Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Professor of history and director of Michigan Historical Collections of University of Michigan. Personal and professional correspondence; class notes and lectures; Michigan Historical Commission files; research material on Thomas M. Cooley; material concerning Azazels, University faculty club; letters written as student at University of Michigan, 1912-1913, and at Harvard; and letters written as instructor at Culver Military Academy, and at Teachers' College, St. Cloud, Minnesota in the 1920's; also photographs.

The papers of Lewis George Vander Velde date from 1855 to 1975 and comprise 7 and 3/4 linear feet of material. The collection is valuable for its documentation of the life of an historian and teacher. Vander Velde papers show a constant attention to, and interest in, Michigan local history. The Collection is arranged into seven series: Biographical Materials; Professional Files; University Class Notes and Lectures; Research Materials (Thomas M. Cooley); Family Papers; Personal Correspondence; and Miscellaneous.

Papers, of the Josiah Littlefield family of Monroe County and Farwell, Clare County, Michigan. Correspondence, typescript of autobiography, and excerpted typescript of University of Michigan student diary, 1867-1871, of Josiah Littlefield, surveyor, lumberman, and conservationist; also letters of other members of the Littlefield and Hall families; and photographs.

The Littlefield family collection documents several generations in the life of a family which migrated from Grafton, New York about 1830, and came to Michigan, settling first near Ash in Monroe County and later in Farwell in Clare County. The collection (311 items) spans the period of 1834 to 1935, and consists almost entirely of letters among family members, though there is a small group of printed items dealing with University of Michigan activities and life in Farwell, Michigan. Included with the papers are the correspondence, autobiography, and excerpted diary of Josiah Littlefield. There is also correspondence of Littlefield's wife, Ellen Hart Littlefield, his mother, Mary Hall Littlefield, his daughter, Ellen Littlefield Elder, and his uncle, Edmund Hall.

The correspondence comprising the collection includes several recurring subjects: schooling, medical treatment, social customs, religious matters (selecting ministers, sermons, and church activities), agriculture (types of crops grown and prices received), food prices in Michigan, fashions of domestic furnishings (see Josiah Littlefield folder: September 13, 1874, September 24, 1874, October 4, 1874 and January 1, 1874 from Ellen Hart Littlefield; Mary Hall Littlefield folder: October 14, 1874 from Josiah Littlefield; Ellen Hart Littlefield folder: March 3, 1875 from Lucy Hart and October 5, 1873, letter from Josiah Littlefield; see Ellen Hart Littlefield folder: April 25, 1875 from Jessie Hart Williams).

Interesting though brief descriptions of Oberlin College in the 1830's occur in letters from Edmund Hall (see Martha Smith Hall folder: February 15, 1840 from Edmund Hall; and Mary Hall Littlefield folder: May 21, 1836 and October 11, 1836 from Edmund Hall). Mr. Hall apparently became involved in abolition activities in Michigan in the mid 1840's. A listing of seven speeches scheduled for September or October, 1844 is in the first Edmund Hall folder.

In the area of women's history, parts of the collection cover several topics of interest in addition to those referred to as recurring subjects. Martha Smith Hall, Josiah Littlefield's maternal grandmother left her husband E.F. Hall in New York state about 1830 and migrated to Michigan with her children. She managed to establish a new home and raise and educate her family without any economic help from her husband. (see Martha Hitchcock folder: February 2, 1854 from E.F. Hall, October 12, 1855 from Carolina A. Kinsley; see Edmund Hall folder: August 13, 1855 and August 21, 1855 from Carolina A. Kinsley, October 20, 1855 from Martha Hitchcock, and October 2, 1855 to Mrs. Kinsley from Edmund Hall).

Reference to a case of post-natal depression so severe that it culminated in temporary insanity and the killing of a child occurs in the Josiah Littlefield folder (January 15, 1875 from Ellen Hart Littlefield). Descriptions of another serious post-natal depression are contained in the Josiah Littlefield folder (January 15, 1875 from Ellen hart Littlefield and May 21, 1877 from Margaret Hart).

Editor and publisher of the Port Huron Times Herald. Scrapbooks, correspondence, and photographs concerning his newspaper career and other Port Huron, Michigan, activities.

The collection is composed of four series: Correspondence; Miscellaneous; Scrapbooks; and Audio-Visual materials. One of the scrapbooks contains letters received from William Lyon Phelps, H. L. Mencken, Edgar A. Guest, Chase S. Osborn, Frank Murphy, Theodore Roosevelt and Arthur H. Vandenberg.

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.

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.

Pacifist, participant in World War I peace movement and later peace activities, member of Fellowship of Reconciliation, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and Women Strike for Peace. Papers include Correspondence, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, periodicals, reports, photographs, and other materials relating to the International Congress of Women, 1915, the Ford Peace Ship, the American Neutral Conference Committee, the Emergency Peace Federation, and the People's Council of America.

The papers of Rebecca Shelley (1887-1984) were donated by Shelley in several accessions between 1964 and 1984. The papers make up twenty-one linear feet of materials and cover the years 1890-1984, though only a few photographs and printed items predate 1910. Her anti-war activism, legal battles, writing career, and courtships with Franz Willman and Felix Rathmer are all well-represented. In addition to her personal papers, there are groups of material belonging to Emily Balch, Richard Olsen, Felix Rathmer, Paul Shelly, and William A. Shelly.

Many peace organizations are also documented in these papers through flyers, pamphlets, periodicals, newsletters, and correspondence. These include the American Neutral Conference Committee, Emergency Peace Federation, People's Council of America, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Women Strike for Peace, and many others. As Shelley served as an officer in the Michigan Fellowship of Reconciliation (F.O.R.) through the 1950s and 1960s, many of the organization's official papers came to be in her possession. Therefore, an effort was made to remove most of these official papers to the separate Michigan F.O.R. collection.

The collection is arranged in eleven series: Biographical; Newspaper Clippings; Correspondence; Topical Papers; Miscellaneous Papers; Papers Of Other Individuals; Printed; Periodicals; Diaries And Notebooks; Photographs; and Writings.

Owosso, Shiawassee County, Michigan, family. Correspondence and other materials relating to daily life and family activities; collection of sheet music; and photographs.

The Richardson family papers (letters, photographs, and business records) illustrate the lives of ordinary rural Americans from the 1860's to the 1940's.

Resident of Santa Cruz, California. Includes portraits of Heber D. Curtis and his family. Also included is a photograph of the Lick Observatory at Mount Hamilton, California, and the house where Curtis lived during an astronomical expedition, 1906-1910.

The collection includes portraits of Heber D. Curtis and his family. Also included is a photograph of the Lick Observatory at Mount Hamilton, California, and the house where Curtis lived during an astronomical expedition, 1906-1910.

Photographs collected by Sam Sturgis and Hazel Proctor of Ann Arbor, Michigan; including businesses, street scenes, buildings, people, and activities in Ann Arbor, Brighton, Chelsea, Dexter, Dixboro, Manchester, Saline, and Ypsilanti, Michigan. (Copy negatives and copy prints.)

The Sam Sturgis collection consists of photographic prints and copy negatives of Washtenaw and Livingston County life from the 1860s through the 1970s. Collected by Ann Arbor photographer Sam Sturgis and Ypsilanti banker Hazel Proctor from a variety of known and unknown sources, the collection represents many aspects of life in Ann Arbor, Brighton, Chelsea, Dexter, Dixboro, Manchester, Saline and Ypsilanti. Main subject categories include churches, schools, businesses, buildings, University of Michigan buildings, staff, students and campus life, streets, panoramic views, rivers, recreation and family life, including residences, men, women, and children. Evolving modes of transportation, such as railroads, interurban streetcars, automobiles, and airplanes are also depicted.

Prints and negatives are divided into two parallel series, with negative use restricted to Bentley staff for preservation and security purposes. Each series is arranged alphabetically by city or town and, within each geographical grouping, in the order in which Sturgis collected the items. Sturgis began donating his collection to the Bentley in 1966, and, as items continue to be received, numbering is continued within each geographical grouping, in the original collecting and numbering order established by Sturgis. While some numbers were originally intended by Sturgis to designate the origins of the item, if known, this information has also been added to the item description under the heading "source" to facilitate patron and staff use. The Bentley does not hold a complete set of prints and negatives. Information on the current availability of both prints and negatives is included in each item listing.

Each photograph has a unique identifying number. The "Sturgis Number" consists of a one or two-letter series code, followed by a numerical number with decimal or alphanumeric number, such as AA 267.21 or AA 35A. the collection is arranged by city as follows

City	Sturgis Code	Number of Images
Ann Arbor	AA	ca. 1500
Brighton	BB	148
Chelsea	C	156
Chelsea-Manchester	CM	119
Dexter	D	124
Dixboro	DI	45
Manchester	M	123
Saline	S	57
Ypsilanti	Y	150

An item list of all photographs with description, date (if known), source and photographer, if known, follows the summary contents list on page three of the introduction.

Information on whether the photograph has been published and therefore has further information provided elsewhere is also included in each item description. Unless otherwise noted, all photographs listed as "published" have been published in a series by the Ann Arbor Federal Savings Bank (AAFSB), with editorial supervision by Sam Sturgis and Hazel Proctor. Availability of the respective print and negative concludes each item entry.

The following books, published by the AAFSB in the early 1970s, are annotated with Sturgis' photograph numbers and may be used as a partial guide to the collection. While two copies of each publication are available for consultation in the reading room, only one of each set has annotations. Descriptive captions in these publications as well as the annotated numbers may differ from actual photograph numbers and other information about the photographs. Any reference to these annotations should be verified with the item lists and vice versa to assure accuracy because of occasional inconsistencies. The AAFSB publications with Bentley call numbers are listed as follows:

1. Proctor, Hazel. Old Ann Arbor Town. 1974. Copy 1 annotated. EC 2 A216.5 P964
2. Sam Sturgis. Memories of Old Ann Arbor Town, 1967. Copies 1 and 2 annotated. EC 2 A613.5 S935
3. Proctor, Hazel. Old Brighton Village. 1974. Copy 1 annotated. EC 2 B856.3 P964
4. Proctor, Hazel. Old Chelsea Village. 1972. Copy 2 annotated. EC2 C516.5 P964
5. Proctor, Hazel. Old Dexter Village. 1973. Copy 1 annotated. EC 2 D526.5 P964
6. Proctor, Hazel. Old Manchester Village. 1974. Copy 2 annotated. EC 2 M268.5 P964
7. Proctor, Hazel. Old Saline Village. 1975. Copy 1 annotated. EC 2 S165.5 P964
8. Proctor, Hazel. Old Ypsilanti Town. 1974. Copy 2 annotated. EC 2 Y86.5 P964

Wife of Chase S. Osborn, leader in the Atlantic Union Movement, and officer in the Atlantic Union Conference, the International Movement for Atlantic Union, and Federal Union, Inc. Correspondence, diaries and other materials concerning her professional interests, especially her work for world peace through international cooperation.

The Stella Osborn collection was received in multiple accessions. The bulk of the papers were received from her home in Georgia (1958) and her office in Washington D.C. (1972). These materials documenting her entire career were organized into seven series: Biographical; Correspondence; Personal and miscellaneous; Atlantic Union Committee and related; Business and Professional Women's Club; Sound recordings; and Index card files. An extremely active woman with many interests and causes, Stella Osborn continued to add to her papers with a later accession in 1983. Following her death, the executor of her estate and other friends added to the collection with materials which she had retained for whatever reason or which had been in storage. There is obviously some overlap in these later materials and the files received previously. The purpose of the Summary Contents List (see below) is to draw like materials together.

The 1992 accession was more fully described than the earlier papers. This accession includes biographical notes and clippings about Stella Osborn and Chase Osborn. There is, in addition, personal and organizational correspondence, financial and estate records (1970-1988), land deeds for the Osborn holdings in Georgia and Michigan, organizational material for the Federal Union and the Atlantic Union Committee, manuscripts of poetry, prose, and political essays (including some material by Chase Osborn), and Stella Osborn's diaries (1982-87). The collection includes childhood photographs of Stella Osborn and photographs of her parents and grandparents. Two copies of a videotape about the Osborn farm in Georgia, Possum Poke, are included here as well.

Much of this accession documents the last few years of Stella Osborn's life, after her move to a retirement home in Sault St. Marie Michigan, years during which she maintained an interest in people and world peace organizations, and in documenting her own and Chase Osborn's place in history. While the bulk of correspondence here is for 1982, 1983, and 1987, some earlier correspondence is included as well. Of interest to university historians is the topical correspondence file on Robert Frost's visit to Michigan. Stella Osborn's lifelong friendship with Yuki Otsuki is documented by their extensive correspondence, a series of letters beautifully written and presented that recall earlier days, including student life.

The collection contains some material of interest to researchers interested in Chase Osborn, including the series of land transfers and deeds which document Chase and Stella Osborn's extensive holdings in Georgia and Michigan, and their gifts of land to various charities and institutions. Also included is some Chase Osborn correspondence and copies of articles he wrote about his extensive travels in Africa. Chase Osborn's 1938 "Longfellow Birthday Book" contains the birth dates of his ancestors. Several letters from 1936 pertain to Chase Osborn's involvement in the movement to build the Mackinac Bridge.

Of special interest to researchers interested in Stella Osborn and her role in various world peace organizations are her unpublished autobiographical manuscripts and files. Also of interest are her diaries, where she continued to record her ideas about politics and her memories.

1. Accessions, 1958 and 1971-1972 [boxes 1-27]
   • Biographical material [box 1]
   • Correspondence, 1916-1982 [boxes 1-13]
   • Personal and miscellaneous
     • Schedules, notes on telephone conversations, various writings [box 14]
     • Personal press releases [box 15]
     • Speeches [box 15]
     • Clippings [box 15]
     • Poetry [box 15]
     • Income tax files [box 15]
     • Diaries [box 16]
     • Student notebooks, account books, etc. (U-M and others) [box 16]
   • Atlantic Union Committee and related [boxes 17-24]
   • Business and Professional Women's Club activities [box 24]
   • Sound tapes [box 25]
   • Card files [boxes 25-27]
2. 1983 Accession [boxes 28-34]
   • Biographical material [box 28]
   • Correspondence, 1918-1983 [boxes 28-31]
   • Organizations [box 31]
   • Topical file [boxes 31-32]
   • Writings (autobiography, poetry, prose) [box 32]
   • Diaries [box 33]
   • Visual materials [box 34]
3. 1992 Accession [boxes 35-38]
   • Biographical and Autobiographical Material (including Chase Osborn) [box 35]
   • Correspondence, 1960-1987 [box 35]
   • Financial and Business Affairs, 1920-1985 [boxes 35-36]
   • Peace Organizations, 1970-1983 [box 36]
   • Manuscripts and Research Notes [box 36]
   • Chase Osborn materials, 1913-1949 [box 37]
   • Diaries, account books, day books, 1930-1987 [box 37-38]
   • Card Indices [box 38]