Old School

  1. January 30, 2017

    John Dewey and a new perspective

    When James Burrill Angell was president of the University of Vermont, he became friendly with the Dewey family. One of the family’s sons, John Dewey, showed such promise at the University of Vermont that Angell remembered him 15 years later, when he was searching for a philosophy instructor for U-M.

  2. January 23, 2017

    Between two paintings, years of growth

    A 1907 view of the U-M campus painted by Richard Rummell, an artist well-known for his “bird’s-eye” landscapes.

  3. January 16, 2017

    MLK keynote

    In 1989, California State Assembly Speaker Willie Brown Jr. gave the opening address at Hill Auditorium as part of U-M’s celebrations honoring the great civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

  4. January 9, 2017

    President Angell’s birthday

    James Burrill Angell, the third U-M president, was born Jan. 7, 1829, in Rhode Island. Known as “Prexy” to students, he served as U-M’s president from 1871 to 1909. 

  5. December 12, 2016

    President Robben Fleming’s birthday

    Robben W. Fleming, the university’s ninth president, was born on Dec. 18, 1916. Fleming led U-M from 1968 to 1979. 

  6. December 5, 2016

    University Musical Society organ

    In 1894, the University Musical Society bought the great, 3,901-pipe organ that enthralled guests at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

  7. November 21, 2016

    Sophomore Cabaret

    Starting in the late 1920s, the Sophomore Cabaret was an annual entertainment extravaganza organized by sophomore women at the University of Michigan.

  8. November 14, 2016

    Inauguration day

    The inauguration ceremony for Harlan H. Hatcher, U-M’s eighth president, took place in November 1951. He served as president until Robben W. Fleming assumed the leadership position in 1968. 

  9. November 7, 2016

    Michigan Marching Band anniversary

    The University of Michigan Marching Band in 1897, one year after its formation and when formal uniforms were “still a thing of the future.” The band celebrates its 120th anniversary this month. 

  10. October 31, 2016

    Autumn in the Diag

    Students walk through the leafy Diag on a sunny autumn day in 1952.