Collections

World War II-period letters of Jerome Silberman to his wife Ruth Silberman, written from locations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Belgium, France, and Philippines; also U.S. Army-issued language books, foreign banknotes, issues of English and Spanish language newspapers published in the Philippines, map of Europe; and a photograph most likely depicting Jerome Silberman.

Pacifist, participant in World War I peace movement and later peace activities, member of Fellowship of Reconciliation, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and Women Strike for Peace. Papers include Correspondence, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, periodicals, reports, photographs, and other materials relating to the International Congress of Women, 1915, the Ford Peace Ship, the American Neutral Conference Committee, the Emergency Peace Federation, and the People's Council of America.

The papers of Rebecca Shelley (1887-1984) were donated by Shelley in several accessions between 1964 and 1984. The papers make up twenty-one linear feet of materials and cover the years 1890-1984, though only a few photographs and printed items predate 1910. Her anti-war activism, legal battles, writing career, and courtships with Franz Willman and Felix Rathmer are all well-represented. In addition to her personal papers, there are groups of material belonging to Emily Balch, Richard Olsen, Felix Rathmer, Paul Shelly, and William A. Shelly.

Many peace organizations are also documented in these papers through flyers, pamphlets, periodicals, newsletters, and correspondence. These include the American Neutral Conference Committee, Emergency Peace Federation, People's Council of America, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Women Strike for Peace, and many others. As Shelley served as an officer in the Michigan Fellowship of Reconciliation (F.O.R.) through the 1950s and 1960s, many of the organization's official papers came to be in her possession. Therefore, an effort was made to remove most of these official papers to the separate Michigan F.O.R. collection.

The collection is arranged in eleven series: Biographical; Newspaper Clippings; Correspondence; Topical Papers; Miscellaneous Papers; Papers Of Other Individuals; Printed; Periodicals; Diaries And Notebooks; Photographs; and Writings.

The Russell C. Shaul photograph album contains images and ephemera related to the life and career of photographer Russell Clifford Shaul, who owned a studio in Chicago in the 1930s and 1940s.

The Russell C. Shaul photograph album contains images and ephemera related to the life and career of photographer Russell Clifford Shaul, who owned a studio in Chicago in the 1930s and 1940s.

The album (36.5 x 28 cm) has string-bound brown covers with the words "Scrap Book" and a depiction of a boy and girl wearing wooden clogs embossed on the front; the covers and pages are in poor condition. The structure of the album is roughly chronological, with material from the 1920s appearing towards the beginning and material from the 1940s appearing towards the end. However, candid snapshots and studio portraits made in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the early 1930s are scattered throughout and mixed in with photos from other periods. At least one page includes dated photos from the early 1930s and late 1940s that appear side by side. Certain names and people reappear often, but exactly how they relate to one another is not entirely clear. Many photographs document people drinking as well as posing in a humorous manner.

Photographer Russell Clifford Shaul appears to have been the compiler of this album. Shaul’s name appears on numerous images as the credited photographer, including portraits taken in Milwaukee in the early 1930s and a Chicago cityscape view from the mid-1940s. Several photos are also inscribed with messages to “Russell,” while snapshots arranged on a page captioned “The Shauls” show him and his third wife Sarah visiting various U. S. tourist destinations between 1944 and 1949. At some point during the 1930s it appears that Shaul relocated from Milwaukee to Chicago and set up a new photography business. Several pages in the album suggest that Shaul and his colleagues practiced door-to-door operations.

Two pages document a man’s World War II service. He is pictured driving a Jeep and wearing a uniform bearing an “Official U.S. War Photographer” patch, training on a shooting range, interacting with people on the streets “In India,” and taking photographs with both still and motion picture cameras. This man appears throughout the album (identified elsewhere as “Carl”), including in the earliest Milwaukee shots in 1927. He may have been Shaul’s friend and/or business partner.

Items placed toward the end of the album include some scrapbook materials including letterheads advertising a company called Chicago Thrill Tours and Chicago-based radio host called “The Nitehawk,” as well as business cards identifying a fellow photographer in Chicago named Charles Lonk and a trailer park in Eau Gallie, Florida.

In addition to the album there is also an envelope containing several loose photographs and ephemeral items including portraits of various people and groups; pictures of people drinking at bars; photographs of the man elsewhere identified as Carl drinking at a Milwaukee bar in 1927 as well as posing in a bathtub while another man bathes him; an image of a photo supply storefront with a cutout of an unidentified man pasted over the front door (possibly shop owner I. Dobkin); photography-related clippings; aerial images of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, taken in 1938; and a portrait by Acme Newspictures of a man in the radio studio of “The Nitehawk - WBBM” captioned “J. W. Clark.” Also present is an enveloped typed letter signed by “The Nitehawk” written to Shaul in 1948 asking him to be on the lookout for early copies of Reader’s Digest.

Professor of law at University of Michigan. Papers include correspondence and other papers concerning personal and family matters, professional affairs, the decision of the University to re-enter the Western Intercollegiate Conference; also correspondence from students serving in World War II; and photographs.

The Burke W. Shartel papers consist of correspondence and other papers concerning personal and family matters, professional affairs, the decision of the University to re-enter the Western Intercollegiate Conference; also correspondence from students serving in World War II; and photographs. The papers are organized into three series: correspondence, 1901-1963 (arranged chronologically); Papers, 185-1963; and photographs.

Correspondents include: Wilber M. Brucker, Homer Ferguson, Felix Frankfurter, Martha W. Griffiths, J. Joseph Herbert, Donald S. Leonard, George Meader, James O. Murfin, Marcus Plant, Roscoe Pound, Allan F. Smith, Edwin B. Stason, and Hessel N. Yntema.

The Photographs series consists of an album of portraits of family and friends; and album of European trip pictures.

A student at the University of Michigan, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (Class of 1943). Includes a World War II era scrapbook containing event programs, photographs, publications, various dance, identification, membership, report, and registration cards, reserve officer training ephemera, and other materials reflecting on U-M student life and activities. The collection also contains several loose World War II era U-M student publications, and college football programs.

Schwartz' unbound World War II era leather scrapbook has a silver embossed image of a WWII aircraft on the front cover. It contains University of Michigan dance, identification, registration, and report cards, as well as organizational membership cards to the Michigan Union and the B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation. The scrapbook also contains commencement exercise and event programs including one from the University Musical Society advertising a solo performance by Marian Anderson; invitation(s) to join the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity (ZBT) and to attend their functions, as well as tickets, schedules, and programs pertaining to U-M football games. Of particular note are ZBT ephemera including a grey wool cap (possibly from Cap Night festivities) and a ZBT house key. Also to note are items pertaining to Schwartz's time spent in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), such as his 1942 training certificate, and ROTC insignia. In addition to these items is an August 1, 1943 WWII Food Rations Chart with point values for meat, fish, dairy, and fat; a page of humorous air raid instructions; and news clippings and newspapers, mostly focusing on WWII related events.

The scrapbook also contains issues of publications including The Michigan Daily, The East Wind, the Garg, The Baby Gargoyle, The Phi-Losopher , The Foo-Losopher of 1941, Phi Junior, and a ZBT newsletter that served as a substitute publication for The Phi-Losopher during the war. Other publications to note include Controversy: A Quarterly of Ethical, Philosophical, and Religious Opinion, and a Michiganetiquette handbook on how to conduct oneself socially on campus.

Included within the scrapbook are photographs of student organization groups such as the Student Religious Association (SRA) (each photograph includes an image of an African American member), Zeta Beta Tau fraternity brothers, various formal dances, and Angell Hall. The collection also contains several loose World War II era Michigan Daily newspapers;Garg magazines; and two football programs: Michigan vs. Ohio State andMichigan vs. Northwestern.

Physicist, University of Michigan professor, dean of the graduate school; correspondence, writings, speeches, organizational files, audio-visual materials.

Although the Ralph A. Sawyer collection includes materials relating to all phases of his career, beginning with his studies at the University of Chicago in 1918-1919, the strength of the files are for those activities outside of the University of Michigan, notably his work with the U.S. Navy laboratories, Joint Task Force One, the American Institute of Physics, and the Optical Society of America. Files dealing with his University of Michigan activities are less complete as these materials will be found with the records of those units which Sawyer headed.

This collection is comprised of business accounts, letterbooks, and correspondence relating to Republican politics, particularly election campaigns of 1912 and 1936, and enforcement of the Prohibition Amendment; and other papers concerning the career of Frank Knox and the coming of World War II. Correspondents include: Frank Knox (correspondence throughout), and Earl C. Michener, Mar. 23, 1936, Oct. 4 and Nov. 15, 1941; and photographs.

The photographs also include a black and white group photo of the members of the Washtenaw County Bar Association and of the Washtenaw County Courthouse staff.

Zoologist, college professor, president of University of Michigan, 1929-1951. Professional files relating to his career with the University Museum and as a professor of zoology, and presidential files containing correspondence, reports, speeches, and other University materials, including budget and legislative files, material relating to changes in University administration, his relationship with faculty, students and alumni, and photographs.

The Alexander Ruthven papers consists of two series of records. The first is the papers of Ruthven as president of the University of Michigan, 1929 to 1951. The second, and smaller, series is the files maintained by Ruthven as a zoologist with the University Museum and as professor of zoology. This latter series dates largely from 1908 to 1929 but also includes collected earlier files from the 1870s.

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.

University of Michigan professor of political science, special advisor to the U.S. Military Government in Germany after World War II, participant in numerous government commissions; papers include correspondence, working files, speeches, course materials, and visual and sound materials.

The James K. Pollock papers represent an accumulation of files from a lifetime of academic teaching and research and an extraordinary number of public service responsibilities to both his state and his nation. The files within the collection fall into two categories: types of document (such as correspondence, speeches and writings, visual materials, etc.) and files resulting from a specific activity or position (such as his work as delegate to the Michigan Constitutional Convention or his service with the Office of the Military Government in Germany after World War II).

The collection is large and of a complicated arrangement because of Pollock's many activities. When received in 1969, the files were maintained as received; very little processing was done to the collection so that an inventory to the papers could be quickly prepared. The order of material is that devised by James K. Pollock and his secretarial staff in the U-M Department of Political Science. Recognizing the anomalies within the order of the collection, the library made the decision to list the contents to the collection while at the same time preparing a detailed card file index (by box and folder number, i.e. 16-8) to significant correspondents and subjects. While there was much to be said for this method of preparing a finding aid expeditiously, it also covered up some problems in arrangement. Thus series and subseries of materials are not always grouped together as they were created by Pollock. Files on the Hoover Commission and the Michigan Constitutional Convention, for example, come before Pollock's work in Germany after the war. In 1999, effort was made to resolve some of the inconsistencies and obvious misfilings of the first inventory but because of the numbering system used in 1969 and the card index prepared for the files, there are still some problems. Researchers should be alert to these difficulties and take time to examine different parts of the collection for material on a similar topic.