The Michigan League

When today’s students pull open the manorial oak doors of the Michigan League and walk into the lobby for the first time, most are only peripherally conscious of a feminine grace in the architecture and interior design that is unlike any other building on campus.  Some will notice the golden hues of the Pewabic tile floors and many will admire the carved wall paneling, but few will realize that the pleasing dimensions and the warm elegance of the building are no accident.  They are the direct result of the hard work, oversight, dedication and contributions of hundreds of University women in the 1920s.  

Nor will most be aware that the history of the League, which was built by and for UM women, is, to a great extent, the history of women at Michigan.  Even the League’s shift in the late 1960s from being the focal point for women’s activities on campus to its current role as a renowned conference facility is a reflection of the changes in UM women’s lives as the century advanced. 

To remedy that gap in institutional memory, in the year 2000, five teams of volunteer researchers plunged into five decades of Michigan League and Alumnae Council minutes, boxes of files in the Bentley Library as well as bound copies and microfiches of The Michigan Daily, The Ann Arbor News and the Michigan Alumnus magazine, to try to recapture some of the rich detail of the life of the League. In many instances, the research triggered fond memories for the volunteers as well as some surprises.   The information they gathered was voluminous and necessarily compressed in the editing process.  

Herein are sketches of the living past, filled with nostalgic records of afternoon teas, evening balls, and junior girls’ plays in the ‘20s and ‘30s, and wartime fundraisers and cabarets in the ‘40s.  The chapters also reflect the debate on campus and in the nation about women’s roles, rights and responsibilities in the late 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s.   While the 1960s debate over women’s curfews and dress may seem like a tempest in a teapot in retrospect, the relaxation of rules and traditions that ensued was a harbinger of future opportunities and increased equity for women.