Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Professor of Greek language and literature at the University of Michigan. Family and professional correspondence, diaries, notebooks discussing travels and readings, manuscripts of articles, and miscellanea; miscellaneous papers of his wife, Ethel Bonner, and assorted diaries of family members; and photographs.

The Bonner collection consists of correspondence, subject files, writings, professional papers, and photographs. There are also diaries and other papers of his wife Ethel Bonner.

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.

Chairman of the National Commission of Fine Arts. Reminiscences, 1889-1909, relating in part to his activities as clerk of the U.S. Senate Committee on the District of Columbia, and including his impressions of U.S. Senators and prominent architects and artists; scrapbook of postcards depicting European scenes and art work; scrapbooks of correspondence and clippings, 1921-1922, largely concerning his biography of architect, Daniel H. Burnham; correspondence with friends, artists, editors, learned societies; articles, addresses, miscellaneous papers, and photographs.

The Moore collections include reminiscences, 1889-1909, relating in part to his activities as clerk of the U.S. Senate Committee on the District of Columbia, and including his impressions of U.S. Senators and prominent architects and artists; scrapbook of postcards depicting European scenes and art work; scrapbooks of correspondence and clippings, 1921-1922, largely concerning his biography of architect, Daniel H. Burnham; correspondence with friends, artists, editors, learned societies; articles, addresses, miscellaneous papers, and photographs. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Manuscripts of addresses and articles; Diary / Reminiscences; Other materials; Daniel Burnham materials; and Visual Materials.

Additional Charles Moore papers are located at the Library of Congress and the Detroit Institute of Art.

Professor of English at the University of Michigan; correspondence, teaching and course materials, and photographs.

The collection contains Thorpe's personal and professional correspondence between 1921 and 1959. The collection also includes some letters to his wife after Thorpe's death. Within the correspondence are materials relating to the Fred Newton Scott Anniversary Papers. Also included is A list of books in Thorpe's personal library, teaching materials and course evaluations, notes for lectures and notes and typescripts of articles on Addison, Coleridge, Hunt, Hazlitt, Keats, and other Romantic poets and critics. There are also works on other topics and figures in English literature.

Other materials relating primarily to Thorpe's literary activities are retained by the Rare Book Room of the University of Michigan Graduate Library. These include correspondence relating to John Keats: The Complete Poems and Selected Letters which Thorpe edited, and materials relating to activities of the Modern Language Association's Joint Bibliography Committee for the groups designated as General Topics II and English IX involving nationally and internationally known scholars of the Romantic movement.

Political activist, concert pianist, sister-in-law of Eleanor Roosevelt. Biographical materials; correspondence with politicians, musical figures and other dignitaries; also personal materials concerning her concert career, her campaign for Congress in 1942, notably a journal of her daughters' trip to Europe in 1949; and photographs.

The papers of Dorothy Kemp Roosevelt relate to her political and social interests and activities. The collection is divided into three series: Biographical materials, Correspondence, and Personal.

Teaching fellow in political science at the University of Michigan, later foreign service officer with the Division of Philippine Affairs in the Office of Far Eastern Affairs, U. S. Department of State, and professor of diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College. Academic files, correspondence, papers relating to his work and interest in the Philippine Islands and Indonesia, topical files concerning his various academic interests, and photographs.

The Edward Mill Collection is divided into seven series: Personal; Academic Papers; Correspondence; Far Eastern Materials; Topical File (largely correspondence); Visual Materials; and Microfilmed materials.

Physician and first Dean of Women at University of Michigan. Correspondence, largely of a personal nature with her niece Sarah Searing; biographical information; scrapbooks with notes and letters about travels abroad; and photographs.

The collection consists of materials accumulated by Dr. Mosher's niece Sarah Searing. It includes both letters received from Eliza to her niece, general family correspondence, and other Mosher materials which came into Sarah Searing's possession upon the death of Dr. Mosher. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Personal and biographical; Writings, speeches and lectures; Miscellaneous; Travel; Clippings and scrapbooks; Realia; and Photographs.

Esther Boise Van Deman was an archaeologist, University of Michigan graduate (B.A. 1891, M.A. 1892) and archaeology faculty (1925-1930). Van Deman's main focus of work was the analysis of Ancient Roman building materials to establish chronologies of construction sites. Notes on lectures; photographs include portraits and images from archaeological excavations and travels, as well as personal photos.

This collection consists of notes on lectures of Herbert F. DeCou in classical archaeology given in Rome, 1901-1902. It also contains various portraits and snapshots, including photos from archaeological excavations and travels; and photos of homes and activities in Michigan and Ohio.

River Rouge, Michigan, high school teacher. Travel letters and related materials detailing trips to most areas of the world; letters include comments on physical conditions, geographic descriptions, and cultural observations; also scrapbooks with photographs and clippings.

The Eunice M. Brake collection consists of travel letters, diaries and photographs relating to her various world travels between 1934 and 1982. In addition to the letters, which make up the bulk of the material, a number of menus, paper games and entertainment programs typical of those used by ocean liners in the 1930s are included in the collection.

The two scrapbooks included with the papers contain numerous personal and commercially distributed photographs from her trips to the Soviet Union and Australia. Included with them are numerous photos of London, Leningrad, Moscow, Athens, and Paris (circa 1934) and Australia, Samoa and Fiji (circa 1937).

The Brake papers (1 linear foot) are arranged geographically by the country or countries of destination and year of trip. Within each folder, the letters are arranged chronologically. All photographs are included with the letters (trips) to which they relate.

The letters were written with the intention of sharing information with family members and friends. The letters were then returned to the author for retention. In some cases, to save time, she made copies of the letters and added different and unique passages onto the end for family members or friends.

These documents are travel letters in which the writer comments on physical conditions and provides cultural observations and geographic descriptions. The letters which were written during the years in Japan and Thailand provide the greatest amount of detail. Brake writes about educational conditions and teaching methods in the Japanese and Thai schools. She describes social and religious ceremonies and customs of both cultures. Many of the letters detail her relation to and interaction with the local people of each society.

Amateur photographer; sixty-two reels of film shot by Benz on various trips.

When the University of Michigan Media Resources Collection was accessioned by the Bentley Historical Library, a number of films were discovered in the vault that were not related to that collection. Within that material were travel films shot by Fred E. Benz. These films document Benz's travels around the world between 1929 and 1950. The films had been edited together and were probably used by Benz for presentation to local groups and as home entertainment.

The Fred E. Benz Collection contains sixty-two, 400 foot reels of silent 16mm film. It is made up of eight series, one for each trip taken. The series are: Africa, Australia/New Zealand, Guatemala, Havana, Mexico, Russia, South America, and a World Cruise. The contents of each reel are described in the finding aid. Benz has included handwritten descriptions of the images found on the Russian and World Cruise series attached to the inside lids of each can of film. Benz was careful to document most of the locations with a handwritten note displayed before the camera. When cities or natural markers are noted in the finding aid, the identifying information was taken from that supplied by the film maker on the screen or from his notes in the can lids. The spelling of geographic locations in the finding aid reflect the information on the film and not current spellings.

Short notes found with the Mexican footage indicate it was the result of two different trips. The reels retain their original numbering because the numbered reels (1,2,3,4) appear to comprise one trip and numbered/lettered reels (1a, 3a, 4a) comprise the second trip.

The value of the collection is that it captures moments in time, documenting lifestyles, architecture and modes of travel which no longer exist or have evolved over time. Footage exists of London on the eve of war and Shanghai one year before being destroyed by the Japanese invasion.

Perhaps the greater value lies in the depiction of the indigenous lifestyles captured on film. Benz, as an amateur photographer, was interested in the common events that he experienced as he traveled. The collection features extensive recordings of people working or playing, and children of different cultures going about their daily activities. The films show barren huts in remote areas of Russia in the 1930s, families living under stone bridges outside of Buenos Aires, life-saving competitions in Sydney and the plethora of street markets found in most cultures and countries that he traveled through.

Because these are travel films, the scope of the footage included often extends beyond the geographic area used to identify the series. For example, the Australia footage includes material filmed on various Pacific islands, the Asian continent and Japan. The Russian trip contains footage of England and Northern Europe, and the South American films contain shots of the departure from New York. Each series should be examined for additional geographic content.

Special attention should be given to the Mexican series containing film recordings of Mt. Rushmore with construction only partially complete. Included as well are extensive shots of bullfighting in addition to other Mexican scenes. Also of note is the extensive depiction of women throughout all of the series. On the canister containing reel 5 in the Russia series is a receipt from United States Navy Department stating that this reel was being forwarded to Chicago for study of the shots of Kirkenes, Norway.

The color in the Africa, Guatemala, Havana, Mexico and South America series is excellent. The wide, clean, lush cityscapes of Havana and Capetown are richly captured in color and give an indication why they were popular travel destinations at this time.

In addition to the eight travel series, the collection also included one reel of World War II footage assembled by Castle Films from public domain footage. This type of film was sold through camera stores and mail order houses and Benz probably purchased a reel for his own use. The identifying writing on the film can is in Benz's handwriting and clearly belonged with his collection.