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Ann Arbor, Michigan civil rights activist known for his confrontational style and advocate of black economic development, welfare rights, affordable housing and other causes, and a founder of the Washtenaw County Black Economic Development League. Papers, primarily documenting his work with the WCBEDL, include correspondence, scrapbooks, trial transcripts, and photographs.

The Charles Thomas, Jr. papers relate mainly to the activities of WCBEDL, the organization founded by Thomas in 1970. Materials in the collection include scrapbooks, trial transcripts, newsclippings, photographs, and correspondence, (including four letters from Coretta Scott King located in the WCBEDL correspondence file).

Charles W. Cares, Jr. was a professor of landscape architecture in the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan from 1959 to 1986. He was also Director of the Nichols Arboretum from 1968 to 1986. This collection consists of landscape drawings, drafted in pencil (and occasionally colored), of residences and parks in the Ann Arbor area and select projects outside of Ann Arbor that have special significance.

This collection covers most of Cares' professional career, although it is only a reflection of his style of work, and not a comprehensive view. The drawings are mostly of residential properties, although the collection also covers a few public parks, office buildings, and other non-residential buildings. The majority of the designs are in pencil, with a select few in ink or coloring materials (which are not consistently used throughout his career.) The paper used for the drawings includes tracing paper, drafting paper, and blueprint paper.

Cares' style of drawing is very soft, since he often worked in pencil and rarely used inks or colors for his drawings. However, the complexity of his projects could range from a simple sketch to a highly detailed mapping of a landscape, with labels indicating which trees and flora were to be placed in a given location. Occasionally a list of the plants to be used at the site would be provided along with the drawing. Cares was very consistent in labeling his projects, where information was commonly placed in the lower right corner of the drawing, such as the owner's name, site name, or site address (house number, street name, town name), as well as the date of the project.

The scope of this collection includes projects that were completed in the Ann Arbor area, with the exception of projects bearing special significance (see the "Other (Non-Ann Arbor)" folder.) The drawings were not received in any discernible order. As such they have been broadly categorized by location, and there is no item level control of the drawings. The collection consists of seven oversize folders.

Professor of law at University of Michigan, chairman of the University's sesquicentennial celebration, Dean of the Wayne State University Law School, U.S. District Judge. papers include correspondence and other papers concerning his academic career, legal interests, and the administration and preparation for the sesquicentennial celebration; also correspondence and reports relating to his service on such judicial committees as the Advisory Committee on Rules of Evidence, National Conference Committee on Uniform State Laws, the Ethics Committee of the American Bar Association; and materials concerning his work with the Michigan Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurance program

The Charles W. Joiner papers include correspondence and other papers concerning his academic career, legal interests, and the administration and preparation for the University of Michigan Sesquicentennial celebration; also correspondence and reports relating to his service on such judicial committees as the Advisory Committee on Rules of Evidence, National Conference Committee on Uniform State Laws, the Ethics Committee of the American Bar Association; and materials concerning his work with the Michigan Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurance program. The papers are organized into two series: Correspondence, 1947-1964, and Subject files. The correspondence is arranged chronologically. Subject files include material relating to his teaching and research, professional activities, and the University Sesquicentennial Committee.

Architect based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Project files relate to work with George Brigham and his system of constructing prefabricated homes, 1944-1947; files relating to design and construction of Huron High School in Ann Arbor; other projects concern design of mobile home parks and other Michigan school buildings.

The collection is arranged into five series, Brigham Building System, Lane Projects, Huron High School, Personal and World War II Military Service. The series include the many projects that Charles Wesley Lane worked on during his architectural career and some materials from his military service as well. The collection is composed of photographs, slides, microfilm, microfiche and prints. The researcher will be interested in the variety of architectural projects in which Lane was involved, which include schools, mobile homes, churches, and other types of structures. A small number of photographs of Nagasaki after the atomic bomb may also be of interest.

Civic activist opposed to tax limitation programs and initiatives and supportive of maintaining existing tax rates and levels of state services. Files detailing her work with such organizations as Citizens Opposed to Slick Tax Schemes, Citizens to Save Our State, Promote Michigan, and Michigan Tax Information Council.

The Charlotte Copp papers consist of 0.5 linear feet of material arranged according to the ballot campaigns or organizations in which she was involved: Michigan Taxpayers Vote "No" on Proposal C; Citizens Advisory Committee to Civil Service Commission; Citizens Opposed to Slick Tax Schemes; Citizens to Save Our State; Promote Michigan, and Michigan Tax Information Council. The bulk of the material is in the Citizens Opposed to Slick Tax Schemes and Citizens to Save Our State files; this reflects Copp's more active involvement in these two anti-tax limitation campaigns. The materials in the other series are thinner as the campaigns seemed to hold less sense of immediacy for Copp.

The materials consist of agendas, minutes, correspondence, financial reports, background reports, and press releases. They are arrayed alphabetically by type of material within each series. As Copp's most active level of involvement was as treasurer, the financial reports and budgets are illuminating of the widespread support these campaigns enjoyed even during downturns of the state's economic cycle. The minutes and correspondence also shed light on the inner workings of well-funded, well-organized, grass-roots organizations.

Since periodic efforts to pass tax limitations or tax rollbacks arise on the Michigan political scene during the 1970s and 1980s, various individuals, groups, and coalitions rose to oppose what they sensed to be short-sighted fiscal policy. Charlotte Copp was one such individual, but her involvement is reflected in the activity of larger groups. To gain a fuller understanding of Copp's political involvement, one should examine the League of Women Voters collections (containing material detailing Copp's presidency of that organization). To gain a more extensive grasp of the anti-tax limitation efforts of 1984, one should consult the Promote Michigan Committee collection.

Papers of Charlotte Langlands (1927-), member of Collegiate Sorosis. It includes records of Collegiate Sorosis, photographs, scrapbooks, and books. The collection also contains items from Langlands' first husband, Thomas Kuzma, that relate to his friendship with Tom Harmon.

The bulk of the collection contains photographs and records of Collegiate Sorosis. In addition, there are photographs and items related to Tom Kuzma and his friendship with Tom Harmon. The collection is divided into two series: Collegiate Sorosis and Thomas Kuzma.

Aviator, civilian personnel officer with the U.S. Air Force; chronological and topical files, audio-visual materials, and clippings and scrapbooks.

The Chauncey Spencer collection is an accumulation of personal materials - correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, sound and video recordings - relating to his lifelong interest in aviation, his career with the military, and the career of his mother, poetess Anne Spencer.

Cooperative leader and liberal activist. Topical files and photographs relating to his work with an Americanization program for immigrants in Akron, Ohio in the 1920s; his involvement in the National Farmers Union, including radio transcripts of programs presented by the North Dakota Farmers Union; and his interest in the Danish folk school movement and the administration of Ashland College in Grant, Michigan; also material concerning the American Friends Service Committee, the Grant Community Church, pacifism, economic cooperatives, and other social and political liberal causes.

The papers of Chester Graham reflect the multifaceted activities of his career. The papers are arranged in a single alphabetical series, without regard to the chronological relationship between the various folders. Thus material from the late 1970s can be found next to material from the 1920s. In general, folder material begins whenever Graham first became involved with the subject and continues more or less to the present, although material becomes far more ephemeral as time passes and Graham's primary concerns shift to other subjects.

The largest bodies of material deal with Americanization in Akron, Ashland College, the National Farmers Union, and Graham's radio transcripts. There is also a body of material dealing with the Society of Friends and the organization's various political and social activities.

Saginaw and Chesaning, Michigan newspaperman; member of the Michigan Legislature; founder of the Chesaning Showboat, an important Michigan tourist attraction. Biographical material; correspondence, 1941-1990, including letters about Howell written after his death; travel diaries, 1923-1952; Chesaning Showboat file; newspaper clippings; and photographs.

The Papers of Chester M. Howell measure .25 linear feet and are contained in three series: Papers, Newspaper Clippings, and Photographs.

The Papers series is comprised o Biographical Material, Correspondence, travel Diaries, and Chesaning Showboat files. The Correspondence (1941-1990) file includes some letters written after Chester M. Howell's death that recount his life and activities.

The Newspaper Clippings series contains articles by and about Howell, especially relating to the Chesaning Showboat and the Chesaning Argus newspaper.

The Photographs series includes images of Saginaw, Michigan and of Howell's newspaper activities in Saginaw and Chesaning; photographs taken while a state legislator; photos of Mackinac Bridge; and miscellaneous personal photos.

Researchers should note that other than the photographs there is not much material relating to Howell's political life. The material predominantly relates to the Chesaning Showboat and the Chesaning Argus.

Papers of Chia-Shun Yih, internationally respected scientist and Stephen P. Timoshenko Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Fluid Mechanics at the University of Michigan. Series in the collection are Biographical, Correspondence, Research and Writings, and Visual Materials.

The Chia-Shun Yih collection represents the life and work of an internationally known scientist who spent a significant portion of his career at the University of Michigan. The papers offer the most richness to those researchers interested in mechanics and hydraulics, a field in which Yih made major contributions, but they also include contain glimpses into the broad range of interests he cultivated throughout the years in literature and the arts.