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Finding Law School and UM Yearbooks and Directories: Photos

About

This guide describes how to find, view, and obtain copies of composite class photos of Michigan Law School graduating classes. These are large photos composed of individual photographs of the faces of Michigan Law students and faculty who taught them.

Origin: The Michigan Law School produced composite class photos of the graduating class, together with some or all members of the faculty, from 1875-1966. Participation was apparently voluntary, and not all students and faculty are in a given photo.

Scope: Both hard copy and digital versions of the photographs are available, except that none are available for the classes of 1860-1874, 1876, 1878, 1883, 1944-1947, 1959, and 1965.  After 1966, the School produced the annual Face Book, held in hard copy in the Law Library (in the underground Smith Addition).

Viewing Photos

Online

  1. On the Law School’s History and Traditions website, in the part of the Student section that is organized by year of graduation.  A “browse year”search box appears with a pull down from which you can select the year of the graduating class you want to see.  If you do not know the year in which the student graduated, use the alphabetical list of graduates to identify the year.

  2. On the Bentley Library Image Bank.  On the top line of that page, SEARCH THIS COLLECTION/BROWSE, click on TITLE.  When the next page appears, use the search box to the left of the BROWSE button.  Type CLASS OF [4 digit year], then the BROWSE button, to see whether there is a photo for that year.  Or, type CLASS, then the BROWSE button, to see a list of all class photos, not just those from the Law School.  Select the photo you want and click FULL RECORD. Use your computer’s software to edit the photo. Notice the beige bar at the top, which enables you to toggle between full image and description. *Bentley staff will need the “BL” number to locate the photograph.

 

Hardcopy photos are available for you to look at in two places:

  1. Law Library Circulation Desk (734-764-4252)
  2. Bentley Library (734-764-3482)

Obtaining Copies

  1. From the Bentley Library. Call 734-764-3482, or use their website.

  2. From the Law Library’s History and Traditions website: Copy the photo to your computer. Use your computer’s software to edit and then print the photo. Or, copy the photo to a portable data device and take it to a commercial photo store for printing. Or, email the copy to a commercial photo store for printing.

Need Help?

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This guide was created by Michigan Law Librarians.

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