Celebrating 200 Years

2024 is the 200th anniversary of the founding of Ann Arbor, and our community has come together in a big way to recognize many of the milestones that make our city unique. We would like to direct you to two online sources of historical information; both sites delve deep into Ann Arbor’s past.

The first is the official bicentennial site, https://www.a2bicentennial.org. Browsing the site you will find a rather detailed timeline of the city, smartphone self-guided tours, a schedule of events, plus much more. The Bicentennial Committee was established in 2022, and they have done an excellent job of researching and highlighting notable events through the years.

Another online resource can be found on the Ann Arbor District Library’s website. With the closing of the Ann Arbor News in 2009, thousands of articles and photos from the A2 News were donated to the Ann Arbor District Library. Many of these materials have been scanned and uploaded to their website, and are fully searchable. Go to https://aadl.org/archives and do a Local History search; we think you’ll be impressed with the results.

Judy Hindal Jahnke is one of our newest Reunion Committee members, and she has written a brief article about the history of Ann Arbor, titled “Back in My Day.” We have published it on our class website; you can find it here.