U-M Civil War exhibit opens Sept. 25 at Detroit Observatory

A free exhibit on how the Civil War reshaped the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor opens Sept. 25 at the Judy and Stanley Frankel Detroit Observatory.

"Fill the Ranks": The Civil War and the University of Michigan spans two floors of the 1854 observatory at 1398 Ann Street. It features battlefield journals, recruitment banners for local regiments and a leather-bound roster listing all 1,804 U-M students who fought for the Union, according to the Bentley Historical Library.

The exhibit draws on diaries, letters, newspapers and photographs from the Bentley's collections. Digital animations and interactive elements accompany the artifacts. Interpretive panels trace how students debated the issues splitting the country and sometimes ended up on opposite sides of the battlefield.

"These were not academic issues for the students, as the vast majority of them were eligible to fight," said Gregory Parker, director of the Detroit Observatory. "… They faced a fundamental question: Would they put their lives on the line for their beliefs?"

By the war's end, U-M had grown into the largest institution of higher education in the country, according to the Bentley. It was still restricted to white men. The exhibit also examines the post-war period, when women and African Americans pushed for a place on campus as the university confronted questions of citizenship and equality during Reconstruction.

Sophia Grant, a third-year University of Michigan law student and observatory docent who helped shape the exhibit, said the project gave student researchers a hand in deciding what stories to tell. Grant said the docents worked to center Reconstruction-era stories that often go untold in broader Civil War narratives.

The Bentley Historical Library's archivists and conservator worked alongside observatory staff and student docents to build the show. The Inclusive History Project, a U-M presidential initiative announced in June 2022, and the U.S. at 250 program both supported the exhibit.

Tours and guest speakers are planned, though specific dates have not been announced.

The exhibit runs through July 2, 2027. Public hours are noon to 5 p.m. Thursdays, noon to 11 p.m. Fridays and noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free.