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INDEX
Vol. CXXX, No. 85
©2022 The Michigan Daily
N E W S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
STATEMENT.............4
O PIN IO N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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UMich African American Student
Project launches Black student
database through 1970
Academic achievement, extracurricular involvement and housing information
now available for all Black students enrolled at the University through 1970
The
University
of
Michigan
recently announced the launch of a
new public database of Black students
who attended the University from
1853 through 1970. The database,
searchable by factors like enrollment
years, hometown, college or graduate
school and extracurricular activity
involvement, is the first centralized
compilation of its kind at the
University.
Angela
Dillard,
History
Department Chair and a member
of the Bentley Historical Library
executive committee, said the concept
of a centralized database in part grew
out of the Being Black at the University
of Michigan movement (#BBUM)
beginning in the fall of 2013.
“There was a list of demands on the
University that student activists put
forward and one of them was more
help in understanding the archival
records associated with African
American students, in particular, at
the University,” Dillard said. “All of
this stuff has always
been over at the
Bentley
Historical
Library … But I think
what student activists
wanted
was
help
making sense of it.”
This helped spark
the creation of the
African
American
Student
Project,
which is working to
uncover the histories
of
Black
students
at
the
University.
From the first Black
student enrolled in
the University in 1853, to those that
enrolled through the year 1970, the
Bentley Historical Library collected
records of various aspects of student
life
like
academic
achievement,
extracurricular
involvement
and
housing.
Terrence
McDonald,
Bentley
Historical Library director and history
professor, said they began by looking
at U-M and U-M-affiliated records,
such as enrollment information and
student directories published by The
Michigan Daily. They then expanded
into
census
records,
genealogy
software and other methods to help
confirm a person’s identity with at
least two sources.
Brian Williams, assistant director
of the Bentley Historical Library
and archivist for University history,
said this database provides a new,
innovative way to understand the
Black experience of U-M history.
“The key thing is that it’s a database
that can be queried and data could be
shown in different ways, visualized
(in)
different
ways,”
Williams
said. “We’ve put this together and
encouraged people to use it (in) all
Michigan ballot initiative
for abortion access gathers
nearly 800,000 signatures
Ballot initiative to amend the Michigan Constitution
to protect abortion rights only needs signatures to be
verified to be included on November ballot
At a city council meeting Tuesday,
Councilmember Linh Song, D-Ward
2, co-chair of the Reproductive
Freedom for All ballot initiative,
claimed that the initiative had
reached almost 800,000 signatures
— nearly double the required number
to be put onto the ballot in November.
Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned
Parenthood v. Casey (1992) were
overruled by the Supreme Court
in June, ending federal protection
of abortion rights and returning
the decision on whether or not
to continue supporting access to
abortions to the states. In Michigan,
a preliminary injunction against a
1931 abortion ban currently protects
abortion access throughout the state,
but conservative activists sought
to have the injunction overturned
in May, and two prosecutors in
Michigan have stated that they will
enforce the ban regardless of the
injunction.
SAMANTHA RICH
Summer News Editor
RILEY HODDER
Summer Managing News Editor
The Reproductive Freedom for
All ballot initiative seeks to have the
Michigan
Constitution
amended
to
protect
healthcare
providers
and the right to multiple forms of
reproductive healthcare, including
abortion. The initiative needed just
over 425,000 signatures to earn itself
a spot on the ballot this November.
Song stated that nearly 800,000
signatures have been collected for
the ballot initiative, and thanked
those who worked to gather those
signatures.
“Many thanks to community
members who went to great lengths
to collect signatures at every public
event, on their own block, having
these discussions with neighbors and
understanding that this is truly an
issue about the health and safety of
women,” Song said.
The ballot initiative needs to have
its signatures verified by the Bureau
of Elections and the Board of State
Canvassers before it will officially be
included on the ballot.
kinds of different ways to find different
stories … It’s something we couldn’t do
before.”
The project also emphasizes the
history of housing segregation in
Ann Arbor and at the University. In
a data visualization on their website,
the project team created a map of the
city of Ann Arbor, including the U-M
dorms, using the housing records of
African American students. The map
allowed them to understand patterns
of segregation at the time and after the
desegregation of Ann Arbor and the
University — trends that continue to
impact Washtenaw County today.
McDonald said creating an all-
encompassing database can redirect
attention from the “pioneers” of
history, such as the first African
American student to attend the
University, to broader institutional
patterns.
“The issue at the core of the project
is this: how can you shift the focus
of historical knowledge from the
so-called ‘pioneers’ to the next 100, the
next 1,000, the next 2,000?” McDonald
said. “The patterns of people when
there’s a large number tell you
something
about
the
institution,
whereas the focus
on pioneers tells you
something
about
individuals.
And
most organizations
in American society
should
(focus
more) on the larger
numbers and less
on the pioneers in
many ways.”
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