Alumni Memorial Hall

Donaldson and Meier Architects
1910; Sandstone; Memorial
Central Campus; Corner of State Street and South University Avenue

Proposals for a dignified building to be placed on campus honoring university students who had served in the Civil War was launched by an alumni group of war veterans in 1864. This “society of alumni” began a fundraising effort and although about half of the funds needed for the building were subscribed, the endeavor faltered until 1903, when it was revived in earnest. A Memorial Committee of the Alumni Association was appointed in 1904 to solicit funds for erection of a memorial building, which would be devoted to the purpose of commemorating “the names of students and members of the faculty who served or who may serve their country as soldiers and sailors in any of its wars,” as well as housing the Alumni Association, and being a gathering spot for students and faculty. The regents of the university became very active in the project, and voted substantial funds to it, as well as agreeing to provide a site on the Central Campus. At this time it was decided that in addition to its primary role as a memorial, the building would house an art gallery, as well as the Alumni Association’s offices. Construction on the War Memorial Building was begun in September 1907, and the finally named Alumni Memorial Hall was completed and dedicated in May 1910. In 1914, a large plaque designed by noted New York sculptor A. A. Weinman, was unveiled which described the purpose for which the building was dedicated. The art collections fast outgrew their space in the hall, and in 1966 the Alumni Association moved its offices out. The Museum of Art, which had been created as a separate unit in 1946, then expanded to occupy all of Alumni Memorial Hall. The dedication plaques, which were removed during a 1960’s remodeling and placed in storage, were reinstalled and rededicated in 2000. The wording of the dedication plaque indicates the building is a memorial to university men who served in the Mexican, Civil, and Spanish-American wars (all the nation’s wars between the time the university was founded and the hall erected), but the intention of the memorial hall, as specified by its founding committee, was to commemorate all university students and faculty who served their country, not only in the past, but in the present and future as well.

Plaque: “This hall erected anno domini 1909–1910 under direction of the Alumni Association by the alumni and friends of the University of Michigan is dedicated to the memory of her patriotic sons who served in three of their country’s wars, namely two in the Mexican War A.D. 1847; one thousand five hundred fourteen in the Civil War A.D. 1861–1865; four hundred twenty-six in the Spanish War A.D. 1898. A record of their names and military history is deposited in the archives of the Alumni Association. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here; but it can never forget what they did here. Lincoln at Gettysburg.”

Stamps Gallery

The Stamps Gallery is the Stamps School of Art & Design’s new exhibition space in downtown Ann Arbor, located at 201 S. Division Street on the first floor of the McKinley Towne Centre (between Liberty and Washington). With nearly 8,000 square feet of exhibition space, the Stamps Gallery will house rotating exhibitions of contemporary art and design, including work by Stamps students, faculty, and alums.

Buhr Remote Shelving Facility

The Buhr Shelving Facility supplements the storage capacity of library facilities, and prolongs the useful life of library materials in a preservation-sensitive environment. The Buhr Shelving Facility currently houses 2.5 million items.

Items at Buhr are cataloged in Mirlyn and may be requested and delivered to other campus locations via Get This. The facility also has a reading room with photocopying and scanning available for on-site use of library materials.

The Buhr Remote Shelving Facility is part of the University Library system.

Mark Chesler Library

The Mark Chesler Library Collection connects the university community to more than 1200 books, films, and journals on a wide range of topics related to social identity, multiculturalism, intergroup relations, and social justice. Useful for conducting independent research, enhancing curricular content, or simply broadening horizons, materials are available for use to the entire university community and are listed in the U-M Library System’s MIRLYN catalog.

The collection is located in Room 232 of The Program on Intergroup Relations office, 1214. S. University Ave, 2nd Floor, Suite B, and is open Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm.

The library collection of The Program on Intergroup Relations (IGR) is named in honor of Mark Chesler, Professor of Sociology Emeritus. Dr. Chesler is one of the founders of IGR. His professional and personal life exemplify IGR’s mission “to pursue social justice through education.”

Detroit Center Monts Hall Gallery

Each year, the Lester P. Monts Hall at the Detroit Center features 10 exhibitions per year featuring university, local professional, and K-12 student artists. Along with an opening reception, each show includes an artist talk or educational program related to the exhibition to foster awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the visual arts. As a public art gallery, the Detroit Center seek to provide meaningful educational encounters with visual arts, while enhancing the cultural environment of our community. Past programs have included a show featuring Jon Lockard paintings, a tribute to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, and an exhibition of the work of local Detroit artists.

Mardigian Library (Dearborn)

The Mardigian Library is an independent University of Michigan library that supports the teaching and research needs of the students, staff, and faculty of the University of Michigan Dearborn campus. For more information, contact ask-a-question@umd.umich.edu.

Biological Station Library (Pellston)

The Biological Station Library, located off campus at the Biological Station in Pellston, Michigan, has a collection of over 16,000 volumes and serves the students, faculty, and researchers who come here to utilize the facilities of the University of Michigan Biological Station. The library is one of the best among inland field stations, and is noted for its collections in limnology, ornithology, ecology, systematics, taxonomy, and natural history.

The Library also has access to all the electronic resources available through University of Michigan Library system.

For more info, e-mail biostation.librarian@umich.edu.

Thompson Library (Flint)

The Frances Willson Thompson Library is an independent University of Michigan library that supports the teaching and research needs of the students, staff, and faculty on the UM-Flint campus. The Thompson Library’s collections are represented in MIRLYN, with the location of “UM-Flint.” Please visit the Thompson Library website for details on services, staff, and resources.

Salinger Library

The Martin Salinger Learning Resource Center, located on the third floor of the Thayer Building, was established in 1985. It includes a non-circulating reference library and a reading room.(An additional collection of video and audio materials can be found in the Language Resource Center in North Quad.)

U-M Museum of Art

The U-M Museum of Art (UMMA) is one of the oldest and largest university art museums in the country. Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university’s Civil War fallen, the building originally housed U-M’s alumni office along with the University’s growing art collection. UMMA’s collections represent more than 150 years of collecting at the university, with more than 21,000 works of art that span cultures, eras, and media. The Museum hosts nearly 20 special exhibitions per year, and displays works from their permanent collection that features world renowned artists like James McNeill Whistler, Helen Frankenthaler, Pablo Picasso, Joshua Reynolds, Claude Monet, and Andy Warhol, among many others.

In addition to visual art, UMMA hosts a variety of performing arts events. The Helmut Stern Auditorium, located on the lower level of the Museum, is a state-of-the-art, acoustically superb space that seats 185, which hosts lectures, film screenings, readings, and performing arts events. The Auditorium is home to the Zell Visiting Writers Series readings and the Mark Webster Reading series—ongoing events that are free and open to the public.

UMMA hosts a variety of programs and events for all ages. Admission is free and open to the public.