American Friends Service Committee. Michigan Area Office records, 1956-2002 (majority within 1970-2000)
23 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
23 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The records of the Michigan Area Office of the American Friends Service Committee have been arranged into the followings series: Executive Committee / Coordinating Committee; Peace Education Committee; Community Relations Committee; National and Regional Offices; Administrative files; Topical files; and Audio-Visual Materials.
23 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
7 linear feet (263 papers)
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.
7 linear feet (in 8 boxes)
The Eugene Ransom and Eleanor Jeanne Bailey Ransom papers have been carefully arranged and maintained probably by Jeanne Ransom who had an interest in genealogy and family history. The collection consists largely of binders of materials (photographs, clippings, and other memorabilia) arranged chronologically. The binders either relate to Eugene or Jeanne alone or to their activities together. Of interest are those materials relating to Eugene's service with the Civilian Public Service during World War II, to his work with the Wesley Foundation, and to the couples' involvement in issues of peace and justice. The collection also includes autobiographical material, sermons, writings, scattered correspondence, and subject files. In addition, the collection documents the Bailey family with genealogical information and family documents. One of the letters in the collection is from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. declining a speaking invitation.
32.5 linear feet — 1 film — 1 optical discs (DVDs) — 1 digital files (streaming video file) — 113 GB (audiofiles, online)
The files of clergy are often narrow in scope encompassing only the activities of an individual within the setting of his/her own church. Henry Hitt Crane was more than the pastor of Central Methodist Church in Detroit. He was a nationally known speaker, eloquent in his advocacy of pacifism and civil rights. The Crane collection reflects the scope of his activities both within the churches he pastored, within the city of Detroit as an influential church leader, and nationally within larger Methodist circles and among other advocates of liberal causes similar to his own. Through his correspondence, articles, and published messages, we see Crane as representative of that class of nationally known clergymen, respected for their opinions, champion of progressive causes, and willing participants in the often contentious debates that followed World War I on matters of morality, politics, and social justice.
The Crane papers, with some exceptions, cover the period when Henry Hitt Crane first entered the ministry during the years of World War I and continuing past his retirement, until approximately 1964. There is decidedly less material from the years before his coming to Central Methodist Church in 1938; by far the largest bulk of documents date from 1938 to 1958 when Crane pastored this metropolitan church. The exceptions to the basic span dates of 1917 to 1958 are files collected by Crane of sermons, published pamphlets, and other materials of his father and uncle, also Methodist clergymen. There are also materials that date after 1958, mainly copies of messages received from other clergy with some correspondence.
The Crane papers have been maintained in the order as created by Crane and his secretarial staff at Central Methodist Church. The series in the collection are Correspondence, Subject Reference Files, Name Files, Sermon Files, Scrapbooks, Church Bulletins and Newsletters, Visual Materials, and Retirement Files.
32.5 linear feet — 1 film — 1 optical discs (DVDs) — 1 digital files (streaming video file) — 113 GB (audiofiles, online)
5 linear feet
The collection contains sermons (1941-1973) which deal primarily with the church's and the individual's role in society. Also included are Edward's class notes and papers from the Union Theological Seminary, lecture notes for the various courses on non-violence and other subjects which Edwards taught, and marriage programs including the vows written by individual couples. The papers include pamphlets, newsletters, notebooks, and clippings designed to assist in counseling conscientious objectors. Edwards participated in the Vietnam War teach-ins of 1965 and 1967, addressing the meetings both times. Material of the Students for a Democratic Society and other radical political groups are included.
46.4 linear feet
The Boulding papers, consisting of approximately 46 linear feet, fall into the following series and sub-series.
2 linear feet
The collection includes correspondence, newsletters, printed material, and newspaper clippings concerning the Women Strike for Peace, the House Un-American Activities Committee, the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, disarmament, the draft, civil defense and fallout shelters. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Ann Arbor Women for Peace; Women Strike for Peace; Peace Issues; and Surveillance Files.
21 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The papers of Rebecca Shelley (1887-1984) were donated by Shelley in several accessions between 1964 and 1984. The papers make up twenty-one linear feet of materials and cover the years 1890-1984, though only a few photographs and printed items predate 1910. Her anti-war activism, legal battles, writing career, and courtships with Franz Willman and Felix Rathmer are all well-represented. In addition to her personal papers, there are groups of material belonging to Emily Balch, Richard Olsen, Felix Rathmer, Paul Shelly, and William A. Shelly.
Many peace organizations are also documented in these papers through flyers, pamphlets, periodicals, newsletters, and correspondence. These include the American Neutral Conference Committee, Emergency Peace Federation, People's Council of America, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Women Strike for Peace, and many others. As Shelley served as an officer in the Michigan Fellowship of Reconciliation (F.O.R.) through the 1950s and 1960s, many of the organization's official papers came to be in her possession. Therefore, an effort was made to remove most of these official papers to the separate Michigan F.O.R. collection.
The collection is arranged in eleven series: Biographical; Newspaper Clippings; Correspondence; Topical Papers; Miscellaneous Papers; Papers Of Other Individuals; Printed; Periodicals; Diaries And Notebooks; Photographs; and Writings.
40 linear feet
The Stella Osborn collection was received in multiple accessions. The bulk of the papers were received from her home in Georgia (1958) and her office in Washington D.C. (1972). These materials documenting her entire career were organized into seven series: Biographical; Correspondence; Personal and miscellaneous; Atlantic Union Committee and related; Business and Professional Women's Club; Sound recordings; and Index card files. An extremely active woman with many interests and causes, Stella Osborn continued to add to her papers with a later accession in 1983. Following her death, the executor of her estate and other friends added to the collection with materials which she had retained for whatever reason or which had been in storage. There is obviously some overlap in these later materials and the files received previously. The purpose of the Summary Contents List (see below) is to draw like materials together.
The 1992 accession was more fully described than the earlier papers. This accession includes biographical notes and clippings about Stella Osborn and Chase Osborn. There is, in addition, personal and organizational correspondence, financial and estate records (1970-1988), land deeds for the Osborn holdings in Georgia and Michigan, organizational material for the Federal Union and the Atlantic Union Committee, manuscripts of poetry, prose, and political essays (including some material by Chase Osborn), and Stella Osborn's diaries (1982-87). The collection includes childhood photographs of Stella Osborn and photographs of her parents and grandparents. Two copies of a videotape about the Osborn farm in Georgia, Possum Poke, are included here as well.
Much of this accession documents the last few years of Stella Osborn's life, after her move to a retirement home in Sault St. Marie Michigan, years during which she maintained an interest in people and world peace organizations, and in documenting her own and Chase Osborn's place in history. While the bulk of correspondence here is for 1982, 1983, and 1987, some earlier correspondence is included as well. Of interest to university historians is the topical correspondence file on Robert Frost's visit to Michigan. Stella Osborn's lifelong friendship with Yuki Otsuki is documented by their extensive correspondence, a series of letters beautifully written and presented that recall earlier days, including student life.
The collection contains some material of interest to researchers interested in Chase Osborn, including the series of land transfers and deeds which document Chase and Stella Osborn's extensive holdings in Georgia and Michigan, and their gifts of land to various charities and institutions. Also included is some Chase Osborn correspondence and copies of articles he wrote about his extensive travels in Africa. Chase Osborn's 1938 "Longfellow Birthday Book" contains the birth dates of his ancestors. Several letters from 1936 pertain to Chase Osborn's involvement in the movement to build the Mackinac Bridge.
Of special interest to researchers interested in Stella Osborn and her role in various world peace organizations are her unpublished autobiographical manuscripts and files. Also of interest are her diaries, where she continued to record her ideas about politics and her memories.
1 linear foot — 1 oversize volume
The records of the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom document the various causes espoused by the League, notably its opposition to the Vietnam conflict and to the Gulf War. Locally, the group promoted education with its Jane Addams Book Award, worked closely with UNICEF, and fought for fair housing practices. These activities are also documented within the files. The League records show the group's continuous community involvement. The records are arranged into three series, Alpha File, Michigan Branch and Other Michigan Branches.
1 linear foot — 1 oversize volume