Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Willis C. Patterson, the first African American professor at the University of Michigan's School of Music, was an active faculty member from 1968 to 1999. He was a professor of voice and associate dean for academic affairs. Patterson directed the Men's Glee Club from 1969 and 1975 and spent summers as a faculty member at the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan. While maintaining an active concert career and fulfilling teaching duties, Patterson organized a Black American Music Symposium and compiled several works on African American composers. Patterson played an active role in securing funding and mentorship for students of color and disadvantaged students both at Michigan and in the Ann Arbor community. The collection includes some biographical material, but focuses mainly on his professional career, musical career, and collection of works by African American composers. It includes correspondence, research, photographs, clippings, publications, and topical files.

The Willis C. Patterson papers include some biographical material, but focuses mainly on his professional career, musical career, and collection of works by African American composers. The collection includes correspondence, publications and research material, photographic material, posters, student records, clippings, and topical files.

Organized in 1879 to "cultivate the public taste for music," the Society sponsors concert series, opera, dance and theater performances at the University of Michigan. The records consist of director's files of Albert A. Stanley, Charles A. Sink, Gail Rector, and Kenneth Fischer; include correspondence relating to performances and management of the Society; ledgers and account books, board of directors minutes and packets; files concerning the Choral Union, the University of Michigan School of Music, the Henry S. Frieze Memorial Organ Fund, and Hill Auditorium; also visual materials and audiotapes of Board meetings.

The records of the University Musical Society document its founding in 1879, governance and administrative restructuring through the years, its activities sponsoring musical, dance and theatrical performances on campus, and its role in music and arts education. The records include directors' correspondence files, board of directors minutes, ledgers and financial records, photographs, sound recordings and videotapes.

Intellectually, the records are organized into eight series: Directors' Correspondence, Financial records, Historical file, Board of Directors, Committees, Topical File, Contracts, Photographs, President's Correspondence, Staff Files, Executive Directors' Files, and Motion Pictures (film, videotape and digital materials).

The records were received in several major and numerous small accessions and the physical arrangement of the records (the order in which they are arranged in boxes/folders) reflects this. In this finding aid, the records are described in term of their intellectual organization regardless of the particular accession in which they were received. As a result, the box number order in which the descriptions are displayed in the contents list will not always be consecutive.

Music, theatre, and dance education unit of the University of Michigan. Also represented in this collection are its predecessor organizations, the Ann Arbor School of Music and the University School of Music, and its departments. Includes records of students and instructors, correspondence, topical files, and materials related to student and faculty performance groups. Archived versions of the School's websites provide additional documentation of academic programs, research, events, people, and policies.

The School of Music, Theatre, & Dance (University of Michigan) records document music education in Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan and student and faculty musical production beginning in 1885. The records include student ledgers listing names, tuition, and instructors; correspondence and clippings, 1924-1953, concerning the University Band, including correspondence of William D. Revelli; files relating to musical programs, particularly the Michigan Singers' Spring Tour, the Union Opera, and Musket productions; minutes of the executive committee and faculty; and digitized audio and video recordings of performances, including performances at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, by the Michigan Youth Ensembles, and other groups associated with the School of Music, Theatre & Dance. Also included are files associated the Department of Dance and Department of Theatre and Drama.

1. Topical Files -- Boxes 1-5, 25-30, 35-41, online
2. Student Ledgers -- Volumes 1-7
3. Dean's Files -- Boxes 6-8, 30-31
4. Faculty Records -- Boxes 9-24
5. Donor Files -- Box 31
6. Executive Committee -- Boxes 32, 34
7. Department of Dance -- Boxes 44-46, online
8. Department of Theatre and Dance -- Box 33
9. Archived Website -- online
10. Audio recordings (original audiotapes and digital recordings) -- Boxes 42-43, online
11. Video recordings -- online

John and Leni Sinclair were leaders of the counterculture movement in Michigan, organizers of radical social, political, and cultural endeavors primarily in the areas of music, poetry, graphic design, and community welfare projects. Papers and photographs (1957-1979) relating to all phases of their careers, including participation in the Artists' Workshop in Detroit, the Rainbow Multi-Media Corporation, the White Panther Party and its offshoot, the Rainbow Peoples Party; also materials concerning the legalization of marijuana, radical politics, and prison reform. Also material, 1979-2000, relating to John Sinclair's work as a writer, performer, radio show host and music promoter.

The John Sinclair papers came to the library in 1979. Jointly donated by John and Leni Sinclair, this initial accession, covering the period 1957-1979, included textual material, sound recordings, and photographs relating to all phases of their careers, including participation in the Artists' Workshop in Detroit, the Rainbow Multi-Media Corporation, the White Panther Party and its offshoot, the Rainbow Peoples Party; also materials concerning the legalization of marijuana, radical politics, prison reform, and rock and jazz music.

The Sinclair papers provide a rich and unique source for the study of America's radical movement in the nineteen sixties and seventies. Beginning with a remarkable series of correspondence that includes letters from Abbie Hoffman, Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, and Jerry Rubin, and continuing on through extensive subject files, the collection details the cultural, political and business activities of a man whose energy and charisma made him a local and national leader of the counterculture. In addition, the collection documents the support and creativity of his wife and partner, who as writer, photographer and publicist helped to showcase the lifestyle which he symbolized.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, John Sinclair added to his papers with materials relating to his career as a writer and performer. In the winter of 2000, he donated a second large accession relating mainly to the period since leaving Detroit for New Orleans.

The Sinclair collection has been divided into four subgroups: Textual Files, Printed Material, Sound Recordings, and Visual Material.

University of Michigan student organization founded to promote interest in jazz through concert and lecture series. Audio-tapes of lectures, photographs, posters, announcements of concerts, newsletters, grant files, and scattered correspondence.

The Eclipse Jazz records include photographs, sound records of the various lectures and concerts, posters and flyer notices of concerts, and miscellaneous administrative materials, such as grant applications, correspondence, and newsletters of their activities.

David D. Dexter was a cornet player in the University of Michigan Symphony Band. In 1961, the Band toured and performed across the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. The collection includes digitized slides, correspondence, diaries, and audio recordings documenting the Band's experiences and performances. Also, a sound recording of an interview that was given by Dexter to a TV station in Ohio.

Digital images of slides, writings, and digitized sound recordings constitute the majority of items in the collection. Also included Dexter's packing lists, newsletter issues, and ephemera. All material relates to the University of Michigan Symphony Band's 1961 tour of the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.

Republican member of the state house and the state senate; president of the University Musical Society. Legislative and campaign files, 1919-1935, detailing his election campaigns, his activities within the legislature, and his various responsibilities as a member of the Republican State Central Committee; general correspondence files, 1922-1960, largely pertaining to his work with the University Musical Society and other civic activities; topical files; family history and memoirs; diaries and appointment books; papers of wife Alva Gordon Sink; and visual materials.

Music critic for the Ann Arbor News and musical composer. Manuscripts of musical compositions, scrapbooks with newspaper clippings of his criticisms, and sound recordings of performances of his compositions, and microfilm of his compositions.

The Gehring collection consists of manuscripts of musical compositions, scrapbooks with newspaper clippings of his criticisms, and sound recordings of performances of his compositions, and microfilm of his compositions. The collection is organized into four series: Correspondence, essays and other materials; Scrapbooks; Musical Compositions; and Sound Recordings.

Established by students in 1896, the University of Michigan Band had its first salaried director in 1915. The William Revelli era (1935-1971) brought the Band to prominence as the marching, concert, and symphony bands toured and performed extensively, including a tour of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union by the Symphony band in 1961, the Jazz Band's 1965 tour of Latin American, and the Symphony Band 2011 tour of China. Records include scrapbooks of band activities (including photographs); bound volumes ("Blue Books"), 1936-present, containing band formations, newsletters, and announcements of band activities, also topical files relating to band tours and concerts. The Marching Band is best documented, although concert band, symphony band, and related ensembles are represented.

The University of Michigan Band records are divided into eight series: Tours and Concerts, Yearbooks, Photographs and Posters, Audio-Visual Material, Band Books ("Blue Books"), Scrapbooks, Publications, and Director's Records. The majority of the records consist of bound volumes of band formations, announcements, and publications, and oversized scrapbooks of band activities. Additional material includes topical files documenting tours and performances. The bulk of the documentation pertains to the Marching Band.

This record group contains the records of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, the Women's Association for the Ann Arbor Symphony, and partial records for the Michigan Civic Orchestra Association. The record group includes administrative and functional records, photographs, and audio/visual concert recordings.

The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra (AASO) records document the founding and development of the orchestra and the Women's Association for the Ann Arbor Symphony. There are also some records of the Michigan Civic Orchestra Association. The records include administrative and functional records, photographs, and audio/visual concert recordings. The records are arranged into 11 series, History, Board of Directors, Symphony Business, Youth Activities, Fundraising, Publicity, Women's Association of the Ann Arbor Symphony (WA3S) Records, Michigan Civic Orchestra Association, Visual Materials, Scrapbooks, and Audio Materials.