Visual History of the Unions
Visual History of the Unions is an exhibition that brings together alumni and current students of the Stamps School of Art & Design to reimagine how we see and understand our campus history.
Associate Director of the Arts Initiative Alison Rivett (MFA ‘07) started the process by sharing hundreds of historical resources with fourteen Stamps artists (classes of 1982 – 2026), who chose and researched the themes that most interested them. Focusing on the histories of the Michigan Union and Michigan League, widely regarded as the symbolic heart of campus, the resulting work uncovers overlooked narratives — women gaining access to the Union, the experiences of Black students, student protest movements, and the rich history of female impersonator performances — that reveal how these landmark spaces have long been sites of identity, activism, and transformation.
The following is an overview of the artists’ interpretations of the history of the Michigan Union and League:
Melanie Manos (MFA ‘08)
Melanie Manos has been researching the roles of women at the University of Michigan for a few years already for a larger body of work. She looked more closely at Dr. Eliza Mosher, first woman professor and first Dean of Women at the University of Michigan, who advocated for a “space for women,” which would eventually be the Michigan League.
Historical reference: Tradition Broken by Freshman Co-Ed (1932)
Katie Shulman (BFA ‘10)
Katie Shulman connected her own experience as a recent new mother to an event held in the League in 1963 – “The City Salute to Working Women.” One of the speakers, Debra Bacon, was a Dean of Women at U‑M, whose talk was about automation and how it’s changing the lives of women. Bacon emphasized that women won’t be making these new machines, but will have to work with them. Her talk took Shulman back to the invention of the breast pump, which has turned women into machines, and allowed them to be in the workforce.
Historical reference: City ‘Salute’ to Working Women to Include Varied Special Events (1963)
Angel Manson (BFA ‘22)
Angel Manson was interested in portraiture and how it contributes to how some images get to be immortalized. Manson chose three past students and will style them similarly to the older portraits in the Union already, as digital prints. They want students to see themselves in these people – – people in U‑M’s early history who look like them; people of color, queer people, were there. Students defying gender roles so long ago is inspiring.
Historical reference: Diversity in Student Life
Katie Hammond (BFA ‘04)
Katie Hammond created a portrait of Lionel “Mike” Ames, the most celebrated of the female impersonators of the Vaudeville-era operettas performed in the Michigan Union. These were fundraisers for the Union itself, and, because the Union was a mens-only club, all of the women’s roles were performed by men. This topic is timely because gender exploration is in the news again today.
Historical reference: “Our Handsomest Girls Are Men”
Abigail Lowe (MFA ‘24)
I chose a reference to a notice of the death by heart attack of John G. Frey while at work at the Union, where he was a janitor, in August of 1943. I was interested in the fact that there is not much archive about him, compared to other people represented in the Union’s memory – he left a faint trace compared to them. I am using drawing, which is a slow, tedious process, to do a close reading of what I could find about him, as 25 small images.
Historical reference: John G. Frey (1943)
Martyna Alexander (BFA ‘12)
Martyna Alexander depicted the swimming pool that used to be in the Union when it was first built in 1925; until 1966. It was the main campus pool, where swim meets were held. She is interested in the ways that sports spaces arrange humans into patterns of movement.
Historical reference: History Lessons: A Pool Resource
Ellie Lee (BFA ‘26)
Ellie Lee decided to try to show the entire history of the Michigan Union, as represented by stories that made it into the news; or what media in the past chose to highlight. She wanted to create a large-format piece, as a personal challenge. The piece shows certain trends of what was happening at different times, such as periods of more protest, political environment, or even famous visitors. Lee finds it interesting to see Michigan putting effort into documenting these histories, at a time when other universities are trying to cover up the past.
Historical reference: Resources: Visual History of the University Unions (Union and League)
Nick Azzaro (BFA ‘04, MFA ’22)
Nick Azzaro used a quote by a professor of the early 20th century and his call for support to raise this building, who wanted it to be bigger than any other Union, and talks about how inclusive it is for men – for Michigan men. This statement, once accepted, today, it made Azzaro wonder, “What things do we still see today that were accepted in the past?” He wanted to highlight the importance of the Union but recognize the influence of things that have been said and the actions folks may take in accordance with those formerly accepted ideas.
Historical reference: The University of Michigan, an encyclopedic survey
Mellisa Lee (BFA ’22)
Mellisa Lee wanted to work with some aspect of the Vietnam War protests at U‑M. She admires the student and teach-in protests because they’re a form of peaceful protest through education. Lee’s piece uses the form of a paj ntaub, a traditional textile art and needlework form of the Hmong people. It’s a form of art Lee’s mom taught her to do, which she learned while in refugee camps.
Historical reference: ‘Bomb Craters’ Filled in By U‑M Personnel (1972); Teach-in on Policing (1990); The First Teach-In
Mary Hafeli (BFA ’82)
Mary Hafeli was intrigued about the presence and absence of women at the Union. She did a lot of additional research at the Bentley Library, looking back as far as 1904 in meeting minutes, some of which are handwritten on onion-skin paper, of the Union’s Board of Directors. She found many references but they did not appear to get at the reason for their resistance. They would wonder whether women, if given access, could use the billiards room, instead.
Historical reference: Tradition Broken by Freshman Coed (1932)
Sally Clegg (MFA ’20)
Sally Clegg created a lenticular print inspired by what she sees as the parallel stories between a student from 1939 and another student today. Ben Michalsky and Clegg recreated the 1939 photo of Alice Freyer and her award-winning sculpture to compare the experiences of art students across time.
Historical reference: Alice Frayer With Her Sculpture ‘The Spirit of the Snow’, May 1939
Toby Millman (MFA ’07)
Toby Millman created a documentary quilt – a direct interpretation of a photograph taken by one of her students. She looked at the archive of material about the history of the Unions and realized that student activism occurred throughout that history. She appreciates that the Union is a space for students.
Alison Rivett (MFA ’07)
Alison Rivett has long been interested in the ways history gets oversimplified. For the Unions, we distill history to JFK’s announcement of the Peace Corps, and MLK’s visit. But, many other interesting things have happened at the Union, from the everyday or mundane to the noteworthy.
Historical reference:
Liz Barick Fall (BFA ’88)
Liz Barick Fall’s mother went to the University of Michigan before women were allowed inside the Union, and Fall was here just after and spent a lot of time there because she lived in West Quad. Her four daughters went here as well. Fall used family memorabilia to reflect on university life for women as political and cultural trends change over time.
Visual History of the Unions is supported by a 2024 Inclusive History Project Research & Engagement Fund grant. The exhibition is on view Thursday, November 6, 2025 — Wednesday, December 17, 2025 in the Michigan Union’s Opera Lounge (First Floor).