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Collection

Blanchard Family Papers, circa 1835-circa 2000

49.5 linear feet (in 50 boxes) — 1400 glass photographic plates (in 10 boxes)

The Blanchard family papers document the lives and careers of several members of the Blanchard, Cobb, and Proctor families from the mid-nineteenth century through the late twentieth century. Includes visual materials, publications, personal writings, and extensive correspondence files.

The Blanchard Family Papers document the professional achievements and personal lives of several generations of a scientifically minded and artistically gifted family. The papers focus heavily upon the eminent plant pathologist and nematologist Nathan A. Cobb, his wife Alice Vara Cobb, their daughter, biologist Frieda Cobb Blanchard, and her husband, herpetologist Frank Nelson Blanchard (the latter two of whom were professors at the University of Michigan). In addition to the photographs, drawings, correspondence, journals, and writings of these four individuals, the collection is rich in family correspondence, diaries, and personal papers from other members of the Cobb and Blanchard families (and their forebears and branches, including the Bigelow, Proctor, Ross, White, and Randall families). The Blanchard Family Papers will be of value to researchers interested in a variety of topics: scientific endeavors and methodologies (and in particular those related to agronomy, nematology, botany, and herpetology); the visual arts and the development of photography in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; colonial and provincial life in Australia and Hawaii (respectively); and the daily affairs of American (and Michigan) families throughout the twentieth century. The Blanchard Family Papers consist of seven series: Nathan A. Cobb, Alice Vara Cobb, Frieda Cobb Blanchard, Frank Nelson Blanchard, Blanchard and Cobb Family Letters, Other Family Members, and Isaac G. Blanchard.

Collection

Earl W. De La Vergne collection, 1879-1940s

1 folder — 35 artifacts

Collector of books, maps, artifacts primarily relating to the Harbor Springs area of Michigan. Artifacts include black ash baskets, porcupine quill and birch bark boxes, and miscellaneous stone and metal implements; and miscellaneous collected material.

This finding aid only describes the artifacts and historical documents collected by Earl De La Vergne. The many books he collected have been individually cataloged. The artifacts in the collection include Native American black ash baskets and quill boxes, as well as various stone and metal tools and hardware. The collected documents include a diary of an 1879 trip from Kent County, Michigan, to Emmet County, Michigan, by Etta Carpenter [mimeograph of typescript]; 1902 list of birds seen near Harbor Springs, by O. Widmann and Judge Stephenson; notes relating to Michigan history; photographs; and a citation.

Collection

Edith A. Moore Frost commonplace book, 1860-1893

1 volume

Edith A. Moore Frost's commonplace book includes material dating from 1860 to 1893, with signatures, poetry, and comments predominantly written by her classmates and teachers from Ashland High School in Ashland, Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts State Normal School in Framingham, Massachusetts. Acquaintances in Kansas wrote additional entries in the 1880s. Thirty-two photographs of signatories are pasted or tipped into the volume, along with other materials like a fabric swatch with a hair clipping attached, embellished paper, and a pressed leaf.

Edith A. Moore Frost's commonplace book includes material dating from 1860 to 1893, with signatures, poetry, and comments predominantly written by her classmates and teachers from Ashland High School in Ashland, Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts State Normal School in Framingham, Massachusetts. Some entries include notations written in another hand, primarily indicating if someone was a teacher. Acquaintances in Kansas contributed additional entries in the 1880s.

Many persons signing the album added elements to their entries, such as poems, proverbs, comments, and drawings. Twenty-seven photographs of women were pasted into the volume alongside their signatures, with an additional five photographs enclosed in a letter written by Mrs. E. A. Husey to Mrs. F. W. Frost in 1893 (concerning classmates from the State Normal School). The volume includes various other materials tipped or pasted in, such as a fabric swatch with an attached hair clipping, embellished paper, and a pressed leaf.

Edith A. Moore Frost first inscribed the volume on December 25, 1860, indicating this "Forget Me Not Album," which features engraved illustrations of women, may have been given to her as a Christmas gift. She later wrote, beneath a photograph of herself, "Edith A. Frost. Class of 1868. Mass. State Normal School. Framingham Mass. Pictures of graduating Class 1868."

Collection

Friendship and Autograph Album collection, 1826-1944 (majority within 1826-1908)

48 volumes

The Clements Library's collection of individual friendship and autograph albums (the ones that are not part of larger bodies of family papers) dates primarily from the second half of the 19th century. The creators of these albums sought out friends, family, schoolmates, public persons, and others to write signatures, sentiments, poetry, extracts from books and serials, personal sentiments, and more. Contributions often emphasize ties of friendship, exhortations to seek love, happiness, or Christian religious salvation. Most of the volumes in this collection were compiled in the Northeast United States and areas in the Midwest, with urban and rural areas represented. The greater number of the albums were kept by young women and the bulk of the signers were also female. Contributors occasionally illustrated pages with calligraphic designs, trompe l'oeil visiting cards, animals, flowers, and themes that had particular significance to their relationship with the keeper of the album. The volumes in this collection are largely decorative blank books adorned with tooled covers, sometimes containing interspersed engravings of religious, literary, historical, and landscape themes. Some include pasted-in photographs, die-cuts, or stickers.

The Clements Library's collection of individual friendship and autograph albums (the ones that are not part of larger bodies of family papers) dates primarily from the second half of the 19th century. The creators of these albums sought out friends, family, schoolmates, public persons, and others to write signatures, sentiments, poetry, extracts from books and serials, personal sentiments, and more. Contributions often emphasize ties of friendship, exhortations to seek love, happiness, or Christian religious salvation. Most of the volumes in this collection were compiled in the Northeast United States and areas in the Midwest, with urban and rural areas represented. The greater number of the albums were kept by young women and the bulk of the signers were also female. At least one volume was kept by an African American man, Lewis G. Mosebay. Contributors occasionally illustrated pages with calligraphic designs, trompe l'oeil visiting cards, animals, flowers, and themes that had particular significance to their relationship with the keeper of the album. The volumes in this collection are largely decorative blank books adorned with tooled covers, sometimes containing interspersed engravings of religious, literary, historical, and landscape themes. Some include pasted-in photographs, die-cuts, or stickers.

Collection

Josselyn Van Tyne papers, 1917-1958

3 linear feet (in 5 boxes)

Ornithologist and curator of birds in the Museum of Zoology, and professor of zoology at University of Michigan. Correspondence and other papers concerning his interest in birds, his activities with the Wilson Ornithological Club, and his scientific expeditions to Indochina and British Honduras in the late Twenties; and papers on student life at Harvard University, 1922-1925; also photographs.

The Josselyn Van Tyne papers consist of correspondence and other papers concerning his interest in birds, his activities with the Wilson Ornithological Club, and his scientific expeditions to Indochina and British Honduras in the late Twenties; and papers on student life at Harvard University, 1922-1925 and photographs. The collection is arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Other Materials; and Photographs. Correspondents in the collection include Thomas Barbour, Alfred B. Connable, Harold J. Coolidge, Lee R. Dice, Frederick M. Gaige, Harry G. Kipke, David Rockefeller, and Norman A. Wood.

The Photographs are of scientific expeditions to Indochina (1928-1930), Texas (1928-1935), British Honduras and Guatemala (1931), Yucatan, Mexico (1936), and Bylot Island, Northwest Territories, Canada (1950s). The photos include local populations and scenery as well as activities of expedition members. The Guatemala and Yucatan expeditions files contain photos of Mayan ruins, especially Chichén Itzá.

Collection

Marston Bates Papers, 1913-1974

25 linear feet

Professor of zoology at the University of Michigan, scientist for the Rockefeller Foundation, and scientific writer for both professional and popular publications. Correspondence, journals, manuscripts of writings, and class materials, including papers detailing his work with the United Fruit Company in Central America, 1928-1931, his later activities with the International Health Division of the Rockefeller Foundation, especially his interest in mosquito research and malaria control programs during the 1930's and 1940's, and his demographic studies of the people of the Ifalik Atoll in the South Pacific in 1953; and photographs.

The Bates papers cover the period 1913-1974 and include material relating to all phases of his career, including his research in Guatemala and Honduras with the United Fruit Company, his studies of mosquito biology and malaria control programs during the 1930's and 1940's in Albania, Egypt, Colombia, and elsewhere and his later investigations into problems of demography and human ecology. The collection includes correspondence, personal and scientific journals, miscellaneous entomological notes, manuscripts of many of his books, articles, and book reviews, copies of the scripts of his television appearances, and University of Michigan class notes. The collections also includes personal photographs and photographs relating to his scientific research.

The collection has been arranged into six series: Correspondence; University of Michigan; Journals, diaries, research; Writings; Notes/miscellaneous personal; and Photographs.

Collection

Thomas L. Hankinson Papers, 1899-1935

8 linear feet (in 10 boxes)

Naturalist, professor of zoology and physiology at Eastern Illinois State Normal College and Michigan State Normal College, and researcher for state conservation departments in Michigan and Ohio. Correspondence, reports, and field and laboratory notes concerning his studies of the fish of Michigan, Illinois and New York; also photographs.

Hankinson's papers are contained in five boxes. Types of materials in the collection include correspondence; topical files on fish studies from Michigan, Illinois, and New York; materials on the Michigan Audubon Society; and field notes (loose leaf, bound volumes, and card files). The time period of these materials ranges from 1899 to 1935.

The archives at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan has additional papers of Professor Hankinson.