Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Chippewa Indian from Bay City, Michigan. Topical files relating to his activities on behalf of Indian rights, including his interest in native American education, land claims, and disputes over hunting and fishing rights.

The collection consists of topical files detailing Marvin Fisher's organizational activities and his interest in native American causes in general.

First president of University of Michigan, 1817-1821, Presbyterian minister in Detroit, Blissfield, Michigan, and Elyria, Ohio; professor at Hamilton College; correspondence, diaries, sermons, speeches, and papers of other family members.

The John Monteith microfilm collection consists of correspondence, diaries, sermons, and papers of other family members. The originals of these materials are also available at the library; to best preserve the originals, access is limited to the microfilm copies.

The correspondence includes letters from Monteith to members of his family and others discussing current events, his work, travel, places visited, temperance reform, slavery, and bank failures. There are also letters to/from Monteith's wife, Abigail, his daughter, Sarah, his sons George, John Jr., Charles, and Edwin, and scattered letters from other relatives and friends. George's letters cover his service as an officer in the Fourth Michigan Infantry during the Civil War. Besides the letters there are diaries kept by Monteith (1815-1838), notes on his library, sermons and a volume of sermon outlines, speeches, notes on class lectures and other subjects, personal account books, a notebook (1820) containing Chippewa-English vocabulary, student notes (1797-1798) taken by Alexander Monteith at Dickinson College. In addition, there is a manuscript play written by John Monteith Jr. entitled, "The Raging Firelands," and a biography of Abigail Monteith, written by her son, Edwin (1859).

Of special interest is the annual report, Nov. 1818, of John Monteith to governor and judges of Michigan Territory concerning the University of Michigania.

Sub-Indian agent at La Pointe, Wisconsin, later surveyor of Indian lands in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and interpreter among the Chippewa Indians. Letters relating to his work among the Indians, also including descriptions of Michigan's copper deposits and of Johnston's efforts to exploit the area's natural resources.

The George Johnston letterbook provides a chronology of the events in his life. Included are copies of letters from Chippewa Indian chiefs appealing to the President of the United States to honor its past treaties with the Indians. There are also many letters describing the copper deposits of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, including letters to copper mining companies (i.e. the Native Copper Association and the Bruce Mining Company) urging them to exploit the natural resources of the Upper Peninsula. Letters to Henry Schoolcraft, Johnston's brother-in-law, indicate something of his interest in Michigan's copper resources. Of interest are the series of letters written to Secretary of War, Lewis Cass, Henry R. Schoolcraft, and H.C. Gilbert defending his claim to receive land under the treaty of 1855. Johnston addressed letters to the following individuals: Lewis Cass, Zachariah Chandler, Peter Dougherty, Bishop Samuel McCoskry, Robert McClelland, Henry R. Schoolcraft, Charles Stuart, and C.C. Trowbridge.

Web collection of websites created by various ethnic and cultural communities of the State of Michigan, archived by the Bentley Historical Library using the California Digital Library Web Archiving Service crawler from 2010-2015 and the Archive-It web archiving service beginning in 2015.

The Web Archive of Michigan's Ethnic and Cultural Communities collection contains archived websites created by various ethnic and cultural communities of the State of Michigan. The websites have been archived by the Bentley Historical Library, using the California Digital Library Web Archiving Service crawler from 2010-2015 and the Archive-It web archiving service beginning in 2015. Access to all websites archived by the Bentley Historical Library is available at: https://archive-it.org/organizations/934.

Web Archives include websites of African American, Arab American, Native American, Asian American and other ethnic communities and organizations who call the state of Michigan home. The collection is especially strong in documenting African American, Arab American, and Native American communities, business, religious, cultural and civil rights organizations, as well as distinguished individuals who belong to these communities.

The year that appears next to the website title in the contents list indicates the date that the website was first archived. Archived versions of the site from later dates may also be available.