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This series documents the history of Covert and Van Buren County, Michigan and the activities of the Sarno – Hendricks family. Most of the photographs are not dated. These depict Covert student groups and clearly document the racially integrated makeup of the classrooms. Box 17 includes panoramic and rolled photographs of Covert school students for the years 1927-1935. Other photographs include portraits of unidentified individuals and depictions of Covert houses and Bale’s peach orchard. Photographs depicting Hendricks family members and the Van Buren County Historical Society Museum are filed within this series.

Most postcards depict scenes of Covert and other Southwest Michigan towns. There are street scenes, a photo of a Benton Harbor farmer’s market and images of individual buildings, including post offices, schools, hospitals, banks and stores.

Pearl Sarno served on the Covert Bicentennial Committee and her collection reflects 1976 Bicentennial events: outdoor movies, parades, Chautauquas, exhibits and school essay contests, among others. A related folder documents the Covert Library Historical marker, which was placed by the Michigan History Division (Michigan Department of State) in 1976.

Sarno was also active in the Van Buren County Historical Society. Historical Society materials (1965-1992) include a copy its constitution, meeting minutes, correspondence, membership lists, grant applications, newspaper clippings and news bulletins. The items provide information on local history and document Society activities: elections, building preservation and restoration projects, museum operations and events such as picnics and yard sales. The photographs depict Society buildings and exhibits.

The “Hendricks Family” file (1904-1905) contains family documents of Pearl Hendricks Sarno. These include postcards and other correspondence, a motor vehicle certificate, business cards, cradle roll certificates and floor plans for an unidentified building that appears to be a house or some other form of residence. Some photographs of individuals are not identified. The correspondence covers several topics, including deaths, family reunions and vacations.

The collection contains a couple unpublished Covert histories. An unknown author wrote one of these at an undetermined date. However, Pearl Sarno’s introduction to A Look at Covert’s Heritage (Pearl Sarno, Editor. Covert, Michigan: Covert Bicentennial Committee, 1976) references a 1952 unpublished history by Covert resident John R. Spelman. Spelman’s history would seem to be the unidentified one. The work discusses Covert businesses, Native Americans, railroads, early roads and some early residents. The second unpublished history is a copy of Anna-Lisa Cox’s 2002 thesis, submitted to the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Cox focuses on Covert’s history of racial integration. This research formed the basis of her 2006 book, A Stronger Kinship (New York: Little, Brown and Company).

The documentation includes seven highway maps and four plats. One of the highway maps is hand drawn on the back of a railroad bond and labeled “Highway Map of Deerfield Township,” (circa 1870s?). It provides some land ownership information. Three other highway maps depict a grid of the township. They are undated and also provide some land ownership information. Lastly, the series includes three highway maps dating from the last half the Twentieth Century, a photocopy of a land ownership plat (1873), a 1963 land ownership plat and two undated hand-drawn plats that show some land owner names, but are not complete.

The Robert Altman Personal series (14 linear feet, 3 oversized boxes) is comprised of personal material ranging in date from 1945-2007. The material consists of correspondence, legal and medical documents, topical and award related material, early work, interviews and clippings, as well as photographs.

The first series, Personal (1888-1979), includes biographical information, vitae, material relating to Kendrick's employment, correspondence with family and friends, and diaries of a personal nature. Also in this series are journals, reminiscences, accounts, and sermons of Kendrick's father, Milton Kendrick, a Free Methodist (Holiness) preacher.

The Personal series contains information on a broad range of subjects, but generally lacks depth on any particular topic. Because Ward almost always filed correspondence by the last name of the individual it was addressed to, rather than by the institutional affiliation of the person, material about the same organization is often widely scattered. Most interesting are Ward's research files (on "Dental Cements", "Dental Fillings" and "Laboratory Laws and Technicians") and Ward's information on the Michigan State Dental Association. Most of Ward's post 1945 material relates to the history of the MSDA.

The Personal series (0.1 linear feet) includes school records, writings and drawings, certificates, and correspondence related to Lönberg-Holm's life, death, and family.

For other personal material related to Lönberg-Holm and his family, consult the "Photography" series as well as select folders in the "Professional" series.

Materials in the Personal series (1 linear foot) document Shepherd's personal and professional life from his time as a Boy Scout to his activities post-retirement from Loomis, Sayles and Co. in 1995. Shepherd arranged many of his documents in binders, with sticky notes affixed to various pages noting what he thought was important. These binders were kept in Shepherd's original order. Becasue of this, some personal materials are also scattered throughout the Philanthropy series, particularly in the Letters subseries and University of Michigan subseries (for example, the item titled 'Elbel Club/My Parents' in the University of Michigan subseries contains various documents related to the lives of his parents). The Personal series includes correspondence; family documents; school materials; photographs, a photograph album, and ephemera.

The bulk of the Personal series consists of Gibson's notes, essays, and bibliographies from his coursework in public health at the University of Michigan, from 1934 to 1946. The series also contains clippings about Gibson's career, and several photographs, including images of dental education presentations and displays, a 29th reunion photo of the University of Michigan Dental School class of 1918, and a picture of Dr. Gibson receiving a citation.

This series contains enough information to write a good short professional biography of McClusky. The Curricula Vitae spans sixty years, and some include lists of selected speaking engagements as well as lists of positions held and of publications. The bibliography on gold paper is the most recent and complete, although even it is not exhaustive. The file titled Eulogies and Feature Biographical Articles contains a critical analysis of McClusky's contributions to the field of educational gerontology, as well as tributes from colleagues and students. The Clippings folders, most of which are dated, primarily reflect McClusky's extensive activities as a speaker but also his work with the Michigan Council of Churches, community councils, special commissions, and civic organizations. Clippings are sparse, however, for the 1970s, and are missing entirely for 1942-1946. While most of McClusky's diaries are still held by his family, entries for scattered dates are found in the collection. The folder of Memorabilia contains numerous awards and a brief eulogy for his mother.