Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Back to top
Number of results to display per page
View results as:

Search Results

Collection

Esson M. Gale papers, 1909-1965

3 linear feet — 1 oversize folder

Orientalist, government official and director of the International Center at University of Michigan. Correspondence, 1929-1965, notebooks, 1940-1942, and scrapbooks relating largely to professional activities and China; also photographs.

The Gale collection is arranged into the following series: Biographical Information; Correspondence; Conferences and other activities; Miscellaneous; Photographs. Within the correspondence, there are letters from Adolf Berle, James A. Farley, Joseph R. Hayden, Hubert H. Humphrey, Frank Murphy, Chester Nimitz, Singhman Rhee, Daniel Poling, John Powell, Arthur H. Vandenberg, and Wendell Willkie. Some of the photos were collected during Gale's employment in China (1909-1927) and Korea (1958-1959), and photos relating to the University of Michigan Class of 1907, the Quadrangle Club, and the International Center.

Collection

Eugene Gressman papers, 1935-1967

1 linear foot

Law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy, and Washington, D.C. attorney. Diary, 1943-1944, relating to the Supreme Court, and miscellaneous notes, correspondence and newspaper clippings; also papers of Justice Murphy collected by Gressman, including notes of cabinet meetings, and of conferences and telephone calls; and correspondence, 1937-1949, between Frank Murphy and Felix Frankfurter.

The collection consists of two kinds of materials: papers of Frank Murphy that Gressman accumulated as clerk to the Supreme Court Justice; and Gressman's own papers. The greater part of the collection are the papers of Frank Murphy, dating from 1935 to 1948, with the bulk of the files falling in the period of 1939 to 1941, when Murphy was US Attorney General and the first year of his tenure on the Supreme Court bench. Always conscious of history, Murphy made valuable notes on the cabinet meetings he attended and his meetings and conversations with various public figures. These individuals include Hugo Black, Louis Brandeis, William J. Donovan, Carter Glass, Charles E. Hughes, Cordell Hull, Joseph P. Kennedy, John L. Lewis, Sir Robert Menzies, Manuel Quezon, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Francis B. Sayre, Harlan F. Stone and Sumner Welles. Also of importance are the several files of letters exchanged between Frank Murphy and Justice Felix Frankfurter.

Gressman's own papers are much smaller, but these also relate to his association with Frank Murphy, including notes that he made preparatory to writing a proposed biography of Murphy. Gressman's diary on his time spent as Murphy clerk of the Supreme Court is dated July 1943 to April 1944.

Collection

Everett L. Kelly Papers, 1926-1986

3 linear feet

Professor of psychology at the University of Michigan. Papers include an unpublished autobiography; files relating to his work with the Civil Aeronautics Administration during World War II in developing a pilot aptitude test and a flight training manual; and correspondence and subject files relating to his professional activities and research on such subjects as color-hearing, extrasensory perception, a marriage longitudinal study, and predictors for student success; also papers detailing his work on the Thalia Massie rape case; and photographs.

The Everett Kelly collection is arranged into four series. The bulk of the collection relates to his professional interests outside of the University of Michigan.

Collection

Frank Fitt Papers, 1918-1973

7 linear feet

Clergyman, minister of the Grosse Pointe Memorial Presbyterian Church. Scattered correspondence, reminiscences of Henry Ford, sermons and other addresses concerning in part the issues of the day, notably international and domestic affairs, the depression, World War II, and relations with Russia.

The Frank Fitt papers are arranged alphabetically by topic or type of material. Of most interest to the historian should be Reverend Fitt's Sermons, Addresses, Reviews, and Memorials. Comprising the majority of the collection, they are arranged in two ways, by topic and by date. Particularly in his sermons, Fitt spoke often to the issues of the day. The researcher will find many interesting references to domestic and international affairs, including the depression, World War III and relations with Russia. Of further interest should be Mr. Fitt's reminiscences of Henry Ford, a friend of his for many years.

Collection

Frank G. Millard Papers, 1904-1976

4 linear feet (in 6 boxes) — 7 oversize volumes — 1 phonograph record

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.

Collection

Fred W. Litzner papers, 1900-1966

1 linear foot

Materials on agriculture, resort property in northern Michigan, tariffs, American neutrality prior to World War II, and Lutheran Church-sponsored resettlement of refugees and displaced persons after World War II; also photographs. Correspondents include: Prentiss M. Brown, Elford A. Cederberg, Fred L. Crawford, Philip A. Hart, J. Edgar Hoover, Resettlement Service of the National Lutheran Council, George Romney, Arthur H. Vandenberg, and Roy Woodruff.

Photos of railroad wreck, steam hauler, and Whittemore house in Tawas City, Michigan. Photographs are dated 1911 and 1963.

Collection

Garnet J. Burlingame papers, 1902-1982

0.6 linear feet

Member of the Michigan National Guard and commander of the 2nd Battalion, 126th Infantry during World War II. Clippings and other materials relating to the New Guinea campaign, the work of the State Office of Veterans Affairs, 1944-1947, and Ann Arbor Golden Gloves Boxing Tournaments, 1937-1939.

The Burlingame papers consists of Personal and Military papers relating to his career with the 126th Infantry of West Michigan 32nd Division. Some of these papers document the march over Owen Stanley Mountains in New Guinea in 1942. There are also clippings relating to Ann Arbor Golden Gloves Boxing Tournaments, 1937-1939.

Collection

G. Donald Kennedy Papers, 1928-1968

6 linear feet (in 7 boxes) — 14 oversize volumes

Civil engineer, served as Michigan state highway commissioner, chairman of the Mackinac Straits Bridge Authority and president of Portland Cement Company. Papers primarily document work with highway commission and Mackinac Straits Bridge Authority.

The papers, 1928-1968, of G. Donald Kennedy document his career in civil engineering, his participation in professional organizations, his activities as a state official, and as a supporter of the Michigan Democratic Party. The collection Includes correspondence, speeches, minutes, reports, articles, clippings, and photographs. The files relate to his work as municipal engineer in Pontiac, Michigan, with the Mackinac Straits Bridge Authority, the American Association of State Highway Officials, the Automotive Safety Foundation, and the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority. The collection also includes papers relating to highway and airport construction, to economic mobilization during World War II, the Willow Run Bomber Plant, state Democratic Party matters, particularly the campaign visits of President Roosevelt to Michigan in 1936.

Collection

George Meader Papers, 1922-1990 (majority within 1943-1966)

45 linear feet — 1 oversize folder

Ann Arbor, Michigan attorney, counsel to U.S. Congressional committees, and Republican Congressman, 1951-1965. Correspondence files concerning work with the Senate Committee Investigating the National Defense Program after World War II, and Congressional files, especially concerning his work with the House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Government Operations; also photographs and motion picture films.

The George Meader papers primarily document his Congressional service from 1951 to 1964. There are some materials documenting his personal and professional life aside from his work in Congress. The papers relating to Congressional service include correspondence, speeches, campaign literature, texts of radio broadcasts, press releases and newsletters, photographs, and sound recordings. The other materials include memoirs, diaries, correspondence and memoranda, case files, photographs and film, scrapbooks, and correspondence regarding organizations to which Meader belonged and relating to the opening of his Ann Arbor law practice in 1939. Also included in the Meader papers are the diaries, notebooks, and student papers of his daughter, Barbara.

The collection has been divided into five series: the National Defense Investigating Committee, Congressional Files, Personal, Professional, and Visual Materials. The first two series cover Meader's professional activities in Washington, D. C., including what he saw as crucial work on the Truman committee. The original order of material in these series has been pretty much maintained. The next two series, Personal and Professional, reflect the artifice of the archivist as the original order of materials in the groups was significantly altered in the course of processing.

Collection

Gerald L. K. Smith Papers, 1922-1976

102 linear feet — 2 phonograph records

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.