Bentley Historical Library and Ford School celebrate U.S. Rep. Sander Levin

October 17, 2019

This year, former Congressman Sander Levin donated over 700 boxes of documents to University of Michigan’s Bentley Historical Library. On October 14, the Ford School co-hosted a celebration of Sander Levin’s contribution and his years of public service. Levin currently serves as professor of practice and Distinguished Policymaker in Residence at the Ford School. The celebration included former U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (Sander Levin’s brother), U-M president Mark Schlissel, and dean of the Ford School, Michael S. Barr.

The Michigan Daily documented the celebration in an article titled “Former Congressman Sander Levin Donates Congressional Papers to Bentley Historical Library”.

“I’d especially like to thank Congressman Sander Levin for his service to the people of Michigan and to our nation,” Schlissel told the attendees, according to the Daily “That service will live on in perpetuity as he’s generously made his papers available to students, faculty and scholars by donating them of course to the Bentley Historical Library. There they can enlighten and encourage and inspire all those who read them and use them.”

Levin represented Michigan’s 17th District from 1983-1993, 12th District from 1993-2013 and 9th District from 2013-2019 and chaired the House Ways and Means Committee including during passage of the Affordable Care Act.
Dean Barr and Rep. Levin held political positions in public service simultaneously. The Daily quoted Barr as saying, “It’s been a real honor to have had a chance to work with him when I was in the government and to see firsthand the extraordinary work that he did in the halls of Congress fighting for working people, fighting for families throughout his career”.

The archives will be accessible to the public in one year.

Former U.S. Sen. Carl Levin also donated his documents to the Bentley Historical Library earlier this year.

Read the full Michigan Daily article here.

The Honorable Sander "Sandy" Levin is a professor of practice at the Ford School, with support from the Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence program. For over 35 years, Levin represented residents of Southeast Michigan in Congress. In that time, Levin was actively involved in the major debates confronting our nation including welfare reform, the auto industry rescue, China's entry into the World Trade Organization, the Iran Nuclear Agreement, and every critical economic policy issue. He chaired the House Ways and Means Committee including during passage of the Affordable Care Act, drafted the language to add enforceable labor and environmental standards in trade agreements for the first time, and successfully fought the privatization of Social Security.