Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Records of the Law School document the evolution of legal education at the University of Michigan as well as tenures of various deans and faculty. Documentation includes historical and class files; student organizations and activities; planning and construction of Law School buildings; information on William W. Cook and his bequest; topical files; deans' correspondence; reports and minutes. Also included are materials related to the Thomas M Cooley and William W. Cook lecture series and portraits of faculty and students, photographs of activities of the Judge Advocate General's School held at the Law School during World War II, the construction of the Law Quadrangle and Law Library addition, and student activities.

The Law School Records begin in 1852 and span the years through the end of the twentieth century. The records document the history of legal education at the University of Michigan, the administration of the Law School, and the lives of some of the scholars who have studied and taught there.

The physical arrangement of the records reflects the various accessions of material that have been received from the Law School over the years. This finding aid is structured to reflect the intellectual organization of the records - continuing series and like materials have been brought together regardless of when the records were transferred to the library. The Summary Contents List provides and overview of the organization of the records.

There are eight major series in the record group: Historical and Class Files (1865-1974); Deans of the Law School (1852-1999); Faculty Files (1859-1994); Student Files (1894-1996); Law Quadrangle and William W. Cook, (1919-1938); Law School Lecture Series; Committee of Visitors and Audio/Visual Materials.

Medical student at University of Michigan, graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, later surgeon with the 47th U.S. Colored Infantry during the Civil War. Letters to brother describing studies and other activities at the University; and letters written during the war concerning his service in the western campaign in Mississippi and Louisiana, with particular mention of the siege of Vicksburg.

Letters to brother describing studies and other activities at the University; and letters written during the war concerning his service in the western campaign in Mississippi and Louisiana, with particular mention of the siege of Vicksburg.

Photographs collected from various donors relating to Ann Arbor, Michigan; include photos of buildings (public and private), houses, churches, and schools; also views of the city (by street and area); and miscellaneous photos of local events and activities, school class portraits, and other group portraits.

This collection of Ann Arbor photographs includes a wide variety of images of Ann Arbor buildings, street scenes, schools and classrooms, public events, and people. The images, dating from the 1860s to the 1970s, has been arranged into three series: Buildings, Houses, etc.; Views; and Activities, People, Events. Each folder may contain one or more images.

The researcher should be advised that this collection represents only a small portion of the library's Ann Arbor photos. The most complete access to the total holdings of the library is through the card catalog.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, businessman, publisher of Ann Arbor Courier, Republican politician, and regent of University of Michigan. Correspondence, letter books, speeches, newspaper clippings, and photographs; papers (1909-1920) of Michigan Public Domain Commission, of which Beal was a member; papers (1877-1904) concerning Port Huron Gas Light Company; and printed material and miscellanea (1885-1905) concerning League of American Wheelmen and his interest in bicycling.

The Junius E. Beal papers include correspondence, papers accumulated from his various interests and organizational activities, subject files, speeches, newspaper clippings, and photographs. The series in the collection include: Correspondence, Michigan Public Domain Commission, Topical Files; and Other Materials. Most of the files in the collection relate in some way to Beal's life in Ann Arbor, either as a student, a businessman, a public figure, as someone who took civic responsibility seriously and was determined to serve his community and the university that he loved.

Group and individual portraits of the University of Michigan medical students, Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity members, and staff.

Group portraits of the medical classes of 1875 and 1876; individual portraits of the law class of 1875; group portraits of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity members and of Chronicle staff; and individual portraits of University of Michigan janitors.

Battle Creek, Michigan and Washington, D.C. family including C.W. (Charles William) Post, cereal manufacturer, and anti-union activist and founder of Post City, Texas; and his daughter Marjorie Merriweather Post, executive of General Foods Co., wife of U. S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, art collector, philanthropist, socialite, and Washington D.C. hostess. C.W. Post papers, largely concern labor-management relations, unionism, the Postum Company, currency reform, advertising, and matters of food and hygiene; Marjorie Merriweather Post papers document her social activities and travel, philanthropies art collections, and the maintenance and preservation of her homes and other possessions.

The Post family collection includes papers of businessman and food processor, C. W. Post, largely relating to labor-management relations, unionism, the Post Company, currency reform, advertising, and matters of food and hygiene; and papers, photographs, and sound recordings of his daughter, Marjorie Merriweather Post, General Foods executive and philanthropist, relating to social activities and engagements, philanthropies, and the maintenance and preservation of her homes and other possessions.

The C.W. Post papers consist of manuscript items and printed works created by C.W. Post and retained by his daughter, Marjorie Merriweather Post. The papers are arranged alphabetically by subject.

Republican U.S. Senator from Michigan; advocate of the United Nations and bipartisan foreign policy. Correspondence, scrapbooks, diaries, and visual materials.

The Arthur H. Vandenberg collection consists of 8 linear feet of materials (available on microfilm), 25 volumes of scrapbook/journals, and assorted audio and visual materials. The collection covers Vandenberg's entire career with a few folders of papers post-dating his death in 1951 relating to the dedication of memorial rooms in his honor in the 1970s. The collection is divided into four major series: Correspondence; Speeches; Campaign and Miscellaneous Topical; Clippings, Articles, and Scrapbooks; Miscellaneous and Personal; Visual Materials; and Sound Recordings.

Assistant to George Washington Carver at Tuskegee Institute, later a Detroit, Michigan, businessman. Correspondence and other papers of G. W. Carver relating primarily to experiments with soil improvement and the discovery of new applications for the peanut and other Southern agricultural products; newspaper clippings and memos relating to Curtis' campaign for Congress in 1958 and his work with Carver; and photographs.

The Curtis collection has two parts: papers of George Washington Carver that Curtis collected while in Carver's employ; and papers of Curtis mainly relating to his business activities with A.W. Curtis Laboratories of Detroit, Michigan, and also his unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 1958. The Carver papers are of the most significance, relating to Carver's experiments with soil improvement and his discovery of new applications for the peanut and other agricultural products of the South.

The Todd Duncan Papers document the life and career of baritone singer Todd Duncan. Trained as a classical singer, Duncan was chosen by George Gershwin to originate the role of Porgy in Gershwin's American folk opera Porgy and Bess. Duncan's career spanned numerous concert tours, productions, and performances. The papers in the collection include photographs, scrapbooks, news stories, and personal papers.

The Todd Duncan Papers consist of scrapbooks, photographs, news stories, production programs, and personal papers documenting the career and life of Todd Duncan. Many of the items are scrapbooks of Duncan's career and tours which feature newspaper clippings and photographs from the productions themselves. The collection came to the Bentley Library partially processed. That arrangement has been retained.

The collection spans the years from 1912 to 1998 with the majority of items falling between the years 1935-1973. The collection has ten series: Correspondence; Honors and Awards; Music Programs and Scores; Newspaper Clippings and Scrapbooks; Papers and Books; Photographs; Audio-Visual Materials; Productions and Performances; Topical Files; and African American Music Collection Numbered Items.

Aviator, civilian personnel officer with the U.S. Air Force; chronological and topical files, audio-visual materials, and clippings and scrapbooks.

The Chauncey Spencer collection is an accumulation of personal materials - correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, sound and video recordings - relating to his lifelong interest in aviation, his career with the military, and the career of his mother, poetess Anne Spencer.