Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

The A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (TC; also referred to as Taubman College) was established in 1931 as the College of Architecture. However, courses in architecture have been offered at the University of Michigan since 1876, and a department of architecture, formed in 1913, preceded the creation of the college. Since its formation, TC has offered courses and programs in several areas, including landscape architecture, urban planning, urban design, real estate, and, of course, architecture. The record group includes dean's administrative files and correspondence, other administrator files, meeting minutes, department and program files, materials from the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), lectures and other documentation on the Raoul Wallenberg lecture hosted by the college, and several photographs and negatives of the college and TC-related events.

The A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (University of Michigan), records document the teaching of architecture and design at the University of Michigan beginning in 1878. The records include administrative files, correspondence committee minutes, reports, photographs and architectural drawings. The records have been received in a number of separate accessions which may include material that continues or complements record series from a previous accession or may overlap chronologically with previous accessions. This finding aid reflects the intellectual structure of the records by bringing like material together across accessions. As a consequence, in the container listing box numbers will not necessarily be in consecutive order.

The records are organized in the following principal series:

1. Minutes of Meetings
2. Dean's Administrative Files
3. National Architectural Accrediting Board
4. Miscellaneous (correspondence and select files)
5. Raoul. G. Wallenberg
6. Dean's Correspondence
7. Doctoral Program Files
8. Topical Files
9. Administrative Files
10. Architectural Drawings
11. Photographs and Negatives
12. Art and Architecture Building Renovations
13. Department of Urban Planning
14. Audio-Visual Material
15. Articles, Reports and Speeches
16. Artifacts
17. Archived School of Architecture Website

Albert Kahn was a Detroit-based architect, active from 1896 to 1942. He founded the firm, Albert Kahn Associated Architects & Engineers, which is today known as Albert Kahn Associates, Inc. He was best known for his industrial design work, including the Ford Motor Company's Highland Park and River Rouge plants; numerous commercial buildings in Detroit such as the Fisher Building, Detroit Athletic Club, and General Motors Building; and much of the University of Michigan's Central Campus, including Angell Hall, the Clements Library, and Hill Auditorium, as well as the Willow Run Bomber Plant near Ann Arbor, Michigan. After Kahn's death in 1942, his architectural firm, Albert Kahn Associates, Inc., has continued to be a worldwide leader in the design of factory buildings that enhance the manufacturing process. The Albert Kahn Associates records are composed of materials produced by Albert Kahn the architect, as well as materials produced by his firm, Albert Kahn Associates, Inc., and include correspondence, company files, photographs, published materials, and architectural drawings.

The Albert Kahn Associates records offer researchers the opportunity to study the correspondence, transcripts of speeches, photographs, and architectural drawings of the preeminent, American, industrial architect, Albert Kahn, and his firm, Albert Kahn Associates, Inc. On March 21, 2003 (the 134th anniversary of Albert Kahn's birthday), Albert Kahn Associates, Inc. (AKA) donated this collection to the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan to ensure the conservation and accessibility of these records. Through this gift, AKA has shown its commitment to preserving the legacy of Kahn, whose factories on five continents influenced the development of industrial architecture and whose commercial, residential and institutional buildings define the character of Detroit and the University of Michigan today. The collection encompasses 166 linear feet (in 180 boxes) of correspondence, transcripts of speeches, newspaper and journal articles, company files, audiovisual materials, photographs and slides, as well as 90 leather portfolios containing photographs of completed buildings, 22 albums of sample architectural materials, 131 books, and 12,731 architectural drawings in 45 flat-file drawers and 114 oversize tubes.

The narrative and visual materials in the collection illuminate the breadth of Kahn's career and highlight the work of his architectural firm, Albert Kahn Associates, Inc., which continued to develop projects after his death, and remains a living institution. In pairing the textual materials with the photographs and architectural drawings associated with Kahn's projects, this collection offers a rich perspective on the master architect himself, illuminating his personal views on his own architecture and its place in a changing and often tumultuous world.

Plymouth, Michigan based architect, active 1946-1997, and former University of Michigan College of Architecture and Design instructor (1956-1997), known for his design work, and association with architect and former University of Michigan Dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning Robert C. Metcalf. Balogh's work included approximately 150 residential, institutional, and commercial projects in Michigan, Illinois, and Arizona. The papers in this collection include correspondence, slides and photographs, clippings, teaching materials, project files, and architectural drawings.

The papers of Tivadar Balogh include correspondence, slides and photographs, clippings, teaching materials, project files, and architectural drawings. The papers are organized into five series: Audio-Visual, Biographical Materials, Office Files, Teaching, and Drawings.

Architect, professor and dean of the College of Architecture and Design of the University of Michigan. Professional papers, notebooks, sketches and architectural plans, and files on specific building projects, including work on the Flint campus of the University of Michigan, automobile parking structures, and miscellaneous Ann Arbor and University of Michigan buildings; also records of various state and national architectural accreditation and registration boards, especially the Michigan State Board of Registration for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors; and photographs.

The collection has been divided into the following series: Biographical materials; Correspondence; Writings; Organizations; Projects; Miscellaneous; Diaries and other bound materials; and Photographs.

The Bentley Historical Library houses the Michigan Historical collections, which documents the history of Michigan; and the University Archives and Records Program, which maintains the historical record of the University of Michigan. Founded in 1935 as the Michigan Historical Collections, directors of the library include Lewis G. Vander Velde, F. Clever Bald, Robert M. Warner, Francis X. Blouin, Jr., and Terrence J. McDonald. The records include administrative files, correspondence, meeting materials, files on exhibits, archived websites, images, audio-visual media, and documentation of special projects such as the Vatican Archives project.

The records of the Bentley Historical Library were received in six main accessions 1991, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2014. Together the records comprise 79 linear feet, plus two oversize boxes, and oversize folder, three flat file drawers, and more than 16 GB of data spanning the years 1935-2014. The researcher should consult the summary box list on page vii for a quick overview of the materials in the collection.

Michigan-based architect, founder of Gunnar Birkerts and Associates, professor in the University of Michigan College of Architecture and Urban Planning. The collection is comprised of six series: Personal papers, Professional papers, Faculty papers, Project records, Personal Project Files and Personal Correspondence and Files. Personal papers includes biographical information, family photographs, early architectural drawings, and course notebooks and project drawings completed while a student at the Technische Hochschule Stuttgart. Professional papers includes transcripts and notes of speeches, lectures and seminars (many of these are also available on audiotapes; some are available on videocassettes). Also included are correspondence, awards, travel diaries with conceptual drawings, newspaper and journal articles and photographs. Faculty papers include course and other materials relating to his career as professor at the University of Michigan College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Project files contains textual files, photographs, and conceptual drawings associated with 122 of the buildings and projects designed by Birkerts. Scanned images of some conceptual drawings are available online.

The Gunnar Birkerts Collection offers researchers the opportunity to study the personal, professional and faculty papers and conceptual sketches of one of the masters of American modern architecture, whose career spans the second half of the twentieth century. The collection encompasses 15 linear feet of Birkerts' student work, notes and transcripts of speeches, lectures and interviews, video and audio tapes, writings, correspondence, awards, travel diaries, academic course materials, photographs and project records. Perhaps the greatest significance of this collection lies in its presentation of over 1900 drawings of 122 buildings and projects by the architect's own hand, many of which are valuable, early conceptual sketches.

In its pairing of narrative and visual documents, the Gunnar Birkerts Collection offers a rich perspective on the architect himself, illuminating his views on the creative process and the resulting conceptual designs which have defined his expressive architecture over his illustrious fifty-plus-year career. The Gunnar Birkerts Collection is the architect's deeply personal legacy. He recognizes that, while some of his buildings may be demolished over time, his original conceptual designs on paper are conserved here for future generations to study and enjoy. To this end, he has endowed the Gunnar Birkerts Collection to ensure that his drawings will be preserved and that his place in architectural history can be studied and understood.

The Gunnar Birkerts Collection is comprised of six series: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Faculty Papers, Project Records, Personal Project Files and Personal Correspondence and Files. The narrative and visual documents in these series illuminate the full breadth of the architect's life and work, from his early years as a student at the Technische Hochschule in Stuttgart, Germany in the 1940s to his career in Michigan as an internationally acclaimed architect, esteemed design professor and global lecturer from the early 1950s to the present.

Landscape designers based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Planting and landscape plans, elevation drawings, and various other sketches for projects designed as students at the University of Michigan and subsequently for clients in Ann Arbor, Michigan and other residences in southeastern Michigan; files relating to Jessie Bourquin's work with the Michigan Department of Economic Expansion and Alice Bourquin's work with the Michigan Department of Transportation; also papers relating to joint projects and activities, including their association with Jens Jensen and their Hillwood subdivision in Ann Arbor; and photographs.

The Bourquin collection consists of landscape architectural drawings, professional papers, and visual materials documenting the careers of Alice and Jessie Bourquin. The collection has been divided into the following series: Landscape Architectural Drawings; Jessie Bourquin Papers; Alice Bourquin Papers; Joint Projects and Activities; Hillwood Subdivision; and Photographs and other Visual Materials.

Architect; professor of architecture at the University of Michigan. Client files, topical file, and miscellaneous presentation drawings.

The George Brigham collection consists of three linear feet and 10 oversize drawers of architectural drawings, photographs, correspondence, and subject files relating to his career as a practicing architect in southeastern Michigan (mainly Ann Arbor), but also including some materials when he was based in Pasadena, California.

The collection has been arranged into five series: Client Files; Client Drawings Files; Prefabrication Drawings Files; Miscellaneous Drawings Files; and Topical Files

The Client Files and the Topical Files have been placed together in the collection (boxes 1-3). The Client Drawings Files, the Prefabrication Drawings Files, and the Miscellaneous Drawings Files, consisting of oversized architectural materials, have been placed together in flat storage drawers.

The Client Files and the Client Drawings Files will be discussed here together as the distinction between them is primarily one of size rather than content. Each of these series is arranged alphabetically by the name of the client for whom Brigham either designed a structure (mainly private residences), additions to existing structures, or proposed a design for which the structure was never built. As a rule, the Client Files consist of photographs, specifications, smaller original drawings, correspondence, and other materials relating either to the project or to the client, while the Client Drawings Files, as the name states, consists of the original designs from conception to final revisions as given to the contractor. There is some mixing of materials between the two series with an occasional oversize photograph located in the Client Drawings Files and with some smaller-sized drawings located in the Client Files. The researcher should also note that while the lists of names for the two series are basically the same they are not identical. The disparities depend upon whether a structure was actually built or not and whether all of the materials have survived. As a group, these two series document Brigham's creative process from first contact with a client through to the construction phase. The series also documents the introduction of a new style of domestic architecture into the Ann Arbor community, particularly areas where the faculty of the University of Michigan resided such as Barton Hills.

The Prefabrication Drawings Files and the Miscellaneous Drawings Files are not client-based files and instead concern Brigham's design innovations in the area of low-cost, prefabricated structures. Unfortunately with the passage of time and the transfer of material about, the original order of these drawings has been lost. An attempt has been made to put the drawings into a subject arrangement but there are still many items imprecisely identified or fragments that were once part of a series of drawings. Some identification is of course possible with clearly defined units of material carrying such labels as 12 panel recreation shelter, a square folding portable shelter and plank wall construction. The largest grouping of drawings here is for Brigham's modular designs, which he called "Unit Built Structures." Perhaps the most significant portion of the Miscellaneous Drawings series relates to the Youtz Unit System of building on which Brigham worked during World War II.

The final series - Topical Files - contain a miscellanea of personal materials, speeches and articles, subject files on his general interest in architectural design. Of interest here in this series are several files relating to Brigham's work with Philip Youtz and his design work on the Youtz Unit House. As mentioned previously, there are also complementary drawings on the Youtz system.

Republican mayor of Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1945-1957. The collection consists of topical files on Ann Arbor municipal issues, business records from his real estate and automobile sales ventures, scrapbooks, and photographs

The Brown papers have been arranged into the following series: Topical files; Other mayoralty papers (relating primarily to off-street parking); Scrapbooks; Business records; and Photographs. The Topical files are the largest portion of the collection and include correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, and miscellanea concerning such issues as housing, the new city charter, off-street parking, the new Veterans Administration Hospital, planning for a new city hall, Brown's election campaigns, and the support given by Brown to Albert E. Cobo in his campaign for governor of Michigan in 1956. The scrapbooks, 1945-1962, contain newspaper clippings and other materials relating to his mayoralty.

Jonathan W. Bulkley (1938-2019) was the University of Michigan's Professor Emeritus of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Peter M. Wege Endowed Professor Emeritus of Sustainable Systems in the School of Natural Resources and Environment (now the School for Environment and Sustainability). Bulkley's expertise in water resource management and water policy was sought in numerous lawsuits over the course of his career, most notably as special master (1978-1979) and monitor (1979-2009) in several cases regarding the failure of various Michigan organizations to comply with iterations of the 1972 Clean Water Act. He was also a member of the Ann Arbor, Mich. Housing Commission and served as its president in 1974-1976. This collection primarily documents Bulkley's legal and other professional activities and includes architectural drawings, clippings, correspondence, court proceedings and testimony, reports, legal documents, committee and meeting files, operating logs, notes, publications, and photographs. A small portion of records relates to Bulkley's work on the Ann Arbor Housing Commission. These records include records of meetings, policy statements, and staff materials documenting the work of the commission.

The Jonathan W. Bulkley papers primarily document Bulkley's involvement in several legal cases, including the 1977 lawsuit United States v. The City of Detroit (case number 77-71100) and the 1987 lawsuitU.S. v. Wayne County (case number 87-70992), both presided over by Judge John Feikens. These lawsuits concerned the failure of both the City of Detroit and Wayne County's wastewater treatment plants to adhere to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and Clean Water Act. Judge Feikens was lauded for his handling of these cases, as he focused on negotiation and settlement, rather than unilateral judgement; the cases were resolved through complex consent judgements that were amended over time.

This collection also documents Bulkley's involvement in the Ann Arbor Housing Commission as well as various other academic and professional work he undertook throughout his career. Examples include his work in various smaller lawsuits, including one brought against the City of Toledo, Ohio by the U.S. (civil action number 3:91:CV7646), his involvement in the controversy over the removal of the Huron River's Argo Dam, and his work with the Michigan Environmental Science Board (MESB).

Materials in this collection include correspondence, maps, memos, reports, articles and clippings, notes, papers, court proceedings, testimony, and other legal materials, committee and meeting files, operating logs, course notes, architectural drawings, subject files, project plans, and photographs.

Researchers should note that due to the complex and intermingled nature of the various legal cases, some materials relating to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) may be found in the Rouge River Watershed (RRW) series, and vice versa. When possible, materials have been kept in Bulkley's original groupings, and have been arranged in a rough chronological order.