Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Kalamazoo, Michigan newspaperman; papers relating to his career in journalism and to his trip to the Far East in 1940.

The Walsh papers includes scattered materials relating to his career as a newspaperman. The bulk of the collection concerns the flight of American newspapermen aboard a clipper plane to the South Pacific prior to World War II. Other materials relate to the history and operation of the Kalamazoo Gazette. Items of interest include research material concerning Dr. William E. Upjohn and the history of the Upjohn family. There is also correspondence received, 1929-1930, supporting the newspaper's editorial position regarding enforcement of the 18th Amendment. Some of the correspondents in the collection include: Caroline Bartlett Crane, Fred W. Green, Frank Murphy, Chase S. Osborn, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Arthur H. Vandenberg, and Wendell L. Willkie.

University of Michigan professor of English (1964-1991), director of the Hopwood Program (1975-1988), USIA Special Ambassador to Germany (1972-1973), and esteemed literary critic. Papers (1943-2004) include extensive personal and professional correspondence, published and unpublished manuscripts and writings, notes and lecture materials for courses taught, USIA program materials and correspondence, topical files, photographs, and audio-visual recordings.

The John W. Aldridge Papers document the professional and personal life of one of the twentieth century's most distinguished literary critics, and a longtime University of Michigan professor of English. The records in this collection measure 14.4 linear feet, and date from 1943 to 2006, with the majority of the records from the period 1950 to 2000. They are primarily comprised of correspondence, lectures and addresses, teaching materials, writings and publications, research notes, clippings, program and topical files, and are arranged into nine series: Biographical Materials, Correspondence, Hopwood Awards Program, Lectures and Addresses, Scrapbooks, Teaching, USIA/Special Ambassador, Writings, and Audio-Visual Materials.

Executive secretary to Detroit Mayor Frank Murphy, 1930-1933, chairwoman of the Mayor's Unemployment Committee, later director of the Detroit Housing Commission, candidate for Detroit public office, and director of women personnel at the Willow Run Bomber Plant during World War II. Correspondence and diaries concerning the Murphy mayoralty, Clarence Darrow and the Ossian Sweet Murder Trial of 1925, and local Detroit politics; and photographs.

The Josephine Gomon papers have been divided into the following series: Correspondence; Clippings/Scrapbooks; Notebooks of news items; Diaries; Biographical/Personal; Materials concerning Frank Murphy; Materials related to Gomon's projected biography of Frank Murphy; Ford Motor Company materials; Photographs.

University of Michigan professor of political science, specialist in Philippine Island politics and government, vice governor of the Philippines in the 1930s; correspondence, collected Philippine materials, course materials.

As vice governor of the Philippine Islands during the 1930s, and later as advisor on Philippine affairs to General Douglas MacArthur during World War II, Joseph R. Hayden was recipient of much substantive documentation relating to the American phase of Philippine Island history. Hayden was an astute and discerning scholar of Philippine life and history, and as such used the opportunity of his frequent trips to the Far East to collect materials (official and personal) that he knew would be of value in his teaching and research, and that he also hoped would prove useful to scholars following after him. Although the Hayden papers include some non-Philippine materials, such as his University of Michigan files and those records from his service with the Michigan Naval Division during World War I, the Philippine Collection is the heart of the collection. Comprising more than 75% of the Hayden papers, the Philippine Collection is testimony to Hayden's foresight in drawing together official documents (because of the positions he held) and other records (sent to him because of his known interest in the Philippines). This collection of official reports, minutes of meetings attended, memoranda with government officials, photographs, clippings, and published materials is unique, especially because of the devastation to Philippine public records and historical documents that occurred during the war.

Steel industry engineer; vice-president in charge of engineering of Great Lakes Steel Corp., Ecorse, Michigan; chief of steel plant facilities for steel division, U. S. War Production Board, during World War II. Correspondence, writings, professional papers, and files relating to activities with the Association of Iron and Steel Engineers.

The Julius Clauss collection has been arranged into the following series: Personal / Biographical; Writings, Presentations and Background material; Organizational files; Photographs; and Motion Pictures. Although reflecting all phases of Clauss' career, the bulk of the collection relates to his work with Great Lakes Steel and his overall interest in the history of the steel industry.

Conservationist, professor of natural resources at the University of Michigan. Professional files, including correspondence, speeches, and newspaper clippings; letters to his wife, 1943-1946, while in military service stationed in the Solomon Islands during World War II; and photographs.

The Leonard collection consists of thirteen linear feet of materials, most of which is correspondence, both personal and professional. There are also biographical and genealogical information, clippings, speeches, research notes, photographs, printed materials, and miscellaneous writings. The collection has been arranged into the following series: World War II service; Professional Correspondence; Topical Information; Topical files; Organizational/People file; and Photographs.

Urban planning specialist. Reports, sketches, and other material relating to the development of the Willow Run Bomber Plant area in Wayne County, Michigan, during World War II; studies of the proposed Detroit Civic Center, 1952; also papers concerning his later work as planning director in Santa Clara County, California; letter from Frank Lloyd Wright; and sketchbooks with drawings and watercolors of buildings and scenes in Europe, the United States, and Taiwan; also photographs of Belser.

Professor of Chemistry at the University of Michigan, 1936-1957, previously professor at the University of Munich, internationally known for his work on radioactivity; papers include extensive correspondence files, lectures and publications, personal/biographical material and photographs.

The papers of Kasimir Fajans, professor of chemistry at the University of Michigan from 1936 to 1957, cover his career as a physical chemist dating from 1912 to 1975.

Professor of drama at University of Michigan, chairman of the Committee on War Activities of the American Educational Theatre Association, and secretary of the Theatre for Victory Council during World War II. Files concerning his war activities, including correspondence, scripts, course materials and printed matter; and photographs.

The Kenneth Rowe Collection, though covering the period 1940-1953, largely concerns the years of World War II and the activities of Rove as chairman of the Committee on War Activities for the American Educational Theatre Association (AETA); as secretary of the Theatre for Victory Council; as consultant to the National Theatre Conference (NTC), official agency for all dramatic activities of the Combined Armed Forces; and as drama consultant to the U.S. Department of Treasury, the Office of Civil Defense, and the Office of Education. Rowe's work in all of these efforts concerned the use of drama as a propaganda tool to raise morale and to define America's goals.

The Rowe collection consists of two linear feet of correspondence, reports, newsletters, play scripts, and printed material. The collection begins with general correspondence followed by files which have been arranged by the name of theatre organizations in which Rove was involved.

Papers of several generations of Laramy and DeBlonde families of Grand Rapids, Mich. Correspondence constitutes most of the collection. Of special interest are Richard C. Laramy Sr. World War II-period letters written to his family, as well as letters written by James E. Laramy as a Univeristy of Michigan student in 1969-1972. Also included family photographs and photos of the members of the Grand Rapids Central High School Class of 1902, WWII regimental reunion materials and military papers, blank postcards depicting locations in Michigan, as well as a small amount of University of Michigan miscellanea.

The collection includes correspondence, photographs, and other materials that document the lives of two Grand Rapids, Mich. families. The Laramy family materials are more prominent in the collection.