The University of Michigan student portrait collection has been brought together from a variety of sources, including the Alumni Office, the Law School, the College of Pharmacy, the Medical School and the Graduate Library. There are approximately 2000 images (formal portraits for the most part), and they have been arranged alphabetically. The dates of the photographs extend back to the 1850s, but the great bulk of the collection consists of cabinet photographs taken from the period of 1870 to 1900. The photographs consist mainly of graduation portraits, although there are also portraits or snapshots taken some time after the period when the individual attended the university. Photographs of this sort are indicated on the container listing by the notation (alumnus).
The researcher should note that this collection represents only one source of portraits of U-M students. The library has other collections with images of individual students. The researcher should first check the Visual Materials card catalog to ascertain whether or not there might be a more comprehensive collection of materials relating to an individual, such as a public figure. These larger collections are cataloged separately, and often contain portraits of individuals from their U-M days. Second, the library has a collection of class albums (cataloged as University of Michigan Class Albums) containing portraits of individuals from various classes in the 1860s, 1870s and 1880s. Not all class years are represented and not every individual in a given class is included in this collection, however. Third, the library has collections of student photographs found within the files of individual schools and departments, notably the Law School and the Medical School. Fourth, the researcher will find individual student portraits as well as class portraits within the library's photographic vertical file (filed under UBImu/F99), in both the regular (UBImus/F99) and oversize folders (UBImum/F99 and UBImul/F99). Fifth, the researcher should consult the library's file of the Michiganensian for more current photographs of students and for photographs of students as part of student organizations such as athletic teams, special interest clubs, and professional and social fraternities/sororities.
