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The University of Michigan Department of Mechanical Engineering dates from 1868, and it existed under various designations resulting from shifts and mergers in engineering, including at one time industrial engineering and applied mechanics. Records include minutes of faculty meetings, 1922-1941, and 1984-2007; advisory committee minutes, 1997-2007; and material on the 125th anniversary in 1993. Extensive visual materials document departmental activities and research including color and black and white photographs, contact sheets, slides, and negatives. The departmental website, as of June 2001, also forms a part of this record group.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering record group is comprised of manuscript and visual materials transferred between 1995 and 2001. The materials are arranged in eight series Minutes, E-Mail to Faculty, Office Files, Contact Sheets, Photographs, Panoramic Prints and Slides, Negatives, and Website. The manuscript material covers the periods 1922 to 1941 and 1993 to 2007 while the visual materials are mainly from the time period 1985-2000. The earlier accessions include a series of faculty minutes covering the period from 1922 to 1941 and 1993 to 1999. The earlier accessions also include a small group of electronic mail correspondence (printout) that was sent from the central departmental office to the departmental faculty from 1993 to 1996. Subsequent accessions include a small selection of office files alphabetically arranged and additional faculty minutes.

Visual materials, documenting departmental activities ca. 1985-2000, form the bulk of the record group. The departmental website, as of June 2001, also forms a part of this record group. The visual materials in the record group include color and black and white photographs, contact sheets, slides, and negatives. The visual materials are either arranged by a numerical sequence or alphabetically by topic or last name. Materials in the numerical sequence filing system include 4 x 6 prints, contact sheets, and negatives. While the materials in the numerical sequence are categorized by format, the materials in this sequence were designed to form one system. That is the 4 x 6 prints, contact sheets, and negatives reference each other.

The Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Publications contains one series, Unit Publications. The series includes two brochures of the Department's graduate studies program, a history of the Department written on the ocassion of the centennial in 1982, three manuals of the Physiology Laboratory dating from 1926 to 1952, and a report, The Physiological Basis of Health , written by John W. Bean in 1939.

Files of Professors John W. Bean, Robert Gesell, Warren P. Lombard, and Henry Sewall, 1925-1979; miscellaneous departmental papers relating to the Hyperbaric Chamber Committee, the Institute for Human Adjustment, the Lombard Library, research funds, and teaching assignments; and publications of physiological laboratory; and collection of physiology textbooks, manuals, and monographs, mainly written by University of Michigan faculty; also photographs and films.

The records of the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology consist of 3 linear feet, 1 outsize box, and 1 outsize film, and cover the years 1884 to 1979. The records consist largely of the files of Professors John W. Bean, Robert Gesell, Warren P. Lombard, and Henry Sewall, 1925-1979. They include miscellaneous departmental papers relating to the Hyperbaric Chamber Committee, the Institute for Human Adjustment, the Lombard Library, research funds, and teaching assignments; and publications of physiological laboratory; and collection of physiology textbooks, manuals, and monographs, mainly written by University of Michigan faculty. The record group also includes photographs and films. The records are divided into three series: Topical Files, Faculty, and Audio and Visual Materials.

Department of Biology (established 1986) of the University of Michigan, and of its predecessor unit, the Division of Biological Sciences, and the departments (Botany and Zoology) that comprised the division. In 2001, the unit name was changed to Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. Records include minutes, correspondence, course materials, and various subject files.

The Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, 1879-1992, measure 5 linear feet and include minutes, correspondence, course materials, and various subject files. The records are organized into ten series: Departmental and Divisional Records, Printed Material, Divisional Administration, Staff, Academics, Students, Logistics, Biological Units, Outside Relations, and Promotions.

Records include registers; annual reports; administrative files; departmental minutes; admissions books containing details on admission, births, treatment, and disposition of patients; and photographs.

The records of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology document the evolution and development of this department, although the documentation is far from complete. The records primarily cover two periods: 1935-1958, and 1980-1995. The records are organized into nine series: Annual Reports; Minutes; Admissions Books/Birth Records; Registers and Miscellaneous Records; Administrative Files; Medical School Review Committee; Printed Material and Photographs.

Departmental records includes correspondence with students and faculty, course syllabi and exams, minutes of meetings, publications and photographs.

The records of the Philosophy Department of the University of Michigan measure 2.5 linear feet and 3 oversize folders, and date from 1907 to 1987 with many of the records dating from 1947 to 1961, coinciding with William Frankena's tenure as department chair. The record group has been arranged alphabetically by topic or type of material. Photographs of Department of Philosophy graduate students and faculty dating from 1907 to 1932 are available both within the collection and in an oversized folder.

The Correspondence files include information regarding personnel searches, scheduling, and various departmental business. Also included are letters between William Frankena and various acting department chairs who were serving during his sabbatical years. The Course Materials files consist of a sampling of exams and syllabi for several of the department's courses during the years 1947 to 1961 and 1984. Although this material is by no means inclusive of the department's offerings or representative of how the courses were taught over the years, it does provide some insight as to the department's expectations of the students.

The Student Placement files demonstrate the lengths to which the department as a whole went to secure positions for their graduating doctoral students. Correspondence regarding the special circumstances of several students are foldered separately and further show the support one could expect as a graduate of this department. An additional point of interest is the file of Michael Davis which illustrates the department's attitude towards censorship and the governing bodies of higher educational institutions.

The remaining files contain department minutes, personnel information, financial information, statistics, records related to the University of Michigan Tanner Philosophy Library and various other bits of information that could help the researcher construct a picture of the department as it evolved during the 1950's to early 1980s time period.

The Photographs series consists of group prints (some outsize) of philosophy students and faculty.

University of Michigan department responsible for administering and teaching required curriculum in physical education for women and overseeing recreational sports for women. Records include annual reports, minutes of staff meetings, scrapbooks, topical files, history of physical education for women at the University, and other materials relating to the Women's Athletic Association; also photographs

Photos of women involved in athletics and other physical activities, including dance, Lantern Night, and Freshman Week; also photos of Barbour Gymnasium, Women's Athletic Building, the Health Service, and the Michigan League.

The Department of Physics Publications are divided into three series: Unit Publications, Sub-Unit Publications, and Topical Publications. The Unit Publications series contains printed material published specifically by the Department of Physics. These publications are defined as being widely distributed and may be published at regular intervals. They are arranged by genre of the publication. The Sub-Unit Publications series contains publications from subordinate offices, departments, programs and organizations within the Department of Physics. These publications are arranged alphabetically by the creating sub-unit.

Correspondence and other papers dealing with departmental plans, reviews and organization, buildings and laboratories, staff recruitment, research, impact of World War I and personal affairs of various staff members especially when they were studying in Europe. Correspondence includes letters of John W. Langley, Robert A. Millikan, Harrison Randall, James M. Cork, Ernest Lawrence, Walter Stevens, John O. Reed, Henry Carhart, Karl Guthe, Fred Hodges, Horace R. Crane, and others. Also includes correspondence of chairmen Daniel Sinclair, Richard H. Sands, and Lawrence W. Jones. Efforts to locate a superconducting super collider in Michigan in the 1980s are well documented in these records.

The Department of Physics records contain budget sheets, clippings, committee minutes, correspondence, departmental review reports, organizational charts, personnel records, and photographs. The records are most informative in the administrative proceedings of the department. They are least informative in curricular and research areas. The records span the years 1873-1995 and are arranged into four series: Administrative Files, Undergraduate and Graduate Programs, Research, and Awards and Special Events and L3 Project. Although there are 19th century records present, the bulk of the records cover the period from 1954 to 1991.

The Department of Political Science was established in 1910 under the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts; offers coursework in American politics, comparative politics, world politics and international relations, political theory, law and courts, and methodology. The collection spans from 1910-2009 with a bulk of the material from 1970-2000. These records document the administrative functioning of the department and contain committee meeting minutes, information on courses and degrees, departmental meeting minutes, information on faculty, various topical files, and audio-visual material.

The records of the Department of Political Science document its administrative functions from 1910 to 2009 and the bulk of the records date from 1970 to 2009. The record group is divided into seven series: Committees, Correspondence, Course and Degree Information, Departmental Meetings, Faculty, Topical Files, and Audio-Visual.