Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Formerly the Anti-Saloon League of America. Correspondence, reports, minutes, legal files, speeches by temperance leaders, bills relating to the prohibition question; papers (1934-1956) concerning National Temperance and Prohibition Council; pamphlets relating to temperance; and photographs.

The records are primarily of the Office of General Counsel and Legislative Superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League of America (1883-1933). Additionally, there are later materials (1934-1969) of the organization following the repeal of the prohibition amendment. The record group consists of seven feet of correspondence, reports, speeches and legal files.

State and national Prohibition Party officer and candidate, executive chairman of the Prohibition National Committee, editor of the National Statesman, 1963-1967; correspondence, campaign material, news releases, scrapbooks, photographs, and printed material.

The Delmar Gibbons papers document his activities in support of prohibition and in Michigan state politics. The collection includes correspondence, campaign material, news releases, scrapbooks, photographs, and printed material. The collection is arranged into the following series: Prohibition Party election and campaign materials; Other Prohibition and Temperance Organizations; Scrapbooks; and Other materials

National Prohibition Party official and president of the Good Government Association of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Correspondence, newspaper clippings, and other papers concerning the Prohibition Party and Good Government Association, including materials relating to his interest in politics and civic issues.

The Earl F. Dodge collection is comprised of three series: Correspondence and other mailings; Prohibition Party activities; and Other Civic and Church activities. The collection only covers the period up to the time Dodge left for Colorado around 1972. Most heavily documented are Prohibition Party campaigns and Dodge's activities in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Among his correspondents were Rutherford L. Decker, Delmar D. Gibbons, Billy Graham, Wilbur E. Hammaker, E. Harold Munn, Thruston B. Morton, Richard M. Nixon and Mark R. Shaw.

International fraternal temperance lodge. Records of the National Grand Lodge and local lodges in Illinois, New York and Washington (including numerous Scandinavian-American lodges) containing correspondence, minute books, financial ledgers, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, proceedings, and periodicals; also photographs.

Although the record group does include some correspondence, the bulk of the records consist of minute books and financial ledgers, mainly from the 1880s up to 1920. Many of these are for lodges in Illinois and Washington State. In addition, there are published materials, such as temperance books, pamphlets, and issues of periodicals. The proceedings of annual meetings are from many more states and provide detailed information on the national importance of the organization. The photographs are mainly of various group meetings.

State Representative from Lapeer, Michigan; U.S. Congressman, 1913-1931, and special attorney to the Secretary of the Interior, 1931-1932; correspondence, speeches, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, photographs, campaign materials, and other items relating to his advocacy of the national park system, the concept of historic preservation, fair employment practices legislation, increased support for Howard University and all other aspects of his career.

The Louis C. Cramton papers came to the Bentley Historical Library in three separate accessions (1948-1950; 1971; 1987). The collection has been arranged into six series: Correspondence, Miscellaneous Papers, Topical Files, Newspaper clippings/Scrapbooks, Photographs, and Louis Kay Cramton Papers.

Temperance leader, assistant to the general superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League of America. Correspondence, scrapbooks, dramatic productions, photographs, and printed material concerning the enforcement and repeal of the 18th Amendment, the political activities of the Anti-Saloon League, particularly during the election of 1928, and the temperance activities of William Jennings Bryan, Morris Sheppard, Billy Sunday, and F. Scott McBride. Correspondents include: Patrick H. Callahan, James Cannon, Arthur Capper, Luren D. Dickinson, F. Scott McBride, Homer Rodeheaver, Howard H. Russell, Morris.

The Christgau Collection is comprised of correspondence, scrapbooks, topical files, printed matter, and photographs covering the period of roughly 1906 to 1971. The Correspondence deals largely with the mechanics of Christgau's work: the enlisting and scheduling of temperance speeches and productions, local arrangements for temperance conventions, and personal support for local option and other temperance-related issues. Though there is some overlap, the collection includes a separate series of correspondence and other materials relating specifically to his work as manager of the regional Southeastern Conference convention of the ASL which met each year in St. Petersburg, Florida. This sequence of correspondence covers the years 1928 to 1948.

The collection includes Christgau's autobiography, many of his speeches and notes for speeches, notes which he made on the conventions he managed and the speeches he heard, and copies of the addresses he made over the radio in the late Thirties and throughout the 1940's. Christgau also maintained separate files documenting his work with the national ASL and the ASL of Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota. In a series of topical files, Christgau included information, clippings, and printed materials on individuals associated with the temperance movement and with issues of concern to temperance groups.

The collection also contains files pertaining to the dramatic productions which Christgau presented under ASL auspices. These files have been arranged by the name of the production and include texts of the drama and promotional materials. The remainder of the collection consists of a section of temperance printed items, newspaper clippings, bound scrapbooks and photographs.

Minutes, 1888-1919, including; correspondence, newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks concerning party affairs; also papers, 1929-1970, concerning Prohibition Party in Michigan; papers, 1918-1930, concerning prohibition in Great Britain; papers, 1951-1958, concerning the National Temperance and Prohibition Council; and minutes, 1872, of the State Central Committee of the Prohibition Party of Michigan; also photographs and films.

The Prohibition National Committee record group is arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Minutes and other papers; Press and printed; Sound recordings; Other organizations; and Visual materials. Except for the significant minute books of the party's national executive committee in the 1880s, most of the record group dates from the 20th century after the passage of the 18th Amendment. Information regarding the earliest years of the Prohibition Party in unfortunately missing in this record group.

The Finnish Collection consists of 100 reels of microfilm concerning Finnish-American Churches, Labor Societies, Temperance Organizations, and other materials from the United States and Canada. The collection is the result of a joint project between the Bentley Library, Suomi College (now Finlandia University), and the University of Turku, Finland, coordinated in 1974-75.

The Suomi College Finnish-American Collection is comprised of 100 reels of microfilm containing records from 151 separate organizations (68 of which are located in Michigan). These organizations are comprised of the following kinds of records:

1. Church materials: 62 record groups (32 from Michigan)
2. Labor societies: 9 record groups (0 from Michigan)
3. Temperance materials: 61 record groups (26 from Michigan

Other organizations, including educational, relief, musical, athletic, national, historical societies, publishing companies, and some personal: 19 record groups (10 from Michigan)

Because the materials have been filmed in a random order, an index at the end of the container listing has been prepared to guide the researcher to specific kinds of records: church, temperance, etc.

Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church and temperance advocate. Speeches and articles and papers from his work with the National Temperance and Prohibition Council.

The collection is arranged into three series, each primarily relating to the topic of temperance and the Methodist Church's advocacy of temperance. The series are Speeches, articles, and other writings; National Temperance and Prohibition Council; and Miscellaneous.