Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

University of Michigan chapter of the historically Black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. The collection includes photographs, event flyers, news articles, yearbook clippings, and documents tracing chapter history.

The Alpha Kappa Alpha, Beta Eta Chapter (University of Michigan) records contain administrative documents, yearbook pages, photographs, and historical information.

Student organization at the University of Michigan established in 1968 for students of African descent. The materials in the collection include minutes, correspondence, agendas, officer reports and topical files on issues including the Michigan Mandate and the 2000 Michigamua protest. The collection also contains photographs, audio/visual recordings, Twitter posts, and event flyers.

The Black Student Union (University of Michigan) records document the various activities of the Black Student Union at U-M. Materials in this collection include agendas, budgets, correspondence, event flyers, minutes, officer reports, photographs, topical files, Twitter posts, and audio/visual recordings.

The records of the University of Michigan College Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP U-M) document the chapter's activities from 1968 to 1989, and 2017 to 2019. First established on May 8, 1951, the student chapter focuses on educating its membership and the wider university community on local and national issues related to racial injustice. This collection contains physical and digital materials that document the chapter's role in minority recruitment and retention for U-M, strengthening relations between U-M faculty, staff, and the chapter leadership, involvement in NAACP conventions, and other internal and community activities. Materials include administrative records, reports, conference materials, correspondence, flyers, clippings, photographs and video recordings, among other materials.

This collection contains physical and digital materials that document the chapter's role in minority recruitment and retention for U-M, strengthening relations between U-M faculty, staff, and the chapter leadership, involvement in NAACP conventions, and other internal and community activities. Materials include administrative records, reports, conference materials, correspondence, flyers, clippings, photographs and video recordings, among other materials. The order within each file has been maintained.

Sophia Holley Ellis is a Black University of Michigan graduate (BA 1949, MS 1950, MA 1964) and Detroit, Michigan teacher. She primarily taught for Detroit Public Schools (DPS), notably as a German teacher at Martin Luther King, Jr. Senior High School. The collection includes biographical and graduation materials, clippings, an oral history, a photograph album, papers, publications, and scrapbooks.

The Sophia Holley Ellis papers primarily documents Ellis's academic life at the University of Michigan as well as her professional life. Included in this collection are biographical and graduation materials, clippings, an oral history, a photograph album, papers, publications, and several scrapbooks.

The collections' scrapbooks will be of particular interest to researchers. Her University of Michigan scrapbook contains diplomas; photographs of students, including Ellis and her classmates, as well as events on campus; notes describing events in Ellis's personal life; correspondence and other items related to Ellis's academic career; announcements and programs of plays, performances, and other campus events; issues of student and alum publications; greeting cards; and ephemera. Also included are details of her first date; sorority pledging material, including the historically Black sorority Delta Sigma Theta (DST); and photos from a trip to Washington, DC with classmates where Ellis was excluded from some venues because of racial segregation. Her International trip scrapbook documents her travels abroad, while the National Council for International Visitors Award scrapbook highlights her receipt of the Phyllis Layton Perry Educator of the Year award in 2006.

Researchers should also consult her oral history, which was captured on December 3, 2017. During this interview, Ellis—who spoke with Kyle Whitaker and Nancy Bryk—addressed a range of topics, including her family history, early life, and experiences at the University of Michigan.