Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Historian of American Indian history and literature, research associate at the Newberry Library, secretary of the Michigan Commission on Indian Affairs, and expert witness in legal cases involving Indian treaty rights. The collection contains correspondence, reports, clippings, and printed material concerning work of the Commission and status of Indians in Michigan; also depositions and other documents in the case of United States v. Michigan, landmark Indian fishing rights case.

The Helen Hornbeck Tanner papers are composed of ten series: Personal / Biographical; Correspondence; Articles and other writings; Research and Writing Projects; Conferences and symposia; Topical files; Michigan Commission on Indian Affairs; U.S. v. Michigan; Other Litigation; and Printed Material.

The last will and testament of Horace H. Rackham provided for the establishment of a trust fund to provide for the health and welfare of individuals, particularly the sick, aged, the young, the poor, and other underprivileged. Much of the trust money went to the University of Michigan to be used for a building for the graduate school and an endowment to be used for different kinds of research. The Fund also awarded grants to agencies involved in child welfare, community culture, education, health, philanthropy, and science. The Fund distributed money from 1934 until about 1941. The series in this record group consist of administrative and executive files, and project applications and grant files.

The records of the Horace H. Rackham and Mary A. Rackham Fund document the continuing generosity of Horace Rackham and Mary Rackham to numerous charitable, educational, and scientific organizations and causes. The records contain the files of the Fund's trustees and directors and provide insight and information about such topics as the administration of a philanthropic fund-giving organization during the mid-1930s, the kinds of gifts made, the relationship among the Fund's trustees and officers, and the relationship between the Fund and the grant recipients. Because of the size of the gift, most of the documentation within the record group details the close ties between the Fund and the University of Michigan. These files concern not only the establishment of the Rackham endowment to the University, but also the different scientific and educational grants made. Additionally, these files detail the construction of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies building in Ann Arbor and the Rackham Educational Memorial building in Detroit.

The records of the Fund cover the period of 1929-1950 though they bulk largest for the period of the Fund's greatest activity, 1934-1940. The record group has been separated into two series: Combined Administrative and Executive Office Files and Project applications/grants.

Executive Director of the Michigan Commission on Indian Affairs from 1973-1977. The Commission was a result of the 1956 Governor's Study Commission on Indian Problems and worked within the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on policies to improve the health, housing, education and economic status of Native Americans in Michigan. Hillman also worked with the North American Indian Association. Reports, policy proposals, directories, newsletters, memoranda from the Michigan Commission on Indian Affairs, as well as Hillman's personal correspondence and other papers.

The James R. Hillman papers contain materials related to the work of the Michigan Commission on Indian Affairs. It also contains additional materials related to Hillman, including his work with the North American Indian Association and his personal writings as a history student at Wayne State University. The materials illustrate the workings of the Michigan Commission on Indian Affairs, the issues faced by Native Americans in Michigan during this period, and Hillman's personal leadership and work on these concerns.

The collection has been divided into two series:

The Michigan Commission on Indian Affairs series contains records related to the work of the Commission between 1970-1981. Materials include directories of Native American organizations and individuals, reports, office files, meeting information and other internal documents. This series also contains Hillman's theoretical proposal for the creation of an independent organization to distribute funds that would be run entirely by Native Americans.

The James R. Hillman materials series contains the personal papers of Hillman and documents activities related to his work with the Detroit chapter of the North American Indian Association. The series includes papers written by Hillman as a history student at Wayne State University and materials he compiled for reference, as well as his personal correspondence and clippings. Materials related to the North American Indian Association include office files, study reports and other reference documents.

Escanaba, Michigan, newspaperman. Subject files (including collected materials) relating to his research interest in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, notably in the area of Cedar River, Escanaba, and Menominee; include manuscript of writings, subject files, and photographs.

The papers of Jean Worth consists largely of collected material relating to his research interest in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The collection has been divided into the following series: Cedar River; Escanaba; Menominee; Upper Peninsula -General; and Michigan place names.

Leland, Michigan, journalist and author. Papers relating to his work as writer and editor for Reader's Digest; scripts and other papers concerning his activities as scriptwriter for radio, television, and motion picture production; copies of magazine articles; and material concerning the role of the United States in Mexican border troubles prior to World War I; also photographs.

The collections includes biographical and personal materials, correspondence, clippings, articles, motion picture and radio scripts, photographs, and copies of his writings from various magazines.

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.

Richard L. Zurel is an archaeologist who has conducted research on Native Americans in Michigan. The Richard L. Zurel papers, 1914-2011, contain materials related to his work in the field of archaeology documenting Native American groups in Michigan, as well as materials related to his family history. The collection contains materials related to the Michigan Archaeological Society and the Aboriginal Research Club of Detroit.

The Richard L. Zurel papers, 1897-2011, contain research materials and photographs related to his archaeological work in Michigan, as well as printed materials and minutes of the Aboriginal Research Club of Detroit and of the Michigan Archaeological Society. Collection also contains Zurel family photographs depicting family members, as well as photographs and postcards depicting locations in the Upper Michigan Peninsula.

Historian and archivist at the University of Michigan, archivist of the United States, dean of the University of Michigan School of Information and Library Studies. Records, 1980-1985, detailing his activities as Archivist of the United States; documentation prepared by Warner in 1972 and submitted to the Indian Claims Commission relating primarily to Indian land claims in Michigan and Ohio; files detailing archival career interests, as director of the Michigan Historical Collections (now Bentley Historical Library) and as a member of the Society of American Archivists.

The Robert M. Warner Papers date from 1945 to 2007. These materials primarily highlight Warner's lengthy professional career, documenting his various teaching and administrative positions at the University of Michigan, his appointment as Archivist of the United States and the subsequent administration at the National Archives. Also documented is the appointment of his successor at the National Archives, his return to the University of Michigan as Dean of the School of Information and Library Science, and his activities on various boards and foundations after his retirement. Much of the records documenting his tenure as the director of the Michigan Historical Collections (now the Bentley Historical Library) can be found under the official Bentley Historical Library record group.

The Robert M. Warner collection has been divided into ten series: Biography; Correspondence; Indian Court Claims; National Archives; School of Information and Library Science and Dean of the Michigan Library Systems; Teaching Materials and Scholarly Research; Professional Activities, Speeches; Scrapbooks and Scrapbook Materials, and Audio-Visual Material.

Ironwood, Michigan businessman and local historian; include correspondence, research notes and writings largely concerning the history of Gogebic County and Upper Peninsula iron mining; also papers concerning his work with the Gogebic Industrial Bureau.

The Victor Lemmer Papers concerns the history of the western portion of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, particularly Gogebic County, as well as his work as the agent for the Gogebic Industrial Bureau. The collection has been divided into the following series: Correspondence; Photographs; Personal/Miscellaneous; Gogebic Industrial Bureau Files; Research Files; Collected Materials; and Writings/Speeches.

Volney H. Jones was a leading ethnobotanist and served as Curator of Ethnology at the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology from 1945 to 1969. The papers include correspondence with ethnobotanists and anthropologists, including Edward F. Castetter and Leslie A. White, administrative files, biographical information on anthropologists, teaching files for Jones' courses within the Department of Anthropology, and notes for unpublished textbooks on ethnobotany. The papers also include correspondence with Chase S. Osborn, Stellanova B. Osborn, and Milo M. Quaife concerning a project to establish a Friends of the Michigan Indian organization, and correspondence and reports from Ted Bank concerning the University of Michigan expeditions to the Aleutian Islands.

The Volney H. Jones Papers include correspondence with ethnobotanists and anthropologists, including Edward F. Castetter and Leslie A. White, administrative files, biographical information on anthropologists, teaching files for Jones' courses within the Department of Anthropology, and notes for unpublished textbooks on ethnobotany. The papers also include correspondence with Chase S. Osborn, Stellanova B. Osborn, and Milo M. Quaife concerning a project to establish a Friends of the Michigan Indian organization, and correspondence and reports from Ted Bank concerning the University of Michigan expeditions to the Aleutian Islands. The Jones papers are comprised of eight series: Correspondence, Administrative Files, Biographies and Bibliographies, Teaching Files, Culture Areas and Ethnobotany Textbook Files, Hopi Research Files and Maize Research.