PAST NEWS

Preserving sports history for past, present, and future Wolverines is a big part of the Bentley Historical Library’s work. But to keep sports history alive and accessible, the archive needs your help.

The Bentley Historical Library is pleased to announce that the Regents of the University of Michigan have approved Alexis Antracoli as the library’s next director. Antracoli will work with archivists and other professionals overseeing the Bentley’s vast collections.

A historian and an artist recently teamed up to create a comic book celebrating Michigan’s first-ever Pride celebration in Detroit, in 1972. “It’s my job to bring to life people we wouldn’t know about otherwise,” the author says.

A new searchable database lists the names and years of attendance of every African American student who attended the University for any length of time from 1853-1956. It includes archival materials and other data for an in-depth look at African American experiences at U-M.

What started as a routine day in the House of Representatives ended with one congressman being given a 50-50 chance at survival.

How the Bentley archived the pandemic in real-time.

Winter in Michigan is a singular experience. These archived images from across the state may have you lacing up your boots – or grabbing your sled – to enjoy the great outdoors this time of year.

Inside the Bentley Historical Library’s vast postcard collection are pictures and missives from U-M spanning the centuries. We pulled out a few postcards, and their accompanying messages, to take you back to U-M’s bygone years.

Before televangelists and megachurches, there was John Zoller, who began preaching on the radio in 1924. By the time he died in 1979, his "America Back to God" program reached hundreds of thousands of people from places as distant as South Africa.

Ocha Potter was a global adventurer and miner, with treks that took him from Anchorage to Africa. During the Great Depression, he plotted to save the economy of Michigan's Upper Peninsula through tourism. His full story, from wilderness to wealth, can be found in his papers at the Bentley Historical Library.