Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Professor of geology and paleontology at the University of Michigan, director of the Michigan Geological Survey, and chancellor of Syracuse University, popular lecturer and writer on scientific topics and as a Methodist layman who worked to reconcile traditional religious beliefs to nineteenth-century developments in the fields of evolutionary biology, cosmology, geology, and paleontology. Papers include extensive diaries, field notes and maps from travels and geological expeditions, correspondence, speeches, articles and other publications and photographs.

The papers of Alexander Winchell are those of an orderly man who carefully documented his own life through well-organized correspondence, diaries, notebooks, and scrapbooks. Winchell kept thorough evidence of his activities, writings, lectures, and thoughts, for most of his life. The only area that seems poorly documented is his university teaching. The collection does not appear to include significant material relating to relationships with students in the classroom.

"Alexander Winchell, an editorial tribute," published in The American Geologist (Feb. 1892, MHC call number DB/2/W759/A512), includes a year-by-year account of Winchell's life, based on the papers, and probably written by his brother N. H. Winchell. Although there are no footnotes in this work, it provides a useful summary of Winchell's activities and clues to the existence of documentation in the collection.

The collection is divided into six major series: Biographical, Correspondence, Diaries and journals, Writings and lectures, Reference and research files, and Scrapbooks; and three smaller series: Visual materials, Processing notes, and Card files.

Winchell's bibliography is located in Box 1 (the most complete copy is in the "Permanent memoranda" volume), and drafts of many of his writings are found in Boxes 8-14. Copies of many, but not all, of Winchell's publications are found in the MHC printed collection. The card catalog includes details for all separately cataloged items. There are also three collections of pamphlets that are not inventoried: two slightly different bound sets prepared by N. H. Winchell after Alexander Winchell's death (MHC call numbers DA/2/W759/M678/Set A and DA/2/W759/M678/Set B) and a two-box collection of pamphlets collected by the University Library (MHC call number Univ. of Mich. Coll./J/17/W759).

Professor of rhetoric and journalism at University of Michigan. Correspondence concerning his professional activities, particularly his interest in linguistics and English language and speech, and papers, 1917-1918, concerning war issues course at the University, manuscripts of articles and speeches, diary, 1903-1909, day-books, 1903-1922, and miscellaneous notebooks and journals; also photographs.

The Fred Newton Scott collection includes correspondence, drafts of articles and reviews, diaries, daybooks, some personal materials, and photographs.

The correspondence is the core of the collection, consisting mainly of incoming letters to Scott from friends, colleagues, students, publishers, editors, authors, and learned societies. The letters deal mainly with literary and language questions and with Scott's lecture engagements, book reviewing, and other writings. The correspondence, arranged chronologically, is between Scott and four categories of individuals: Students; Journalists and publishers; Professional associates; and University colleagues and other.

I. Students

The wide-ranging influence of Scott's philosophy and teaching is amply illustrated through letters from his former students. They kept him informed of how they were putting his principles into practice as journalists or in academic teaching, and sought his advice on further developments in their work. The accomplishments of women students who had studied with him are particularly noteworthy. Gertrude Buck, whose dissertation on metaphor was considered a definitive study at the time, became a professor at Vassar College. In 1898, she had received the first Ph.D. in Rhetoric awarded by the University of Michigan. Other women students who went on to distinguished careers included Marjorie Nicolson, English professor and dean of Smith College; Helen Mahin, professor of journalism, University of Kansas; Ada Snell, Wellesley College; and Phyllis Povah Drayton, actress. Georgia Jackson was one of the first women to serve on the editorial staff of The American Boy magazine and later became editor of the Literary Digest. Other students of Scott were Frank Mitchell, Katherine Reed, Alice D. Snyder, Katherine Taylor, and Joseph M. Thomas.

Perhaps the most locally prominent among men graduates was Lee A. White who became editor of The Detroit News. Scott also numbered among his accomplished students, Avery Hopwood, playwright and donor of the Hopwood prizes; Wilfred B. Shaw, author and editor, and Director of Alumni Relations at the University of Michigan; Paul Osborn, playwright; Edgar A. and Paul Scott Mowrer, journalists; Joseph Thomas, Dean of the Senior College, University of Minnesota; James O. Bennett, journalist, The Chicago Tribune and Walter A. Donnelly, editor and Director of the University of Michigan Press.

II. Journalists and Publishers

As Scott developed courses in journalism he called on editors and publishers, some of whom had been his students, to lecture on the practical side of newspaper work. Much of this correspondence concerns arrangements for, and contents and evaluations of, these lectures. Since he was also concerned with improving journalistic writing, some letters deal with projects he undertook in cooperation with editors to raise the standards and styles of reportorial work. These professionals included James O. Bennett, Edmund Booth, George Booth, Frank Cobb, J.W. Cunliffe, Willard B. Gore, W.W. Harris, Roy Howard, Frank G. Kane, James M. Lee, Louis Ling, Milton A. McRae, C.M. Marstow, Robert Mountsier, Edgar Ansel Mowrer, Paul Scott Mowrer, Chases S. Osborn, E.G. Pipp, Arthur C. Pound, James Schermerhorn, James E. Scripps, Edwin E. Slosson, and Lee A. White.

III. Professional associates

Many of the letters in F. N. Scott's papers deal with his work on the National Council of Teachers of English and other professional organizations in which he played an active role. These are scattered throughout the collection but are not listed here. The largest amount of correspondence is that related to his interest in setting up an academy for the improvement of the English language. A British organization, the Society for Pure English, had been founded in 1913. In early 1922, a committee was organized, with Scott as chairman, to work with a British committee consisting of Robert Bridges, Henry Newbolt, and J. Dover Wilson, to form an international academy of English. The members of the American committee were: Henry Seidel Canby, Charles M. Gayley, Charles H. Grandgent, John L. Lowes, and John M. Manley. Other correspondents within organizations with whom Scott corresponded included John W. Bright, C.G. Hoag, F.P. Keppel, and Louise Pound. There also letters exchanged with Henry Ford.

IV. University colleagues and others

Included here are letters of Professor Thomas E. Rankin dealing with departmental affairs when he was acting chairman of the department in Scott's absence, and also his reactions to the later merging of the department with the Department of English. Aside from departmental and university concerns, the collection includes extensive correspondence with Jean Paul Slusser who became director of the Museum of Art following a long career teaching design and painting at the university. There is also correspondence with Regent Lucius Hubbard who shared Scott's interest in good English usage and in rare books. In addition, Scott was attracted to the health teachings of John Harvey Kellogg, stayed at his sanitarium in Battle Creek, and exchanged letters with him regarding his health regimen. Other correspondents include John Effinger, Peter Monro Jack, Clarence Cook Little, and Charles E. Whitman.

University of Michigan staff photographer, 1913-1947 and commercial photographer in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Collection includes some manuscript material but is primarily photographic prints and negatives made by Swain. Photo subjects include university buildings, faculty, and student activities, archeological expeditions to the Near East and, Ann Arbor scenes and landscapes form his travels in the western United States and Canada.

The papers and photographs of George R. Swain mainly document Swain's accomplishments as university photographer at the University of Michigan from 1913 to 1947. Researchers should note, however, that this is only a sampling of the photographer's work during these years. The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan has an extensive collection of Swain's archaeological negatives and prints, and researchers interested in his full career will want to also look at the Kelsey collection. The Bentley Library material, while including several folders of fine photographs Swain made on his travels with Professor Frances Kelsey, for the most part documents Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan.

The collection at the Bentley Library consists of three series: Miscellaneous Papers; Photographers Log; and Photographs (prints; negatives; and lantern slides. Since the bulk of the collection is comprised of early twentieth century images of Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan, the materials will be of most interest to researchers searching for visual documentation of this part of the state in that time period. There are very few materials beyond the visual, although the lengthy captions attached to many overseas images and the essays, diaries, and letters, are extremely interesting and offer insight into how Swain approached his craft, both as a professional photographer and in his personal work.

Professor of economics at University of Michigan, 1880-1921, statistician for the Interstate Commerce Commission, 1887-1911, developed standard accounting procedures for railroads. Papers include personal and professional correspondence, diaries, travel journals, drafts of books, letter books, reports and printed materials concerning his work with the Interstate Commerce Commission, his activities as an expert witness in railroad compensation and tax cases, and University of Michigan affairs.

The Henry Carter Adams papers consist of personal and professional correspondence, diaries, travel journals, drafts of books, letter books, reports and printed materials concerning his work with the Interstate Commerce Commission, his activities as an expert witness in railroad compensation and tax cases, and University of Michigan affairs.

Professor of English at University of Michigan. Correspondence, essays, a diary, and photographs.

The Demmon collection is comprised of the following series: Correspondence; Manuscripts; Essays and addresses; Other papers; and Photographs. The correspondence is both professional exchanges and personal letters among family members. Included are Demmon's student letters from Butler University and The University of Michigan, and two Civil War letters (1864) written while he was serving with 132nd Indiana Infantry. Among his professional correspondence are letters from James B. Angell, William L. Clements, Martin L. D'Ooge, Karl E. Guthe, Henry B. Joy, James McMillan, Moses C. Tyler. There are also lecture notes and other papers pertaining to his teaching duties; three volumes of personal accounts (1899-1920); a diary (1869) kept while he was a professor at Alliance College, Ohio, in which he mentions Mark Twain and John A. Bingham. The photographs include portraits, family photos and tintypes; photos of Demmon in the classroom, and of Demmon's residence in Ann Arbor.

Michigan family from Adrian and Flint, Michigan. Family papers, sound recordings, and photographs.

The collection is arranged by family name: Tomlinson, Pomeroy, and Raab. The earliest item is an account maintained by Alexander Tomlinson of Sherwood, Michigan. Within the Raab family papers are diaries, 1891-1892, of Florence Raab concerning her life in Adrian, Michigan. In addition, the collection includes papers and audio-tapes of Irving T. Raab reminiscing about his student life at the University of Michigan in the years before 1900. These tapes also concern his life in Flint and career as Presbyterian clergyman. The photographs in the collection are of family members.

Professor of philosophy at Glasgow University and University of Michigan. Extensive correspondence, scrapbooks, lecture notes, addresses, newspaper clippings and other papers relating to questions of philosophy and to his activities at University of Michigan; diaries, 1896-1927, relating to his European travels and career at the University; and photographs.

The Wenley papers have been divided into the following series: Correspondence; University of Glasgow/Queen Margaret College; Biographical and personal; Notes from University of Michigan and other courses and lectures; Speeches and addresses; Miscellaneous; and Scrapbooks.

Mathematician, professor of mathematics at the University of Michigan. Correspondence and other papers relating to professional and family matters, to his association with the Bethlehem Church in Ann Arbor, and to his involvement with the American Mathematical Society, especially regarding the controversy over loyalty oaths in the 1950s; also letters from family members, notably sister Martha, a school teacher, who comments on her career and her life as a single woman; and letters from son Paul during World War II; and photographs.

The papers of T.H. Hildebrandt consist of seven linear feet of materials spanning the years 1887 to 1978. The bulk of the collection falls between the years 1930 and 1960. The papers have been arranged in ten series: Biographical Material, Bethlehem Church, Compositions, Correspondence, Lectures, Notes, Organizations, Universities, Writings, and Visual Materials.

As Hildebrandt was fairly well known in his field, he corresponded with other eminent mathematicians of his time, including Eliakim Hostings Moore (with whom he had studied) and Maurice Frechet. The Hildebrandt papers are also valuable for other topics: the development of mathematical ideas and the various pressures placed on academics during the Cold War to name both two examples.

Pioneer Ann Arbor, Michigan family, involved in farming, then real estate, developed the Tuomy Hills area of the city. Papers include personal and business correspondence of Cornelius and Kathryn Tuomy and of other family members; ledger books, 1868-1890, 1911-1938, and diaries, 1920-1921, 1925, 1926, 1936 concerning business and personal affairs; also papers of Kathryn G. Tuomy as president of the Michigan Federation of Business and Professional Women; and photographs.

The Tuomy Family papers document the daily life of three generations of a pioneer Ann Arbor area family. The three linear feet of papers span the years 1840-1966 with the bulk of the material falling within the decades bound by 1905-1945. The papers have been divided into four series, a small set of documents with biographical information, a larger set of personal and business correspondence, and family material arranged as a set of topical files. There is also a box of unidentified family portraits

A strength of the Tuomy Family papers is the documentation of daily life for a prominent Ann Arbor family from 1900 until the 1960's. Kathryn G. Tuomy's materials provide good exposure to the life of an Ann Arbor woman who has a university education and a family business to maintain. The papers are weaker in their coverage of the Tuomy and Tuomy real estate business. There is only marginal documentation regarding Cornelius W. (Bill) Tuomy's time in political office as drain commissioner. The photographs are not strongly backed up by the written documentation regarding the Tuomy and Tuomy real estate office and properties.

Hamburg, Livingston County, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, family. Correspondence, newspaper clippings and photographs of the Lohmiller, Twichell, and Hollister families.

The papers of the Twichell family document three generations of the extended Twichell families. It includes extensive correspondence files, reminiscences of life on turn-of-the-century Michigan farm and of student life the University of Michigan, files relating to the family businesses including boardinghouses in Ann Arbor, and photographs of family members, towns in Michigan, and University of Michigan students. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence, Alphabetical Files, Photographs, and Sound Recordings.