Collections

Collection of wide variety of research and reference materials on Native Americans, mostly Potawatomi, Ojibwe and Ottawa, mainly in Michigan and Kansas, but also includes Wisconsin, Canadian, and other Native American tribes. The main series are: Clifton personal, research, reference, and academic materials, Bay Mills Indian Community Court Case materials, Canadian Potawatomi research materials, Kansas Potawatomi research materials, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community vs. the State of Michigan court case materials, Michigan tuition waver project materials, [Native American] Removal documents, reprints, Saginaw Chippewa Tribe court case materials, and Wisconsin vs. Baker court case materials.

Abbreviations: Due to the size of this collection, the following abbreviations have been used to cut down on the size and of the finding aid. Abbreviations used include the following: ABCFM for American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM was used by Clifton in many of his notations in the Reprints series). ARSMPIS for Annual Reports of the Superintendent of the Mount Pleasant Indian School. AG for Attorney General. BIA for Bureau of Indian Affairs. COIA for Commissioner of Indian Affairs. ICC for Indian Claims Commission. IL for Illinois. IN for Indiana. JL for journal. KN for Kansas. KUPS for University of Kansas Potawatomi Survey. MAG for Michigan Attorney General. MI for Michigan MHS for Minnesota Historical Society. MN for Minnesota. MO for Missouri. MS for Mississippi.i NAM for National Archives Microfilm. NEB for Nebraska. NY for New York. NWT for Old Northwest Territory. OK for Oklahoma. PA for Pennsylvania. Qly for quarterly. Re: for regarding. SD for South Dakota. US for United States. W for West WI for Wisconsin

Spelling Note: The spelling of Indian words, such as villages, tribes, bands, and the names of individuals, varies greatly among and within nineteenth century documents and articles. I copied the spelling [errors] or phonetic pronunciations used in these older documents for this finding aid.

Series Description: Overall, Clifton’s collection documents his academic papers, large research projects, and his reference collection. It also includes a small amount of biographical material on Clifton.

The collection consists almost entirely of photocopies or photo-static copies of published and unpublished articles or drafts of articles, speeches, complete or partial books, correspondence, contracts, curriculum vitaes, government documents, treaties, grant proposals and related materials, faxed information, lists, notes, and various other reference materials, maps, a small number of duplicated black and white photographs, mainly from the Smithsonian Institute, and other materials, including a few overheads.

The originals in the collection include some Clifton’s correspondence and some of his notes and notecards. Many of his notes, particularly in the KUPS series are typed.

The collection is first divided by the size and format of the material into three groupings. First, (mostly) letter-sized material (with some legal-size material). Second, note cards, and, third, oversized material.

The letter-size material is then organized into a number of series. Each series is then organized alphabetically by subject, and then within each series alphabetically and chronologically by the folders’ headings, as appropriate. As much as possible, the archivist used Clifton’s headings, or an expanded version of them, as needed, for ease of use by researchers. In cases were there were no folder headings, or indeed no folders, the archivist sought to organize and label materials as simply as was possible for reasonable easy use by researchers.

The following letter-size series (a total of 18 cubic ft.) are found in this collection: 1) Clifton Materials-Biographical and Academic Papers; and his large research projects and reference collection are documented in the following series: 2) Bay Mills Indian Community (BMIC) Court Case Materials; 3) Canadian Potawatomi Research Materials; 4) Kansas Potawatomi Research Materials; 5) Keweenaw Bay Indian Community vs. the State of MI Court Case Materials; 6) MI Tuition Waver Project Materials; 7) [Native American] Removal Documents; 8) Reprints; 9) Saginaw Chippewa Tribe Court Case Materials; and 10) WI vs. Baker Court Case Materials.

Most of the remainder of the collection consists topical 5x7 inch handwritten Notecards (15 cubic ft. in 19 boxes). Oversized materials (approximately 3 cubic ft.) include an oversized folder of some Isabella County (MI) plat maps (copies), 1891; and an oversized volume of various pages from multiple nineteenth century Tract Books of the General Land Office (Ionia, MI).

1) Clifton Materials, 1963-2000 (total approximately .5 cubic foot), includes his Biographical Material, 1987, 2000 (1 folder), with his Obituary, 2000; and his Academic Papers, 1963, 1972-1989, 1990, 1993, 2000, consisting of Clifton’s bibliography on Old Northwest Indian removal, 1825-1855; copies of book reviews, introductions to books and articles, his coursepack for a class; papers for publication and presentation, published articles, reports for the WI Dept of Justice for WI vs. Stockbridge [Mohican] Munsee Community (Case No. 98-C-0871), a case he researched for the WI Attorney General’s office, some of his research materials, and notes.

The Judicial Update website of Morisset, Schlosser [who specializes in federal litigation, natural resource and Indian tribal property issues], Jozwiak and McGaw (http://www.msaj.com/papers/WIcases.html), on Nov. 18, 2004, describes the WI vs. Stockbridge Munsee Community Case No. 98-C-0871 67 F Supp. 2 d 990 (E. D. Wisc. Sept. 30, 1999) as follows: “[The] State [of WI] brought action seeking to prevent the tribe from operating Class III electronic games of chance at a casino located outside boundaries on [the] Indian reservation. Upon [the] state’s motion for preliminary injunction, the district court held that: (1) [the] state demonstrated a reasonable likelihood of success of their claim that Act of 1871 resulted in diminishment of [the] tribe’s reservation, and (2) other factors warranted granting preliminary injunction. Motion granted.”

This series documents various aspects of Clifton’s academic, publication, and research interests and activities. The rest of the collection documents his large research projects, particularly those regarding Native American court cases in MI and his Kansas University Potawatomi Survey research project.

Personal information on Clifton, aside from that found in his obituary, is not available in this collection.

2) Bay Mills Indian Community (BMIC) Court Case Materials, 1936-1998 (Scattered) (approximately 1.5 cubic ft.), which documents two court cases. The court case for which there is the most material is the BMIC vs. Western United Life Assurance Co., et al. Documenting this court case are copies of court records, correspondence and email, reference and supporting documentation, 1936-1937, 1974-1975, 1992, and, mostly, 1997-1998, collected and notated by Clifton, who worked for the MAG. The Peninsula Legal Services, P.C., served as the tribe’s legal counsel.

BMIC vs. Western began in 1996 as a land claims settlement case. The BMIC had a claim to over 100 acres of land in what is now Charlotte Beach (MI). The land was to be held in trust for ancestral bands of the BMIC by the Governor of MI. Eventually the land was sold for delinquent taxes, without BMIC’s knowledge or consent. The court case resulted in the severe decrease of the value of the Charlotte Beach property and the inability of the current owners to verify their deeds. The tribe desired the land back or an equitable settlement. The case continued with various compromises being offered and not accepted by the BMIC for ten years. Part of the continuance, documented by a smaller amount of copied material (three folders), is the BMIC vs. the State of MI, et al. court case, 1998.

The Judicial Update website of Morisset, Schlosser [who specializes in federal litigation, natural resource and Indian tribal property issues], Jozwiak and McGaw (http://www.msaj.com/papers/WIcases.html), on Nov. 18, 2004, describes BMIC vs. Western United Life Assurance Co., no. 99-1036, (6th Cir. 2000) as follows: “Plaintiff Bay Mills Indian Community filed a complaint Asserting an interest I a parcel of property within the county [Charlotte Beach, MI]. Bay Mills alleged various federal constitutional and statutory violations in connection with the 1884 ouster from the property of its predecessors in interest, two aboriginal Chippewa bands, and sought either equitable title to the property or damages equal to its value and damages for the loss of the use and enjoyment of the land since 1884. The defendants, individuals and entities currently possessing various interests in the property, moved to dismiss the action under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12 (b)(7) and 19 for failure to join an indispensable party,the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. The district court granted the defendants’ motion and dismissed the plaintiff’s complaint. Affirmed.”

In 2002 the US Senate proposed a bill to offer property in Sault Ste. Marie (MI) to the tribe, on which they could operate a casino. The committee on Indian Affairs heard the bill’s supporters and detractors and adjourned, declining the proposed bill. [Information from US. Congress. Senate. Committee on Indian Affairs. BMIC Land Claims Settlement Act. Hearing before the Committee on Indian Affairs, US Senate, 1077th Congress, 2nd Session on S. 2986 Oct. 10, 2002, a e-copy of which is available in the Park Library.]

3) Canadian Potawatomi Research Materials, 1835-1975, and undated (Scattered) (7 folders). This small series includes copies of acts, treaties, and constitutions of the Prairie Potawatomi in Kansas, 1936; materials relating to the Caldwell Band of Point Pelee, Pelee Island, and Malden, Ontario, Canada; Potawatomi Agency Correspondence, 1837-1870-1878; and Potawatomi Study Correspondence, 1973-1975; and Correspondence to/from Clifton, and Reference materials.

4) Kansas Potawatomi Research Materials, 1880-1883, 1886 1932, 1940, 1948, 1952, 1962-1965, 1973-1974, mainly 1962-1965 (approximately 2 cubic ft.)

General Kansas Potawatomi materials, mostly copied reference materials, 1880-1883, 1886 1932, 1940, 1948, 1952, 1973-1974, (9 inches, or approximately .5 cubic foot), are open to researchers. This includes correspondence, miscellaneous notes, and genealogies (family trees), as well as a large amount of reference materials, including newspaper clippings, bibliographies, and copies of articles. Also included are instructions for coding field notes and research materials for the Kansas University Potawatomi Survey (KUPS) Clifton led.

Of particular note here are the KUPS materials, mostly 1962-1965. The KUPS materials include: field notes, cross reference notes to field notes, and other research or reference materials, such as citations and maps. These materials were accumulated and categorized by Clifton, his wife, Faye, and his research assistants, Bob Bee and Ann Searcy, during their interviews with and observations of Kansas Potawatomi, also called the Prairie Band of Potawatomi, from 1962 through 1965. Many of these Potawatomi lived in the Mayetta (Kan.) vicinity. Notes and reference materials were filed within an extensive, coded KUPS folder arrangement. Many of the folders were found to be empty during processing, so researchers will notice gaps in the numerical sequence of the KUPS folders.

The FIELD NOTES of the KUPS (approximately 1.5 cubic ft.) are CLOSED TO RESEARCHERS for 70 years until 2045 [1965+70], because of the personal information in the detailed field notes, including: medical and psychiatric patient case records, alcoholism, the use of peyote, criminal records, sexual orientation, marital status, perceptions of those who were thought to practice witchcraft, sexual or physical abuse some people in the study suffered or received, and the detailed information about their financial states, as well as governmental support received, the field notes are closed.

6) Keweenaw Bay Indian Community vs. the State of MI Court Case Materials, were collected and annotated by Clifton for the State of MAG, 1988-1989 (approximately 3 cubic ft.). The Reprints in this series include copies and typed transcripts of materials sent to the MAG, which are organized either chronologically by the date of the event documented in the information, or alphabetically by topic, and include materials from 1820 through 1946 (Scattered), 1957, 1960, 1965-1966, 1972, 1979, 1982, 1985, and 1992. Types of materials in this series include: copies of depositions, notes, evidence copies of newspapers, magazines, and academic articles, books, maps, land patents and deeds, government documents, and correspondence, usually between the COIA and various Indian Agents.

According to the Michigan Indian Gaming website’s section documenting newsworthy events of 1998 (url is http://www.michigangaming.com/IndGame/IGNews-98-html), this court case is described as follows: “On Feb. 12, 1998 Judge David McKeague issued a decision stating that the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community statellite[sic] casino is operating illegally because the tribe did not adhere to IGRA [Indian Gaming Regulation Acts] in opening these facilities.” “On Aug. 21, 1998 the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa Indians launched a media campaign to gather support to prevent the closing of its Turtle Creek Casino in Acme, MI. The United States Attorney General’s office filed for a preliminary injunction to shut down the tribes[sic] casino because it claims that the casino is operating illegally. This came after the U.S. 6th Circuit [Court] overturned a decision in Keweenaw vs. MI. The Court is expected to hold a hearing on the issue in November of this year.”

7) Michigan Tuition Waver Project materials, (8 folders), includes copies of materials compiled or created in 1996 by Clifton. This project resulted from the demands of MI tribes for free tuition at the University of MI, which they believe was granted to them in old MI treaties. Materials found here include: reference materials, notably several articles written and published by Alice Littlefield about Native American education and the US Indian Schools, 1989, 1993, and 1996; Mount Pleasant Indian School (Mount Pleasant, MI) documents, 1934-1996 (Scattered); some legislation, 1968; Clifton’s report, correspondence, and contract with the MAG, 1996; and the MAG’s conclusion, Dec. 1995. Clifton contracted with the MAG to collect materials to defend their side of the case.

The MI [Indian] Tuition Waver was adopted by the MI Legislature in 1976 as an entitlement descending from old federal treaty rights. The program had a long beginning, which will be briefly described here.

In 1934, the federal government dissolved the federal Indian school program, transferring the buildings, property, and care of Native American students to the state of MI. For thirty years thereafter the state of MI did not meet its obligations of providing equal treatment and education to Native American children. Student activism in the 1960s led a University of Michigan (UM) student, Paul Johnson, to sue the UM in 1971. He believed the UM should provide free tuition to Native Americans based on Article 16 of the Treaty of Fort Meigs, 1817. Ultimately, his suit failed. However, the students who worked on the lawsuit contacted members of the state legislature for support. Rep. Jackie Vaughn carefully constructed a bill based on MN’s existing tuition waiver program. In the summer of 1976, his bill, know as Public Act 174, 1976, created the MI Indian Tuition Waiver Program.

The Waver, which was amended in 1978, allows students to have their tuition paid if they are one-quarter North American Indian and have been a MI resident for at least one year. [This information is from the Clarke website (url is http://clarke.cmich. edu/ tretytuition.htm), on Dec. 3, 2004, and CMLife, p. 1 and 4A, Fri., Oct. 29, 2004.]

Ultimately, the tribes’ demands developed into the court case Children of the Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomy Tribes, et al., vs. Regents of the University of MI, a case which the tribe lost. However, the University of MI agreed to offer Native American students scholarships, which amounted to free tuition. (For further information on the case, see the Elmer White’s collection which is also housed at the Clarke. White acted as the attorney for the tribes.)

8) [Native American] Removal Documents, created or compiled in 1982-1983, and undated (2 cubic ft.).

The removal research project was funded by a grant from the NEH, and resulted in Clifton’s bibliography Old Northwest Indian removal, 1825-1855: a bibliography, a copy of which is found in Box 1 of this collection. A tiny part of this series includes three folders of materials relating to the grant, including: Illustrations…, undated; Notes and Correspondence, 1982; and NEH Microfilm Work reports of James McClurken to Clifton, 1982-1983.

The bulk of the series, however, consists of copies of published articles and historical Removal Documents, and some notes from Clifton, which were compiled by Clifton for reference purposes.

The published articles are in alphabetical order by author’s surnames.

The Removal Documents are in chronological order, 1807-1855, with a small amount of post-1855 materials, 1856-1980 (Scattered). Commonly found examples of historical Removal Documents in this series include: the Dept. of War, Office of Indian Affairs officials’ correspondence, journals, reports, disbursement accounts, and regulations regarding the removal of Native Americans; records of annuity payments; correspondence and other papers regulating the functions of the Superintendency, agencies, and sub-agencies; a journal of treaty negotiation, 1833; treaties and lists [sometimes censuses] of [members of] tribes or bands either remaining in their area or removed to west of the Mississippi [which have been noted specifically in the box and folder listing]; petitions of various Native Americans to the President of the US; maps; published journals of the US House and Senate; and personal correspondence.

Finally, there are a few topical Removal Document folders, which are in alphabetical order, 1839-1888 and undated [copies made in 1982 or 1983].

9) Reprints, a caption used by Clifton, (6.5 cubic ft.) is the largest series in this collection. It includes copies of general reference and/or research materials, 1820-1992 and undated, regarding various aspects of Native Americans, Africa and Africans, African-Americans, slavery, and other native peoples around the world, as well as anthropological articles. However, the majority of the series documents Native American history, including, but not limited to: Indian treaties, Indian agents, Indian removal policies, reservations, missions and missionaries, wars, captivity or travel accounts, as well as other topics. A sizable section of this series is various articles and documents from multiple issues of the WI Historical Collections. Types of materials in the series include: dissertation abstracts; parts of or complete academic or popular articles and books; reference articles, such as biographies from encyclopedias; reprints of academic articles; student papers; drafts of academic papers; papers for presentation at conferences; correspondence; notes; maps; statistics; and other materials. These materials were collected by Clifton during his academic career.

10) Saginaw Chippewa Tribe Court Case Materials, includes materials created or compiled, 1991-1992, (2.5 cubic ft.) by Clifton. Clifton was under contract with the MAG to collect materials to defend their side of the case.

Compiled materials include copies of historical documents and reference sources about the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, including: court records, reprints of articles, treaty journals, annual reports of the Mount Pleasant Indian School, Indian Claims Commission records, the amended Constitution and By-Laws of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, 1986, and other documentation, as well as Clifton’s correspondence, agreements, other information he exchanged with MAG and other associates,1797-1992 (Scattered).

Two court cases are documented in this series, mostly the US et al., vs. State of MI, et al., 1992 and, very minimally, the US vs. the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of MI, et al., 1990-1991, 1997.

The case for which there is the most material, that of the US et al., vs. State of MI, et al., dealt with tribal fishing rights. There is a long history of lawsuits in MI over Native American fishing rights. In brief, this particular lawsuit, which began in 1973 and was tried in 1978, was eventually settled out of court on March 29, 1985. In the case, the Native Americans attorney strongly argued three points. First, that the tribes involved had historically fished in the Great Lakes. Second, that they had retained the right to fish under treaties signed in 1820, 1836, and 1855. And, third, that they had actively participated in commercial fishing after those treaties and thus could logically assume that they should be allowed to continue to do so. In May 1979, the judge settled the case in favor of the tribes, however various issues remained that had to be agreed upon by both parties.

Finally in 1985 an agreement, called the Sault Ste. Marie agreement, was reached. As part of this agreement, the Great Lakes were divided into zones. The MI tribes were allowed to fish unrestrictedly to a defined maximum catch, mostly in the northern zones, and sports fishing was relegated mostly to the southern zones. The Bay Mills Chippewa community was unsatisfied with the agreement and vetoed it. After a brief trial, the agreement was put in place with the force of law until 2000. [This information is from the Clarke website (url is http://clarke.cmich.edu/treatytuition.htm), on Dec. 3, 2004.]

11) WI vs. Baker Court Case Materials, includes copies of materials created or compiled in 1976 and 1978 (1.5 cubic ft.) by Clifton, who served as an expert witness for the tribe. Materials in this series include: records of related court cases, correspondence, Clifton’s expert testimony, and published articles, mostly about removal from the WI Historical Collections, date from 1830s-1934.

The State of WI vs. Baker, et al., was predated by the Voigt decision in WI. The Voigt Decision recognized the rights of the tribal hunting, fishing, and gathering activities of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Chippewa in WI as they were granted to the tribe in the treaties of 1837 and 1842.

In 1978, the Federal District Court granted summary judgment in favor of the state. In 1983 the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the District Court ruling. At that point, the State of WI petitioned, in vain, the US Supreme Court to review the case. Five other WI Chippewa Bands then joined the case, which continued in District Court. There were three phases: I: Declaratory; II Regulatory; and III: Damages. (A Guide to understanding Chippewa treaty rights: WI edition, 1994, pp.2-3, a copy of which is in the Clarke.)

The WI vs. Baker case was brought by the State of WI against the chairman (Ordie Baker) and all of the officers of the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Governing Board. As documented here in the Opinion and Order [by Judge James Doyle], Sept. 20, 1978 (76-C-359), the state’s contention was that the tribe’s enforcement of its established codes for fishing on its reservation, which mandated that people who were not members of the tribe to purchase fishing licenses from the tribe, was illegal and interfered with the rights of the state’s citizens. The tribe’s interpretation of its treaty rights were that the tribe, as a sovereign nation, had the sole right to hunt and fish within the borders of its reservation. The state contended that this had not been the intent of the agents of the federal government who created the treaties which led to the creation of the reservation. Clifton and Judge Doyle, however, believed otherwise.

When Judge Doyle died in 1987, the case was assigned to Judge Barbara Crabb. After denying the state’s request to appeal Judge Doyle’s ruling, “she held that tribes held the authority to regulate their members and that effective tribal self-regulation precludes state regulation.” on Aug. 21, 1987 (ibid, p.3). Later, Judge Crabb decided that the tribes were self-regulating regarding the state’s walleye and muskellunge harvests held in October (1989), and in regards to the state’s deer population (1990). In 1991, Judge Crabb also ruled that while tribes did not have treaty rights to harvest timber commercially, they did have treaty rights to gather other forest products (ibid, p. 4).

12) Notecards. There are 19 card boxes (15 cubic ft.) of topical 5x7 inch handwritten notecards, documenting the removal of various Native American tribes, Clifton’s bibliography and biographical index, as well as related Native American topics. There are organized alphabetically by topic, and then either chronologically (if notes about removal documents) or alphabetically (if names or sources).

13) Oversized Materials, include an oversized folder of some Isabella County (MI) plat maps (copies), 1891; and an oversized volume of copies of various pages from multiple Tract Books of the General Land Office (Ionia, MI), 1800s.

Processing Notes: I have tried to observe Clifton’s topical and organizational scheme as much as possible. A number of items in many boxes were without folders and identifying information. These items have been placed in the most likely series or, when a topic and therefore a location was otherwise undeterminable or multiple, into the general Reprints series.

Items withdrawn from this collection include all published books, periodicals, maps, and court records, which were separately cataloged.

Also withdrawn were duplicates, illegible materials, blank sheets of papers, binders, photocopying instructions, forms for requesting copies (from many institutions), generic correspondence and post-it notes without informational value, cover sheets, and the “This article is not available.” notices from inter-library loan departments. All post-it notes with notes of substance were removed after they had been copied and a copy put in the folders.

The James Mease journal documents two trips taken by Mr. Mease of Philadelphia: the first to eastern Pennsylvania in 1835 and New York State and the second to Washington, D.C. in 1841.

James Mease kept his journal during two separate periods: during a trip through eastern Pennsylvania and New York state, August-September 1835 (pp. 1-62), and during a journey to Washington, D.C., in the summer of 1841 (pp. 63-75). Laid into the volume is a half-sheet containing a partial letter by Mease to one of his sons and some travel notes.

Although the journal is not signed, it has been attributed to Mease because of direct references it makes (pp. 16, 71) to his essay "Description of Some of the Medals Struck..." The handwriting was subsequently shown to match other Mease manuscripts in the Clements Library. Mease's On Utility of Public Loan Offices and Savings Funds by City Authorities (1836) is of interest in that the journeys recorded in the first part of the Clements Library's journal appear to have been taken to gather information for that work.

Two themes run throughout Mease's journal. The first is his strong sense of history. Mease was careful to note historical events which had occurred on sites he was visiting -- making reference both to events which he had witnessed and about which he had read. The second theme is his interest in people, particularly the "common man." Mease enjoyed the friendship and society of some of the most noted persons of his day, yet he was fascinated by a visit with an ordinary citizen, exploring that person's life story, which he would record in his journal.

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.

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.

Photographs (positive and negative), slides, and transparencies taken by the company's photographers to document company activities, products, services, employees at work and at leisure, company exhibits and commemorations, and the response of the company to natural disasters and civil disturbances.

In 1993, Michigan Bell as a corporate entity was subsumed within the Ameritech Corporation. As a by-product of this reorganization and the downsizing resulting from it, the company agreed to deposit with the Bentley Historical Library its extensive archive of photographic images. Totalling approximately one million images, the Michigan Bell Telephone Company photo archive consists of negatives, copy prints, and color transparencies taken in the period since World War II (the bulk beginning in 1949). The collection does not include photos taken since 1983; interspersed throughout, however, are numerous images from before 1949.

The collection has been maintained in the order received with two principal series: Positives and Negatives.

The content of the photographs in the two series varies considerably. Naturally the collection documents the products of the company (phones and other communication devices) and the services provided (e.g. employees at work or the company reacting to a specific customer need). These photos were taken both to inform the general public as accompaniment to press notices and advertising copy and as a communications vehicle within the company, informing employees through the company news publication, Tielines, of activities going on in other divisions of the company or among the various regional Bell offices.

More importantly perhaps, the collection has value for its documentation of events and activities that are common to all large companies. These include images relating to: 1. The activities of employees within the corporation at their work (office workers, repairmen, operators, various support personnel, managers, etc.); 2. The activities of employees outside their work routine as members of corporate social groups (i.e., the company baseball or ice hockey team), at home engaged in leisure time activities, or involved in company-sponsored charitable or public service functions; and 3. Commemorations of specific milestones or events (company parade floats, area office open houses, corporate displays at public events such as fairs, etc.).

In addition, the collection documents the extraordinary and unforeseen as the phone company reacts to events and emergencies not within its control (floods, tornadoes, fires, the 1967 Detroit riot, strikes, and the like) or as a participant in history-making events (the announcement in Ann Arbor of the success of the Salk polio vaccine or the preparation involved in the 1980 Republican National Convention that convened in Detroit).

The Mugshots collection consists of approximately 100 photographic portraits produced between 1892 and 1920, the vast majority of which are mugshots.

The Mugshots collection consists of approximately 100 photographic portraits produced between 1892 and 1920, the vast majority of which are mugshots. The collection includes real photographic postcards, mounted and unmounted paper prints, and one severely tarnished tintype. Also present are two fingerprint identification cards with handwritten lists containing names of numerous individuals represented in the collection. A small number of photographs appear to be standard studio portraits. Photographs range in size from 6 x 10.5 cm to 11 x 17 cm.

Many of the mugshots have printed and/or handwritten information on their versos, including names, known aliases, nationalities, birth dates/locations, occupations, arrest dates, names of arresting police officers, criminal charges, sentences, prison locations, remarks on physical appearances, and Bertillon measurements. Most of these images were produced in various places in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland, with Philadelphia being the most represented location. The mugshots are mainly of white male subjects, though there are also four mugshots of women present. Five African American individuals (four men, one women) are also pictured. A substantial number of mugshots are of individuals from immigrant backgrounds, including Italians, Irish, Austrians, Germans, Poles, Greeks, Jews, etc. Approximately 90 individuals are personally identified in total. Recorded criminal charges include shoplifting, pickpocketing, larceny, burglary, forgery, embezzlement, false pretense, flimflamming, auto theft, horse theft, conspiracy, attempted murder, and murder. Specific police departments and correctional facilities represented include the Pennsylvania Department of State Police, Harrisburg Department of Police, Philadelphia Bureau of Police, Hartford Police Department, Newark Department of Police, Auburn Prison, Sing Sing Prison, City of New York Police Department, City of Boston Police Department, Camden Bureau of Police, Baltimore Police Department, Bureau of Criminal Investigation for the New Jersey Reformatory in Rahway (now East Jersey State Prison), U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, City of Paterson Police Department, Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary, Montgomery County Prison (Norristown), Columbus Department of Police, City of Wilkes-Barre Bureau of Police, Trenton Department of Public Safety, New York House of Refuge, and the Reading Department of Police.

• a 1921 mugshot of an Italian man named Peter Erico, who was executed by electric chair on September 25 1922 along with Antonio Puntario after the pair were found guilty of murdering Detective Samuel Lucchino
• a 1909 mugshot of an eighteen year old Jewish man named Albert Steinberg, accused of pickpocketing
• two different mugshots of Irishman John Shelvin (accused of pickpocketing) taken in 1897 and 1906 following arrests in Philadelphia and Baltimore
• a 1920 mugshot of German houseworker Minnie Schissel, charged with theft
• a 1909 mugshot of accused shoplifter Marie Clark
• a 1915 mugshot of an African American man named King Brown, charged with illegal dynamite explosion, assault, and other crimes
• a ca. 1903 mugshot of larceny suspect Edward Stevenson, a "fugitive from Phil. Pa."; handwritten inscriptions on verso include note to address information to Detective E. H. Parker
• a ca. 1906 mugshot of German engineer and fireman Frank Schleiman with identifying details and a $50 reward notice for information on his whereabouts following his escape from Sing Sing Prison on December 9 1906 handwritten on the verso
• a 1908 mugshot of “dishonest servant” Blanche Grisson
• a 1919 mugshot of a Mexican man named Pedro Susman, charged with shoplifting
• two copies of a portrait or mugshot of African American man James Timberlake with identifying details handwritten on verso
• a 1908 mugshot of an Austrian butcher named Herman Haubt, convicted of 2nd degree murder
• an undated mugshot of an African American woman named Pearl Williams, charged with being a dishonest servant
• a 1906 mugshot of bartender Sam Davis (accused of pick pocketing) produced by detective Harry C. White of Harrisburg
• a ca. 1918 mugshot of Oliver Denton Bender taken in Columbus, Ohio, including an attached note that lists twelve of Bender’s known aliases
• a 1900 mugshot of Irishman John Mackey, charged with till tapping; two 1918 mugshots of Italian barbers Nicholas Shieno and Frank Rinaldo, both of whom were charged with flimflamming after being arrested in Scranton, Pennsylvania
• a 1918 mugshot of Jewish printer David Schleimer taken at the New York House of Refuge on Randall’s Island
• a 1917 mugshot of Michael J. Sullivan, charged with murder

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.

The Norton Strange Townshend Family papers include correspondence, diaries, essays, lectures, printed matter, clippings, financial and legal papers, photographs, daguerreotypes, ephemera, realia, maps, and books belonging to the Townshend and Dodge families, who were connected by the marriage of Margaret Wing (granddaughter of Norton Townshend) and Homer Levi Dodge (grandson of Levi Dodge) in 1917. Much of the collection documents the life and career of politician and agricultural educator Norton Strange Townshend, including his political, educational, and social reform activities.

The Norton Strange Townshend Family Papers consist of 20.5 linear feet of manuscripts, 66 cased photographs, 3 linear feet of paper photographs, 8 cubic feet of photographic slides, and 7 cubic feet of realia, arranged into 13 series. For more detail, see scope and content notes, below.

The Correspondence series (Boxes 1-10) contains all the collection’s letters, postcards, and telegrams (with the exception of official military correspondence, financial correspondence, and genealogy correspondence, which are under "Topical Files," "Financial Correspondence," and "Genealogical Correspondence," respectively). Correspondence spans the years 1827-1989 and makes up around one quarter of the collection. It is subdivided by family into the "Townshend Subseries" and "Dodge Subseries," and arranged chronologically, with undated items at the end. The series contains correspondence to and from prominent Ohio politicians, such as Salmon P. Chase; who wrote 34 letters to Townshend; William Medill; Rutherford B. Hayes; and notable agricultural educators, including James Sullivant and John Klippart. Correspondence among family members is also voluminous, and documents a wide variety of issues during the mid-19th to early-20th centuries, including social and family life, courtship, women’s work and viewpoints, travel, and attitudes toward education. For an index of correspondents, see "Additional Descriptive Data."

The Joel Townshend papers series (Box 10) brings together documents by and related to Norton Townshend’s father, Joel Townshend (1780-1864). It includes a few religious writings, as well as financial and legal documents that shed light on the family’s life in Northamptonshire, England, and Ohio. Most items date from 1810 to 1830, with the exception of a biography of Townshend written in the 1930s or 1940s by his great-grandson, H. Percy Boynton.

The Norton S. Townshend papers series (Boxes 10-26) is the largest series in the collection and contains diaries, published and unpublished writings, printed materials, clippings, broadsides, biographical materials, and other items relating to nearly every facet of Townshend’s adult life. These materials document Townshend’s political involvement, particularly in local and national antislavery, in agricultural movements, and in the U.S. House of Representatives. The series also includes papers about his educational career, family life, Civil War service, and religious views and work. Townshend frequently worked and reworked his ideas on paper, and both his published and unpublished writings are a rich source of intellectual and reform history. Townshend was also an inveterate collector and preserver of interesting items, including materials relating to northern Ohio’s Liberty Party, his admission tickets to medical courses and the World Anti-Slavery Convention, an application to the Ohio State Asylum for the Education of Idiotic and Imbecile Youth, of which he was a trustee, and dozens of fliers and handbills for lectures given by himself and others.

The Margaret Bailey Townshend papers series (Boxes 26-27) is comprised of two diaries, a rich autobiographical writing entitled "Genealogy," describing her childhood and education, a small number of clippings, and materials relating to her education and career as a teacher in Illinois and Ohio in the 1850s. Many items in the Realia series (below) also relate to Margaret Bailey Townshend.

The Other Townshend family members’ papers series (Boxes 28-30) contains materials relating mainly to Townshend’s children and their spouses, but also includes James B. Wood (Townshend’s father-in-law), Harriet Wood Townshend (Townshend’s first wife), Margaret Wing Dodge (Townshend’s granddaughter), and several other relatives. The bulk of this series is made up of their writings, which are autobiographical, religious, and cultural in subject. Also of interest is biographical information on family members, including articles on Townshend’s children, who were early students of Ohio State University, and a number of obituaries of these family members.

The Dodge family papers series (Boxes 30-34) consists of materials produced and collected by the Dodges of upstate New York, from 1839 to approximately 1970, and documenting their family life, travels, hobbies (in particular the outdoors and canoeing), financial and legal transactions, and civic engagement. Incorporated are some writings by various family members, including Levi R. Dodge, F. Isabella (Donaghue) Dodge, Homer Dodge, and family friend Lydia Sayer Hasbrouck; topical files, the bulk of which are 20th century; biographical materials such as obituaries and clippings; and periodicals on topics of interest to the Dodges.

The Genealogical research series (Boxes 35-37) reflects the family’s interest in its own history and consists of correspondence, family trees, historical essays, as well as commercially produced family histories for some lines. The materials reflect a particular interest in finding links between various family members and such prominent figures as the Townshends of Raynham Hall, the Green family of Vermont, and General Grenville Dodge. This series pertains mainly to the 20th century and is arranged by family, except for the correspondence, which is arranged chronologically.

The Collection-related materials series is made up of documents and articles that shed light on the outreach efforts made on behalf of the collection, particularly for the Easterly items, prior to their accessioning by the William L. Clements Library. The series is comprised of fliers, museum publicity materials, and articles on exhibits. Materials date from the late 20th century, particularly the 1990s.

The Books series contains three items that are housed with the collection: Sermons on Various Subjects by the Late Rev. Thomas Strange, Kilsby, Northamptonshire, with Some Memoirs of His Life (1807); the Townshend Family Bible (with manuscript notes on births, deaths and marriages); and Robert W. McCormick’s 1988 self-published biography of Townshend: Norton S. Townshend, M.D. Antislavery Politician and Agricultural Educator. The rest of the books, including books from the personal libraries of Norton Townshend, Joel Townshend, Margaret Bailey Townshend, and the Dodge family, are housed in the Book Division of the Clements Library; for the list of titles, search for "M-3437" in the University of Michigan's library catalog.

The Visual materials series is arranged by type of item and then by subject. This includes daguerreotypes by prominent daguerreotypist Thomas M. Easterly, other photographs, drawings/prints, and maps. The materials range from the 1840s to the 1970s. See also Realia series below.

The Realia series contains approximately 8 linear feet of objects, including items from the childhood and teaching career of Margaret Bailey Townshend, intricate hairwork jewelry and a hair wreath made with the locks of at least 16 family members, geological materials and fossils collected by Norton Townshend and possibly Thomas Easterly, and other three-dimensional objects such as a glass vial for medicine, ribbons from the Ohio State Fair, and decorative objects. Also noteworthy are a number of paper objects, such as Civil War era chromolithograph animal toys, a Japanese paper lantern, and an alphabet game for children.

The Dodge Photographic Slides series includes eight cubic feet of photographic slides, totaling approximately 22,000 slides, attributed to Homer L. Dodge. They document travels around the southwest United States and to countries such as Japan, Canada and Sweden.

The Miscellaneous series contains envelopes without accompanying letters, blank letterhead, and a binder of transcriptions of select letters from Harriet Wood Townshend to Sarah Wood Keffer.

The Nova Scotia diary chronicles the daily life of a carpenter and small farmer throughout much of 1877. The volume also contains several pages written in mock-African American dialect and several drawings.

The Nova Scotia diary chronicles the daily life of a carpenter and small farmer throughout much of 1877. The author began his diary on March 18, 1877, by relating his different activities at the beginning of the planting season. His crops were corn, potatoes, and turnips, and he also raised and sheared sheep. Throughout the year, the diarist reflected on various events in the life of his small, intimate community, which included many visits from neighbors, occasional picnics, and short vacations. He hosted a meeting of several "county lodge" delegates, and assisted other farmers with planting and harvesting their crops. In addition to attending Easter church services and celebrating the Queen's birthday, he noted the beginning of the 1st Provincial Expedition in Kentville, which opened in October. Though the author concluded his entries on October 21, 1877, he appended a number of births and marriages for the years 1877-1879. The final four pages of the book contain an imitation of an African American dialect, and include a caricature of two well-dressed African Americans sitting before a fireplace. Other drawings in the book include a pencil map of Shaw's Point, drawn before the construction of a railroad; a map of "Grandfather's place" previous to its 1862 sale; and floor plans for the upper and lower floors of "W Spurr's house," 1862.

The Numa Barned papers consist of letters home written while Barned was serving with the 73rd Pennsylvania Infantry in a variety of campaigns.

Although Numa Barned's letters are few, many of them are very valuable because of the effort that he put into them. Unlike many of his fellow soldiers, Barned did not write simply a succession of one-liners to fill out a page. Rather, he stays on a subject for a full paragraph, viewing it from various angles, philosophizing, and fleshing out his ideas. One excellent letter in this genre is almost entirely occupied with his opinions on African Americans, drawn from a wide range of experiences with them. Another deals with the equivocation inherent in the question of killing another American -- even a rebel -- in battle.

Barned is also good at writing a sequence-of-events letter, such as the report of his capture by Confederates, and his subsequent attempts to escape. He has a head for chronology, as exhibited in his lists of day-to-day positions, apparently reconstructed after the fact. One additional feature of interest is Barned's continued cry of "On to Richmond," long after most soldiers had given the phrase up as another hollow reminder of the ill course of the war.