Collections : [University of Michigan Special Collections Research Center]

Chiefly correspondence and documents relating to efforts opposing American imperialism in the Philippines. Many items relate to the Anti-Imperialist League's efforts to document American atrocities, especially in the use of the so-called "water cure," to an inquiry into the death of Private Edward C. Richter, as well as Herbert Welsh's 1903 demand for publication of General N. A. Mile's report on conditions in the Philippines. Also included is correspondence on organizational matters of the League, fundraising, the editorial management of City and State, other causes, and personal affairs. 765 items.

These papers are part of the Maria C. Lanzar-Carpio collection. Most of them are those that Herbert Welsh provided to Lanzar-Carpio for use in researching her doctoral dissertation, "The Anti-Imperialist League" (University of Michigan, 1928), but they are intermingled with other papers, chiefly copies borrowed from other sources.

Letters addressed to M. K. Sniffen, business editor of the publication City and State, and Roy Smith, also of City and State, as well as letters to Welsh's colleagues in the Anti-Imperialist League, were doubtless a part of Welsh's own files, as were a number of letters and transcripts to miscellaneous addressees provided for Welsh's use in promoting various causes. There are also an undetermined number of transcripts made by Lanzar-Carpio from originals held elsewhere (cf. her dissertation, p. 9-10 and 269).

Harley Harris Bartlett was a University of Michigan botanist who conducted field research in Sumatra, Haiti, Taiwan, the Philippines, and across South America. This collection, housed at the SCRC, contains material related to the Southern Philippines in the early 20th century. It includes a typescript account of Aguinaldo's arrest by U.S. troops (in Spanish), translations of articles from the Voz de Mindanao, American reports on Moro Province (now the Department of Mindanao and Sulu), a transcript copy of the sentence passed by an American court in the Philippines in United States vs. Panglima Indanan, and American military reports. For material related to Bartlett's long career in botany, see the Harley Harris Bartlett Papers: 1909-1960 at the University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library.

The collection is comprised of 20 folders of print and manuscript material related to the Southern Philippines in the early twentieth century, including the Philippine-American War and the Moro Rebellion. It contains very little related to Bartlett's work in botany (for more on Bartlett's career, see the see the Harley Harris Bartlett Papers: 1909-1960 at the University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library).

The Hobohemia Collection contains materials from 1905-1997. The materials are original correspondence and manuscripts, photographs, serials, pamphlets, ephemera, clippings, and realia. The collection centers around soap box culture, radical thought, and open forums for free speech in Chicago that were popular from mid-1910’s to the early sixties. Jack Sheridan and to a much greater degree, Slim Brundage and The College of Complexes, are the main focus of this collection.

The Hobohemia Collection is composed of personal and business correspondence, manuscripts, business records, serials, ephemera, photographs, and clippings. It revolves around Jack Sheridan, an active Dil Pickler, and Slim Brundage, founder of the College of Complexes, as well the business workings of the College. The Jack Sheridan series (.5 linear feet), includes correspondence with professional peers and friends, family letters and correspondence, several of his manuscripts, personal records, and related news clippings. Correspondence includes Jack Conroy, liberal labor writer and activist, and John Quinn Brisbon who was an activist and in later years ran for VP and President representing the Socialist Party USA. Notes and plans for a "handwriting" TV series in which Jack would analyze viewers’ handwriting and response from the showing of one segment are included also. Family correspondence includes exchanges with Jimmy Sheridan, Jack’s twin brother and hobo, letters from James Sheridan, Jack’s father, to his family, dated 1917 and 1943, and documents from a federal INS investigation.

Manuscripts include a dedication to the reopening of the Dil Pickle Club in 1944 and a tribute to author and fellow Dil Pickler Max Bodenheim who was murdered. Poems to Jack Sheridan by Max Bodenheim and J. Q. Brisbon and poems by Jack Sheridan for Ben Reitman and in tribute to Hobo College are also part of this series. Personal records include school and service records, a letter of reference, parental certificates, and a copy of a US Treasury document denying Jack Sheridan as a merchant seaman.

The Slim Brundage series (11.66 linear feet), is comprised of personal and business correspondence, and material relating to family, Slim’s manuscripts, and material about the College of Complexes. Correspondence is listed by name and also chronologically. Personal correspondence includes that with writer Carl Sandburg (1937), an important Pickler, Thornton Wilder (1937), and hobo poet Axel Dragstedt.

Business correspondence relates to Slim’s workmen’s compensation regarding a fall he took as a painter and problems obtaining social security benefits. There are also letters to editors regarding submission of manuscripts and some subsequent responses.

Manuscripts comprise 3.5 cubic feet of this series. They include poetry, plays, articles, speeches, radio shows, and books. Most are undated and unsigned but the style consistent. Many of his short essays, or Ravings, are included here. The layout for his only book publication, Ravings of a Manic Depressive, is included. This book was a disappointment for Slim because of its hurried and sloppy assembly. Some manuscripts exist under differing titles; Slim also writes under the pseudonyms Malarkey McCarthy, Manuel Labor, and Casa Pintura.

Family material holds correspondence from Slim to his brother and children, his colorful autobiography which claims his place of birth as an insane asylum and a scrapbook compiled by his daughter, Anna Brundage, which coincides with the establishment of College of Complexes. The scrapbook also contains photographs of the family.

Materials on Margaret Brundage, who married Slim in 1927, include papers on her divorce from Slim in 1933 (official 1939) and custody of their only child, Kerlyn. There is a letter from Margaret to her lawyer explaining how Slim fit into Kerlyn’s life. Personal records and memberships include Slim’s union membership cards and certifications.

Materials under Kay Brundage, to whom Slim was married in 1940, includes correspondence with Slim regarding his painting accident in New York and recuperation, letters from her mother which shed light on Kay and Slim’s financial situation, flooding in Missouri, and the Truman administration. Other material relates mainly to her involvement, and to a lesser degree, Slim’s involvement, in the administration and activities of the Chicago Repertory Theatre and Child Guidance Center.

The College of Complexes subseries includes Business Records. These are marketing promotions such as the Miss Beatnik Contest, extensive business records which include donations to various pro labor and community organizations, mailing lists, IWW support, potential openings of College of Complexes locations in New York and San Francisco, and a large assortment of check stubs, ledgers, daily records, gate receipts, and steno pads recording College of Complexes daily monetary transactions.

Business Records also include correspondence and documents from the US Internal Revenue Service, the Illinois Internal Revenue Service, various vendors to whom Slim owes money, and lawyers regarding the dissolution of Slim’s business partnership with Margaret due to their divorce. There is a letter from Ann Landers and a letter to Hugh Hefner.

The Curriculum files contain typed monthly schedules of speakers enlisted for the College of Complexes. It was traditional to include essays by Slim known as Ravings into each Curriculum. Ephemera contains humorous items such as the Schizo Certificate, Slim’s business card from Mexico, a "pickup" card, play money, and certificates issued to speakers. There are newspaper articles that cover the Beats and the Miss Beatnik contest.

The Other Forums/Events/Organizations series (.75 linear feet), briefly addresses other open forums of the period. Slim and Kay Brundage were longtime Wobblies in the Council for Union Democracy. There are several essays that were written by Slim while committed to this organization as well as general member correspondence and business materials. Materials on the Dil Pickle Club include ephemera such as Volume 1, Number 1 of the Dil Pickler, a pamphlet of writings with the Dil Pickler Lending Library, as well as a small pamphlet with lecture schedule. Druid Society materials include a certificate establishing Jack Sheridan as a witness to the appointed trustees of the Druid Society.

The Writings by Others series (.5 linear feet), contains typed and some handwritten manuscripts by people active in Slim’s circle and the College of Complexes. The Anthology of Love is a collection of poetry written by others that Slim hoped to have published. Almost every poem has an attached typed commentary by Slim. There are handwritten poems by Max Bodenheim on truth and beauty and a guestbook for the Guild of Young Writers, 1932. There are writings by Kay Wood, who married Slim in 1940, John Krzton, "World’s Foremost Authority on Garbage" who reviews Slim’s Ravings, and Malarkey McCarthy, pseudonym for Slim Brundage.

The Serials series (.5 linear feet), contains literary publications from as early as 1905, The Crank, to 1960, The Tab. Amazing Stories and the Washington Square News contain articles by Jack Sheridan. The Tab contains photos and an article about the Miss Beatnik contest held at the College of Complexes in New York.

The Pamphlets series (.25 linear foot), contains materials that may have been used for reference by Jack Sheridan or Slim Brundage. Roger Payne’s The Hobo Philosopher, priced at 10 cents, explains how he can "maintain himself, working as a hobo, in about one day a week, instead of the usual six." The Isle of Mona is a Druidic fantasy written by Francis Lambert McCrudden, who corresponds with Jack Sheridan.

The Photographs series (.125 linear foot), contains many photographs that relate to the collection. Interior photographs of the College of Complexes, circa 1950’s, as well as photographs of Meta Toeber and Franklin and Penelope Rosemont at the 1997 COC Reunion. There are photos of Margaret and Slim Brundage, Slim’s son, Kerlyn, Slim in the hospital, and Slim’s well recognized portrait as housepainter. Photographs of The Place (San Francisco), its manager, Jack Langan, and photographs of Jack Sheridan’s family are among others. Several are unidentified.

The Newsclippings series (.125 linear foot), is arranged primarily by decade and relates to social protest, the free press, labor, unions, Cuba, and the Socialist Party.

The Ephemera series (.5 linear foot), is arranged by decade, subject, and title. There are flyers and bulletins on labor, Cuba, Vietnam, civil rights, post war housing, IWW, the March on Hunger to City Hall, and an Irwin Corey for President button. This material may have been used as reference by Slim for his writings and education. There is also a folder that contains many actual copies of The Curriculum, 1953-1990.

This collection contains material related to Detroit-based German-American physician, writer, and proponent of cremation Hugo Erichsen. It includes correspondence from European and American writers. Some of the correspondence is in response to Erichsen's survey on writers' methods, which he prepared for his 1894 book "Methods of Authors"- Harriet Beecher Stowe's response is included here, among other writers.

This collection contains correspondence and photographs primarily related to Erichsen's 1894 book, "Methods of Authors", and includes a variety of European and American authors' responses to his survey on writing habits. The collection includes a brief survey response from Harriet Beecher Stowe and a letter from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Isaac E. Ronch was a Yiddish writer, teacher, and journalist active in Jewish immigrant circles in Chicago and New York from the 1920s through the 1980s. Ronch was also a good friend of artist Marc Chagall. This collection includes correspondence, writings, and books documenting Ronch and Chagall's friendship, as well as publications, manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, ephemera, and clippings relating to Ronch's own life and works.

The Marc Chagall Materials Series is made up of records documenting Chagall and Ronch's friendship. The donor, Ronch's son, included a handful of books about the history of Jewish arts and identity in Russia to contextualize Chagall's work with Itzik Feffer, which led to his first meeting with Ronch.

The Landsmanshaften Book Series includes a signed copy of the book Di Yiddishe Landsmanshaften foon New York (The Jewish Landsmanshaften of New York), as well as papers relating to the creation of the Landsmanshaften book.

The Writings Series consists of Ronch's creative and journalistic writings. Books include books of prose and poetry, primarily written in Yiddish. Ronch's two serialized novels are preserved as compilations of newspaper clippings placed in composition books.

The Collected Publications Series is made up of three publications (or photocopies of publications) found in Ronch's papers: a 1902 issue of the periodical Di Yiddishe Familie, which includes an article by Sholem Asch, the 1982 Bulletin of the Reuben Brainin Children's Clinic in Tel Aviv, and photocopied pages of a Holocaust Memorial/Yizkor Book for Konin that includes likely relatives of Ronch under the surname Ronchkovski.

The Correspondence Series consists of a single postcard from Sol Liptzin, a scholar of Yiddish and German literature.

The Photographs Series includes photos of Ronch with his students at the Chicago shul where he taught, photos of Ronch giving lectures at Camp Kinderland and Camp Lakeland, and photos of Ronch with as-yet unidentified colleagues sometime in the 1930s.

The Clippings and Ephemera Series comprises newspaper clippings and ephemera relating to Ronch's activities or colleagues, as well as a obituaries for Ronch.

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

J. Louis Engdahl (1884-1932), editor and journalist, was an advocate for labor, socialist, and communist causes. The collection includes letters Engdahl wrote to his wife and daughter, trial transcripts, photographs; Engdahl's original writings; and published works in various formats. Also included are memorabilia, clippings, pamphlets, and other printed material, and artwork.

The J. Louis Engdahl Papers (6.5 linear feet) are divided into seven series: Correspondence, Writings, Chicago Socialist Trial, Scottsboro Trial, Photographs and Artwork, Personal and Memorabilia, and Printed Material.

Highlights of the collection include the letters Engdahl wrote to his wife and daughter, in which loving epithets and stories of day-to-day life mingle with accounts of his work and that of other prominent labor, socialist, and communist figures. The collection contains several pieces of Engdahl's original writings, along with numerous published works in various formats. Causes for which Engdahl fought, both on his own behalf and that of others, are documented through letters, clippings, trial transcripts, and images. Over sixty photographs, as well as various pieces of personal memorabilia, depict both family life and professional associations. Also of note is a portrait of Engdahl by the artist Mitchell Siporin.

A note on names: Throughout the collection, certain individuals are referred to by various alternate names and nicknames. Engdahl himself went by "J. Louis" or more informally, "Louis," rather than his given name of "John." Sophia Levitin Rodriguez is addressed variously as "Sophia," "Sophie," "Sonia," and even by her middle name, "Vera." As mentioned in the biographical portion of this finding aid, Pauline and Louis Engdahl's daughter is also named Pauline. To avoid confusion, within this finding aid, Engdahl's wife is referred to as "Pauline Levitin Engdahl" and their daughter as "Pauline Engdahl." Pauline Engdahl had the family nickname of "Chootch," with variants "Chootchie," "Chuche," etc.

The John L. Schock Papers document Schock's military service, imprisonment, and his death in the Philippines during WWII. The collection includes personal documents, educational records, and professional achievements from childhood to adulthood.

The Correspondence series consists of letters from Schock to his family, including a series of 19 postcards used as stationary and written during a trip to Japan before the outbreak of war; details of his capture; 9 postcards (8 original and 1 photocopy) sent from prison camps; and telegrams to his mother on Mother's Day.

Letters from others to his family provide information regarding his well-being while imprisoned and his death on the Hell Ship "Brazil Maru."

Government correspondence consists of letters from the War Department, Army Service Forces, a member of Congress, and Information Circulars from the Prisoner of War Information Bureau on how to send mail to POWs. A handwritten note from Schock found at Bilibid along with a letter from the War Department detailing its discovery is included. The note was designed for some kind of Japanese radio broadcast, possibly as propaganda. Liberating soldiers found it among other items left at the camp at the end of the war. Of note is a telegram from the Secretary of War, informing the family of Schock's death.

The Miscellaneous subseries contains a notebook, photographs, clippings, a small badge, and various documents. The small, spiral bound notebook was recovered in Cabanatuan where Schock buried it along with the Busuanga Mine badge. The notebook contains phonetic translations of Japanese words and phrases; notes on treatment and care of specific POWs; ledger entries of "pay" to POWs; and notes on POW diet and how it was supplemented.

There are several yearbook page fragments; one photograph of Fort Mills, Philippines before the fall of Bataan; one unidentified negative; and a limited number of local newspaper clippings where Colonel Schock is mentioned.

Also included are assorted documents - bank records related to property sale, a letter of recommendation, and certificates related to Schock's education, military service, and professional activities, including diplomas, professional awards, military certificates, and report cards.

The collection, which spans 1870s-1960s (bulk dates 1880s-1930s), chiefly includes correspondence with fellow workers in the labor movement, publishers and writers for anarchist, socialist, and labor journals, and a wide circle of friends, some letters being also addressed to Mrs. Labadie, manuscripts of his articles, speeches, and poems, photographs, and personal documents. The Family series also contains a folder of correspondence relating to the donation of this collection to the University of Michigan Library. Joseph Labadie's activities within the labor movement in Detroit, his anarchist philosphy, as well that of the many correspondents he had, and early Detroit history is welldocumented in this collection.

The collection, which spans 1870s-1960s (bulk dates 1880s-1930s), chiefly includes correspondence with fellow workers in the labor movement, publishers and writers for anarchist, socialist, and labor journals, and a wide circle of friends, some letters being also addressed to Mrs. Labadie, manuscripts of his articles, speeches, and poems, photographs, and personal documents. The Family series also contains a folder of correspondence relating to the donation of this collection to the University of Michigan Library. Joseph Labadie's activities within the labor movement in Detroit, his anarchist philosphy, as well that of the many correspondents he had, and early Detroit history is welldocumented in this collection. The Joseph Labadie Papers are separated into three series: Correspondence (Incoming); Family (correspondence between family member, outgoing correspondence, autobiographical notes, journals, family histories, biographies, scrapbooks, etc.); and Works (Labadie's titled and untitled essays, articles, columns, letters to the editor, and poetry). The Correspondence consists of 4.25 linear feet of incoming letters, mainly to Joseph Labadie. The files are arranged alphabetically (see Boxlist) with folders for principle correspondents interfiled with general alphabetical headings. Letters from Herman Kuehn to Labadie comprise .25 ft. and are kept in a separate box. The Family series consists of correspondence between family members, both immediate and extended, copies of some of Jo Labadie's outgoing correspondence, autobiographical notes, labor and other organizational membership cards, biographical notes and character sketches by Agnes Inglis, copies of legal briefs for a civil case Jo and Sophie were involved in with a relative, descriptions of Bubbling Waters, the Labadie's summer and retirement home, photocopies of Jo's scrapbooks, his account book and address books, a journal, and materials relating to the donation of Jo's materials to the University of Michigan. The Works series consists of titled essays, untitled essays, miscellaneous fragments of Labadie's writings, drafts of letters to the editors of various newspapers, drafts of his long-running column, "Cranky Notions," and his poetry. The last item in the collection is a videotape copy of a silent feature film made in 1925 on location at the Labadie's property at Bubbling Waters. Some reels of the film are not included, but the forest fire scene is believed to have been filmed at Bubbling Waters. This is the last known extant film relating to the Labadie Family. More information on the film is available upon request.