Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

The Inter-fraternity Council (IFC) is the administrative and organizing body for the undergraduate social fraternities at the University of Michigan. Records include meeting minutes, officers reports, newspaper clippings, photographs, printed materials. One bound volume of handwritten meeting minutes from 1912-1930, provides the only record of earliest activities of the IFC.

The records of the Interfraternity Council (IFC) measure 3 linear feet and date from 1912 to 1994, with the bulk of records falling between 1960 and 1994. The records consist of meeting minutes, officer's reports, newspaper clippings, photographs, and printed materials. Despite the range of years covered by the collection as a whole, no one time period is completely documented. For additional information on the IFC, the researcher should consult the record groups under "University of Michigan Fraternity Office" and "University of Michigan Housing Division" and the "University of Michigan Vice President for Student Affairs" at the Bentley Historical Library.

The records of the IFC are divided into five series: President's Notebooks, Fraternity Membership Selection Files, Topical Files, Photographs, and Printed Materials.

Registrar of the University of Michigan. Files concerning University admissions policy, the work of the registrar as liaison between the University and secondary schools, the relationship of the University to other educational associations, and the maintenance of student records at the University; and files relating to his work with University, community, and other social organizations; also photographs.

The Ira M. Smith papers document his career as Registrar at the University of Michigan, his reform of the admissions process, his involvement in general university affairs, and activities with various community organizations. The collection has largely been retained in its original order. Groups of files were given series title. These are Biographical materials, Correspondence; University of Michigan; Community Activities, and Photographs. The great bulk of the collection relates to University of Michigan affairs and to his community involvements.

The School of Dentistry is a teaching and research unit of the University of Michigan. Records include administrative files, faculty meeting minutes, curriculum and education, subject files relating to dentistry and to the professional interests of the school's faculty; and photographs and films.

The School of Dentistry record group spans the years from 1873 to 2010, but does not comprehensively document the entire span. The records are fragmentary, providing only a partial picture of the School of Dentistry. Documentation reflects the tenures of various deans with scattered documents from the late 1800s and more detail in the period 1920-1990. The records give some insight into the development of dentistry as a profession, and the training and education of dental students. The records, comprised of 40.5 linear feet, 1 oversize volume, 1 oversize folder, and 1.3GB, have been divided into 10 series: Educational Information, Administration, Black Dentistry Conference, Organizations, Surveys, Photographs and Audiovisual Materials, Department Chairpersons' Meetings, Faculty Meetings, American Dental Association Accreditation, Dental Research Institute, and Website.

University of Michigan chapter of Greek letter fraternity. Meeting minutes and financial records, pledging and initiation records, alumni records, visual materials and miscellaneous.

Sigma Nu records have been divided into the following series: Meeting Minutes and Financial Records, Pledging and Initiation Records, Alumni Records, Visual Materials, and Miscellaneous. These materials describe the history of the Gamma Nu chapter of Sigma Nu at the University of Michigan, and the national fraternity as well.

Correspondence, memoranda, reports, minutes, and other materials relating to administration of the office; include files relating to operation and naming of University dormitories, especially detailing the establishment of housing policy and the resolution of housing controversies; information on small group housing and off-campus housing with individual files on fraternities and sororities; also files concerning the occupational status and treatment of Japanese-Americans working for the University during World War II, and concerning the housing and training of military personnel on campus during the war.

The records of the Housing Division provide documentation on development and administration of the university's dormitory system, off-campus housing and student life. The records include correspondence, memoranda, reports, minutes, and other materials relating to administration of the office; include files relating to operation and naming of University dormitories, especially detailing the establishment of housing policy and the resolution of housing controversies; information on small group housing and off-campus housing with individual files on fraternities and sororities; also files concerning the occupational status and treatment of Japanese-Americans working for the University during World War II, and concerning the housing and training of military personnel on campus during the war.

Photographs collected from various sources, depicting buildings, faculty, students, and other topics relating to the University of Michigan.

The University of Michigan Photographs Vertical File represents a miscellaneous assemblage of U of M-related photographs from many different sources, mainly prior to 1950. The vertical file is especially strong on the earliest photographic images of the campus, university buildings, and class activities. While the vertical file contains many images of individuals, researchers should first consult the library's on-line catalog for images of faculty, administrators, and other University personalities. Most photographs originally accumulated by a University department or other unit are kept with that unit's records.

The arrangement of the photographic images was intended to parallel the classification used with University of Michigan published materials and with manuscript materials. Both of these used a classification system using letters of the alphabet (A through N only) for groupings of published or manuscript material. This system was carried over for use with the library's photographic images though there are certain categories for which images are unlikely to be found (Category A, for example, which pertains to legislation affecting the University or Category I which is reserved for university publications of a scientific or literary nature). The classification is further broken down under each letter by a number code which refers to a more specific subdivision. The heaviest concentration of images will be found under C (for U-M schools and colleges, departments, and other units), D (for university buildings and views), and F (for class pictures, photos of student organizations, and images detailing aspects of student life and customs).

Each heading in this finding aid includes the letter classification plus a numbered subdivision. In addition, the individual envelopes are numbered sequentially. Headings for which there are oversized images (usually larger than 8x10) will be indicated by reference to medium or large size photographs. When requesting material, researchers must specify the heading and the classification and folder number.

This finding aid describes only a small portion of the Bentley Library's U-M visual images. The on-line catalog will direct the researcher to additional images.

Records of University of Michigan office (and its predecessor administrative offices) responsible for external fund raising and development activities, including subject files of development officials Arthur Brandon, Lyle Nelson, and Michael Radock; staff files; and photographs.

The records of the Vice President for Development date from 1948 to the present and measure 39.5 linear feet. They reflect the basic concerns of the office for these four decades: preserving and improving the university's public image and planning major fundraising efforts. Unfortunately, both activities are incompletely documented. In the area of public relations the records tend to discuss how immediate problems will be dealt with, rather than overall conceptions of the university's image. The thought behind the innovative fundraising devices created or employed by the office is sometimes recorded through consultant reports, but in general is not well documented.

The manuscript records have been divided into two subgroups, one representing the records of the vice president (or senior staff person, for those years in which there was no vice presidency), the other containing records created by the development office. The Vice Presidents subgroup has been divided by the name of each person who has held the office: Arthur Brandon, Lyle Nelson, and Michael Radock. Researchers should note that since Nelson and Radock used their predecessor's files for some time before inaugurating their own records, the relationship between office tenure and file dates is not an exact one. The Development Office subgroup contains records of that office and its subsidiary units. Several accessions of Development Office records received in 1989 and 1990 have been grouped together as Development Office subgroup: 1989-1990 accessions.