Featured Events and Exhibits
We hope you will join us. Events and exhibits are always free and open to the public.
August Behind-the-Scenes Tour of the Bentley Library
- Monday, November 30, 2026
- 5:30 – 6:30 pm
- Bentley Historical Library
- In-Person
- Event
- Workshop
- Making Michigan
Events & Workshops
Our events focus on highlighting the many ways you might dig into the archives.
The Lost Campus: The University of Michigan’s Vanished but not Forgotten Spaces
- Wednesday, December 30, 2026
- 6:00 – 8:00 pm
- Judy & Stanley Frankel Detroit Observatory
- In-Person & Virtual
Past Events
TEST
- Monday, September 21, 2026
- 5:30 – 6:30 pm
- Bentley Historical Library
- In-Person
Lorem Ipsum
Archiving the World: The Bentley Library and U-M’s International Aspirations
- Thursday, April 2, 2026
- 6:00 – 8:00 pm
- Judy & Stanley Frankel Detroit Observatory
- In-Person
Go, Blue: A History of Michigan Athletics and International Travel
- Thursday, March 19, 2026
- 6:00 – 7:30 pm
- Judy & Stanley Frankel Detroit Observatory
- In-Person
A Place for Politics, Protest, & Performance: Exploring the Hidden Histories of Hill Auditorium
- Thursday, February 19, 2026
- 6:00 – 7:30 pm
- Judy & Stanley Frankel Detroit Observatory
- In-Person
The Children’s Psychiatric Hospital at the University of Michigan, 1955 – 1990
- Thursday, December 11, 2025
- 6:00 – 7:30 pm
- Judy & Stanley Frankel Detroit Observatory
- In-Person
The Edmund Fitzgerald Investigations
- Thursday, October 16, 2025
- 6:00 – 7:30 pm
- Judy & Stanley Frankel Detroit Observatory
- In-Person
Saturday Morning Physics: Thirty Years of Engaging, Educating, and Entertaining the Public
- Thursday, September 25, 2025
- 6:00 – 7:30 pm
- Judy & Stanley Frankel Detroit Observatory
- In-Person
Unboxing the Unexpected: The Notable and the Infamous in U-M’s archives
- Thursday, May 15, 2025
- 7:00 – 9:00 pm
- Judy & Stanley Frankel Detroit Observatory
- In-Person
The 1817 Project: U-M’s Origins, Indigenous Lands, and Institutional (In)Action
- Thursday, April 10, 2025
- 7:00 – 9:00 pm
- Judy & Stanley Frankel Detroit Observatory
- In-Person
History, Power, and the Stories We Tell: Making Race, Space, and Memory at Michigan
- Thursday, March 27, 2025
- 7:00 – 9:00 pm
- Judy & Stanley Frankel Detroit Observatory
- In-Person
Exhibits
Explore history through these exhibits, both in person and online.
Digital Exhibit
Constructing Gender: The Origins of Michigan’s Union and League
Gender differences are literally built into the architecture of the Michigan Union and League buildings. This digital exhibit explores the ways the in which the University envisioned separate zones of campus for men and women in the early twentieth century.
Digital Exhibit
As to the Woman Question: The Admission of Women to the University of Michigan
One hundred and fifty years ago, Madelon Stockwell became the first woman to attend the University of Michigan, but she did not arrive at this achievement in isolation. These are the stories of the pioneering women who proved they belonged at U-M too.
Digital Exhibit
Willis Ward: More Than the Game
Willis Ward is indelibly identified with the 1934 University of Michigan vs. Georgia Tech football game in Ann Arbor, during which he was infamously benched for being Black. This exhibit goes beyond the game into his rich life and legacy.
Digital Exhibit
A New Universe of Research
In the late 1800s, new technologies revolutionized astronomy. But U-M missed out – that is, until William Hussey returned to campus. Learn about the ways in which the University of Michigan returned to the forefront of astronomical research.
In-Person Exhibit
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.