For more than 100 years, Hill Auditorium has been Michigan’s most prestigious venue for rhetoric and debate. And for that same century, speaker after speaker has gripped, pounded, caressed and leaned upon an oak lectern given to the university by a class of students.
Could the Class of 1913 have known the voices of influence, controversy and power that would one day stand at this very lectern?
Looking back, it seems only fitting that a piece of furniture that would support some of society’s most provocative speakers was itself a point of contention.
Betty Friedan, who wrote “The Feminine Mystique,” gave a lecture in 1975 on the evolution of the women’s movement in the United States. (Photo by Richard Walker for the Ann Arbor News; courtesy of the Ann Arbor District Library)Activist Rennie Davis spoke at the lectern during an anti-war teach-in in 1969. A week after his appearance at U-M, Davis went on trial as a member of the “Chicago Seven,” charged in connection with violent protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. (Photo courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library) In March 1970, Ralph Nader visited Hill Auditorium as part of the “Give Earth a Chance” teach-in organized by U-M students. (Photo courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library) Martin Luther King Jr. delivered two addresses at Hill Auditorium in November 1962. Today, speakers stand at the same lectern to honor King’s legacy at U-M’s annual MLK symposium each January. (Photo courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library) In April 1998, Hillary Clinton, then first lady, spoke about the value of the arts and the humanities. (Photo by Francisco Kjolseth for The Ann Arbor News; courtesy of the Ann Arbor District Library) Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Laureate, spoke at Hill when he was the inaugural recipient of the Raoul Wallenberg Medal in September 1990. (Photo courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library) U-M President Domenico Grasso spoke from the 1913 lectern during the 2026 MLK Symposium. (Photo by Leisa Thompson, Michigan Photography)Civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael, viewed from behind, standing at the lectern in Hill Auditorium on Sept. 27, 1966. (Photo courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library)
When leaders of the 1913 literary class began brainstorming about a class gift, the men suggested something for the Michigan Union. This raised the ire of senior women, who were not about to contribute money to buy a gift for a building that was reserved for men.
The women prevailed — Ann Arbor and Detroit newspapers reported on the “fine scrap” — and the seniors voted to give a reading desk for the university’s soon-to-open auditorium.
Created by Detroit architect Albert Kahn to complement the great hall he had designed, the Hill Auditorium lectern cost $250.
As a silent witness to the ideas and arguments that are the stuff of a university, however, the lectern has been priceless.
