Meet Charlotte Brivio! ⭐ Charlotte is fascinated by the history of women`s advocacy for the right to vote. She has been exploring this amazing history in the archives as a research fellow at the Bentley!

As part of her PhD in American History at the Sorbonne Université, Charlotte is delving into the lives of women across the United States who tried to cast their votes around the 1870s, many years before women were finally granted the right to vote.

These women hoped to have their votes challenged, in order to be brought to court and argue for their right to vote, Charlotte explains. Her research reveals hundreds of women who tried to vote this way!

One of those women was Sojourner Truth, whose life Charlotte has explored in the Berenice Bryant Lowe papers here, full of newspaper clippings, letters, photos, and even a scrapbook.

Another was Nannette Gardner, a widow in Michigan who successfully voted in 1871, and whose papers contain things like a diary entry from her daughter, describing how her mother brought a bouquet and a banner to the polls.

Although this method of trying to win the vote for women is often seen as part of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton`s overall strategy, Charlotte`s research shows that it is actually also a grassroots strategy that was used independently by women across the country!

She notes that, after independent women tried to vote in this way, Stanton and Anthony would often arrive after the fact to try to claim that woman`s vote as part of their movement, sometimes without even crediting their names. Charlotte is exploring how historical media depicted this strategy for women`s right to vote in her dissertation!

Interested in learning more? Anyone is welcome to explore historical Michigan newspapers, the Nannette Gardner papers, and the Berenice Bryant Lowe papers in our reading room, which is free to visit and open to all.

#Archives #MichiganHistory #SuffrageMovement #ResearchFellow #SojournerTruth #NannetteGardner #1870s ...

Happy Birthday to the Clements Library! 🥳

An iconic building on U-M’s Central Campus, the William L. Clements Library was dedicated on this day in 1923 as a home for rare books, papers, maps, and more from early American history.

William Clements was a U-M regent who worked closely with Detroit architect Albert Kahn, the designer of many beloved buildings around campus.

When Clements gave his personal collection of historical papers to the university, along with funding for a library to house them, Kahn was his obvious choice as architect. Albert Kahn would go on to say that he wanted most to be remembered for the Clements Library. 🏦

Today, it’s home to the papers of Thomas Gage and Henry Clinton, commanders-in-chief of the British forces in North America before and during the American Revolution, 30,000 maps and plans relating to the Americas, and more!

Click through to see the Clements under construction in 1922, and discover how it looks today. Celebrate the Clements` birthday with free ice cream from Washtenaw Dairy later today, June 15, from 4-6 p.m. on the front lawn! 🍦

The Clements is open for research weekdays 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. on Thursdays, and open for exhibit viewing between 12-4 p.m.

You can learn more about the history of the Clements Library with the archived Albert Kahn Associates records and William L. Clements Library records at the Bentley Historical Library, and you can find early photos of the Clements, like these, in the Bentley’s U-M Photograph Vertical File. The Bentley`s reading room has open hours available Tuesday through Saturday, and anyone is welcome to visit.

#HappyBirthday #OnThisDay #ClementsLibrary #UMich #Dedication #CampusHistory ...

The wild turkeys are back! We spotted them sunbathing in the library courtyard this morning. ☀️

We appreciate the wild turkeys` interest in Michigan history, but they aren`t allowed inside the Historical Library, no matter how nicely they might ask.

We fear their tiny claws might poke through our historical documents. Also, they are wild birds.

You know who is welcome inside, however? Human beings like you! As long as you aren`t three wild turkeys in a trench coat, you can visit our reading room, which is open to the public.

If you spot a wild turkey outside, please maintain a safe distance, as always! ❤️🦃

#Wildlife #AnnArbor #NorthCampus #WildTurkeys ...

#TBT to U-M`s first Medical School building!

Opened in 1850, and modeled after a Greek temple, this building was home to early medical classes at U-M. When it opened, there were just five professors in the Medical School!

This picture was taken in June of 1897, over 100 years ago. The sound of a hand-held bell marked the start of class each morning at the time, and you can actually spot U-M`s bell ringer in this photo.

This building no longer exists, except in photos like this one! Today, you can find the Randall Physics Laboratory in the same spot where the old Medical School building once stood.

You can find more photos like this in the U-M Photograph Vertical Files at the Bentley, which anyone is welcome to view in our reading room!

#UMich #MedicalSchool #MichiganHistory #CampusHistory ...