Collections : [University of Michigan Special Collections Research Center]

The Papers of Joseph A. Labadie series consists of those materials retained by Laurance after the death of his father. They are arranged by genre, with the bulk of the papers being notebooks and booklets of poetry covering a wide range of subjects, including nature, labor, religion, philosophy, government, Detroit, and family and friends. Some of the booklets were printed and bound by Jo Labadie at his own print shop. The series also includes a small number of essays and correspondence, some in Jo's holograph, and some transcribed and annotated by Laurance. There are four scrapbooks containing newsclippings, essays, poetry, and photos. Two concern Jo Labadie's activities, especially in the anarchist and labor movements One is entitled "Crank Notions," and contains many of Jo's newspaper columns which were published under that title. The last is a book honoring Jo's friend Carl Schmidt, and is entitled "Walhalla & its host." Miscellaneous items include calendars which Jo printed at his shop for 1913 and materials documenting a Michigan State Supreme Court Case: Mary J. June vs. Sophie and Joseph Labadie, 1902 and 1904.

The Subject Files are arranged into ten subseries: Ellet Family, Bridges, Estate, Railroads, Steam Rams, Rivers and Canals, Drafts, Publications, and Tariffs and Tolls. Arranged chronologically, the Subject Files reflect his professional involvement with railroad, canal, and bridge companies, and the United States Army. The materials relate specifically to his work building railroads, canals and bridges; surveying rivers; researching railroad and canal tariffs and tolls for passengers and merchandise; and constructing and commanding the U.S. Ram Fleet. Notable to the files are building specifications for locks, dams, and suspension bridges; reports and writings from the Mississippi River survey; court documents from legal dispute with the Niagara Falls International Bridge Company; and Charles Rivers Ellet’s Diary, 1862-1863. The Bridge materials primarily document the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge Company legal dispute. Records in the Railroads subseries consist primarily of organizational documents, monthly reports, work exhibits, and building specifications. Materials in Tariffs and Tolls illuminate Ellet’s work analyzing railroad and canal economic transportation cost and profit models, with reflective writings, and railroad and canal company publications. Records in the Rivers and Canals reflect Ellet’s work for the James River Kanawha Company through organizational documents and building specifications, and the survey of the Mississippi River Delta.