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Cinema Ann Arbor

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From the 1930s through the 1990s, Ann Arbor was home to a vibrant alternative/art/experimental film scene, led by University of Michigan student film societies. Before home video and cable movie channels caused their demise, the film societies offered Hollywood and foreign classics, curated series, and regional premieres year-round, sometimes seven nights per week. The societies also brought guests like Frank Capra, Jean-Luc Godard, Maya Deren, Robert Altman, and Andy Warhol and The Velvet Underground to town; helped launch internationally renowned festivals dedicated to 8 mm and 16 mm experimental films; supported local filmmakers with equipment and screenings; and served as a film school for future notables like Ken Burns, Lawrence Kasdan, Owen Gleiberman, and Michael Moore. 

All of this happened with minimal support or oversight from the university, and the societies’ cutting-edge programming sometimes got them in trouble. In 1967, four Cinema Guild members were arrested by Ann Arbor police for showing the “obscene” short Flaming Creatures, and there were protests and even bomb threats over screenings of the racist The Birth of a Nation, the gay-stereotyping The Boys in the Band, and the pope-condemned Hail Mary.

Ann Arbor Film Coop Film Schedule Fall 1979
Ann Arbor Film Cooperative, 1979 Fall Film Schedule

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Lectures & Panel Discussions

International Families: Communicating Across Generations, Cultural Norms, and World Views

Wednesday September 20, 2017: 6:00pm to 8:00pm
Westgate Branch: West Side Room

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Blog Post

"The Wonder of Learning" Family Day

by Beth Manuel

Saturday July 8, 2017: 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm -- James and Anne Duderstadt Center Gallery, University of Michigan and the Stamps Gallery

This event is intended for all ages!

AADL will join in on the fun along with other community partners to celebrate the importance of early childhood education, highlighting the Reggio Emilio model—a hands-on, child-centered approach to learning. Drop by and enjoy hands-on, fun activities, including a special Scent Atelier with Michelle Krell Kydd! Come and be a Scent Detective!

Yes, an actual Smell & Tell for kiddos! AADL will be there, so you know that there WILL BE CODES.

This program is in partnership with The Wonder of Learning—The Hundred Languages of Children traveling exhibit and the North American Reggio Emilia Alliance. The exhibit is on display at the U-M Stamps School of Art and Design & the James and Anne Duderstadt Center on North Campus through August 27.

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Exhibits

View Points

Tuesday June 20, 2017: 9:00am to Thursday July 27, 2017
Malletts Creek Branch: Exhibits

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Lectures & Panel Discussions

Bright Nights Community Forum: Borderline Personality Disorder, Debunking Myths, and Improving Hope

Tuesday October 3, 2017: 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

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Lectures & Panel Discussions

UMjobs.org

Thursday March 16, 2017: 6:30pm to 8:00pm
Malletts Creek Branch: Training Center

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Blog Post

Activist, Lawmaker, and Writer Tom Hayden Dies at 76

by valerieclaires

We were saddened to hear of the passing of Tom Hayden. This well-known activist and lawmaker had Ann Arbor ties from his time at the University of Michigan and his involvement in the founding of the Students for a Democratic Society.

Recently, Tom Hayden appeared at the Ann Arbor District Library in 2014 to discuss the battle against climate change. A video recording of that event can be found here.

AADL’s Old News has several articles from the Ann Arbor News archives that mention or feature Tom Hayden, including this one from 1969 about an anti-Vietnam War protest and parade he was involved in.

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Lectures & Panel Discussions

UMjobs.org

Thursday November 10, 2016: 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Malletts Creek Branch: Training Center

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Blog Post

Hugo Reichard and the Campus Radicals of 1940

by amy

Hugo Reichard

We recently stumbled upon an envelope of Ann Arbor News photo negatives from September 1940 titled “Radical Demonstration on Behalf of Dismissed Student Reinhardt," which eventually led to information on the student in question (including the correct spelling of the name): Hugo Reichard. It turns out that Reichard, along with several writers for the student-run Michigan Daily and members of the campus left-leaning American Student Union (ASU) had been ousted by U-M President Alexander G. Ruthven for “radical” and “fifth-column" activities following an April peace rally on campus - a decision that caused considerable controversy among faculty and students that year.

In November, two months after the photographs were taken, an “open hearing” on behalf of the dismissed students, sponsored by the Michigan Civil Rights Federation and the Michigan Committee for Academic Freedom, took place off campus in Ann Arbor’s Island Park. Roughly 500 people - including students, faculty, and family members - attended, where lawyers and members of the UAW-CIO excoriated Ruthven’s decision as a violation of the students' civil rights. The Ann Arbor News briefly covered the event in two articles, “Protest meeting is held at park” and “Father upsets ouster trial,” and further weighed in with an editorial on the hearing organizers' brazen use of "Marxist techniques."

Meanwhile, Ruthven defended his position in a speech in Chicago, where he advised administrative officers and professors of colleges and universities to "rid themselves of the notion that romanticism, sentimentalism, and indiscriminate tolerance are essential constituents of democracy." And on Friday, November 16, several former Michigan Daily writers, now leading newspapermen around the country, voiced their opinions on the matter during the Daily’s 50th anniversary dinner held at the Michigan Union.

With World War II raging in Europe and the United States not yet committed, these were indeed interesting times. For more on this controversial moment in U-M's history, read the 2015 article "The Doves of 1940" in Michigan Today by James Tobin.