Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

John Allen (1797-1851) and Ann I. Allen (1797-1875) co-founded--with Elisha Walker Rumsey and his wife Mary Ann Rumsey-- the city of Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, Michigan. Correspondence, biographical and family history information, a plat book, and family portraits.

Correspondence of John Allen, co-founder of Ann Arbor, Michigan, his wife, Ann, and their children, largely concerning family affairs and travels, including journey to California in 1850, and the prospects of settlement in Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois; biographical and genealogical material, including family histories and reminiscences by James Turner Allen; and plat book (1830's) of Ann Arbor containing plats of land purchased by Allen from the United States.

Photographs, including portraits of John and Ann Allen and James T. Allen; photos of other family members.

Ann Arbor German-American family, owners of the Allmendinger Organ Company which later became the Ann Arbor Organ Company. Correspondence, scrapbooks, family genealogy, photographs concerning family affairs, materials on Helene Allmendinger's radio show, examples of spirit messages received by Helene Allmendinger from deceased family members; information pertaining to the Ann Arbor Organ Company, and family members still living in Germany.

The collection is divided into the following series: Family records and correspondence; Helene Allmendinger papers; Ina Allmendinger papers; Ann Arbor Organ Company; Harriet Birch papers, Other family members; Miscellaneous, and Photographs.

The Blanchard family papers document the lives and careers of several members of the Blanchard, Cobb, and Proctor families from the mid-nineteenth century through the late twentieth century. Includes visual materials, publications, personal writings, and extensive correspondence files.

The Blanchard Family Papers document the professional achievements and personal lives of several generations of a scientifically minded and artistically gifted family. The papers focus heavily upon the eminent plant pathologist and nematologist Nathan A. Cobb, his wife Alice Vara Cobb, their daughter, biologist Frieda Cobb Blanchard, and her husband, herpetologist Frank Nelson Blanchard (the latter two of whom were professors at the University of Michigan). In addition to the photographs, drawings, correspondence, journals, and writings of these four individuals, the collection is rich in family correspondence, diaries, and personal papers from other members of the Cobb and Blanchard families (and their forebears and branches, including the Bigelow, Proctor, Ross, White, and Randall families). The Blanchard Family Papers will be of value to researchers interested in a variety of topics: scientific endeavors and methodologies (and in particular those related to agronomy, nematology, botany, and herpetology); the visual arts and the development of photography in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; colonial and provincial life in Australia and Hawaii (respectively); and the daily affairs of American (and Michigan) families throughout the twentieth century. The Blanchard Family Papers consist of seven series: Nathan A. Cobb, Alice Vara Cobb, Frieda Cobb Blanchard, Frank Nelson Blanchard, Blanchard and Cobb Family Letters, Other Family Members, and Isaac G. Blanchard.

The University of Michigan's highest governing body is the Board of Regents. The Regents deal with virtually every aspect of university policy and campus life. The records of the Regents reflect this broad range of interests and authority. This record group contains exhibits from meetings beginning in 1899. These exhibits are the most complete record of the actions of the Regents, supplementing and detailing the published minutes Proceedings of the Board of Regents. Additional documentation in this record group includes manuscript minutes, 1837-1870, correspondence, material by and about the Regents, photographs, audio recordings of meetings, 1977-2011, and material on recent presidential searches.

As the official governing body of the university, the Regents deal with virtually every aspect of university policy and life. The records of the Regents--which includes exhibits of Regents' meetings, topical files, correspondence files, audio and visual material, and archived web content--reflect this broad range of interests and authority. But while the documentation is wide-ranging, it is not continuous. Certain types of records are continually before the Regents, particularly information regarding salaries, leaves of absence, appointments to faculty positions, and formal approval of degrees conferred upon students. More often, however, the Regents are presented with a specific problem and asked to resolve it through the creation of policy. After the creation and successful implementation of a policy, the situation which caused the issue to arise is usually no longer a matter of Regental concern. The Regents' records reflect this pattern of action. Issues arise, are resolved, and then are supplanted by new concerns.

Camilla and Ethel Green were mother and daughter who resided in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area from the late 1800s through their deaths in 1955 and 1988, respectively. Both women corresponded prolifically with their family, friends and former students. This collection consists primarily of their letters, which are largely organized chronologically if not already grouped by correspondent.

This collection reflects the papers amassed by Camilla and Ethel Green over nearly a century. It is divided into four series: Family Background and Documents, University of Michigan, Correspondence, Photographs. The bulk of the collection occurs from 1910 to 1955 and features correspondence with various friends and family members; a large portion of the letters has been organized by correspondent and/or the correspondent's family, and the remainder is sorted chronologically.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, family. Family correspondence of Carl, physician and geologist, his wife Frederika, his son Louis, and his daughter Julia; journals, 1861-1905, of Carl Rominger, including notes on his expeditions as State Geologist of Michigan, and other travels through New York, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Ohio; and miscellaneous scrapbooks and account books; also photographs.

The collection has been arranged into the following series: Biographical and genealogical material; Correspondence; Miscellaneous and other papers; Notebooks from courses at Tübingen, 1839-1842; Carl L. Rominger notebooks and journals, 1861-1905; and Drafts and manuscripts of various writings.

The notebooks and journal are especially rich documenting Rominger's interest in geology, paleontology, and allied fields in New York, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Ohio, with the bulk pertaining to Michigan where Rominger served as state geologist.

Benzonia and Ann Arbor, Michigan; papers of individual family members, detailing in part activities in the Philippines, 1907-1912. The collection also contains photographs and albums of images from the period when they lived in the Philippines.

The Hubbell Family Papers date from 1859 to 1983 and measure one linear foot. Included in the collection are genealogical material, and correspondence and other papers of individual family members.

The Slatford Bird families were residents of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Correspondence and family papers, including letters, 1851-1853, of John Slatford written from the California gold fields describing his activities.

The Slatford and Bird family papers were collected by Julia Bird Martin, who was the great grand-daughter of Job Slatford and grand-daughter of Jane Slatford Bird. The collection consists of family correspondence from various members of both the Slatford and Bird families. The collection not only relates to family matters, but also includes letters of John Slatford written from the California gold fields, 1851-1853. In addition there are clippings, photographs, postcards, and family memorabilia.

Lansing and Ann Arbor, Michigan families; correspondence, photographs, clippings, and other family documents.

Although titled the Pattengill family papers, this accumulation is also the records of the Foster, Sharpsteen, and Woodward families. The historian of the family was undoubtedly Theodore G. Foster and his wife Margaret Foster (née Pattengill). Through these donors, the library received different family collections that have been separately cataloged, although they obviously contain inter-related materials. These other collections, also housed at the Bentley Historical Library are Theodore Foster papers (1835-1862); Henry R. Pattengill papers (1861-1939); and the Margaret Pattengill Foster papers (1903-1961).

This grouping of family materials is actually more about the Foster line of the family than Pattengill or Sharpsteen. The papers have been arranged by name of family: Foster, Pattengill, and Sharpsteen, with an additional series of various family members and miscellaneous. Within each family, the materials have been maintained as arranged by the donor into separate files for individual family members. Of particular interest are the papers of Seymour Foster who was postmaster of Lansing and active in preserving the memory of his brother Charles T. Foster who was killed during the Civil War. The Grand Army of the Republic named one of its veterans post in Charles T. Foster's name. Also included is a volume of transcribed correspondence of Theodore Pattengill Foster, describing his time as a soldier during World War II.

The collection is also of value for the genealogical research materials accumulated on the Foster, Pattengill, Springsteen, and Woodward families.

Ann Arbor, Michigan family, proprietors of Rinsey & Seabolt grocery store. Papers of David Rinsey, Ann Arbor, Michigan, grocer; also papers of his son George, a bank teller, and of George's wife, Ina Alexander Rinsey; including correspondence, legal documents, and photographs.

The collection includes correspondence and legal documents of David Rinsey, his son George, and of George's wife, Ina Alexander Rinsey. There are also photographs and photograph albums of the Rinsey family's home and place of business in Ann Arbor. The photographs consists of both formal and informal portraits; interior and exterior photos of their homes on North Division St., Ann Arbor, Michigan; interior and exterior photos of Rinsey & Seabolt grocery on E. Washington St.; and photographs of family events and activities.