History
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January 20, 2014
Janitor and bell ringer
William Bliss Jolly spent 10 years working as a janitor and bell ringer for U-M in the mid-1800s, but he dressed more like a statesman than a janitor.
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January 10, 2014
MLK at U-M
In November 1962, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke from the stage at Hill Auditorium to an audience. He also spoke before a small gathering at the Michigan Union during his visit to campus.
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December 16, 2013
Boiler Rats
The Central Power Plant was erected in 1914. Coal was delivered to the plant by a small locomotive towing a coal car and was shoveled by hand by staff members known as stokers or “boiler rats.”
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December 9, 2013
Missing statue
A plaster cast of the Winged Victory of Samothrace was exhibited in Alumni Memorial Hall through the 1920s, then relocated to University High School, now the School of Education building. It was reported missing in the 1960s.
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November 25, 2013
President Ford returns
In November 1977, alumnus and former President Gerald R. Ford viewed the site and blueprints for the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library on North Campus.
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November 19, 2013
New website celebrates staff contributions to U-M history
The new Stories of the Staff project celebrates the contributions of U-M staff members, current and past, to the university’s history, and provides a venue for collecting stories about staff members who have helped make U-M great.
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November 18, 2013
Past traditions
In 1876, students pose at a smoker’s club gathering. Smokers were social events that became popular in American universities near the beginning of the 20th century, specifically among male students. Female students were known to hold smokeless smokers.
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November 4, 2013
First woman
U-M professor Elzada Clover made history as the first woman to navigate the notoriously treacherous Colorado.
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November 4, 2013
Exhibit presents Jewish cookbooks’ contributions to American cuisine
Jewish cookbooks from 50 states, including the first one printed in America and the first Jewish charity cookbook in Detroit, are part of the Hatcher Graduate Library exhibit “American Foodways: The Jewish Contribution.”
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October 28, 2013
Future cyclist
In 1895, a boy poses on a bicycle in front of Michael Staebler’s bicycle shop on West Washington near Central Campus.
