Collections

Clippert family of Detroit, Michigan; family materials include letters and notes of Harrison F. Clippert while serving with the 65th Coast Artillery Corps during World War I; also papers relating to Clippert Brick Company, a family business started by Conrad J. Clippert.

The Clippert papers are divided into nine series, six of which are organized under individual family members. The other three deal with the Clippert Brick Company and various Miscellanea and Photographs.

Records of the University of Michigan College of Engineering include histories, correspondence and topical files of deans; minutes of the executive and other committees; faculty records, including minutes of meetings and faculty biographies; miscellaneous student and alumni records; photographs, microfilm, digital files, and archived website.

The College of Engineering records date from 1860 to 2014 and measure 118.5 linear feet, 3 oversize folders, and 1,196 GB. The records document the internal activities of the College of Engineering, both administrative and academic, the role of the college as a unit of the University of Michigan, and research developments and trends over the years. Correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, financial records, and other material reflect changing research interests within the field of engineering as well as the curriculum development that has accompanied technological advances. Of particular interest are the files relating to outside work by faculty members, a question of enduring concern within the college. The records reflect the relations of the College of Engineering with private industry, especially through the documentation of funding from outside sources and the involvement of professors in outside research.

Michigan Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution; minutes of the state executive board, proceedings of the Michigan state conferences, publications, reports, and scrapbooks; also papers concerning their genealogical work, record of activities during World War I and II; historical files for individual chapters of the Michigan DAR; and photographs.

The records of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Michigan document its organization, history, and activities. As the state society of the DAR, the organization also collected material on the activities of the various local chapters. The records have been arranged into the following series: State Executive Board Minutes; State Conference Proceedings (original and published); Reports; Various Records of DAR State Historian; Miscellaneous; Chapter Records (original materials, collected material, and membership yearbooks); Publications; Scrapbooks; Topical files; and Photographs.

Ann Arbor chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution; minutes and other organizational records.

The record group has been arranged into the following series: Minutes; Published Material; Yearly Files; Officers Files; Membership records; Topical Files; Genealogical records; Scrapbooks, Historians Albums; and Visual Materials. Of interest are files relating in part to the chapter's activities during the Spanish-American War and World War I. The genealogical records include cemetery records for various Washtenaw County cemeteries.

The Douglas MacArthur collection is made up of military documents related to General Douglas MacArthur and the 42nd (Rainbow) Division during the first World War, and miscellaneous letters, documents, photographs, published works, and one diary illuminating various aspects of the General's public career and personal life.

The MacArthur collection contains 885 letters, documents, photographs, and published works dating from March 23, 1885, to July 5, 1983. The bulk of the material (710 items) consists of military documents and manuscript notes from September 8, 1917 to January 27, 1919.

The military materials include general orders, field orders, field messages, memoranda, intelligence, and communications, related to the U.S. 42nd Division (The Rainbow Division), A.E.F., founded in 1917. The majority of the collection falls during the period of time from late 1917 to early August 1918, when Douglas MacArthur was Chief of Staff for the 42nd Division. Documents from military units that fought alongside the 42nd Division (both French and American), the U.S. Chemical Warfare, and the Intelligence Divisions -- as well as various German, French, and American communications -- are included. Organizational documents, such as training schedules, and march tables, are also present. A considerable number, if not all, of these materials must have been approved or viewed by MacArthur, and many of the items in this collection bear his initials or the initials of his information assistant, William Hughes, Jr. From early August 1918 until the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, MacArthur acted as the commanding officer for the 84th Infantry Brigade, and several military orders bear his name.

Seventy-six letters in the collection (located in Box 1) are either from Douglas MacArthur or pertain in some way to him. Six of these items, dated 1904, pertain to MacArthur and Florence Adams, whom he met in the Philippines, including a 46-page diary MacArthur wrote to Adams while he was on board a ship from Manila to the United States. Five letters, dated 1921 and 1925, are written by MacArthur to Louise Brooks who became Mrs. Douglas MacArthur in 1922. These letters contain both romantic content as well as personal reflections on the events in MacArthur's life at the time. Also included are nine letters from MacArthur to Hamilton Fish, Jr., dated 1921-1934. The remainder of the correspondence is a miscellaneous collection of letters written by Douglas MacArthur, Jean MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry S. Truman, and others.

The Douglas MacArthur collection also contains a notebook kept by Kenneth A. Sutherland, veteran of the 42nd Division, which contains a selection of items related to the Division's post-war activities and reunions; 40 aerial photographs and negatives taken by the 91st Reconnaissance Squadron, October 10, 1918; several photographs of Douglas MacArthur; thirteen published works by or about the General; and other miscellaneous materials.

University of Michigan faculty member and administrator, Educational Director of the Y.M.C.A. at Camp Custer, Michigan during World War I, and principal at Ann Arbor High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Album of photographs taken at Camp Custer, showing classroom scenes and other aspects of camp life; also portraits of family members.

Album of photographs taken at Camp Custer, showing classroom scenes and other aspects of camp life, panoramic views of grounds and structures, and portraits and photographs of soldiers; also portraits of members of the Springer and Lazelle families.

Adrian, Michigan attorney and Republican congressman, 1919-1933 and 1935-1951. Correspondence, 1898-1934, newspaper clippings, 1920-1950, including materials concerning veterans and other constituent affairs, political campaigns, the Republican Party, the influence of the Ku Klux Klan in the election of 1924, and personal affairs.

The Michener collection consists almost totally of correspondence accumulated while Michener served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Although the collection dates from 1898 to 1955, the great bulk of it dates from 1904 to 1934, years when Michener practiced law, served as a county prosecutor, then went off to Congress. The files relate exclusively to the politics of being a congressman, the job of staying in touch with constituents, responding to their concerns, thanking them when they offer support, etc. During each election year, Michener sent out hundreds of form letters. Such correspondence included notes enclosed with nominating petitions; brief notes which accompanied signed petitions; acknowledgments of the signed petitions; letters to newspapers asking them to print enclosed advertisements; letters enclosing campaign cards; form letters urging support at the primary; letters of congratulation; Michener's acknowledgment of congratulations; letters to people from various towns asking them to phone in the election returns; thank you notes to those who phoned in the returns; and so forth. Examples of each type of these form letters have been included in the collection though the bulk of materials has been reduced.

The collection is particularly valuable for material on grass-roots Republican politics, the methods and means by which an individual sought election to Congress and then maintained that position through several successive terms. Michener's correspondence is particularly heavy during election years. Some of the issues discussed by him relate to prohibition in Michigan, the influence of the Ku-Klux-Klan in the 1924 election, and the problems confronting veterans of the Spanish-American War and World War I. The collection is less valuable for the work that Michener did while in Congress. There are few files relating to legislative activities.

This collection contains incoming correspondence and other items related to Elsie F. Weil of Chicago, Illinois, and New York City, including many passionate letters from Weil's close friend Gertrude Emerson, who wrote about her foreign travels, life in New York City, and her deep bond with Elsie. Other friends and, to a lesser extent, family members, wrote to Elsie about their daily and social lives in New York City, Chicago, and Boston. Additional materials include two of Elsie's diaries, articles written by Elsie F. Weil and Gertrude Emerson, and ephemera.

This collection (1.5 linear feet) contains incoming correspondence and other items related to Elsie F. Weil of Chicago, Illinois, and New York City, including many letters from Weil's close friend and fellow writer Gertrude Emerson. Other friends and family members wrote to Elsie about their daily and social lives in New York City, Chicago, and Boston. Additional materials include two of Elsie's diaries, articles written by Elsie F. Weil and Gertrude Emerson, and ephemera.

The bulk of the collection is comprised of Elsie F. Weil's incoming correspondence. The first group of items consists of letters that Elsie's father Jacob, brother Leo, and mother Pauline sent to her from 1897-1907. Jacob and Leo Weil offered advice, and Pauline Weil provided family news from Chicago while Elsie lived in Lafayette, Indiana, around 1904. In 1913, Elsie received letters about her career as a writer, often mentioning specific articles. Additional professional correspondence appears throughout the collection.

Gertrude Emerson began writing to Elsie Weil in January 1914, and remained Weil's primary correspondent through the early 1920s. Her early letters pertain to her life in Winnetka, Illinois, where she taught at the Girton School. Emerson encouraged Weil to pursue a career in writing, discussed her own work, and shared news of her family. In the spring of 1914, she described a trip to New York City. During their periods of separation, Emerson expressed her desire to reunite with Weil and proposed plans for their shared future. Her letters include passionate declarations of her love for Weil and her devotion to their friendship, and she often referred to her desire to hold Weil, offering a birthday kiss in her letter postmarked April 26, 1915. She also spoke of her wish to travel around the world, though her mother prohibited transatlantic travel in 1915 on account of the growing threat from German submarines ([May 7, 1915]).

Weil and Emerson traveled together to Korea, Japan, and China in 1915 and 1916, and the collection includes a series of typed letters that Weil addressed to an unspecified group in early 1916. She described their travels between locations, shared observations about local cultures, and reported on their daily activities. A newspaper article about their trip, printed in Japanese, is filed in with the correspondence (December 15, 1915, 3 copies). Weil later received letters and postcards from acquaintances in Asia, particularly in late 1916. Gino Merchiorri, a soldier, wrote two letters to Weil about his experiences in the United States Army during World War I.

Gertrude Emerson moved to New York City in late 1916 after being hired by Asia magazine, and often wrote to Weil, who remained in Chicago, about her life there. She commented on her social life and her friends, who included the writer Ernestine Evans and the naturalist William Beebe. In 1919, she traveled to British Guiana (present-day Guyana), stopping shortly, mid-voyage in the Virgin Islands and Barbados. Before her arrival in South America, she described her sea travel and the Caribbean cities and islands she visited. While in Guyana, Emerson described the scenery and everyday life, particularly with regard to Indian "coolie" workers and their culture. After her return to New York City that fall, she discussed her social life, Elsie's articles for Asia, and their shared New York apartment.

Emerson wrote another series of travel letters while visiting Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and India in 1920 and Mexico in 1924. While in India, she met with Mohandas Gandhi and commented on Indian politics. Though she consistently voiced her love for Weil throughout her correspondence, other topics came to dominate her correspondence. By the mid-1920s, Emerson had fallen in love with a man named Kim, whom she considered marrying. Some of her later letters, including several undated items, are written on long sheets of thin, illustrated paper. Other illustrated items include a brief typed essay with a watercolor depiction of a Flemish portrait (enclosed with her letter of February 9, 1914) and a sketch of the view outside of her window in Winnetka (undated).

Elsie Weil received smaller groups of letters from other friends from the mid-1910s to mid-1920s, including Rose Wilder Lane, who described her life in Mansfield, Missouri, in the late summer and early fall of 1919. She shared her fondness for the scenery of the Ozarks, discussed her career as a writer, and told anecdotes about her experiences. She later wrote about travels in Europe and her life in Paris, France, where she briefly described international relations between the Allied powers just after World War I. She also commented on female involvement in political issues. Blix Leonard of Boston, Massachusetts, and Elmer Stanley Hader of New York City frequently illustrated their letters; some of their sketches and drawings are humorous and cartoonish. Weil also corresponded with Kenneth Durant and Ernestine Evans. Some of Weil's New York correspondents expressed their support for the Bolshevik Revolution in 1919.

The collection includes 3 diaries. The first, which has the title "My Trip Abroad" and "Elsie F. Weil" stamped in gold on its front cover, was intended for use during a trip abroad; Weil used it only to record the name of her ship, the SS Manchuria, and the date of her departure, September 19, 1922. The other two diaries contain brief entries respecting Weil's daily activities for 1920 and 1925, with some significant gaps between entries. These diaries often refer to Weil's social acquaintances, including Gertrude Emerson, "Rose," and others.

The collection's 6 photographic prints include 3 views of Gertrude Emerson on horseback and 1 of Emerson posing outdoors. The other pictures show an unidentified man posing outdoors in a suit and a Buddha statue in a Tokyo temple.

Additional items include magazine and newspaper articles by Gertrude Emerson, Elsie F. Weil, and Ernestine Evans, largely concerning travel to Asia; instructions related to creating flower arrangements; and unused bookplates belonging to Elsie F. Weil, bearing an Asian-style illustration of boats on water. Other visual materials include picture postcards from East Asian countries and a series of postcards from Wisconsin. The final items are a Christmas card and an advertisement once inserted in a newspaper.

Professor of architecture at the University of Michigan; includes correspondence, professional organizational activities files, documentation, photographs, and architectural drawings accumulated during his work with the Michigan Historic Buildings Survey

The Emil Lorch papers are valuable for their documentation of the career of this important architectural educator and for that material about Michigan architecture and historic structures that Lorch accumulated in the course of his professional study and organizational involvement. The collection includes extensive correspondence with many of the country's leading architects, most notably members of the "Chicago School," and architectural educators, and manuscript and photographic documentation resulting from Lorch's involvement with the Michigan Historic Buildings Survey and various restoration projects, including Mackinac Island.

Republican attorney general of Michigan, 1951-1954, general counsel of the Department of the Army. World War I letters, papers detailing work as chairman of the committee on emerging problems of the Michigan Constitutional Convention; miscellaneous genealogical material, and diaries and memoranda books; scrapbooks concerning political career, especially his service as state attorney general; and photographs.

Only a few papers survived Millard. Correspondence, most interesting for his letters written in France during 1917, and a small body of papers from his committee chairmanship at the 1961 state constitutional convention, highlight the collection. A large number of newspaper clippings about his career, and many awards and citations he received, are also available. A few items regarding his military career, his political activities and his membership in the Masons can also be found.

A large number of photographs and albums are also found in the collection. Included are five scrapbooks, 1955-1961, covering the period when Frank Millard was general counsel in the Department of the Army. These scrapbooks are 70-80 percent photographic, and the remainder consist of clippings, programs, correspondence, schedules and itineraries. Another scrapbook covers the years 1912-1914 when Millard was a student at the University of Michigan. It also contains three pages of earlier material dated 1901-1910. This scrapbook is more than half photographic in content with the rest consisting of programs, clippings, and memorabilia.