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Collection

Janette Estelle Miller papers, 1886-1970

2 linear feet

Congregationalist missionary to Angola, and other members of the Miller family. Family letters, missionary newsletter, personal diaries concerning life in Hancock and Detroit, Michigan; Miller family materials; and photographs.

The collection consists of personal papers of Janette Miller and other members of the Miller family. The collection includes family letters, missionary newsletter, personal diaries concerning life in Hancock and Detroit, Michigan, photographs, and Miller family materials.

Collection

Jean Fagan Yellin/Harriet Jacobs Research Collection, 1855-2017 (majority within 1968-2010)

10 Linear Feet — 9 record center boxes, 1 flat oversize box

The Jean Fagan Yellin/Harriet Jacobs Research Collection (1855-2017, majority between 1968-2010) spans approximately 10 linear feet with 7 series covering the work done by Jean Fagan Yellin on Harriet Jacobs and related materials on slavery, abolitionism, and feminism. The collection includes correspondence, drafts, reports, notes and annotations, clippings, photographs, and various research files collected, created, and utilized for Yellin's research, writings and publications, and speaking engagements to public and scholarly audiences. Notable materials include extensive evidence of Yellin's engagement with public and scholarly audiences on topics related to Harriet Jacobs, research files and other materials related to Harriet Jacobs and individuals originating from the 1800s and descendants, and files including correspondence proving the authenticity of "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" as an autobiographical work by Harriet Jacobs.

The Jean Fagan Yellin/Harriet Jacobs Research Collection is approximately 10 linear feet and contains materials between 1855-2017 and primarily between 1968-2010. The collection focuses on the work of Jean Fagan Yellin with most attention to Yellin's research and engagement regarding Harriet Jacobs through correspondence, research files, drafts, reports, clippings, photographs, clippings, and other collected materials.

Other notable topics include her works on antislavery, abolitionism, and feminism during the nineteenth century through additional writings, drafts, and research that would connect with Yellin's work on Harriet Jacobs. Notable strengths of the collection include files related to extensive outreach efforts to public and scholarly audiences about Harriet Jacobs, research files with notes and other documentation including those created during Harriet Jacobs' lifetime, correspondence with the North Carolina archivist George Stevenson in researching "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl", and a 1993 interview with Dr. William Knox Jr., a family member of Harriet Jacobs.

Audiovisual materials in the collection have not been digitized.

Jean Fagan Yellin also used extensive abbreviations to describe various professional associations, organizations, projects, and titles within individual files and folder names such as the following:

AAUW: American Association of University Women AHA: American Historical Association ALA: American Literature Association ASA: American Studies Association CAAR: Collegium for African American Research CLA: College Language Association EIAAT: European Imprints of African American Texts HJFP: "Harriet Jacobs Family Papers" ILSG: "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" MELUS: Society for the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States MLA: Modern Language Association NCFA: National Collection of Fine Arts, now Smithsonian American Art Museum NEH: National Endowment for the Humanities NEMLA: Northeast Modern Language Association NHI: National Humanities Institute NYC: New York City Humanities Program OHA: Organization of American Historians SHA: Southern Historical Association

Collection

Jean Worth Papers, circa 1869-1986

8 linear feet

Escanaba, Michigan, newspaperman. Subject files (including collected materials) relating to his research interest in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, notably in the area of Cedar River, Escanaba, and Menominee; include manuscript of writings, subject files, and photographs.

The papers of Jean Worth consists largely of collected material relating to his research interest in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The collection has been divided into the following series: Cedar River; Escanaba; Menominee; Upper Peninsula -General; and Michigan place names.

Collection

Jeffersonian Society (University of Michigan) records books, 1864-1915

6 volumes (in 1 box)

Student debating society of the University of Michigan Law School; records include Minutes, and secretary's book containing lists of members and fellows in addition to constitutions and by-laws

The Jeffersonian Society records consist of minutes, and secretary's book containing lists of members and fellows in addition to constitutions and by-laws.

Collection

J. E. Howard Correspondence, 1888-1895, and undated

Approximately 2 cubic ft. (in 4 boxes)

This collection is composed of business, financial and personal correspondence.

This is 27th series of the J.E. Howard collection to be processed. It is arranged by topic, in chronological and then alphabetical order. The collection is completely composed of loose correspondence directed to James E. Howard while he was treasurer of the Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad Company, as well as the Chicago and West Michigan Railway. Letters are both of a business, financial, and personal nature. Correspondence are with other railroads, businesses, organizations, and various servicemen, as well as within the company itself. There is also a small sampling of notes requesting employment, checks, or references, which are good representations of the time period.

Business letters include, a list made by the D.L. and N.R.R. of businesses and people who were considered reliable and “good” to extend credit to (Box 1). There are also two well-documented instances of safes at the D.L. and N. R.R. stations being broken into and their money bags stolen. Letters explain the thefts as well as the process of having the safes repaired (Box 2). Thefts on the trains are also documented. Among the D.L. and N.R.R. correspondence there is a letter from a W.H. Maxwell, regarding a Mr. Young who seems to be cheating the company in some way. The issue is referred to the legal department (Box 4).

There is also a small sampling of “Red Ticket” requests. Red Tickets refer to the colloquial present day “pink slip.” When an employee was let go he would receive his final pay slip, or a Red Ticket. The employee would then present the ticket for payment. Any company issued material- lanterns, keys, uniforms- would have to be returned before payment was given.

A list of Grand Rapids, Lansing and Detroit Railroad buildings and their costs, as well as, a balance sheet comparing running expenses of the D.L. and N.R.R. for 1886 and 1887 (Box 1) are among some of the collection’s financial letters. Box 3 documents the Panic of 1893. The panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States and was marked by the overbuilding and shaky financing of railroads, resulting in a series of bank failures.

Box 4 consists of letters and references following the Panic of 1893, and how Howard and the railroads were trying to find new banks to conduct business with.

Howard also served as treasurer for Kalamazoo College and the Baptist Convention in the later part of the nineteenth century. The collection includes correspondence from current and possible students of the college asking for loan information, as well as notes from contributors to the college. The collection also includes correspondence from the Baptist Ministry Society informing Howard of the progress of the new boiler for one of their homes, and the attempts to get members of the church to donate for it (Box 1).

Notable correspondence includes a letter from the Detroit International Fair and Exposition held in September of 1889 (Box 1), verifying vouchers and coupons for the company, and an 1893 World’s Fair watermarked note (Box 4). There are also several letters, spanning the series, informing Howard of cattle and other animal deaths on the railways, and the reimbursements made to the owners after the carcasses were sold. There is a letter from 1888 stating the concern of representation by accountants of the committee canvassing the question of a “National Association of Railway Accounting Officers,” which was to address railways having uniform accounts (Box 1). There are also several letters from the U.S. War Department and U.S. Treasury, referencing payment to Howard for the transport of recruiting officers and undisclosed freight on behalf of the government. As these events took place during 1894 it is believed that the men and materials were a part of the Spanish-American War effort (Box 4). Howard was subpoenaed for the case of “People vs. Lester L. Sweet.” The case appears to have been centered on the validity of a check handled by an agent, Lester Sweet. Many of the letters to Howard ask about the location of a Mr. Newton. Letters about the case were sent from 1889 to 1890.

Notable personal correspondence includes letters from the Michigan Asylum for the Insane in Kalamazoo. The letters detail the care of a Harry Van Vleck (Box 1 and 2). This relationship, if any, to Howard is unknown. The Clarke also houses a collection of a Henry Van Vleck, a Civil War soldier from Kalamazoo County (Mich.), who may be a relative.

Researchers may also be interested in the J.E. Howard Michigan Railroads Business Records, also available at the Clarke Historical Library.

Processing Note: During processing approximately 3 cubic feet of materials, mainly receipts, invoices, or materials which were copied and the copies retained, were withdrawn from the collection.

Collection

Jerome Cyril Knowlton autograph book and photographs, 1892

1 volume — 1 folder

Professor of law at the University of Michigan. Collection consists of autographs and sentiments of University of Michigan faculty and photographs.

The Knowlton collection consists of autographs and sentiments of University of Michigan faculty and photographs of Knowlton in classroom and with family members and a childhood photograph of Knowlton's daughter.

Collection

Jerome J. Robbins Papers [microform], 1861-1913 (majority within 1861-1865)

1 microfilm

Physician from Matherton, Michigan who served as medical steward and assistant surgeon with the Second Michigan Infantry during the Civil War. Diaries and correspondence concerning his Civil War service and two letters, 1863, from Sarah E. Edmonds Seelye, woman Civil War soldier who served under the alias Frank Thompson; also photographs.

The Jerome J. Robbins papers, consisting principally of journal and diaries, document his service as medical steward and assistant surgeon with the Second Michigan Infantry during the Civil War. The collection also includes some correspondence and other material relating to his civil war service and several portraits of Robbins. The collection has been organized into three series: Journals, Other Papers, and Photographs.

Collection

Jesse Siddall Reeves Papers, 1853-1942 (majority within 1901-1942)

14 linear feet — 1 oversize folder

Chairman of the department of political science at University of Michigan. Correspondence, reports, manuscript articles, book reviews, lecture notes, and miscellaneous papers concerning family affairs and his academic interests in political science and international law.

The Reeves papers largely concern JSR's activities as professor (also chairman) of the University of Michigan Department of Political Science from his appointment in 1910 until his retirement in 1937. The great bulk of the collection consists of Reeves' correspondence. With this is a smaller series of such other materials as lectures, research materials, professional organizational materials. As an aid to accessing the correspondence, a selective index of correspondents and subjects has been prepared and is appended to the following containing listing.

Collection

Jewett-Lee family papers, 1850-1900 (majority within 1850-1853)

30 items

The Jewett-Lee collection centers around Azubah Miller Jewett and her daughter Mary (Mollie) Jewett Lee, early settlers to the Saginaw Valley of Michigan.

Most of the Jewett-Lee collection centers around Azubah Miller Jewett and her daughter Mary (Mollie) Jewett Lee. Three letters from Azubah to her daughter were written in the 1850s; they contain family news and information about friends. Azubah wrote her reminiscences in 1888, about a year before she died, describing her early days in Michigan. The other letters are primarily to and from Mollie Jewett, and include a courtship correspondence with her future husband, Newton Lee. Most of these letters were written while she was away from Saginaw City visiting her father's family in New York in the summer and fall of 1853. The collection also includes three speeches, two for delivery on holidays to the people of Saginaw (1858 and 1861) and one addressed to a literary society. There are a couple newspapers and newspaper clippings as well.

The most important document in the Jewett-Lee collection is the reminiscences of Azubah Jewett. She wrote this manuscript upon the request of her brother Judge Albert Miller of Bay City, who asked her to record some of her memories of pioneer life. The document begins:

"Very many things have occorred in the fifty-seven years that I have been in Michigan that would be worthy of note but I hardly feel competant for the task; Suffice it to say that the present inhabitants would think it quite impossible to endure the privations and sacrifices that a few of the first have pass'd through; and in almost every instance without a word of complaint."

Azubah Jewett went on to outline her experiences as one of the first pioneers of the Saginaw Valley. She saw the first settlers arrive and establish industries, including lumbering. She witnessed the first steam boats in the area, the first roads and street cars, and the population explosion that occurred as the next wave of settlers arrived in the Saginaw Valley. The eighty-three year old closed her account with these words, "My bodily health is good, and unless this article indicates contrary, my mental faculties are unimpared, and I enjoy life as much at present as at any period on my existence." She died one year later.

There is a short series of courtship letters between Dr. Newton D. Lee and Molly Jewett while she was in New York. Lee fantasized a future life together: "when I would get tired of the office, I could go to you & be always greeted with a lovely smile & a sweet kiss, then you would sit down beside me and put both your hands in mine & lean your head upon my bosom as your support in this life, then look up in my face & talk to me. . ." (1853 August 7). These winning words won Molly's heart, and the two were married in November.

One letter stands apart from the main collection because it was written by a woman named Delia, who had no connection to the Jewett family except that she knew and possibly courted Dr. Lee before his marriage to Mollie. Delia's words provide insight into the social risks and responsibilities that women had to face when contemplating engaging in a courtship. Lee had apparently visited and written her, and expressed an interest in pursuing his suit. Delia's letter diplomatically expressed a certain amount of skepticism about the sincerity of Dr. Lee's gestures. While she would accept a sincere offer, she would not risk the injury and humiliation that might come from accepting an insincere offer: "It is still more gratifying to meet a worthy friend, prove him such and then feel that I share his thoughts and friendship, but as frankly confess, that a mere avowal of such a friendship is no convincing evidence to me that it exists" (1850 February 7).

The most chilling letter in the collection is from Mollie's friend Louisa. The tear-stained letter reported that a mutual friend of theirs had died of consumption. Susan Harris had been part of their group of six girls all the same age. Lousia, keeping vigil at Susan's bed side when she passed, wrote "I scarcely left that lifeless form until it was returned to mother earth helped to robe her for burial and dressed her hair for the last time which for so many weeks had been my care fearing to trust anyone else" (1853 October 16).

The three public address manuscripts are of unclear authorship. One is a Fourth of July speech that makes indirect but sustained references to the conflict between the North and the South, and the second is an address to citizens who have answered the call to defend the Union flag. The last is an address to the ladies and gentlemen of a literary society on the occasion of the last of the society's meetings.