Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

BMC Media Services (formerly Biomedical Communications) is an in-house graphics and marketing production service for the University of Michigan. The collection is comprised of visual materials, including photographic prints, negatives, slides, and contact sheets, as well as videotapes, a few films, and digital files. The records reflect BMC's biomedical origins and document the history of the medical school, health science, hospitals, and related departments at the University of Michigan.

The records of BMC Media Services (formerly Biomedical Communications) measure 31.65 linear feet of visual material in a variety of formats. The records consist of seven series, largely different photographic categories: Faculty and Staff Portraits, Group Portraits, Class Photographs, Building Photographs, Topical Photographs, Films, and Videotapes.

Professor of anatomy in the University of Michigan Medical School, 1941-1978. Correspondence and other materials relating to his research activities, the publication of books and articles, and the teaching of anatomy.

The papers which survive Dr. Baker reflect only the latter part of his life, primarily 1970 to 1978. They are arranged in a single Alphabetical Subject File. Most of the material is of a routine nature. Those research notes which remain are primarily drafts of published articles, often with a copy of the article and correspondence with the publisher filed with the research. The collection does include files from Dr. Burton's class in anatomy.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, physician, researcher and speaker on such topics as geriatrics, local history, and the use of herbs and plants in medical treatment. Correspondence, published and unpublished writings, speeches and talks, clippings, photographs, and other papers relating to his various interests.

The C. Howard Ross Collection covers the period from about 1955 to 1980, and is made up largely of material related to Dr. Ross' strongest interests: geriatrics and history. There is little in the collection dealing with his childhood, his years as a school teacher or his work in industry. The bulk of the material deals with his years as a doctor and after his retirement from practice, and consists largely of reprints of published articles on geriatrics and history, especially local history, and of unpublished manuscripts chiefly about history and biography. There are some clippings concerning his activities as a physician and as a speaker on medical and other topics, primarily gardening, local history, and the use of herbs and plants in medicinal treatment.

Student papers, 1930-1987 prepared for classes in history at the University of Michigan (primarily Michigan history class taught by Lewis G. VanderVelde, but also including research papers for classes taught by Sidney Fine and others); topics concern Michigan social and political history; Michigan biography and bibliography; and local community history.

The student papers are organized alphabetically by author in two series, which are similar in date range and topics covered. Topics of papers concern Michigan social and political history; Michigan biography and bibliography; local community history and University of Michigan history. A topical index to the papers is available in the first box of the collection.

The Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science is a teaching and research unit of the University of Michigan Medical School. The collection consists of publications produced by the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science and the W.K. Kellogg Eye Center, including annual reports, newsletters, brochures and histories.

Publications are divided into two series: Unit Publications and Sub-Unit Publications.

The series Unit Publications contains a brochure and a proposal regarding the consolidation of ophthalmology services at the university into one center as well as a 1999 history "A Heritage of Excellence: The Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Michigan 1872-1999." There is also a program from a concert in 1997 Symphonic Visions, celebrating the 125th anniversary.

The series Sub-Unit Publications contains annual reports, brochures, directories, newsletters and reports of the W.K. Kellogg Eye Center. The newsletter Advances in Ophthalmology begins in 2001. Dedication and groundbreaking material for the Kellogg Eye Center and the Brehm Center are also included.

The Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science is a teaching and research unit of the University of Michigan Medical School. Records include chairman's topical file relating to the administration and programs of the department. The majority of the documentation is from the tenure of Paul R. Lichter, although the tenures of John Henderson and Bruce Fralick are also represented. Documentation relates to the administration and programs of the department, and the construction of the W.K. Kellogg Eye Center.

The records of the University of Michigan Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science were received in two separate accessions. The first accession, received in 1994, is located in box 1. The materials received from chairman Paul R. Lichter in 2007 are located in boxes 2-5. The records consist of 5 linear feet, and are organized into two topical series: Chairman's Topical Files, 1951-1981 and Paul R. Lichter Topical Files, 1978-2003.

The records of the Division of Research Development and Administration (1919-1996) encompass the DRDA and all of its predecessor organizations, including the Department of Engineering Research, the Engineering Research Institute, the University of Michigan Research Institute, and the Office of Research Administration. Record types include correspondence, topical subject files, research grant files, meeting minutes, financial records, and photographs.

The records of the Division of Research Development and Administration (1919-1996) encompass both the DRDA and all of its predecessor organizations. The papers have been divided into seven major series: Governing and Oversight Bodies (1919-1964), Staff and Committee Records (ca. 1922-1979), Administrative Files (1922-1972), Correspondence Files (1943-1972), Willow Run Laboratories (1946-1966), Directors' Files, and several boxes of Research Grant Files on microfilm. There are also four smaller series: the Engineering College Research Council (1959-1961), Review of the DRDA - Report to Harold Shapiro, 1980, Engineering Research Institute - miscellaneous research reports, Photographs, and Programmed Research Information System at Michigan (PRISM) Reports.

The Elizabeth C. Crosby collection consists of the personal and professional papers of a woman pioneer in the field of neuroanatomy. Crosby taught anatomy at the University of Michigan from 1920 to 1958 and authored many respected publications in the field of biology.

The Crosby collection consists of two separate acquisitions; Crosby's personal donation of correspondence, biographical and research materials in 1982 and Richard C. Schneider's donation of Crosby's manuscripts, photographs and audiovisual materials in 1994. Dr. Richard C. Schneider, a close friend and colleague of Crosby's, accumulated additional Crosby materials during his unsuccessful attempt to write a complete biography of Crosby; his unfinished manuscript is contained within the collection. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Biographical Materials, Correspondence, Biographical material (collected or researched), Awards and Honors, Manuscripts and Articles, Publishers, Research, Conferences, Lectures, Organizations, Photographs and Audiovisual Materials.

Epidemiologist Hunein F. "John" Maassab was a researcher and professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Maassab's papers, 1951-2002, comprise correspondence, publications, and laboratory documents related to his research into cold adapted live virus vaccines for influenza, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and other viruses and development of the "flu mist" vaccine. The collection also includes materials for several upper courses Maassab taught in the Department of Epidemiology.

The Hunein F. "John" Maassab papers, 1951-2002, consist of correspondence, publications, and laboratory documents related to his research into cold adapted live virus vaccines for influenza, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and other viruses and development of the "flu mist" vaccine. The collection also includes materials for several upper courses Maassab taught in the Department of Epidemiology. are divided into six series: General (1967-2002), Teaching (1975-2000), Correspondence (1960-2000), Topical Files (1955-2001), Publications (1954-1999), and Research (1951-1999).

Photographs (positive and negative), slides, and transparencies taken by the company's photographers to document company activities, products, services, employees at work and at leisure, company exhibits and commemorations, and the response of the company to natural disasters and civil disturbances.

In 1993, Michigan Bell as a corporate entity was subsumed within the Ameritech Corporation. As a by-product of this reorganization and the downsizing resulting from it, the company agreed to deposit with the Bentley Historical Library its extensive archive of photographic images. Totalling approximately one million images, the Michigan Bell Telephone Company photo archive consists of negatives, copy prints, and color transparencies taken in the period since World War II (the bulk beginning in 1949). The collection does not include photos taken since 1983; interspersed throughout, however, are numerous images from before 1949.

The collection has been maintained in the order received with two principal series: Positives and Negatives.

The content of the photographs in the two series varies considerably. Naturally the collection documents the products of the company (phones and other communication devices) and the services provided (e.g. employees at work or the company reacting to a specific customer need). These photos were taken both to inform the general public as accompaniment to press notices and advertising copy and as a communications vehicle within the company, informing employees through the company news publication, Tielines, of activities going on in other divisions of the company or among the various regional Bell offices.

More importantly perhaps, the collection has value for its documentation of events and activities that are common to all large companies. These include images relating to: 1. The activities of employees within the corporation at their work (office workers, repairmen, operators, various support personnel, managers, etc.); 2. The activities of employees outside their work routine as members of corporate social groups (i.e., the company baseball or ice hockey team), at home engaged in leisure time activities, or involved in company-sponsored charitable or public service functions; and 3. Commemorations of specific milestones or events (company parade floats, area office open houses, corporate displays at public events such as fairs, etc.).

In addition, the collection documents the extraordinary and unforeseen as the phone company reacts to events and emergencies not within its control (floods, tornadoes, fires, the 1967 Detroit riot, strikes, and the like) or as a participant in history-making events (the announcement in Ann Arbor of the success of the Salk polio vaccine or the preparation involved in the 1980 Republican National Convention that convened in Detroit).