When the University of Michigan was founded in 1817 it was located in the capitol of a raw frontier territory that was yet twenty years away from achieving statehood. Much of the Michigan Territory was still in the hands of several Native American nations. Euro-American settlement was found only in the Southeast and at the Straits of Mackinac. The proper surveying of Michigan would not begin for another year. And, only five years earlier, Detroit and Mackinac had been captured and occupied by the British during the War of 1812. Establishing an institution of higher learning in this rough territory was a gamble indeed.

Brian Leigh Dunnigan, Curator of Maps at the University of Michigan's William L. Clements Library, will present a talk describing what Michigan was like when the U-M first opened its doors to scholars. Using images of original maps, art, architecture, and letters from the amazing collections of the Clements Library, he will transport you back to the Michigan of 200 years ago.