Crime was never a big problem in Ann Arbor in 1935. There were occasional break-ins, robberies, stolen vehicles, assaults, a riot or protest or two, but Prohibition was over and the gangsters and bootleggers had moved on. An Ann Arbor police officer had never been killed in the line of duty, nor even died from a horse, car, or motorcycle accident while on duty. Not even a random heart attack. Until March 21, 1935.

Music by Ben Benjamin, and Aeroc made possible by Gholicense. Additional music by Chris Bathgate.

In 1824, John Allen of New York and Elisha Rumsey of Connecticut bought up 640 acres of prime Michigan land, paying $1.25 per acre. Those 640 acres, purchased in a tiny federal land office in Detroit, would become known as Ann Arbor. This is the story of the founding of Ann Arbor and how the town grew from its ragamuffin roots into what it has become today.

Music by Chris Bathgate

Buildings by architect Albert Kahn dominate Detroit and the University of Michigan.

In this lecture and slideshow, Detroit News art critic and author Michael H. Hodges surveys Kahn’s impact on city and school, and asks why this most-prolific of designers — once world-famous — has vanished from the architectural canon.

While best known for his revolutionary factory designs, like the Packard Plant, Kahn’s non-industrial output was huge as well. In Detroit, Kahn designed the Fisher, General Motors, Argonaut, Maccabees, Detroit News, Free Press, and Detroit Trust buildings, as well as the Art Deco lighthouse at the north end of Belle Isle. At U-M, he built Burton Memorial Tower, Hill Auditorium, the Natural History Museum, West Engineering, the Graduate Library, Natural Sciences, Angell Hall, the Ferry Gate, and Clements Library (his favorite).

Michael H. Hodges covers art and area museums for The Detroit News, where he's worked since 1991. His book on Albert Kahn, which comes out in early 2017, is his second with Wayne State University Press. His first was Michigan’s Historic Railroad Stations.

In this entry of the annual Sustainable Ann Arbor series, hosted by the City and the Ann Arbor District Library, the focus will be on climate and energy. This discussion will include updates on Ann Arbor’s Climate Action Plan, an overview of local climate impacts, and sustainable programs underway at the University of Michigan.

Speakers for the Climate and Energy discussion include:

o Mike Garfield, Executive Director, Ecology Center
o Anya Dale, Sustainability Rep, University of Michigan
o Sean Reed, Executive Director, Clean Energy Coalition
o Wayne Appleyard, Chair, Ann Arbor Energy Commission
o Nathan Geisler, Energy Programs Analyst, City of Ann Arbor

The Sustainable Ann Arbor series will include four events (held monthly through April) with each focusing on a different element of sustainability from Ann Arbor’s Sustainability Framework.

At each event, a think tank of local stakeholders including representatives from community organizations,and staff from both the City of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County, will join the public to discuss local sustainability efforts and challenges in our community. Each program will include a series of short presentations followed by a question and answer session.

The forums offer an opportunity to learn more about sustainability in the community and tips for actions that residents can take to live more sustainably. Details of this series will be posted online on The City of Ann Arbor's Sustainability site. For information and videos from current and past Sustainable Ann Arbor Forums, please visit the City’s Sustainability website.

Los Lobos leaped into the national spotlight in 1987, when their cover of “La Bamba” became a No. 1 hit. But what looked like an overnight sensation to the band’s new fans was actually a way station in a long musical journey that began in East Los Angeles in 1973 and is still going strong. Across four decades, Los Lobos (Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozano, David Hidalgo, Louie Pérez, and Steve Berlin) has explored virtually the entire breadth of American vernacular music, from rockabilly to primal punk rock, R&B to country and folk, Mexican son jarocho to Tex-Mex conjunto and Latin American cumbia. Their sui generis sound has sold millions of albums and won acclaim from fans and critics alike, including three Grammy Awards.

Los Lobos, the first book on this unique band, traces the entire arc of the band’s career. Music journalist Chris Morris draws on new interviews with Los Lobos members and their principal collaborators, as well as his own reporting since the early 1980s, to recount the evolution of Los Lobos’s music.

The interview with Chris Morris was originally recorded on November 18, 2015.

Find out more about U-M architectural history and how the Michigan campus evolved when former U-M University Planner Fred Mayer visits AADL to discuss his book, recently published by University of Michigan Press: Setting For Excellence: The Story of the Planning and Development of the Ann Arbor Campus of the University of Michigan.

While there are times when the mix of old and new buildings and the chaotic activities of thousands of students can give a haphazard appearance to the university, campus planning has in fact become a highly refined form of design. This is demonstrated in a convincing fashion by this immensely informative and entertaining history of the evolution of the central campus of the University of Michigan.

By tracing the development of the Michigan campus from its early days to the present within the context of the evolution of higher education in America, Mayer provides a strong argument for the importance of rigorous and enlightened campus planning as a critical element of the learning environment of the university. His comprehensive history of campus planning, illustrated with photos, maps, and diagrams from Michigan’s history, is an outstanding contribution to the university’s history as it approaches its bicentennial in 2017. Perhaps more important, Mayer’s book provides a valuable treatise on the evolution of campus planning as an architectural discipline.

Frederick W. Mayer was the University Planner for the University of Michigan from 1968 to 2003 and served as the campus planner for the university during an important period of its growth during the late twentieth century. A Henry Rutgers scholar at Rutgers and a Sears Fellow in City Planning at Cornell, Fred was a founding member of the Society for College and University Planning and editor of Planning for Higher Education. He has written numerous articles and lectured extensively on the subject of college and university planning.

Huron High School basketball coach Waleed Samaha lead this informative program on the destructive effects of bullying. The discussion features teens and adults he has worked with to promote a safe, respectful, and positive educational environment at Huron High School and provide strategies for dealing with bullies.

This event was in partnership with the U-M Council for Disability Concerns as part of their 2015 Investing in Ability programming.

At a time when daily print newspapers across the country are failing, The Michigan Daily continues to thrive. Completely operated by students of the University of Michigan, the paper was founded in 1890 and covers national and international news topics ranging from politics to sports to entertainment. The Daily has been a vital part of the college experience for countless UM students, none more so than those who staffed the paper as editors, writers, and photographers over the years. Many of these Daily alumni are now award-winning journalists who work for the premier news outlets in the world, including Sara Krulwich, Michael Rosenberg, Laura Berman, and Rebecca “Becky” Blumenstein.

In the Name of Editorial Freedom, edited by Stephanie Steinberg, compiles original essays by some of the best-known Daily alumni about their time on staff. Stephanie Steinberg was a Michigan Daily reporter and news editor from 2008 to 2010 and editor-in-chief in 2011. She is currently an editor at U.S. News & World Report.

The interview with Stephanie Steinberg was originally recorded on November 3, 2015.

A joint collaboration between the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living and the University of Michigan produced this study on Women's Health and Disability. Women with disabilities shared their personal experiences and point of view about their health and interacting with health care providers. Themes related to personal and societal stereotypes, the need to educate doctors about their disability, needing for more information to make decisions, and environmental barriers were reflected their experiences.

This research partnership was made possible through the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research (MICHR); the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living and the University of Michigan.

Norma Green, retired farmer, and Gil Whitney, also a farmer, togther recall their work with the Land, Food, and Justice Committee, through which they organized farm tours, introduced people to their food sources, hosting potlucks and cooking demonstrations, and much more.