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Charles ("Charlie") Rasch was a professional pianist, talented photographer, and graduate of the University of Michigan. The collection contains scrapbooks, photographs, and negatives documenting his life in Michigan. The majority of photographs and negatives are labeled with the date and location.

The Charles Rasch Collection (23 oversize volumes and 5 linear feet) is primarily composed of photographs and negatives documenting Michigan scenery. There is particularly strong coverage of Birmingham, MI, Harsen's Island, MI, the Island Lake Recreation Area in Brighton, MI, and the Bald Mountain Recreation Area in Oakland, MI. Many of these photographs, especially his early black and white work, display his artistic training and sensibilities. Rasch's scrapbooks also offer a rich representation of the ragtime music scene in Michigan and the Ann Arbor area. This collection is also notable for the care Rasch took to annotate his photographs. Many negatives and prints are individually labeled, and all include some information relating to the date and location.

The collection has been arranged in the following series: Scrapbooks and Albums, Papers, Individual Photographs, Photographs, and Photographic Negatives.