Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Reports and administrative records of WPA project to survey historical records in Michigan; includes correspondence, drafts of guides to county archives, proceedings of county boards of supervisors, field reports of workers, and copies of land patents for some counties; also material relating to the history of Blacks in Michigan.

The Historical Records Survey record group documents the activities and the product of the legions of depression era workers who inventoried the records held in county courthouses, municipal offices some private repositories. The records include correspondence, drafts of guides to county archives, proceedings of county boards of supervisors, field reports of workers, and copies of land patents for some counties; also material relating to the history of Blacks in Michigan.

Originally the H.R.S. records transferred to the Michigan Historical Collections measured about 121 linear feet. After processing, the collection consisted of 26 feet of records relating to the H.R.S. and 65 feet of transcripts of county and municipal records. Of the remaining 30 feet, 29.5 feet of duplicate, extraneous, or insignificant materials were discarded (described in more detail further on) and approximately half of a linear foot of printed material was transferred to the library's printed collection.

The H.R.S. material has been divided into the following series:

1. Survey of County Records
2. Survey of Municipal Records
3. Survey of Federal Records
4. Survey of State Records
5. WPA Project Files
6. Manuscripts Survey
7. Inventory of Negro Manuscripts
8. Transcripts of County Records
9. Transcripts of Municipal Records
10. Photographs
11. Historical Records Survey Correspondence
12. Survey Forms of 1987 Survey of Records in Counties and Municipalities.

Editor of the Flint Journal. Correspondence and topical files concerning his newspaper career in Flint, the role of the Flint Journal in the development of the city, the General Motors sit-down strike of 1937, and the position of automobile industry to Flint; and photographs.

The Gorman papers reflect the relationship between a local newspaper and the community it served. The collection comprises two linear feet of correspondence and topical files from the period 1928 to 1958. Representing but a selection of Gorman's original files, this remnant appears to include correspondence which Gorman considered to be most important. The correspondence includes substantive material as well as letters of autograph value only.

The University of Michigan's first professional school; the Medical School record group includes historical and administrative records related to the school and its faculty and administrators, 1850-2010.

The records of the Medical School span over 160 years, beginning in 1850 and continuing through 2010. They include 389.7 linear feet of material, 10 oversize volumes, 9 oversize folders of miscellaneous documents, and 3.3 GB of digital material stored online. The records include dean's correspondence and subject files, executive committee minutes, faculty minutes, annual reports of departments, school accreditation and review files, a variety of special reports and studies, and extensive files on the Replacement Hospital Project (Taubman Center). The record group also contains photo prints depicting faculty, students and facilities, including a remarkable series of photographs taken by J. Jefferson Gibson circa 1893.

The Medical School records have been organized into five subgroups: Dean's Records, Subordinate Administrative Officers, Faculty Records, Audio-Visual Materials, and Miscellaneous records. Within each subgroup there are a number of series and these series may be further subdivided to reflect the date span of the records received in each accession.

The Medical School records have been received in several accessions and the physical arrangement of the records (the number order of the boxes) reflects the various installments in which they were received. The accessions sometimes reflected the tenure of a particular dean or other administrator, but frequently appear to have been somewhat arbitrary transfers of files. Records from individual subgroups, series and subseries often continue across multiple accessions--sometimes with consecutive date ranges, but often with overlapping date spans.

In this finding aid the records are described in their intellectual order -- subgroups and series are brought together irrespective of the particular accession in which they were received. As a result, in the detailed contents listing the box number order will not always be consecutive.

Battle Creek, Michigan, African American singer and music teacher, member of the Battle Creek Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Correspondence, newspaper clippings, and other material relating to her professional career, diaries recording daily activities and personal thoughts, and photographs.

The collection has been arranged into the following series: Personal / Biographical; Writings, speech notes, compositions; Community activities; and Diaries.

Member of the Ann Arbor Human Relations Commission; minutes and other materials relating to race relations in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The collection contains minutes, correspondence, clippings, and printed material dealing largely with her work with the Ann Arbor Human Relations Commission and the problem of race relations in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Commission was particularly involved in issues of discrimination in housing and employment.

Berrien County judge; correspondence and other papers largely relating to topic of juvenile delinquency.

The collection includes correspondence, an autobiographical sketch in fictional form, manuscripts of articles and short stories, speeches, and scrapbooks. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Juvenile Delinquency; Miscellaneous; Short Stories; and Photographs.

Student at the University of Michigan, later lecturer in social work, and active member of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers (LRBW). Materials relating to the Black Action Movement (BAM) strike at the University of Michigan in 1970; papers detailing his involvement with the LRBW, the International Black Appeal (IBA), and other black organizations.

Madison Foster's papers document some of the most important currents of black activism of the 1960s and early 1970s, and provide a unique insight into the history of this period. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Black Action Movement; League of Revolutionary Black Workers; International Black Appeal; and Topical Files.

Professor of political science at University of Michigan, and Democratic city councilman for Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1961-1963. Material concerning his council activities, his work for the Michigan Advisory Committee on Reorganization of State Government, and the Michigan State Science Advisory Board.

The Lynn Eley collection documents his activities as secretary on the Governor's Advisory Committee on Reorganization of State Government, 1958-1963, and his term as Democratic Ann Arbor City Councilman, 1961-1963.

County relief administrator and author. Manuscript of her book, We Too Are The People, which relates her experiences in relief work; also correspondence, reviews of her books, comments on the election of 1940, and reports on the work of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration in Manistee County, Michigan.

The Armstrong collection includes the manuscript to her book We Too Are the People, correspondence mainly relating to the book, and other miscellaneous papers, notably reports on the work of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration in Manistee County, Michigan.

Detroit (Mich.) businessman and chairman of New Detroit Committee, organization established after the 1967 Detroit Riot to investigate and remedy the causes of that civil disturbance. Correspondence, reports, speeches, articles, photographs, and printed material relating to the riot and to his work with New Detroit.

The papers of Joseph L. Hudson, Jr., date from 1967 to 1983 and measure 6 inches. The collection consists entirely of material relating to the New Detroit Committee, which Hudson chaired during its first year of existence.

The collection includes correspondence relating primarily to the composition of the Committee; membership lists; notes made by Hudson; speeches and articles by Hudson and by Kent Mathewson, who was chief executive officer of New Detroit; press releases and periodic progress reports of New Detroit; photographs; and newspaper clippings about the, riot and about New Detroit. Most of the material dates from the period 1967 to 1969, but a few progress reports from the 1970s and 1980s and a 1983 General Fact Book regarding New Detroit are also included.

The papers reflect the difficulties faced by Hudson and the Committee in trying to create an organization that included representatives of the white "establishment" and grass roots black organizations. It was necessary for the Committee to be responsive to the needs of various sectors of the community ranging from prominent white businessmen to militant blacks. A folder entitled "Important Considerations" contains a frank assessment--apparently by Hudson--of the credibility problems the Committee would face within the black community and outlining steps to be taken to mitigate such problems. The collection is also useful in documenting attitudes and divisions within the black community over the direction that should be taken in rebuilding Detroit. Included is correspondence of the Federation for Self-Determination, a militant black organization that rejected a grant from New Detroit and severed its relations with the committee early in 1968 because it found unacceptable the stipulation that a New Detroit Committee member oversee the project. Also included is correspondence of the more moderate Detroit Council of Organizations, which accused the New Detroit Committee of catering to militant blacks and ignoring the desires of moderate blacks.

Several photographs of the July 27, 1967 meeting of community leaders are contained in the collection.