Politics and Processions
On Courthouse Square


In October 1900, Democratic Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan visited Ann Arbor and came to the courthouse to deliver a campaign speech. As soon as Bryan was introduced, a group of several hundred university students began taunting and heckling the famous orator.

He appealed to the students to let him speak: "I shall be glad to talk to you if you are willing to listen. I can't talk unless you will."

Eventually, Bryan gave up trying to quiet the verbal barrage from the raucous crowd, and the speech was canceled.

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SPONSORED BY THE ANN ARBOR AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
PHOTOS COURTESY OF WYSTAN STEVENS AND THE BENTLEY HISTORICAL LIBRARY

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