#TBT to this early view of Hill Auditorium!

Hill Auditorium was first dedicated on this day over 100 years ago! The ceremony was held on Alumni Day during U-M`s commencement week in 1913, alongside alumni receptions, baseball games, and class reunions.

It began with a bugle call, and included a grand parade! 🎺 According to the Michigan Daily at the time, the Hill Auditorium dedication parade featured “faculty, regents, and distinguished guests” from “universities all over the globe,” followed by hundreds of alumni.

"On either side marched a guard of honor composed of 100 seniors, each carrying a Michigan flag,” the Michigan Daily reported. “Behind came graduating classes attired in caps and gowns and headed by a drum corps."

You can find more historical photos of Hill Auditorium in the archives at the Bentley with collections like the U-M Photograph Vertical Files and the Ivory Photo Collection, both featured here.

Anyone is welcome to visit and view photos like these in our reading room, and you can also explore historical photos of Ann Arbor with the digitized Ivory Photo Collection online!

#OTD #AnnArbor #HillAuditorium ...

#OnThisDay in 1972, Title IX opened the door for women’s varsity sports at U-M! In honor of the landmark moment when Title IX was signed into law, here’s a look back at U-M women’s athletics in the 1970s.

This was a pivotal time for women’s sports at the University of Michigan. U-M women’s varsity teams for field hockey, volleyball, basketball, synchronized swimming, tennis, and swimming and diving all started in the 1973/74 academic year!

That decade would go on to see the start of women’s varsity teams for gymnastics, golf, softball, track, and cross country. More teams were added as the years went by, including sports such as soccer, rowing, water polo, and lacrosse.

You can learn more about how women’s sports at U-M have changed over time with the article “Equal Footing” by Katie Vloet on the Bentley’s website. This article features our amazing volunteer Alyce Sigler, who was a top U-M athlete when she was a student, and who now researches Title IX in the archives!

Are there any women’s sports at U-M whose history you’d like to know more about? Let us know!

#TitleIX #OTD #1970s #WomensAthletics ...

In honor of Juneteenth, meet Henry Lincoln Johnson, one of the many U-M alumni impacted by the history of slavery.

Born in Georgia to parents who had been formerly enslaved, Johnson earned his Bachelor`s degree from Atlanta University, then traveled to Michigan to study law in 1890. He arrived in Ann Arbor many years before the Law Quad ever existed.

The early Law building, where he attended classes, was located near the corner of the Diag between South State Street and North University Avenue. As one of few Black students at U-M at the time, his time here was likely a lonely experience. Despite this, he was a dedicated student, and was later well known for his skills as a persuasive public speaker.

After graduating in June of 1891, Johnson went on to become the first Black lawyer to practice in Jackson County, Georgia, and an influential politician.

He was appointed by President Taft as the Recorder of Deeds for the District of Columbia. However, when he was renominated as Recorder of Deeds in 1920, his nomination was defeated due to a vocal group of white politicians who resented his influence.

He went on to push back against discrimination in the court of law on behalf of many Black defendants who faced biased accusations.

Today marks the anniversary of the day enslaved African Americans finally gained freedom. On this day, we remember Henry Lincoln Johnson, and everyone harmed by the legacy of slavery.

#Juneteenth #BlackHistory #UMich #AlumniHistory #1890s ...

The Power Center for the Performing Arts is a beloved Central Campus building that hosts all kinds of shows!

But did you know that the Power Center parking structure is also where the "Top of the Park" concert series started in Ann Arbor over 40 years ago?

Ann Arbor locals may remember walking up to the top of the parking structure next to the Power Center, and sitting in metal folding chairs to watch open-air screenings of movies and live music!

There, interrupted only by the occasional low-flying plane or scattered rain shower, they would watch Charlie Chaplin films and modern movies, enjoy things like jazz performances, and have what the 1985 Michigan Daily called "a pretty grand time."

In 2006 Top of the Park moved to the wide expanse of Ingalls Mall due to construction on the parking structure. The larger space proved useful for this growing celebration, and Top of the Park can still be found on Ingalls Mall this year. You might know it as the outdoor portion of the Ann Arbor Summerfest, or A2SF!

You can find this photo of the Power Center, and others like it, in the News and Information Photograph Collection at the Bentley Historical Library, which anyone is welcome to explore in our reading room.

You’re also welcome to re-create historical photos from the archives, among other fun activities, at the A2SF booth for U-M’s historic Frankel Detroit Observatory this afternoon, June 18, starting at 5:00 PM in the Annex near North University Avenue!

#AnnArbor #LocalHistory #TBT #PowerCenter #TopOfThePark #A2SF #AnnArborSummerfest ...