Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

The Institute for Social Research (ISR), an interdisciplinary center for social science research, was created in 1949 when the Research Center for Group Dynamics (founded at Massachusetts Institute of Technology) joined the university's Survey Research Center. ISR houses the Center for Political Studies (CPS), Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), Population Studies Center (PSC), Research Center for Group Dynamics (RCGD), and the Survey Research Center (SRC). Records document the founding and development of ISR and its related centers and programs and include audiovisual materials, minutes, correspondence, topical files, reports, and proposals. Administrative records include governance committees and director's files. Records of the Program for Research on Black Americans (PRBA) consist of grant proposals, survey instruments, focus group transcriptions, correspondence, bulletins, and internal governance records created under the auspices of PRBA and its various projects. Records of the Research Center for Group Dynamics are primarily the papers of director Kurt Lewin, including manuscripts and talks. Survey Research Center records consist largely of proposal and project files, although they also include faculty oral histories. The records of the Population Studies Center consist of lectures from its founder, Dr. Ronald Freedman, while the Center for Political Studies contains one binder of material from the American National Election Survey conducted in 1980.

The Institute for Social Research (ISR) records are dated from 1936-2017 (scattered) and consist of 143.8 linear feet (in 146 boxes) and digital files (online). Materials in this record group include audiovisual material, committee files (which include minutes and agendas), correspondence, directors' files, oral histories, publications, reports, and topical files. These records document the founding and subsequent development of ISR as well as its centers and programs, particularly the Program for Research on Black Americans (PRBA) and the Survey Research Center (SRC). The records also provide an overview of ISR's administration and the evolution of social science survey research methodology.

There are gaps in the records, which can be addressed in part through the papers of Rensis Likert, Angus Campbell, Dorwin P. Cartwright, and Philip E. Converse—all of which are held at the Bentley Historical Library (BHL). When viewed in conjunction with other ISR-related personal papers in the Bentley Historical Library, a rich and detailed picture of the growth of ISR as a center and the social science research discipline emerges.

The Inter-Cooperative Council at Ann Arbor is an organization established to coordinate the activities of cooperative houses founded and operated by University of Michigan students. Their records are comprised of minutes, office files, and newsletters, as well as organization-level topices and related research. The collection also contains records of student cooperative, the Socialist House.

The records of the ICC at Ann Arbor cover the years 1932 to 2012 and are divided into ten series: Minutes, Office Files, Printed Materials, Events and Programs, Organizational Topical Files, Correspondence Files, Collected Research Materials, House Records, External Organizations, and Audio-Visual Materials.

Researchers should note that because of the differences between ICC office organizational systems and the individual processing archivists working on the collection, topics and materials might be found in multiple series.

Social and political activist whose main causes included access to high quality health care for marginalized ethnic and racial groups and the elderly, homelessness, hunger, job skills training, and Democratic political activism. Papers are comprised of materials documenting her professional and personal life after the passing of her husband, Roger Warren Barney, in 1978. Materials include meeting minutes, notes, correspondence, reports, awards, photographs, and family materials.

The Jane L. Barney papers are comprised of materials documenting her professional and personal life. The Professional Files include organization meeting minutes, correspondence, notes, flyers, manuals, press articles, and personnel files, as well as other administrative papers and reports for the organizations she worked to establish, develop, and run. Also found here are speeches, papers relevant to her work with churches, marginalized ethnic and racial groups, and gerontology.

Jane L. Barney's personal papers largely include correspondence with friends, co-workers, politicians, and family, as well as notebooks, diplomas, hospital and assisted living documentation, and photographs.

John Dingell, Jr. was Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan and longest-serving member in congressional history, 1955-2015. Dingell was the son of John Dingell, Sr. (Democratic congressman from Michigan's 15th district, 1933-1955), and husband of Debbie Dingell, who succeeded him as Representative of Michigan's 12th district in 2015. The collection documents John Dingell, Jr.'s election campaigns and his 59-year tenure in Congress. Records include legislative files, correspondence, speeches, scrapbooks, press clippings, photographs, and audiovisual materials.

The collection documents John D. Dingell, Jr.'s political career including his 59 years in the United States House of Representatives (1955-2015). The papers include campaign materials documenting Dingell's 29 elections, Democratic National Committee and Michigan Democratic Party materials, and redistricting in Michigan.

The bulk of the papers document Dingell's tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives including legislative files on topics such as civil rights, healthcare, insurance, Social Security, Medicare, environmental issues, endangered species, the auto industry, agriculture, taxes, and trade; administrative office files including correspondence, schedules, voting records, and legislative planning; and photographs, press clippings, scrapbooks, and speeches.

The collection includes born-digital records, as well as 254 pieces of audiovisual material, described in the Container Listing at the item level. Dingell's member website, campaign website, as well as his personal Twitter account are cataloged separately.

Detroit social activist involved in GLBT organizations and activities. The collection consists of correspondence, essays and articles, e-mails, conference materials, organizational records, publications and articles on the subjects of GLBT history, gay civil rights, gay marriage, interracial and interfaith marriage, GLBT families, sexual and gender equality, violence against GLBT persons, religion and homosexuality, gay clergy, clergy with AIDS, and violence against GLBT persons. The collection also includes materials related to the development of public transportation in the Detroit Metropolitan area; election campaigns and vote suppression of ethnic minorities; and U.S. and international politics and economy.

The collection, spanning 40 years of John Kavanaugh's activism, documents both the history and challenges faced by the Michigan and national GLBT community, as well issues facing the area's racial and ethnic minorities. Of most value, the collection provides documentation regarding the position of various denominations on questions of homosexuality and gay and interracial marriage; racial and ethnic discrimination, and voters' suppression based on race and ethnicity. Kavanaugh's correspondence includes letters and hard copies of e-mails, many of them sent to individual clergy and to groups of citizens. His writings are sometimes represented in form of a self-published newsletter or e-newsletter (e.g. The bead reader and The missing lines). The collection contains a great number of non-mainstream publications, as well as articles and clippings from obscure and rare periodicals. The collection also includes a significant amount of material on the subject of public transit in Michigan, specifically, in the city of Detroit.

The collection is organized into five series: Issues; Black and White Men Together; Religion; Public Transit; and Digital materials.

Papers of Josh Mack, an African American education specialist, civic leader, and former Detroit Board of Education member. The collection includes biographical materials, articles and press releases, correspondence (including some from former Michigan politicians), curriculum guidelines from the Wayne County Attention Centers, a small amount of photographs, an audio recording of a Testimonial event, a digital file comprising of several television interviews and news clips, and other collected materials pertaining to Mack's professional career and civic duties.

The collection primarily focuses on Mack's tenure as an education specialist, Detroit Board of Education member, and as a civic leader, particularly in Detroit's North End neighborhood.

Records include biographical materials, articles and press releases about Mack's professional career and civic activities, correspondence, writings, curriculum materials --primarily from Mack's tenure as an administrative coordinator with the Wayne County Attention Centers,--and collected items pertaining to Mack's professional activities and his interest in education, job training, and counseling services for minorities. Also included several digital news clips and interviews.

Owner and operator of the Shaman Drum Bookshop, a noted independent bookstore in Ann Arbor, Mich. that gained national recognition and regularly hosted leading contemporary American writers from 1981 until its closure in 2009. Collection includes business records, articles about the bookselling industry, press coverage, photographs, printed broadsides, catalogs, store newsletters and posters documenting events at the Shaman Drum. Also contains records of Pohrt's other business affiliations and involvement in local cultural initiatives such as the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair and the Ann Arbor Book Festival.

The Karl Pohrt papers consist of materials relating to Pohrt's personal life, education, teaching, business ventures, and involvement in professional associations and community initiatives. Photographs, personal writings, signed broadsides, and correspondence document Pohrt's contact and friendships with writers and academics. In addition, the Pohrt papers include press articles and documentation from meetings providing a view into the effects of online retail on the bookselling industry.

Feminist, active in various women's rights organizations; biographical information files relating to involvement with ERAmerica or W.O.M.E.N. (Women Organized to Meet Existing Needs)

The Laura Carter Callow papers document her career as an advocate for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and her involvement in such organizations as ERAmerica and W.O.M.E.N (Women Organized to Meet Existing Needs). The papers are divided into three series: Personal, ERAmerica and W.O.M.E.N.

Materials surrounding the career of Jewish American politician, women's rights advocate, and the University of Michigan alumna (1968) Maxine L. Berman who served in the Michigan House of Representatives between 1982 and 1996. The collection contains biographical information, correspondence, legislative documents, collected publications, speeches, an audio recording of an interview, and other materials on subjects such as women's health and reproductive rights, education reform, civil rights, election law, and fiscal concerns.

This collection primarily focuses on Berman's political career during her tenure with the Michigan House of Representatives from 1982 to 1996. Biographical materials include an audio interview of Berman discussing her experience as a delegate to the 1976 Democratic National Convention, materials pertaining to her book The Only Boobs in the House Are Men: A Veteran Woman Legislator Lifts the Lid on Politics Macho Style, photographs, and numerous articles highlighting her career, as well as women in politics.

The collection also includes correspondence, publications, reports, speeches, and other materials primarily focusing on civil rights, education reform, election law, fiscal concerns, and women's health and reproductive rights. Of particular note are materials pertaining to the death penalty and assisted suicide; the performance, curriculum, and operation of charter schools; legislative redistricting; voter registration and campaign finance reform; financial mismanagement at the House Fiscal Agency; the Balanced Budget Amendment; and issues surrounding women's health and reproductive rights including the legalization of abortion and related issues surrounding informed and parental consent.

Other materials in the collection touch upon issues surrounding informed consent for breast cancer treatment options, the accreditation of mammography facilities in Michigan, flag burning, and family values, including materials focusing on the Michigan Department of Social Service's (DSS) attempt to reunite incest victims with their offenders.

The Michigan Citizen was a weekly African American newspaper published from 1978 to 2014, and distributed in Benton Harbor, the City of Highland Park, and the City of Detroit, Michigan. The Michigan Citizen Records consist of the weekly issues of the Michigan Citizen newspaper, the subject files used by the newspaper staff, reporter's notes, correspondence written to the editor of the Michigan Citizen, and hundreds of photographs.

The Michigan Citizen Records document various points of political, social, and economic history and events, relating to African Americans, that took place in southern Michigan from 1978-2015, with specific focuses on the cities of Benton Harbor, Detroit, and Highland Park.