3. Fleming Building, RIP

    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.

  4. Willis Ward: More than the game

    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.

  5. Gather and sift

    The true tale of George Koval, ‘the atomic spy in America who got away,’ makes for enthralling narrative nonfiction in the hands of a gifted writer. Learn how author/journalist Ann Hagedorn, MLIS ’75, transformed mountains of research about this ‘hero of the Russian Federation’ into a compelling page-turner.

  6. The fraternity war

    In the 1850s, students and professors went toe to toe over the advent of Greek-letter societies at Michigan, ‘a monster power which lays its hand upon every college faculty in our country.’

  7. See half a century of U-M football

    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.

  8. Bentley’s COVID-19 collection offers varied look at the pandemic

    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.

  9. ‘No laughing matter’

    Nearly 100 years before the 2020 coronavirus pandemic would unleash a wave of anti-Asian bias, a smaller but similar prejudice rippled across the U-M campus. It started with the 19th annual production of the Michigan Union Opera’s musical comedy, ‘Tickled to Death.’