Collections

Soldier from Frankfurt, Mich., member of Co. M, 339th U.S. Infantry who served in the Allied intervention in Russia, 1918-1920, the "Polar Bear Expedition." Collection includes diary and reminiscences relating to his trip to Russia in 1929 to recover the bodies of members of the Archangel Expedition killed and buried in the Soviet Union.

The papers contain a diary, July-Oct. 1929, describing the search for bodies, memories of the Russian people about the American soldiers, living conditions, and his memories of the area; and a typescript reminiscence, 1969, describing his mission, problems with the Russian authorities, the return of the bodies, and the reinterment ceremony at White Chapel Memorial Park Cemetery.

Detroit attorney, assistant U. S. Prosecutor at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East following World War II; correspondence and official court materials largely relating to Japanese intervention in Manchuria; materials relating to service in Polar Expedition to northern Russian during World War I; miscellaneous papers relating to other political and legal activities; and photographs.

The Walter McKenzie Collection consists largely of materials created as a result of the Japanese War Crimes Trials. The collection has been arranged into eight series: Biographical/Personal; Correspondence; Articles, Speeches, etc.; International Military Tribunal for the Far East, International Prosecution Section; University of Michigan; World War I (Polar Bear Expedition); Miscellaneous; and Photographs.

Prosecuting attorney of Saginaw County, Michigan, attorney general of Michigan, 1929-1931, governor, 1931-1932, general counsel to the Department of Defense during the Army-McCarthy Hearing, 1954-1955, and Secretary of the Army, 1955-1961. Correspondence, speeches, tapes, appointment books, scrapbooks, photograph albums, newspaper clippings, and other materials concerning his political career.

The Wilber M. Brucker Collection consists of correspondence, subject files, scrapbooks, tape recordings, visual materials, political ephemera, and other materials from a lifelong career in public service. The collection provides significant, though not always extensive, material on his activities as state attorney general, governor, and secretary of the army. In addition, the papers include documentation from Brucker's private career: his law practice, his involvement in the preparation of a plan for the reapportionment of the Michigan Legislature, his devotion to Republican Party causes, his activities with the Knights Templar of Michigan, and as a member of the World War I Rainbow Division. With some exceptions, the early phases of Brucker's life are not as well represented as one might hope. There is really no body of Brucker gubernatorial materials extant. What remains are scattered items, largely concerning the election campaigns of 1930 and 1932.

The collection has been arranged into twelve series: Biographical; Correspondence; Family Papers; Subject Files; Knights Templar; Rainbow Division; Appointment Books; Speeches; Secretary of the Army; Newspaper Clippings; Personal: Albums, Scrapbooks, etc.; and Visual Materials.

Saginaw, Michigan, lumberman and businessman, and Michigan State Tax Commissioner, 1912 and wildlife conservationist and sportsman. Papers include extensive correspondence files, business records and photographs.

The William Mershon collection consists of correspondence dealing with Mershon's various activities as a lumberman, Saginaw businessman, and member of the State Tax Commission in 1912. Subjects included in the papers are Michigan wildlife conservation, the Michigan Sportsmen Association, the Michigan Manufacturers Association, the Michigan State Tax Commission, Michigan politics, the Democratic party, personal business investments, lumbering and mining interest, and personal affairs.

The collection also includes diaries, a book of notes on hunting and fishing trips, and various business records such as cash books, time books, ledgers, and journals. These primarily concern his investments and lumbering business. Many of the business records are available on microfilm. The collection also includes photographs.

Michigan-born member of U.S. Army Co. I, 339th Infantry; served with the U.S. Polar Bear Expedition in Archangel, Russia. Collection includes Mielke's service records, a digital photograph of his grave marker, and digitized images of his service diary

The William R. Mielke papers consist of a single series, Military Service, which include his enlistment record, honorable discharge papers, scanned images of his service diary, and a photograph of his gravesite in Lewiston, Mich. The diary details his unit's movements from training at Camp Custer to England and on to Russia. Entries describe patrols, combat experiences, and living conditions among soldiers during the expedition.

Branch of the YMCA; Annual reports, clippings, correspondence, financial records, minutes of meetings, photographs, press releases, published materials, rosters, and scrapbooks; also includes collected branch records for the Railroad branch, 1877-1890, and the Downtown branch, 1890-1909; and publication, Detroit Young Men, 1911-1922.

The records of the Metropolitan Offices of the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit consist of annual reports, correspondence, financial materials, minutes (Secretary's records), photographs, published brochures and pamphlets, and scrapbooks. The materials document, somewhat unevenly, the efforts of the YMCA to tend to the spiritual, physical, and social needs of the young men in Detroit. The strengths of this record group are in its minutes (Secretary's records) and photographs, each of which provides detailed and telling insight into the development of Detroit and the YMCA from the nineteenth century to 2006. The scrapbooks created by the YMCA, 1936-1973, are also of interest in that they accurately reflect all newspaper coverage of YMCA events and activities for this decade.

The records have been arranged in four series: Administration, Secretary's Records, Visual Materials, and Scrapbooks.