Center for the Education of Women+ scholarship winners pose for a group photograph.
Group 26 i
Center for the Continuing Education of Women scholarship winners, 1971

The Inclusive History Project

A journey of institutional self-discovery committed to challenging our conception of the past and taking action to build a truly inclusive present and future.

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Inclusive History Project Summit 2025

Join us for the IHP Summit this Friday, April 4, 2025, on the University of Michigan-Dearborn campus! At the Summit, explore histories of inclusion and exclusion at the University of Michigan; engage in dialogue about the work of inclusive history; attend a hands-on archiving workshop; learn about research, engagement, and teaching taking place across the three campuses; and see student-led projects in a variety of forms.

Our Charge

The IHP is committed to building a project that covers the whole university and engages deeply and meaningfully across and beyond our campuses.

Research

The IHP is charged with studying and documenting a comprehensive, inclusive history of the University of Michigan that stretches across the university’s three campuses and Michigan Medicine.

Engage

Through the histories we tell and the partnerships we create, the IHP is committed to engaging with faculty, staff, students, alumni, patients, and neighbors. This broad and deep engagement is fundamental to a fuller understanding of the university’s past and its contemporary effects.

Repair

The IHP must foreground the continuing impact of the university’s history on its present, and build out from a renewed knowledge and acknowledgment of our institution’s past to make concrete commitments to reshaping its future.

Women's basketball team poses for a group photograph.
Women's basketball team, Class of 1904

University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library
People gather around tables for Passover seder.
Hillel Passover Seder, 1942

Hugh Grannum, Detroit Free Press
Ivory Photo Collection, Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan Library Digital Collections
© Regents of the University of Michigan
This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Intercultural Center staff participating in the UM-Flint Homecoming Parade, Sept. 2022
Intercultural Center staff participating in the UM-Flint Homecoming Parade, 2022

Courtesy of University of Michigan-Flint Intercultural Center
Rosa Parks receives honorary doctorate at UM-Dearborn Commencement, April 28, 1991
Rosa Parks receives honorary doctorate at UM-Dearborn Commencement, 1991

University of Michigan-Dearborn Campus Archive

 Parks was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree.

Our Origin

The IHP was announced as a presidential initiative in June 2022. It emerged in response to contexts that include the rich histories of campus activism and institutional support for efforts to advance inclusion and equity here at the university, historical name reviews that have taken place on the Ann Arbor campus over the last several years, and the broad movement of other colleges and universities to reckon with their histories. It also builds on wide-ranging efforts to study and reckon with U-M’s history that are underway on our campuses.

Drone view of UM-Flint campus in the fall, 2020
Group 26 i
Drone view of UM-Flint campus in the fall, 2020
Students crossing State Street in front of the Michigan Union on the Ann Arbor campus, 1947
Group 26 i
State Street in front of Michigan Union, 1947

A Design for the Inclusive History Project

In July 2023, the IHP’s Framing & Design Committee released a design for the IHP’s next five years that includes a research plan and priorities, recommendations for additional project activities, and an articulation of the values and commitments that must guide the IHP’s work.

Explore Our Research Plan and Priorities

The IHP is engaged in rigorous, scholarly work to study and document the university’s full history. Our research is organized by four Frames, which are essential themes that provide a structure for the project’s wide-ranging research.

U-M graduate student Austin McCoy speaking at a protest in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Group 26 i
Black activism at U-M, 2015

Updates & Events

Stay informed about events, research findings, and other project news.

Event
Come to Ann Arbor and Taste the World!
  • April 02, 2025 (7:00 pm - 9:30 pm)
  • In-Person

Come to Ann Arbor and Taste the World!

Three Jewish Food Writers on Their Time as U-M Students in the 1960s and 70s with Ruth Reichl, Joan Nathan, and Ari Weinzweig

World-renowned food writers and U-M alumni will discuss the rich cultural encounters they experienced as students in Ann Arbor and share how their time at U-M shaped their career trajectories. The conversation will explore how food and identity are tied together and how those ties have been experienced and explored by our special guests as students and in their careers.
Summit
Inclusive History Project Summit
  • April 04, 2025 (9:00 am - 5:30 pm)
  • In-Person

Inclusive History Project Summit

The IHP Summit will explore histories of inclusion and exclusion at the University of Michigan. Join us to engage in dialogue about the work of inclusive history; attend a hands-on archiving workshop; learn about research, engagement, and teaching taking place across the three campuses; and see student-led projects.
Event
Wolverine Stories Video Booth
  • April 04, 2025 (9:30 am - 3:30 pm)
  • In-Person

Wolverine Stories Video Booth

At the Inclusive History Project Summit

Step into the Wolverine Stories Video Booth to tell YOUR story about the University of Michigan!
Workshop
Our Records, Our Selves: How to Save Your History Archiving Workshop
  • April 04, 2025 (1:00 pm - 2:30 pm)
  • In-Person

Our Records, Our Selves: How to Save Your History Archiving Workshop

At the Inclusive History Project Summit

Led by archivists from UM-Ann Arbor, UM-Flint, and UM-Dearborn, this hands-on archiving workshop will share techniques for caring for physical and digital records. Learn practical skills around organizing and storage while exploring how archives protect identity, rights, and collective memory.
Event
“Uncovering: History of the Black Student Union” Film Premiere
  • April 04, 2025 (3:45 pm - 5:30 pm)
  • In-Person

“Uncovering: History of the Black Student Union” Film Premiere

Film Screening, Panel Discussion, and Afterparty at the Inclusive History Project Summit

Join the IHP for the premiere of Uncovering: History of the Black Student Union, a short documentary, directed and produced by Sydney McKinney-Williams, exploring the origins and evolution of the Black Student Union at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring individuals who appear in the film.
News
Preserving student life through film
  • Mar. 2025

Preserving student life through film

Senior Sydney McKinney-Williams explores an important part of university history with her documentary, ‘Uncovering: History of the Black Student Union,’ which debuts at Friday’s Inclusive History Project Summit.
News
Task force seeks input on process for new honorific namings
  • Mar. 2025

Task force seeks input on process for new honorific namings

The tri-campus Task Force on New Honorific Namings is seeking input from the university community as it works to develop policies and procedures for new honorific namings of facilities and prominent spaces at U-M.
Research Update
Visualizing the History of the University of Michigan’s Early Land Possessions
  • The 1817 Project
  • Mar. 2025

Visualizing the History of the University of Michigan’s Early Land Possessions

The 1817 Project research team created a visual report to contextualize U-M’s acquisition of land. The report visualizes the landholdings and links them to the treaties that dispossessed Indigenous people and made land available for purchase and settlement.
News
Extra, extra! Read all about getting UM-Dearborn history online
  • Mar. 2025

Extra, extra! Read all about getting UM-Dearborn history online

Through an Inclusive History Project grant, the Mardigian Library is digitizing more than 1,000 student newspapers for a publicly available and searchable virtual database. The project will be complete by December.
Student Opportunity
Apply for the 2025-26 Inclusive History Project Student Advisory Committee
  • Mar. 2025

Apply for the 2025-26 Inclusive History Project Student Advisory Committee

The IHP is now accepting applications for its 2025-26 Student Advisory Committee, which engages students interested in the IHP’s wide-ranging efforts to study and document a comprehensive history of the University of Michigan. Applications are due April 7.