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Michigan's past is at your fingertips

What will you unbox?

Read Civil War love letters. Unfurl early Michigan maps. Discover old football programs. Flip scrapbook pages with family photos.

The Bentley is free and open to everyone.

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The Archive

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The Library

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and more

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Learn

With Us

Attend events or bring your class

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To our Future

Help us keep Michigan
history alive

Ways to Donate

Storied History

Bentley materials aren't relics—they are invitations.

Each box, photograph, letter, link, and recording opens a door into lived experience, revealing how people navigated their worlds and shaped the one we inhabit today. The incredible stories discovered here become part of magazine articles, exhibits, websites, books, and more.

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Project

09/03/2026

The African American Student Project

Explore the history of thousands of African American students and their enduring legacy at U-M. This online database lists the names and years of attendance of every African American student who attended the University for any length of time from 1853-1970.

Collections Magazine Story

09/03/2026

Atomic Connections

When researcher Walt Di Mantova came to the Bentley to investigate a possible family connection to the Manhattan Project of WWII, he found more than he bargained for regarding famed physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Collections Magazine Story

09/03/2026

Playing Favorites

With more than 75,000 feet of archived materials and 340.31 terabytes of digital material—and much more—it’s challenging to pick a favorite object from the collections. Still, some special holdings have made an indelible mark on the hearts and minds of staff.

News

09/03/2026

Watcher of the Sky Exhibit

Built in 1854, the Detroit Observatory is now a museum, part of the Bentley Historical Library. Its latest exhibit, Watcher of the Sky: Making and Remaking the Detroit Observatory, explores explore the life of this historic observatory, 170 years in the making.

Collections Magazine Story

09/03/2026

A New Collection of Early Michigan Letters

Joseph Campau was Michigan’s largest and wealthiest landowner at the beginning of the 19th century. A small handful of Campau family papers were donated to the Bentley in 1979, and to find more in this vein would be a rare discovery—but that’s exactly what happened recently.

Find What You’re Looking For

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Search

The Archive

Dive into thousands of collections.

Start Your Search
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Explore

Online Material

Find digital collections accessible from anywhere.

Start Here
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Access

The Image Bank

Search archived images online.

Visit the Image Bank

Did You Know?

Did You Know?

Did You Know?

The Bentley offers both online and in-person research

You can find some material online. You can view all holdings at the library by appointment lorem ipsum lorem ipsum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna.

Did You Know?

The Bentley offers both online and in-person research 3

You can find some material online. You can view all holdings at the library by appointment lorem ipsum lorem ipsum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna. 3

Archives can be Weird

Our materials are unique, and so is the search process. These three steps can help.

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Frequently Asked Questions

New to the library? Need a specific answer about how to research or where to park? These FAQs can help.

About the Bentley

Everyone is Welcome.
That Includes You!

Sharing more than two centuries of history, the Bentley is home to the archives of the University of Michigan and one of the largest collections of materials on the history of the state of Michigan. Access is free and open to the public.

Learn more
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