Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Founder of the America First Party, head of the Christian Nationalist Crusade, and outspoken anti-Semite. Correspondence, speeches, oral history transcript, memoranda and other materials detailing his criticism of America's participation in World War II, his Michigan senatorial race in 1942, his campaign for the presidency in 1944, his opposition to the spread of communism after the war, and his support of conservative Christian causes and right wing individuals and organizations; and photographs. Portraits of Smith and his wife, Elna Smith; photographs of meetings and conventions of the America First Party, of picketing and other political activity in support of Smith and his platform, and of Smith's associates and supporters; also photographs and portraits of celebrities, buildings, and activities, which Smith collected, probably for use in his publication The Cross and the Flag.

The papers of Gerald L.K. Smith include correspondence, speeches, oral history transcript, memoranda and other materials detailing his criticism of America's participation in World War II, his Michigan senatorial race in 1942, his campaign for the presidency in 1944, his opposition to the spread of communism after the war, and his support of conservative Christian causes and right wing individuals and organizations; and photographs.

The major portion of the Gerald L.K. Smith papers came to the library in the spring of 1982. Before then, the library had accumulated a smaller group of Smith materials, mainly publications of the Christian Nationalist Crusade, mailings out of the Smith office from the 1960's and 1970's, the tapes and transcripts of an interview conducted with Smith in 1968 by a library staff member, and a few microfilm reels of a very small section of Smith's papers.

With the 1982 accession, the Smith collection now totals 102 linear feet of correspondence, memoranda, clippings, published materials, and photographs and motion pictures. The collection covers the years, 1922-1976, but bulks largest for the period since 1939. Regrettably, only scattered materials for the period before 1939 have survived so there is slight documentation of Smith's activities in Louisiana with Huey Long. What has survived from these years are a few letters from parents, some published sermons and radio speeches, and an assortment of notes, clippings, and meeting materials. It is perhaps surprising that not more of the collection had been discarded or mislaid. As the papers came from storage in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, the earlier files had been shifted about several times as Smith and his organization moved their base of operation: from Louisiana to Detroit, to St. Louis, to Los Angeles, and then to Eureka Springs. Smith seems to have been a careful record-keeper, however, and very little of the post-1939 files needed processing.

The Thomas M. Spaulding collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence and other materials; Biographical and Personal; Organizational Affiliations; Political Materials; Topical Files; Writings; Stephen Tucker Spaulding Materials; and Photographs. The correspondence is of interest for its mention of current affairs, national politics, and the Cosmos Club of Washington, D.C. Of special interest are two volumes of diaries, covering the period of 1941-1944, with detailed comments on the conduct of World War II as viewed from Washington, D.C.

Aviator, civilian personnel officer with the U.S. Air Force; chronological and topical files, audio-visual materials, and clippings and scrapbooks.

The Chauncey Spencer collection is an accumulation of personal materials - correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, sound and video recordings - relating to his lifelong interest in aviation, his career with the military, and the career of his mother, poetess Anne Spencer.

Executive with the American Red Cross. Correspondence, diaries, reports, memoranda, and other materials relating to relief and refugee work during World War II in Italy, France, and Germany (Buchenwald), his work in re-establishing Red Cross societies in Austria, Hungary, and the Middle East after the war, and his survey of humanitarian problems resulting from the Palestinian conflict, 1948.

The Wilfrid de St. Aubin collection consists of seven feet of correspondence, reports, memoranda, and other official papers covering his Red Cross work during World War II and the immediate postwar period. Of special interest is a letter and report written by St. Aubin containing his impression and observations of the Buchenwald concentration camp. St. Aubin was one of the first to come to the camp after its liberation. There are also diaries which provide added background and detail of St. Aubin's varied career.

Foreign correspondent with the Chicago Daily News; correspondence, photographs, and scrapbooks of his news articles.

The collection includes correspondence, scrapbooks, photograph albums, and other material concerning his newspaper career, especially his reporting of the war in Ethiopia, the outbreak of war in France, 1939-1940, and the "Hungarian Rebellion" of 1956. The collection is organized in to three series: Correspondence, undated and 1931-1970; Career and personal materials; Photographs, 1925-1960s, including a photo album from the Hungarian revolution; and Scrapbooks, 1928-1973.

Journalist, free-lance writer, radio commentator, and professor of journalism, University of Michigan, 1956-1969. The collection contains copies of newspaper clippings, correspondence, articles by and about Stowe, and photographs of Stowe and his wife. The materials document Stowe's coverage of the Spanish Civil War and the resulting FBI surveillance of him, his coverage of World War II, his work for Reader's Digest, and his career as a University of Michigan journalism professor. The collection also includes poetry and biographical prose by Stowe.

This collection contains copies and clippings of Stowe's writings, articles about Stowe and his career, and documentation of Stowe's years as a University of Michigan professor. Stowe pulled these materials together for the Bentley quite self-consciously. Although most of Stowe's original papers are maintained in a collection at the Mass Communications History Center of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, this collection is notable for the annotations made by Stowe and for his selection process. It also contains small amounts of original correspondence.

Democratic governor of Michigan, 1961-1963; gubernatorial office files, campaign files, papers from his career as state senator and lieutenant governor.

The John B. Swainson collection consists of four subgroups of files: pre-gubernatorial (covering the period of 1943 to 1960), gubernatorial (covering his one-term, two-year tenure as the state's chief executive), post-gubernatorial (covering the years since he left the governor's office, 1963 to 1975), and visual materials.

The great bulk of the collection is the gubernatorial subgroup documenting the last months of Swainson's term as lieutenant governor under Governor G. Mennen Williams, the 1960 campaign for governor, his gubernatorial administration, and his unsuccessful campaign for re-election. The importance of the collection, as with all gubernatorial records, is its documentation of public policy issues of the early 1960s and the relationship of the governor to the legislature, to the heads of the state's various boards and commissions, to the federal government, and to the citizens of Michigan.

Journalist, foreign correspondent; correspondence, material accumulated as a journalist, articles, clippings, and other writings; and photographs.

The Stanley Swinton papers include correspondence; dispatch files; notebooks relating to the death of Mussolini, the Malayan insurgency in the late 1940s, and the Indonesian revolutions; notes of interviews with Seni Premot of Thailand, Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia, Ho Chi-Minh of Vietnam, Konrad Adenauer of West Germany, Joao Goulart of Brazil, Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, and Kim Jong Pil of South Korea. The bulk of Swinton's writings will be found in the collection, either in draft or in clippings of his articles. The series in the collection are Correspondence; Newspaper career; Writings, speeches, etc.; Personal and miscellaneous; Photographs; and Printed Material.

Michigan Jewish family with relatives in the former Czechoslovakia and Hungary who hoped to travel to the United States to escape Nazi persecution during World War II. The collection includes biographical information and correspondence between family members written in Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian, as well as digital copies of the English translations of the letters. Many of the letters discuss the political situation in Europe following the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia and their attempts to obtain visas to travel to the United States.

The Tann Family papers (0.3 linear feet and 3.9 MB) contain correspondence between Eugene Tann and the family of his uncle William "Bill" Tann of Detroit with their relatives living in the former Czechoslovakia and Hungary. The majority of the letters are dated from 1937-1947 and detail the experiences of European family members during World War II and the efforts of Eugene and William Tann to help them travel to the United States. The letters are written in Czech, Slovak and Hungarian and are accompanied by digital English translations created by Clara Garbon-Radnoti (Hungarian), and Zuzana Hodkova (Czech and Slovak).

The collection also includes biographical information about Eugene Tann and his immediate family.

The Tann Family papers have been divided into two series, the Biographical Information series contains a biographical statement about Eugene Tann written by his children, Lewis Tann and Dorothy Tann Collens and the Correspondence series that features both the original letters and the translations.

Secretary of University of Michigan Alumni Association; correspondence, scrapbooks, and photographs.

The T. Hawley Tapping collection includes material documenting his student days at the University of Michigan and University of Iowa, the Acacia fraternity and his work as consultant to f University in the Philippine Islands and service to the University of Michigan Alumni Association. The papers are arranged into three series: Correspondence; Scrapbooks; and Photographs.