1 linear foot
The collection consists of a single series of topical files relating to her research on neurological subject, particularly myasthenia gravis.
59 linear feet — 8 oversize volumes — 33 film reels — 74.52 GB (online)
The Griffiths collection consists primarily of correspondence exchanged with constituents and lobbying groups on matters of pending or proposed legislation and on topics of current interest. The collection's great value is its documentation of the workings of this one congressional office and its perspective on the issues confronting the nation in the period of 1955 to 1974. With the Democrats in control of the Congress, these years witnessed legislative efforts to use the power of the Federal Government to rectify the ills of society on matters of civil rights, assistance to the poor, health care for the aged, environmental protection, and so forth. It was also a time of strife in society resulting from the war in Vietnam, tension among the races, and the Watergate crisis. The Griffiths collection documents these issues with letters from constituents and her response to the concerns of the people.
Beyond general issues, the Griffiths papers have importance for their documentation of the specific contribution of this one woman member of Congress, who served for twenty years, and who was rewarded by her colleagues with increasingly responsible committee positions. Especially significant was her appointment to the powerful Ways and Means Committee under the chairmanship of Wilbur Mills. Griffiths' files from her work on W and Means Committee detail the major pieces of tax reform legislation of the 1960s, notably Griffiths' efforts to legislate some equity into the benefits accorded to American women.
The Martha W. Griffiths papers, with few exceptions, have been maintained in the arrangement scheme used by the Griffiths office.
1 envelope
The collection consists of class pictures and other photographs depicting student life.
8 linear feet — 3 oversize volumes
The Mary S. Coleman Collection is arranged by series or topic: Biographical/Personal; Correspondence; Miscellaneous Topical File; Speeches; Supreme Court Topical Files; Miscellaneous; and Visual Materials. While a portion of the collection contains pre-1972 material, the bulk concerns the 1972-1982 period during which Judge Coleman served on the Michigan Supreme Court.
2 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The collection has been arranged into the following series: Personal / Biographical; Writings, speech notes, compositions; Community activities; and Diaries.
12 linear feet (in 13 boxes) — 1 oversize folder
The McCreery-Fenton family collection documents the individual careers of family members who served their community and their nation in a variety of roles. Through correspondence, diaries and other materials, the researcher will find information pertaining to the Civil War, to the history of Flint and Fenton in Genesee County, Michigan, and to facets of America's diplomatic relations with some of the countries of Central and South America. Arranged by name of the three principal family members represented in the collection - William M. Fenton, William B. McCreery, and Fenton R. McCreery, the papers also include series of general family materials, business records, and photographs.
2 microfilms
This microfilm edition of a portion of the McCreery-Fenton family collection includes only materials relating to the Civil War service of William M. Fenton and William B. McCreery.
11 items
This collection consists of 11 typed and printed materials relating to the McDonnell Agency, a matrimonial matchmaking service run by Walter J. McDonnell of Chicago, Illinois, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It includes typed personal advertisements, printed advertisements for the agency, a blank application form, two private lists with selections of women who subscribed to the agency, and two envelopes.
The typed personal advertisements include physical descriptions and financial situations for four women from Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan. The printed materials include a notice from O. C. Seemiller stating he sold his interest in the Columbian Agency to Walter McDonnell and a statement by McDonnell about his experience and skills, purporting to have introduced "thousands of happy and prosperous married couples." Other items include advertisements and price lists for the "Celebrated Columbian Photographs," "elegant pictures" rather than "the miserable stamp photos used by all other agencies and matrimonial papers." They also advertise free copies of the book, Reading Character from Photographs, sent to subscribing men. "Are you corresponding with a lady you have never seen? You want to know something about her character and disposition? Exchange photos and then study her photography . . . If the lady would make a true and loving wife, this book will say so."
A blank application form for McDonnell's Private Agency is present, requiring the applicant to list their physical description, their income, property or means, use of tobacco and liquor, occupation, nationality, religion, previous marital status, and what kind of correspondents were desired.
Women seeking matches are separated into two different classes depending on net worth. Private List No. 12 contains Class A advertisements of “Ladies Without Means or Property,” while Private List No. 13 contains Class B advertisements of “Ladies With Means or Property.” Each woman provided a short description of their appearance and/or personality traits, as well as abbreviations indicating their faith, nationality, occupation, weight, etc. The agency also includes an abbreviation for whether women would be capable of the duties of a farmer’s wife, or if the woman was a widow. List 13 also includes asterisks to identify women "willing to share the life of a poor man if he proves himself worthy, industrious and temperate." The list also notes that the agency has extensive profiles available "of thousands of ladies of all ages, living everywhere. By allowing us to select, you may get introductions to ladies living nearer your own residence."
Men seeking potential matches would receive a different number of photographs and introductions depending on how much they were willing to pay and what class of women they were requesting from.
There are two envelopes in the collection, one printed return envelope to Walter McDonnell, and the other addressed to Alfred Ames of Machias, Maine, possibly one of the agency's members.
11 items
This collection consists of 11 typed and printed materials relating to the McDonnell Agency, a matrimonial matchmaking service run by Walter J. McDonnell of Chicago, Illinois, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It includes typed personal advertisements, printed advertisements for the agency, a blank application form, two private lists with selections of women who subscribed to the agency, and two envelopes.
The typed personal advertisements include physical descriptions and financial situations for four women from Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan. The printed materials include a notice from O. C. Seemiller stating he sold his interest in the Columbian Agency to Walter McDonnell and a statement by McDonnell about his experience and skills, purporting to have introduced "thousands of happy and prosperous married couples." Other items include advertisements and price lists for the "Celebrated Columbian Photographs," "elegant pictures" rather than "the miserable stamp photos used by all other agencies and matrimonial papers." They also advertise free copies of the book, Reading Character from Photographs, sent to subscribing men. "Are you corresponding with a lady you have never seen? You want to know something about her character and disposition? Exchange photos and then study her photography . . . If the lady would make a true and loving wife, this book will say so."
A blank application form for McDonnell's Private Agency is present, requiring the applicant to list their physical description, their income, property or means, use of tobacco and liquor, occupation, nationality, religion, previous marital status, and what kind of correspondents were desired.
Women seeking matches are separated into two different classes depending on net worth. Private List No. 12 contains Class A advertisements of “Ladies Without Means or Property,” while Private List No. 13 contains Class B advertisements of “Ladies With Means or Property.” Each woman provided a short description of their appearance and/or personality traits, as well as abbreviations indicating their faith, nationality, occupation, weight, etc. The agency also includes an abbreviation for whether women would be capable of the duties of a farmer’s wife, or if the woman was a widow. List 13 also includes asterisks to identify women "willing to share the life of a poor man if he proves himself worthy, industrious and temperate." The list also notes that the agency has extensive profiles available "of thousands of ladies of all ages, living everywhere. By allowing us to select, you may get introductions to ladies living nearer your own residence."
Men seeking potential matches would receive a different number of photographs and introductions depending on how much they were willing to pay and what class of women they were requesting from.
There are two envelopes in the collection, one printed return envelope to Walter McDonnell, and the other addressed to Alfred Ames of Machias, Maine, possibly one of the agency's members.
1 volume
The Meadville (Pa.) and Scandia (Kan.) photograph album (27cm x 22cm) contains 38 items, including 26 cabinet cards, 8 cartes-de-visite, 1 tintype, and 3 additional photographic prints. The volume's purple-padded covers are bound in cloth, and it has a large metal clasp. A metallic plate shaped as the word "Album" was once affixed to the front cover and is now laid into the volume.
Most of the photographs are studio portraits of individual men, women, and children taken in Meadville, Pennsylvania, and Scandia, Kansas, in the late 19th century; the children pictured are infants and toddlers. Occasionally, the subjects are shown with a drum, a book, a dog, and one man posed on the sill of an artificial window. Two items laid into the volume are outdoor portraits of adults standing in front of a house, with a windmill visible to the side. A piece of tissue paper affixed to one of the cabinet cards has printed line drawings of a girl's face and flowers. The remaining items are a photograph of the National Monument to the Forefathers in Plymouth, Massachusetts; a photograph of a headstone for members of the Smock family; and a black card dedicated to the remembrance of Nancy Anderson (1818-1889), with a brief poem and other details printed in gold.
0.5 linear feet (in 2 boxes) — 1 oversize box
The photographs in this collection were received from various sources. Subjects include carriages, automobiles, Great Lakes shipping, railroads, and mass transit, especially street railroads. There are also images documenting activities within the mining, forestry, and lumber industries, mostly in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Also included are photographs of various ethnic groups and their societies, notably of Native Americans (1870s-1930s) of the Manistee and Ludington, Michigan, areas. Some of the images are street views and private residences in various Michigan towns and cities. Of interest are photographs of Michigan units taking part in the Spanish-American War and the "Polar Bear Expedition" of World War I. There is also a series of bookplates, [acquired from?] William H. Bicknell, many of which relate to the University of Michigan.
9 linear feet (in 10 boxes)
The records of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Michigan are divided into eight series: State Coordinating Committee Files; Outreach Programs, Panels And Workshops; Publicity And Publications; Topical Files; County Chapter Files; Visual Materials; Sound recordings; and Correspondence.
19 linear feet
The Michigan NOW record group includes administrative records, files of individual presidents, newsletters from local chapters, records of the Michigan NOW PAC (Political Action Committee), and topical files of subjects of interests to the Michigan Conference such as the ERA, educational equity, and abortion rights.
The organization of the collection is rather artificial, both because the documents were in extremely poor order upon their accession and because there is only the broadest unity to the collection's components. The records have been grouped under the name of the individual most responsible either for their creation or for their accumulation and preservation. There were two individuals primarily responsible for these records coming to the Bentley Library. They were Margot Duley-Morrow (two-term president, 1981-1983) who donated records in 1984 and Alicia Perez-Banuet (president, 1997-1998) who donated materials in three major accessions.
1 volume
A currently unidentified shipping merchant operating out of New York, New York, maintained this daybook between 1811 and 1813, recording the daily financial transactions of his firm which was trading with the West Indies, along the Atlantic seaboard, and France, among other ports. Main customers included Hoffman & Glass, Francis Markoe, Thomas Masters, David Finlay, Pratt & Kintzing, and William Heyling among others. Several entries relate to transactions with Elizabeth Heyliger, daughter of trader William Heyliger of the West Indies (July 31, 1811; December 31, 1811; September 1, 1812).
The firm was trading in St. Croix sugar and rum as well as shipping "sundries from New York to St. Croix." Other goods traded included sugar from Brazil and Cuba, mahogany, tea, whiskey, wine, tobacco, flour, corn meal, and other foodstuffs, molasses, coffee, cigars, and fabrics. Business expenses were also recorded, such as costs relating to laborers, ship maintenance and hire, advertising, cartage and wharfage, custom duties and port fees, storage, and insurance. One entry for December 5, 1812, notes the capture of the ship Olive Branch en route from Kiel, Germany, to Philadelphia, and dealing with insurance to cover its loss, possibly in relation to War of 1812 privateering. Another entry dated March 30, 1813, refers to proceeds from Madeira wine, sweet almonds, and ship materials "received by the Ship Swift, Howland master from Liverpool which were taken up at sea, from the wreck of the Spanish Brig General Ballesteros from Madeira."
One color printed illustration of a woman and child seated before a birdcage was clipped and pasted in the volume, and another illustration of women was pasted in and later partially removed.
88 items
The Nixon family papers consist of 88 items: 84 letters, 3 legal documents, and a ledger. The materials cover the period between 1800 and 1889, with the bulk clustered around 1800-1851. They primarily concern the family's settlement on land in southern Ohio in the 1810s and 1820s and the education and social lives of Warren Nixon's daughters in Massachusetts in the late 1840s.
Thomas Nixon, Jr., and his attorney, Rufus Putnam, wrote most of the correspondence of 1800-1817, which relates to taxes and land values in southeastern Ohio. Several documents concerning the land also date from this period. Beginning in 1818, letters from Warren Nixon, Otis Nixon, and Richard Nichols describe clearing and planting in Morgan Township, Ohio, as well as their everyday lives there. Warren looked down on his neighbors, calling them "a poor ignorant lazy set of beings as ever inhabited the world," and disapproved of their religious practices --"the old women & girls will pretend to preach… and jump round a while and then fall down as if they were dead" (June 22, 1818). In many letters they described their hardships; these included the neighbors stealing their horses (December 3, 1819), the low prices paid for their crops (July 13, 1822), and widespread disease (August 10, 1823). Responses from Thomas Nixon, Jr., advised patience and frugality.
By the 1830s, Warren had returned to Massachusetts, and only Otis Nixon remained in Ohio. Otis wrote the majority of letters during this period to Warren and other relatives. In a letter of May 14, 1841, he described the events in Watertown, Ohio, leading up to William Henry Harrison's election: "We have had Harrison women and Harrison boys, tippacanoe poles, log cabins and hard cider in abundance besides dinners I don't know how many & balls not a few. Many have supposed that Gen Harrison lived in a log cabin and drinked hard cider and therefore would be an uncommon friend to the poor, but such was not the fact." Otis' later correspondence also gives details of his crops, farm buildings, and events within his immediate family circle.
Between 1846 and 1851, the focus of the collection shifts to several of the daughters of Warren Nixon and Salome Rice: Selina (1825-1916), Marcella (b. 1827), and Laurella (b. 1820). The sisters exchanged a series of letters concerning family news, church matters, Charlestown Female Seminary, and Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. In her letter of January 25, 1847, Marcella, a Baptist, worries that the "far off Western wilds" are filling with "Roman Catholics… undermining the minds of the young with their false religion." On April 13, 1848, while at Mount Holyoke, she gave an account of Mary Lyon's attitude toward missionaries: "Her whole soul is bound up in the missionary work and she would have her pupils cherish it as she does." Only five items represent the period after 1851. These include several letters from Otis Nixon and his son, George, updating the family on their health and endeavors.
12.4 linear feet
The records of the North American Student Cooperative League cover the administration life of the organization, roughly 1946 to 1968, with scattered earlier and later materials. The records were accumulated and donated by the Inter-Cooperative Council of the University of Michigan and by the Co-operative League of the U.S.A. which at one time must have had custody of the records following the organization's demise.
The record group is organized into the following series: Correspondence; Cooperative League of the U.S.A.; Studies, surveys, and reports; Published material; Local groups (minutes and publications); Miscellaneous; Conferences; and Photographs.
12.5 linear feet — 1 oversize box — 1 oversize folder
While most of the material relates directly to Patricia Hill Burnett, the papers also relate to the more general women's movement during the 1970s and early 1980s.
30.3 linear feet — 3.91 GB
The Paul Blanshard papers include correspondence, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, drafts of articles and books, and speeches. The papers covering the period of 1912 to 1974 document the variety of Blanshard's life: his student years at the University of Michigan (1910-1914), his career as Congregational minister in East Boston, Massachusetts and Tampa, Florida (1917-1918), his work as educational director of the Amalgamated Textile and Clothing Workers of America in Rochester and Utica, New York (1900-1924), as secretary and lecturer of the League for Industrial Democracy (1924-1933), as correspondent and associate editor of The Nation (1928-1929), as director of the City Affairs Committee of New York (1930-1933) and head of the New York Department of Investigations and Accounts under Mayor Fiorello La Guardia (1934-1938), as director of the Society for the Prevention of Crime (1941-1942), as senior economic analyst and consultant to the director of the Caribbean Commission of the U.S. Department of State; and as freelance writer and critic of the Roman Catholic Church in America and abroad. The Blanshard collection also includes papers of his first wife Julia Blanshard and his second wife Mary Hillyer Blanshard.
The collection has been arranged into seven series: Correspondence; Writings and Related Materials; Biographical Information; Sound Recordings; Photographs; Julia Anderson Blanshard papers; and Mary Hillyer Blanshard papers.
7 linear feet — 1 digital video file
The Pearl L. Kendrick papers date from 1888 to 1979 and measure seven linear feet. The papers are arranged in nine series: Personal, Correspondence, Correspondence--Foreign, Michigan Department of Health, University of Michigan, Consultant Files, Professional Associations, Speeches and Articles, and Visual Materials. The collection is strongest in its documentation of the national and international network of public health practitioners, physicians, and scientists who corresponded with each other about their studies of various diseases and their prevention, in particular whooping cough. This voluminous correspondence reflects Kendrick's reputation as one of the world's foremost experts on pertussis. The collection is relatively weak in its documentation of Kendrick's work as an instructor at the University of Michigan.
People photographed while reading photograph album
The People photographed while reading photograph album contains 82 portraits of people reading as well as three newspaper clippings regarding the death of a railroad fireman.
The album (26.5 x 21.5 cm) has red velvet covers and a metal clasp. While the album itself and all the photographs in it date to the 19th/early 20th century, these materials were compiled by a noncontemporary individual with an interest in historic images of people reading. Also present are three newspaper clippings related to the accidental death of railroad fireman Joseph Ronk (1865-1888) following a train derailment in Wooster, Ohio, in July 1888.
0.25 linear feet
Peter H. Musty Bound Diaries. The earlier of the two bound diaries dates from Musty's enlistment and initial period of service in the army (January 1862- September 1862) and the later bound diary begins after Musty had been discharged and returned home (June 1864- February 1865). Throughout both diaries, Musty wrote personal names and the daily entries for July 2- September 16, 1864, in a numerical substitution code. Before enlisting, Musty made multiple visits to a gypsy camp near Greensburg, where he had his fortune told and received an invitation into a tent to sing for them (January 15-19, 1862). Shortly after his enlistment, Musty was appointed as a musician (drummer) and transferred to Field and Staff duty where his responsibilities included cooking and guarding prisoners. Musty described daily life at Camp Dennison and Camp Chase in Ohio, including mentions of petty thefts such as a soldier being placed in the guard house for stealing a pie as well as someone stealing his blanket.
Although not directly involved in combat with his unit at the second Battle of Manassas, Musty was impressed by the intensity of the heavy "cannonading and musketry," and mentioned the forced retreat with the entry: "Jackson after us. I run all night - no sleep at all - cold, cold." On July 31, 1862, he described flags flying at half-mast in their camp and "canons fireing in every direction," at the news of Martin Van Buren's death.
After being invalided out of the army in 1864, Musty's diary entries again focused on life in Greensburg, Ohio. Musty spent a large part of each day playing his violin, often for two or three different gatherings on the same day. He played at "apple cuttings," parties, school programs, and oyster dinners. He serenaded neighbors, often not returning home until well after midnight. Sometimes Musty was accompanied by friends on the "basse" and drums, and on several occasions they donned "blackface" by rubbing their faces with cork only to find that it was much easier to apply the cork than it was to remove it. Musty returned to helping his father with the coopering business and began working part time at the local post office, hoping to get well enough to return to Washington, D.C., to work for the Veteran's Relief Corp. On the local scene, the town of Greensburg worked actively to prevent the drafting of local men in 1864. Instead of individual men buying their way out of the draft by hiring replacements, a committee of Greensburg citizens went to Cleveland and hired replacements for all the Greensburg men subject to the new draft. The town then set about soliciting money from all the local families to cover this communally-incurred expense. Musty made a passing mention to visiting a photographic gallery in November 1864, where he saw "movements on negatives" and had his "picture taken with motion." The December 23, 1864, entry includes four small pencil sketches of a friend named Tom, showing his progression from civilian to soldier. Musty was fond of keeping lists, and in the back of his diaries he compiled the names of soldiers he served with, people who owed him money, letters he had received, and a six page chronological list ("Memorandum") of all the girls he had accompanied home from local events between April 1860 and February 1865.
Peter H. Musty Disbound Diaries. Pages disbound from diaries span from January 1, 1861, to August 7, 1863, with some ca. 1865 entries at the end. The early entries pre-date Musty's enlistment and describe his schooling, daily activities, and work. Musty occasionally mentioned topics like slavery (January 8, 1861; February 24, 1861), and by April 1861 he began to note military activity. Throughout the rest of 1861 Musty recorded local enlistments, drills, and military news alongside his daily work and activities, providing a glimpse of local reactions to the early war effort. Entries from January to September 1862 overlap with the bound diary for these dates, but with variant wording and occasionally more details. Musty described his enlistment on February 26, 1862, and his subsequent stay at Camp Dennison and Camp Chase, providing details about daily camp life. Musty commented on guarding Confederate prisoners at Camp Chase, some who were en route to Johnson's Island (April 26-May 27, 1862). Musty described the march through West Virginia, arriving in Strausburg, Virginia, on June 21. From June to November 1862, Musty wrote from Strausburg, Middleton, Sperrysville, Arlington Heights, Fairfax Court House, New Baltimore, and other Virginia encampments, describing marches, camp life, nearby Confederates and guerrillas, and recent military encounters. In his entry for September 10, 1862, he vividly recalled his first time in battle on August 22. From April to August 1863, the collection includes copies of letters Musty wrote while at the hospital at Brooks Station, Virginia, and convalescent camps near Alexandria, relaying news of nearby engagements and activity at the hospitals. In July 1863 he began working as a clerk at the Medical Head Quarters for the convalescent camp and subsequently the Invalid Corps Head Quarters. The entries for 1865 primarily detail his health complaints. Musty included occasional references to African Americans (May 4, 1862; May 28, 1862; July 30, 1862; June 9, 1863; June 25, 1863). Other items include lyrics to a song about alcohol, an extract from the Army Herald entitled "The Fruits of Rebellion," and several pages accounting for Ohio soldiers.
Musty's letter book contains eleven of his outgoing correspondences and eighteen incoming letters from friends (both male and female) during the Civil War. It also includes poems, songs, programs of performances at the local Greensburg school from 1859 to 1861, the constitution of the Tyrocinean Debating Society, and a list of other men from Greensburg who served in the Civil War. Among the copied letters is a formal letter of complaint against Captain Thomas Graham for being intoxicated on multiple occasions while stationed at the Invalid Corps Convalescent Camp in Virginia (November 7, 1863). A table of contents for the letter book appears between pages 101 and 104.
Ten illustrations drawn by Musty during his military service are present in this collection. He drew three of these sketches between February and April 1863, when his unit (61st Ohio Infantry) was stationed near Stafford Courthouse, Virginia. Of particular interest is a detailed drawing of General Adolph von Steinwehr's headquarters and the surrounding camp activities, with what appears to be a self-portrait of Musty sketching the scene in the foreground (March 6, 1863). The illustration is on the reverse side of a fragment of a letter in which Musty states that he and all of the soldiers he knows are not fighting for "the freedom of the collord race." Another drawing from around the same time shows a soldier carrying dispatches in front of a tent, with several wooden hitching posts in the foreground. The third illustration depicts a log cabin next to what appears to be an oven while two soldiers stand guard nearby. On the reverse side of this sketch is part of a letter to his brother Francis in which Musty mentions having received a valentine from a girl (whose name he rendered in code). The fourth sketch from this period is on the back of a letter dated May 28, 1863, and shows a long tent, possibly a field hospital, with a "No Admittance" sign over the entrance. A man is visible through the tent flap with a bucket at his side. The fifth sketch (undated) shows the fortifications at Aquia Bridge, Virginia, and the surrounding countryside. Two undated sketches depict women, one drawn in pencil with the title "Going By the Gate" and the other in black, blue, and red ink showing a woman with a striped hat. An undated pencil sketch, "The Signal Flag," shows soldiers atop a house waving the signal flag, an army encampment in the foreground, and soldiers marching in the background. A pen and ink drawing captioned "Near Cedar Mountain" shows three soldiers, one on horseback and two others cajoling a balking donkey. A dialog entitled "A Quaker on an argument" includes a pen and ink illustration of two men debating theology before a fireplace.
The last two items in this collection are printed items, a black and red print of Major General John C. Frémont torn from a letterhead and a Valentine containing an illustration of a man playing his guitar for a woman that includes the following poem:
"My song is mute, the strainWhich melodized each line,My sentiments conveyTo thee my Valentine."
1 volume
This volume was produced by Peter McGivney as a gift for his sister, Julia A. McGivney. Its entries are primarily copies of popular song lyrics and some poetry. Many focus on sentimental themes like remembrance, familial relationships, love, death, and religion. Some patriotic titles are also included. Titles like "Little Low Cabin" and "Half Way Doings" were likely minstrel songs, and include racist dialect. One is accompanied by a watercolor painting of an African American man in striped pants and a blue overcoat standing at a table with a Bible on it and a whitewash bucket on the floor.
Peter McGivney elaborately decorated and illustrated the volume with paintings, pencil drawings, pen-and-ink embellishments, printed scrapbook die-cuts, and calligraphic titles and borders. He drew numerous patriotic images, including American flags, shields, eagles, Union soldiers, and a portrait of George Washington. Flowers, leaves, birds, and landscapes feature prominently, along with depictions of women. He drew several illustrations of hands holding calling/visiting cards filled out with the names of friends and family members.
7 linear feet (in 8 boxes) — 121 oversize volumes — 1.98 GB
The collection consists of the following series: Pittsfield School Districts records, Miscellaneous Township Responsibilities, Township Administration, Treasurer's records, Assessment Rolls, Tax Rolls, Rolls of Lands Upon Which Taxes Were Unpaid, and Other Assessments.
0.25 linear feet
The collection consists of hand-made sketchbooks and loose sheets of paper featuring drawings likely made by children Edith, Jennie, and Theodore Pond while residing in Syria (present-day Lebanon) with their missionary parents, Theodore S. Pond and Julia Pond. Prominent imagery depicted includes domestic scenes, women and children at work and play, and women tending to the sick. The Ponds rarely specified locations in their drawings, and while they may have been generic or imagined scenes some may have been made to reflect the Pond family's residence or experience while in Syria (present-day Lebanon).
The bulk of the drawings were done in pencil, but several were made using pen and ink, pen and wash, and pastels. A large portion of the images depict interior domestic scenes of women and young girls reading, sewing, dining, visiting, sleeping, and at play with toys in parlors, living rooms, and bedrooms. These drawings include details like clothing, accessories, furniture, and decorations. Several show women wearing the Christian cross as jewelry, head coverings or veils, and chopines (a platformed shoe), possibly representing adherents of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Several of the drawings feature women at work doing tasks like cooking, sewing, washing dishes or floors, sweeping, gardening, tending to the ill, or bathing children. Older women are represented alongside middle-aged women, young girls, and infants. Adult men and young boys appear occasionally in the scenes.
Several illustrations appear to show women laboring as domestic servants, and at least four of these images represent dark-skinned women. One additional drawing shows a family scene with three dark-skinned women knitting or resting in a hammock.
Outdoor scenes are also represented, showing women and children walking and travelling in the streets, playing games, visiting the beach, riding horses, shopping, sleighing, or picking fruit. One drawing depicts a family standing beside a sphinx with pyramids in the background. Other locales outside of the home are also featured, including a store, a church, a theater, a photographer's studio, and possibly a school.
Miscellaneous other topics were drawn, such as angels, Grecian women, a dream, a centaur statue, a shield with an American crest, and two singing girls who appear to be impoverished.
Only two of the drawings were signed, both landscapes by Theodore H. Pond, one dated 1882 shows a building in the countryside and the other depicts a village street scene leading towards a church. Two other unsigned landscapes are also present, one labelled "St. Augustines Canterbury." Two other illustrations -- one a portrait of a young woman and the other an interior scene with four children blowing bubbles-- have the name "Edith" inscribed with ink on the verso. Several of the drawings were labelled by a child in block letters. One of the drawings was made on a sheet of paper that had previously been used to write notes on the Letters of Paul.
The drawings were enclosed in an Upsala College envelope labeled: "'Drawings of Edith & Elsie Pond when they were little girls in Syria.' (Be Sure To Save These)"
3.75 linear feet
The Pratt family papers present a chronicle of middle-class women's lives between the 1850's and 1890's. The writers are uniformly literate and attentive, and the majority of the letters are of a strongly personal nature. While some letters stand on their own, the collection should be seen as one large, continuous document presenting a nineteenth century "woman's" life in many of its aspects, from cleaning and cooking to marriage, childbirth, child rearing, sewing, gardening, travel, music, reading, teaching, religion, death, and friendships. The composite portrait that emerges is stronger than the portraits of any single woman, though the personalities of several of the correspondents are very strongly expressed. As a result, the Pratt Papers is a valuable resource for the study of women's work, as teachers, employees, and home makers, as well as their emotional and personal lives.
The primary focus of the Pratt papers is Emma Louise Pratt (b. 1864 April 8) of Revere, Mass. The collection includes several hundred letters addressed to her, as well as some of her diaries, the diaries of her only brother, Willie (d. 1888), 1881, 1883, and 1886, and notes between Emma and her mother, Emeline. Most of the letters were written by Emma's intimate friends and family members, including several of her aunts and cousins, and these provide the main dialogue of the collection and construct a fascinating image of the development of one young woman's personal relationships during the post-Civil War period. There are four women with whom Emma most consistently corresponded: Claribel M. Tilton Crane, Emma Lois Proctor, Mabel H. Drew Croudis, and Lola V. Jefferds.
Claribel (or Clara) M. Tilton Crane was a school chum of Emma's who moved from Revere to Malden, Mass., in 1873, and a few years later to Quincy. Their correspondence began when the girls were still teenagers, with Claribel describing her new home, her school, friends, pets, clothes, and fancy work, and she and Emma occasionally exchanged riddles and conundrums. The two developed a private code, words that had special meaning to each other, and Claribel often included words at the top of her letters that have no obvious relationship to the text. Over the Christmas holidays, which coincided with her birthday, Claribel always described her presents for that year, a practice that continued even after she and Emma became adults. The subject matter of Claribel's letters changed as she grew and began working in a dry goods store in Quincy owned by her brother, Charlie. Her letters include descriptions of her work, sewing, clothes, and her married life with a man named Crane. Claribel's health was never very good and a great many of the later letters describe her various convalescences. In some of these, Claribel includes floor plans of her home as well as written descriptions.
Emma's cousin, Emma Lois Proctor, moved to LaCrosse, Wisc., when very young to live with her father, Alfred, and new stepmother. The collection includes a few letters from Mary Ann Proctor dating from the 1860's, which refer to Emma Proctor and other family members, and it appears that when Mary Ann Proctor's mother died, Emma returned east to live with the Pratt's until she grew up. Emma Proctor's early letters describe her trip to Wisconsin, her father's farm and family, her work there, her sewing and fancy work, and her efforts to become a teacher. Other members of the Proctor family had also gone west to live, some in Wisconsin, others in Chicago, or as far west as Montana and Washington Territory, and Emma Proctor kept in close contact with all. She eventually became a teacher, and considered moving to Kallispell, Mont., to join a brother and his wife and teach school. The letters she wrote during an 1890 trip to Kallispell include some fine descriptions of the state and of the Flathead Indians. She decided that she would return to Wisconsin, though five years later she returned to Montana.
Mabel H. (Drew) Croudis from Medford, Mass., was another of Emma Pratt's cousins, though from which side of the family she is related is not clear. Mabel and Emma began corresponding in 1881 and their letters continue throughout the entire collection. The two women were exceptionally close and wrote to each other with great regularity, almost every week, and visited each other often. Mabel usually addressed Emma as "Susan" and signed her letters "Betsy". Her letters are filled with family news, discussions of her work as a bookkeeper in her brother's store, and with inside jokes and stories that she and Emma shared. Because of their closeness and the regularity with which they wrote and visited, Mabel's letters tend not to provide a very complete picture of their relationship, though their intimacy comes through very clearly. It appears that neither Emma nor Mabel planned on getting married, even when they reached their early twenties, and Mabel often commented on their plans to grow old together and live in their own "snuggery." Mabel eventually married George Croudis, and this event appears to have put a strain on the friendship. Soon after Mabel's marriage, Mabel complained to Emma about never hearing from her anymore, and implored her to understand that their friendship need not change simply because she has gotten married.
Lola V. Jefferds was another friend of Emma Pratt's who, like Claribel, moved from Revere to Livermore Falls, Me. She and Emma corresponded regularly, though not quite as frequently as Claribel or Mabel. Lola was a spirited person who wrote interesting, usually very descriptive letters. Like Emma, she did not plan on marrying, occasionally expressing a disdain for the men she met, stating that she would prefer to remain single if these men were her only options. Lola's father owned a furniture store in Livermore Falls where Lola worked along with her parents. The family took charge of the local post office at some point, probably through political patronage, and Lola soon began to work there.
Emma Pratt spent a month's holiday with Lola in August, 1891. During this time, she wrote an average of two letters per day to her parents, representing some of the few extant letters written by Emma. These include descriptions of her vacation, the landscape, Lola and her family, and, above all, her homesickness and feelings of guilt at being away from her home and mother. Emma worried constantly that she should not be on vacation, but nevertheless appeared to have a good time. It is unfortunate that Emma's letters to her friends and cousins are not present, for these would be particularly helpful in rounding out the picture. From the letters written to Emma it is known that she was a very descriptive and lively letter writer. Her friends often comment on the pleasure, comfort and amusement they derive from Emma's letters. The collection includes one letter, or rather story, that Emma sent to her cousin Mabel (Betsy) describing a lawn-party at Lola's, that offers a good glimpse into the wit and powers of observation that made Emma such a popular correspondent.
Emma Pratt corresponded regularly with several other women, including her cousins Nettie Maria Fellows (47), Edith Dann (43), Georgie Renton (23), Anna Linn Renton (15), and her aunt, C. Augusta Renton (27). The collection also includes other correspondence of Augusta's, mostly with her sisters, Emeline Pratt and Olive M. Homans (29). The letters from Nettie and Edith are not very illuminating, consisting primarily of brief discussions of family and the weather. The letters from Augusta and her daughters, Georgie and Anna Linn, however, are interesting when placed together. The Rentons owned a boarding house in East Gloucester, Mass., in which all three women worked, and Augusta's letters include interesting discussions of her life as a mother, boarding house keeper, and friend. Augusta also described the health problems of her son, Freddie, who suffered from a diseased leg. Georgie and Anna Linn began to write to Emma when they were very, through the period in which Georgie entered Wellesley College as a student in the late 1880s. Augusta Renton died in 1890, leaving Georgie, Anna Linn, and a cousin(?) Edith Dann, grief stricken and doing their best to cope with Augusta's death.
The 29 letters from Emeline Pratt's sister, Olive M. Homans, are especially interesting. Olive was a lively writer with a good sense of humor and a strong sense of what she felt was right and wrong. Her correspondence with Emeline began in 1867 after she has moved to Hannibal, Mo., with her husband, Willie Homans. She describes her new home in Missouri, her friends, and vacations to Minnesota, Ohio and Michigan. Olive taught Sunday school to freedmen in Missouri.
Emma's diaries, written in 1883-1887 and 1889-1892, consist only of one page entries, and are not particularly introspective. However, there are a few instances in which Emma manages to express her feelings within this space. It is in here that Emma's relationship with her father and mother becomes clearer, as well as Emma's frustration at feeling that she is a financial burden to her father because, at the age of 19 and unmarried, she still lives at home and is not contributing to the family's income. This frustration influenced her feelings toward both her parents, though in very different ways. Emma grew very protective of her mother, and assumed the role of the dutiful daughter trying to ease her mother's burden. At the same time, she seemed to grow angrier and angrier with her father, though her basic love for him always remained. Emma expressed an interest in becoming a dressmaker, but complained that she never had the time to learn, as she was so busy with housework, church activities, and (apparently) letter writing. At the end of each entry in her diary, she kept track of the Bible verse she had read for the day.
In August, 1888, Emma's brother, Willie, died in a drowning accident. Her diary from this year is absent, however in 1889, almost every entry mentions Willie, Willie's death, and Emma's grief and disbelief that her brother was taken from her. The collection includes a substantial number of letters of condolence as well. At about this time, both Emma and Emeline began a correspondence with a woman, Emma Aldrich, whose daughter had recently died. The daughter and Willie were buried in the same cemetery, and the letters from Emma Aldrich deal mainly with the cemetery plots and the death of her daughter and Willie.
Parallel to the letters of the Pratt and Proctor family is a very significant series of correspondence relating to the Stebbins family. This series forms a self-contained body of approximately 75 letters dating between 1854 and 1869, which may have been collected by Emma or written by relatives, but connections to either the Pratt or Proctor families is unclear. The focus of these letters is a woman, Laura Stebbins, from Springfield, Mass., whose teaching career took her into positions in the Deep South in the 1850s, and to Washington, D.C., to teach freedmen in the 1860s, and also includes a number of letters from a man, Eugene, probably her brother. Laura appears to have suffered from poor health, experiencing a great deal of trouble with her eyes. It is also apparent that her family and friends admired her greatly. She was considered to be an unselfish friend and teacher, selfless, and always thinking of others. From their perspective, Stebbins was the "perfect" woman who represented the "angel in the house," so to speak.
The Stebbins correspondence includes some excellent descriptions of the life of a woman teacher during the late ante-bellum period, her attitudes toward teaching, her students, and the south, and there are several letters that concern the education of freedmen and the end of the war and early Reconstruction period in Virginia. Like Laura, Eugene worked with freedmen in Norfolk, Va., both for an unidentified employer and the Freedmen's Bureau, and his letters are packed with interesting description and thoughts about his work, his home, Laura's teaching and health, and the aftermath of the Civil War. The collection also includes several letters written to Laura from family members and friends, including two women teachers with whom Laura seems to have been particularly close, Martha E. Swan and "Jennie."
Among other items, the Stebbins letters include two particularly interesting letters from a woman, Marcia A. Gleaner, that describe her experiences as an employee in a wholesale cloak store on Broadway in New York City in 1862. In the first letter, Marcia expressed her disgust with New York City and with her working and living conditions. In the second, she described an accident at work in which a women fell down the stairs while she and the other 150 others were leaving for the day.
Finally, there is a sequence of letters that is difficult to trace to the Pratt, Proctor or Stebbins families. These are a group of letters from the French, West, and Richardson families in Oberlin and Pittsfield, Ohio, Potsdam, N.Y., Jaffrey and Rindge, N.H., Cornish, Me., and Fitchburg, Mass.. There are several interesting letters from Abijah French from California where he has gone to see his brother Levi. Levi has "gone mad" and was unable to recognize Abijah as his brother, though he was able to remember all of his brothers and sisters' names -- Abijah, Alvira, Augusta, and Maria -- as well as his parents', Richard and Percilia. Abijah also describes California and his trip westward. It is possible that these families are related to the Pratts and Proctors; there is a letter from Carrie L. Richardson from Cornish, Me. (1893 January 26) to Emma which makes a reference to Grandma Pratt and to Emma's mother's health. An expense account book and miscellaneous receipts and notes belonging to Oscar W. Grover may represent items relating to Emma Pratt's would-be, or actual, husband.
1 volume
This nineteenth-century album contains 46 once-bound pen-and-ink caricatures on heavy card stock, each card with or formerly with metal eyelets on one short edge. A pencil inscription at the back of the volume reads, "Mr. Albert L. Briggs, Providence, RI," and internal references to Providence, Rhode Island, further suggests that either Briggs or another local resident may have produced the artwork. The figures represented in the volume vary widely and some are more sympathetic or more disparaging than others. The illustrator relied heavily on exaggerated features, stereotypes, and jokes directed at people's physical appearance to provide especially social commentary on race, ethnicity, gender, and class.
At least seven of the illustrations relate to women, including drawings referring to women's rights and various women's roles as mothers, performers, physicians, and cooks. One, labelled "What is home without a mother," may be a reference to a song by the same name published in 1854, and it features a woman with a monstrous face. Another titled "HANNAH LONG" depicts a woman peddling "Quaker Bitters" (probably the Providence, Rhode Island, patent medicine by that name) and may be referring to Hannah Longshore (1819-1901), who graduated from the first class of the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1851.
Many of the caricatures focus on impoverished or working class people, showing individuals in tattered clothing or in lower-paying professions such as a farmer, a shoeshine, and a seeming gravedigger. A number of illustrations depict men in various stages of intoxication or alcoholism. Forms of social disorder are highlighted in caricatures of a convict and of a knife-wielding murderer labelled "THE MAN THAT KILLED JOHN GILPIN." Commentary on physical and mental disability are also represented, in drawings of a mentally ill man labelled "Luny" and a man with unaligned eyes and feet labelled "On exhibition."
Other caricatures reflect racial, ethnic, and religious stereotypes. Two racist caricatures depict African Americans, including one of a Black Congressman and one of an Uncle Remus character. Another caricature depicts a recent immigrant, while two are anti-Semitic (those labeled "The Torturer" and "NAME IT"). Two figures depict high religious figures, from Catholic or Orthodox Christian churches; one wears a robe, a fur-brimmed mitre, and snowshoes. The word "KAMSCHASA" is written near the bottom of the robe, likely referring to the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia.
Other caricatures highlight people based on their height, weight, profession (such as a king, a knight, an editor, a lecturer), or social posturing. For example, attitudes like dignity, contentment, nosiness, and bashfulness are spotlighted. Others appear more innocuous, such as illustrations of someone reading the morning newspaper and another of someone taking "Rush's Pills," but underlying subtexts for many of the images likely have additional meaning.
1 linear foot
The collection is arranged by family name: Tomlinson, Pomeroy, and Raab. The earliest item is an account maintained by Alexander Tomlinson of Sherwood, Michigan. Within the Raab family papers are diaries, 1891-1892, of Florence Raab concerning her life in Adrian, Michigan. In addition, the collection includes papers and audio-tapes of Irving T. Raab reminiscing about his student life at the University of Michigan in the years before 1900. These tapes also concern his life in Flint and career as Presbyterian clergyman. The photographs in the collection are of family members.
15.5 linear feet (in 16 boxes)
The Ralph Muncy collection consists primarily of papers relating to his interest in socialist political activities. A smaller portion of the collection documents the involvement of his wife, Lydia B. Muncy, in the socialist cause. Together they also collected materials relating to the history of their families (Muncy-Baird). Included is much original family material dating back into the nineteenth century. The Ralph Muncy papers have been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Topical Files; and Ralph Muncy and Lydia Baird Muncy Personal.
1 volume
Rd. Kraker created this 20-page handwritten booklet titled "Little Girl's Own Book," with an introduction dated April 1, 1864. The manuscript was "Brilliantly Illustrated by Darling" and identified as a first edition in the "1st Series of Confederate Primers," "printed" by the "Southern Emesis Book and job Printing Office." The booklet contains a story, with added notes on proper behavior. According to Kraker's introduction, the content was gleaned from conversations in the "Lager Bier Saloon of Hanns Kroftler" and its earnestness and sentiment was adapted to the "comprehension and bias of mind of the female children of the south."
The author told the story of a Northern and a Southern girl, in which the girl in the north became tired of living on a farm and eating onions, so decided to travel to the warmer climate of the south and visit her friend. Upon arriving by train, she witnessed a battle and fell in love with a Confederate soldier. After he returned to the battlefield, she gained solace from her southern friend, through listening to music, by singing and writing, and by seeking treatment for sadness from a physician. One of the songs referenced is Charles Carroll Sawyer and Henry Tucker's "When Will This Cruel War Be Over?"
The text includes a parody of physician's explanation and prescription to the disconsolate young woman. The instructions read:
"The exostotic exudation overcoming the endosmotic implication in the peri and endocardium, pluviates the sanguinious, and decalorificates the systemic platitudes. The circumambient exoteric disintegrates the envelope and allows the exoteric functions to retrospect the perihelion of animal deficiancies. The pia mater interconvoluted with the [?] covering and becomes simultaneously congested by contact with the [?] substance. Hence retrovision becomes duplicated and prevision imparalelized. The remedy is equally perspicuous and followed earnestly will inevitably effect a cure..."
The volume includes several lines and paragraphs written in German Kurrantschrift. The most robust is the final page, headed by the text "The Soldier's Lament" and "Der Betrübte-lammantiert Soldadt," followed by a poetic description of snow-capped mountains and remarks on girls' behavior, i.e. "Wie schön wäre es [wenn?] die kleine Mädchen immer die Wahrheit sprächen" (How nice would it be [if?] little girls always spoke the truth), etc.
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.
2 linear feet — 2 oversize volumes — 1 oversize folder
The Regina Hay collection documents her work with the state and national Republican Party. The correspondence relates primarily to her work in the election of 1948, especially in the period leading up to the party's national convention. The scrapbooks provide excellent documentation of her entire political career beginning in the 1930s and culminating in the election of Dwight Eisenhower.
2 linear feet — 2 oversize folders
The Richardson family papers (letters, photographs, and business records) illustrate the lives of ordinary rural Americans from the 1860's to the 1940's.
17 linear feet — 28 oversize volumes — 1 oversize folder
The Robert D. Aldrich collection consists of materials--manuscript, printed, and photographic--documenting the history of Concord, Michigan, in western Jackson County. The collection spans the period from the arrival of the first settlers in 1831 to the 1980s. There are a few items dating back into the eighteenth century (as early as 1783) since the papers of some pioneer families predate their arrival in Concord. The bulk of the collection, though, falls in the period since the Civil War.
The collection documents every facet of life in Concord. Included are the papers of numerous Concord citizens consisting of personal correspondence, diaries, account books and newspaper clippings about them. In addition, Aldrich collected the records of various Concord businesses and organizations, as well as some church, school, and governmental records.
The collection has been divided into two series: Manuscript and Printed Materials, and Visual Materials. Both series are arranged alphabetically either by personal name or name of organization, or by general subject area, such as Circus, Underground Railroad, etc.
100 items
The Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society papers contain only a small portion of what must at one time have been a much larger collection. As a society devoted to the immediate abolition of slavery, the antislavery movement forms the context of most of the correspondence in the collection, but the members of the society were individually and collectively involved in the education of freedmen and in other movements, including women's rights. As a result, the collection offers a broad perspective on the mentality and activity of a small group of progressive northern women involved in the reform of what they saw as the worst inequities in American society.
The Society maintained contact with several national-level leaders of the antislavery movements, and provided important financial support to Frederick Douglass, in particular. The nine letters from Douglass in the collection all relate to the assistance provided for publication of his newspaper or are requests from him for direct aid to fugitive slaves en route to Canada. A particularly affecting letter is one that he wrote from England in 1860, while on an antislavery tour. Harriet Tubman, Beriah Green, Lewis Tappan, George B. Cheever, and Gerrit Smith also appear in the collection, either as correspondents or subjects of letters. Among the more interesting of these letters is one from John Stewart, probably a free black man, addressed to Harriet Tubman; a letter from Moses Anderson, also African-American, writing about the importance of Uncle Tom's Cabin in shaping his political consciousness; Jacob Gibb's letter of introduction for a fugitive slave; and William Watkins' report on the number of fugitive slaves that have passed through Rochester into Canada in the year 1857.
British support for the Society was crucial in keeping it viable in the late 1850s, and is documented through the letters of Julia Griffiths Crofts (Leeds, England); Sarah Plummer (Dalkeith, Scotland), and Maria Webb (Dublin, Ireland). The fund-raising efforts of the society can be tracked partly through the list of goods donated for a Festival (1:77), a small collection of ephemera relating to British antislavery societies (1:82), and a list of donations from those British societies (1:28). The most significant item for tracking finances, however, is the account book for the Society (2:20), which covers its entire history. The secretaries of the Society recorded the complete finances of the organization, and provided lists of speakers at their annual events, and carefully delineated money remitted to individual fugitive slaves. Included at the end of the collection are a set of photocopies of the manuscripts (2:21) and supplemental information about the Society and its members, provided by the University of Rochester (2:22).
Freedmen's education was a major concern of the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society, and is discussed extensively by several correspondents. The single most frequent correspondent in the collection is Julia A. Wilbur, writing while working with freedmen in Alexandria, Va., 1862-1865. Wilbur writes long and vivid letters describing the miserable living conditions found among the freedmen, their want of clothing and shelter, and she describes several individual cases. Wilbur also met and became familiar with the renowned ex-slave and author, Harriet Jacobs. The situation that Wilbur describes in Virginia verges on the chaotic, with corruption at the highest levels, dissension among those in charge of contraband matters, and many in the military reluctant or unwilling to take any responsibility. She was a perceptive observer of the progress of the war, Southern citizenry, and of the destruction that the war had inflicted upon Virginia. Her official reports to the Society, which are more general and less pointed than her private correspondence, were published in the Society's published annual reports (2:1-13).
In addition to Wilbur's letters, there are six other items pertaining to freedmen's education. Three letters from G. W. Gardiner and one document signed by Lewis Overton, 1862-63, relate to the work of the Colored School, founded for freedmen at Leavenworth, Kansas, and both letters from Daniel Breed, 1863-64, include discussions of the Rochester School for Freedmen in Washington, D.C., named for the Society whose money founded it.
The printed items in the collection include fourteen of the seventeen known annual reports of the Society, a report from the Toronto Ladies' Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored fugitives (2:14), and circulars from two British societies (2:15-16). Three issues of Frederick Douglass' Paper (October 2, 1851, February 19 1858, and July 1, 1859) and one issue of The North Star (April 14, 1848) are included in Oversize Manuscripts. An issue of the Christian Inquirer (New York, July 24, 1858), having no direct relation to the Rochester Society, was transferred to the Newspapers Division. Finally, in two letters written in 1859 and 1861, Rebecca Bailey discusses her father William Bailey's newspaper, The Free South.
2 linear feet
The Rose Parker Kleinman papers are almost entirely those from her years in Detroit and are limited in quantity (2 linear feet). They can be used by the researcher interested in compiling a short biographical study of the last twenty years of her life, or in the activities of one of the many white liberals in Detroit in the 1960s who promoted racial equality. They provide an introduction to the cooperative movement as a whole and in the state of Michigan in the 1960s and 1970s, and to the activities of one of the leaders in the field. Finally, the papers on low-income, open housing organizations in Detroit in the 1960s and 1970s can provide a limited supplement to those found in other libraries, such as the Mayor's Papers in the Burton Library in Detroit. There is very little in the collection, however, on Kleinman's efforts to have established the Michigan State Housing Authority. The researcher should approach the collection with the understanding that no one area or organization can be studied in depth, but that the character, ideas, and personality of Rose Kleinman are evident throughout the collection.
The Kleinman papers are arranged in five series: Personal; Correspondence; Cooperatives; Housing; and Miscellaneous.
1.25 linear feet
The records of the Saline Woman's Club include 1.25 linear feet of administrative records and clippings dating from 1905 to 1987. The collection is arranged alphabetically by topic, excepting a folder of organizational histories located at the front of the collection. Items within folders are arranged chronologically.
Of particular interest to the researcher will be the organizational histories, minutes, and presidents' reports which detail the Club's deeds and concerns.
3 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The Samuel D. Pepper papers cover Pepper's military service and legal career, as well as his relationships with family and friends. The collection provides particularly strong documentation of the impact which Pepper's Michigan National Guard (MNG) service had on personal and professional aspects of his life. The papers are divided into four main series: Personal, Military Activities, Professional and Political Activities, and Photographs.
3 linear feet — 1 folder — 1 oversize folder
Although the Shepard family papers (1807-1934) cover three generations, the bulk of the materials are from John F. Shepard. The earliest correspondence is primarily addressed to his father Arthur, and to his grandfather John from family members and relatives. The letters deal with health, crops, and relatives. There are also letters from John F. Shepard's wife Berenice to her mother Mary Barnes (maiden name Van Valin) and from Berenice's father Charles to her mother. The Barnes and VanValins lived in Marshall, Michigan.
The John F. Shepard papers include professional correspondence from 1911 to 1934, mostly relating to University building plans. There are also minutes (1921-1925) of the Committee of Five on the Comprehensive Building Program, as well as Shepard's student notebooks from philosophy and psychology courses taught by James R. Angell and James H. Tuft at the University of Chicago, and by Alfred H. Lloyd and Walter B. Pillsbury at the University of Michigan.
The photographs are mainly of his wife's family, many from the late nineteenth century.
8 items
The collection consists of seven penmanship and cypher books kept by William L. Shimer, Susanna M. Shimer, and Nathan M. Shimer of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the 1840s and 1850s and one alphabet card with lower-case and upper-case letters. The blank books include illustrated covers and several have calligraphic titles for their sections. Five of them are dated and range from 1846 to 1853. The cypher books include exercises for arithmetic, fractions, practical geometry, accounting, and weights and measures, with many examples relating to practical issues like farming, business, and estates. Penmanship exercises include the copying of moral proverbs, common business abbreviations, strings of letters, and phrases. Two of the penmanship books are associated with writing systems: George J. Becker's The American System of Penmanship, and Bayson, Dunton and Scribner's National System of Penmanship.
The cover of William L. Shimer's 1848 exercise book includes an inscription "L. Shimer, Co. A 10 reg. Militia Pa." William L. Shimer's 1850-1852 cypher book includes notations that he was attending the Gen. Taylor school and was being instructed by A. Stout, as well as geometrical drawings, calligraphic headings, and a pen-and-ink drawing of an eagle's head holding a banner that reads, "Let teh Stars and Stripes proudly float over you."
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 folder — 1 oversize volume
The collection consists of programs and newspaper clippings largely concerning student life at the University of Michigan. The photographs are portraits and snapshots of Taylor, family members and friends; photographs of the construction of Barton Dam in Ann Arbor, Michigan; photographs of University of Michigan student surveying projects; and photographs of University of Michigan students, groups, and activities. In addition, there is an arithmetic notebook, 1833, of H. Green, student at the Detroit Academy. This item was probably collected by Taylor or perhaps in the possession of a family member.
0.3 linear feet
The papers of Thankful O. Jones reflect the private interests and concerns of a nineteenth century woman and members of her family who lived variously in New York, Missouri, Illinois, and Michigan. The collection includes correspondence sent to Thankful Jones from her siblings and children, but does not contain any of her own writings.
The bulk of the letters was written by Harlem B. Jones during his service in the Civil War. Writing to his mother and sister Emily on a weekly or semi-weekly basis, Harlem describes in detail his unfavorable impressions of camp life; his observations on the military strategies of Stonewall Jackson, Joe Hooker, and Ambrose Burnside; and his participation in the battle of Bull Run and the assault on Baton Rouge. Harlem also relates briefly his impression of Washington, DC, Abraham Lincoln, and the Presidential Election of 1864.
Also included are Civil War letters from Thankful Jones's step-son, Amos S. Jones, and from her nephew, Nelson C. Burch. These letters pertain largely to family news and interests.
Thankful Jones also maintained extensive correspondence with her brother Varnum D. Burch of Madison County, Illinois and Jefferson City, Missouri, following the Civil War. These letters reflect a variety of topics, ranging from health and living conditions to the anguish caused by a sexual indiscretion and the subsequent relations with an illegitimate child. Other correspondents of the Burch family include Sabina Burch and Lucy R. (Burch) Jones, sisters of Thankful; nephews Nelson C. Burch of Jefferson City and John C. Burch of Crawfordsville, Indiana; niece Celestia A. Moore, Abbie R. Flagg, and Hattie Willard; and F. A. Willett, a brother-in-law. Several letters from Thankful's son Asa reflect his life in Maple Rapids, Michigan in the 1890s; and those of Libbie Anderson document Thankful Jones' interest in the Woman's Relief Corps of Maple Rapids.
The collection also contains numerous military documents reflecting the Civil War service of Harlem and J. Eli Jones, as well as numerous deeds and estate papers of William Jones. Thankful Jones's efforts to settle her husband's estate and to secure the pension of her son Harlem are reflected in her business and military service correspondence. The papers also contain some Jones family biographical and genealogical material.
The collection also includes some papers of the Matthews-Owen family of Pittsford, New York and Owosso, Shiawassee County, Michigan. Included are some military papers of Henry Matthews and several letters to Mary Ann Matthews from her sister Abigail L. Ely and cousin Julia Owen, dating from 1835 to 1841. The relationship of this family with that of Thankful O. Jones remains unclear, but the papers do reflect conditions in Penfield and Fairport, New York in the 1830s and 1840s. Among the letters is an account of a duel in Washington, DC in 1838.
3.5 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The papers of the Twichell family document three generations of the extended Twichell families. It includes extensive correspondence files, reminiscences of life on turn-of-the-century Michigan farm and of student life the University of Michigan, files relating to the family businesses including boardinghouses in Ann Arbor, and photographs of family members, towns in Michigan, and University of Michigan students. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence, Alphabetical Files, Photographs, and Sound Recordings.
39 items
The Uriah Lee family collection (39 items) contains 32 letters, 3 diaries, and 4 additional items (1850-1912) related to Lyman Uriah Lee of Foxcroft, Maine. Uriah Lee wrote 27 letters to his family while serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, his brother Leonard wrote 3 letters while serving with the Union Army at Fort Sumter, and family members exchanged 2 additional letters. Also included are 3 diaries that Elizabeth M. Lee kept between 1851 and 1878, a poem, and Uriah Lee's discharge papers.
The Correspondence series (32 items) contains 27 letters that Uriah Lee wrote to his family while serving in North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D. C. Lee provided details about his daily life as a soldier, and discussed soldiers' attitudes toward officers, food, and clothing; encounters with former slaves; the weather; and political issues. He also mentioned specific battles, and his letter of May 18, 1863, includes a hand-drawn map of his company's route from New Berne, North Carolina, to Washington, D. C. Leonard Lee wrote 3 letters during his Civil War military service, and discussed similar topics. In his postwar letters, Uriah Lee offered advice to his younger siblings and discussed family affairs. Anne Lee wrote a letter to Lyman Lee in which she recounted the events surrounding the death of a man named Edward, and Chauncey received an unsigned letter about his wife Eva's visit to the writer.
Elizabeth Lee kept 3 Diaries between July 1851 and November 1878, concerning her thoughts and activities as a wife and mother. Among other topics, she discussed housework, the weather, her family, social engagements, and religion. Most of her entries are brief lines about the weather and the housework she was able to finish, with details of church meetings provided every few days.
The Documents, Poetry, and Miscellaneous series is comprised of 5 items. Fanny Hosier wrote Uriah Lee a poem that reflected positively on Southern rights and secession. Uriah Lee's military discharge papers from 1863 and 1865 are also included. A piece of ephemera illustrates 4 badges of the Grand Army of the Republic.
9.5 linear feet — 2 oversize folders
The Victor Lemmer Papers concerns the history of the western portion of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, particularly Gogebic County, as well as his work as the agent for the Gogebic Industrial Bureau. The collection has been divided into the following series: Correspondence; Photographs; Personal/Miscellaneous; Gogebic Industrial Bureau Files; Research Files; Collected Materials; and Writings/Speeches.
8.5 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The Virginia R. Allan Papers have been grouped both according to types of documents covering her entire career (biographical, correspondence, writings and speeches, etc.). These are followed by three series of files pertaining to Allan's activities and organizational affiliations within specific time periods in her career. These chronological divisions (with some overlapping of dates) are 1950s-1972, 1971-1977, and 1977-1985. Although each of these chronological series documents Allan's life-long interest in women's issues, there are obvious highlights to each. The first chronological series - 1950s-1972, is especially solid with material relating to Allan's association with the Michigan and the National Federation of Business and Professional Women, and her service on the President's Task Force on Women's Rights and Responsibilities. The second of these series - 1971-1977 - obviously documents Allan's work at the State Department, her role with the International Women's Year and her participation in the Mexico City Conference in 1975. And the third chronological series - 1977-1985 - contain files pertaining to her participation in the second and third United Nations International Women's Conferences and to her faculty responsibilities at George Washington University.
The collection concludes with a small series -- Groups and Activities -- which contains both material dated after 1985 as well as earlier materials, a series of Personal materials, and a series of Audio-Visual materials that includes photographs, a videotape, and sound recordings.
15 items
Most of the letters in this collection are from Alice Colden Wadsworth to John and Maria, and although it is far from a complete run of correspondence, these letters give a fair picture of both the anxious mother and the young frontier family. Alice kept hoping her sons would return to the east, fantasizing that once William became an attorney, he would "go into partnership with some friend in the city, and come and live with us." When she heard that John had sold his farm, she "almost wished that you would purchase a situation in Durham, that we might enjoy the happiness of living near each other. . . . Then I could often see my own little Alice Colden and teach her to love me." Years later she admitted that her sons had succeeded better than the young men who stayed in New York, but still lamented, "oh, my dear son, you fixed your habitation too far away!"
Although her son William wrote frequently, and gave Alice news of his brothers' family, months would go by before she would hear from John and Maria directly. The young people were probably too busy establishing themselves in the new settlement to write home very often, and even if they succeeded in scratching out a letter, the mail service was undoubtedly undependable. In addition to farming and raising a family, John and Maria were actively involved in the growing community in Monroe. By 1838, John was holding "many respectable offices" as a Whig, and in 1843, his mother congratulated him for "pleading the cause of Temperance, and forming Societies," and was delighted that in "every work of piety and benevolence, your dear Maria participates and enjoys." In a letter to Maria, John gave a lengthy description of how almost the entire Whig ticket, including himself, lost in the local elections of 1840: "I say never mind, because this child is not yet dead & they cannot kill me yet, I am resolved to be something or nothing -- & next year I will try them again, perhaps as Senator to the State Legislature." Although he was never a Senator, he did get elected Supervisor of Raisinville in 1843. Still an ardent Whig, he wrote despairingly to his father-in-law about the 1844 national election; "Henry Clay defeated by one James K. Polk -- let the nation weep."
The modest financial, political, and social success enjoyed by the Wadsworths was severely overshadowed by the deaths of two of their children. Their second child, Joseph, probably died in 1840. In a letter to Maria, who was back in Durham visiting her family, John lamented their loss, comforting himself and his wife with the words, "Our Joseph is, or may, be seen running about, & pratling the praises of the lamb -- Our dear children are not our own, they are bought with a price, and that price is the blood of the Lamb & the purchaser God, they are committed to us for safe keeping, let us discharge our trust, as becomes those who are to give an account." Two years later their daughter Alice died while Maria was confined after the birth of another child. The New York relatives send a letter full of heartfelt sympathy and assurances. Susan, for instance, wrote, "Grievous as is this trial may it be blessed to each one of us, and our beloved Alice be made the means in God's hands of drawing each one of us nearer to himself." The last letter in the collection is to Maria from her son John, busy studying for college, intimating that at least one child made it through the precarious years to young adulthood.
1 envelope
The Walker family photographs include portraits of the family.
17.5 linear feet (in 18 boxes) — 1 oversize folder (UBPl)
The Washtenaw County Historical Society records include collected historical documents and photographs relating to the people, events, and history of the county, its cities and townships. There are also administrative records of the organization, including minutes of meetings, subjects relating to Society programs and projects, and financial miscellanea.
1 envelope
The collection consists of promotional photographs of skiing and other winter recreational activities in the West Branch, Michigan area.