Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Letters from relatives in New York, New Jersey and Iowa discussing in part plans to migrate westward; letter, 1852, recounting missionary life in India; Civil War letters from Townsend M. Luce (Co. F., Third Michigan Infantry), Rufus Cheney (Co. D, 2nd Michigan Cavalry), Charles O. Reed (probably Co. A, 4th Michigan Cavalry), Philip Segur (Co. A, 7th Michigan Cavalry), and one tentatively identified as Albert H. Freeman (Battery B, 1st Michigan Light Artillery); and miscellanea.

Binkowski was a district judge from Warren, Michigan who collected extensively about Democratic politics and the Polish American community in Michigan. The collection includes materials collected by Binkowski on Democratic politics, the Polish community in Michigan, the cities of Detroit, Warren, and Hamtramck, Michigan, and collected letters, postage covers, and stamps.

The collection includes materials collected by Binkowski on Democratic politics, the Polish community in Michigan, the cities of Detroit, Warren, and Hamtramck, Michigan history in general, and collected letters, postage covers, and stamps. Digital materials include video files and an archived website. Photographs include images of strike violence, 1934-1938, at various Michigan firms; photos of Polish American public figures and organizations, also photos of political meetings and elected officials. Audio cassettes mostly contain recorded interviews with Polish American political figures.

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.

The First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor, Michigan, was organized and established on March 23, 1847. Records include administrative files, subject files, published material, and both visual and audio-material.

The records of the First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor have been divided into the following series: History/Background Information; Administration; Financial Records; Church Organizations; Topical Files; Miscellaneous later records; Photographs; Publications; Phonograph records; and Reverend Terry N. Smith. The records document church administration, membership activities, and the relationship of the church to its denomination and to other area churches. Included are records of communicants, baptisms and marriages (1873-1905); pew subscriptions and accounts (1878-1939) and other membership information; church bulletins and newsletters; minutes and reports of the board of trustees, board of deacons, church council, and various subcommittees; records of men's and women's church groups such as the King's Daughters, the Ladies Aid Society, the Women's Fellowship Society, and the Women's Foreign Missionary Society; records relating to the church's affiliation with the Ann Arbor-Washtenaw Council of Churches; files pertaining to the proposed merger of the Evangelical and Reformed Church with the Congregational Church in the 1950s; and materials documenting the work of Reverend Terry N. Smith.

The Harmonie Society of Detroit, also known as the Harmonie Club of Detroit, was an organization that allowed German American members of the Detroit community the opportunity to come together and sing traditional German music. The building, which still stands at 267 East Grand River, became a gathering place for German Americans. The collection consists of organizational records, sheet music and songbooks used by the members of the club. Also included are photographs, audio recordings, and programs from German music festivals.

The materials within the Harmonie Society of Detroit (or, the Harmonie Club) records cover the organizations operations and history. The bulk of the collection consists of sheet music that was used by the Society members.

Papers of David M. Dennison, professor of physics at the University of Michigan; contain lecture notes and exam materials, correspondence, speeches, files relating to research in theoretical physics, University of Michigan and travel files.

The David M. Dennison Papers contain both the personal correspondence of the Dennison family and items relating to David M. Dennison's research and teaching while at the University of Michigan.

The first part of the collection is correspondence from 1894-1896 from James Lutheran Dennison and his wife to their son Walter Dennison, the father of David M. Dennison. One folder contains correspondence from George Dennison and his wife Nina to his brother Walter Dennison also from the 1890s.

Biographical and personal materials for David M Dennison are comprised of letters from David M. Dennison and his wife, Helen Lenette Johnson, memorial materials from David's death, home finances, and travel information. Family documents in this collection are comprised mostly of his son Edwin's Ph.D. research at the University of Michigan. Dennison's papers include various speeches, articles, and other writings about the physics he was studying, primarily focused on the later part of Dennison's time at the University. Materials from the University of Michigan include lecture notes and exams from the many physics classes Dennison taught. Documents relating to administration of the physics department and David's colleagues are also a part of this collection. Of note is David and Helen's correspondence and connection to the Niels Bohr Institute.

Audio-visual materials in the collection include photographs of David and Helen from the early 1900s through the 1970s. There are also two cassette tapes with recording of talks given by David, as well as photograph negatives and spectroscopic plates, lantern slides depicting astronomical images pertaining to his astro-physics research.

Willis C. Patterson, the first African American professor at the University of Michigan's School of Music, was an active faculty member from 1968 to 1999. He was a professor of voice and associate dean for academic affairs. Patterson directed the Men's Glee Club from 1969 and 1975 and spent summers as a faculty member at the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan. While maintaining an active concert career and fulfilling teaching duties, Patterson organized a Black American Music Symposium and compiled several works on African American composers. Patterson played an active role in securing funding and mentorship for students of color and disadvantaged students both at Michigan and in the Ann Arbor community. The collection includes some biographical material, but focuses mainly on his professional career, musical career, and collection of works by African American composers. It includes correspondence, research, photographs, clippings, publications, and topical files.

The Willis C. Patterson papers include some biographical material, but focuses mainly on his professional career, musical career, and collection of works by African American composers. The collection includes correspondence, publications and research material, photographic material, posters, student records, clippings, and topical files.

University of Michigan Chapter of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society. Records are dated from 1903 to 2002 and include audiovisual material, committee and chronological files, correspondence, membership records, minutes, programs of annual banquets, reports, topical files, and treasurer's records. The records primarily document the activities of the University of Michigan chapter and the involvement of Peggie J. Hollingsworth in Sigma Xi's national organization.

The material in the Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, University of Michigan Chapter records is dated from 1903 to 2002 and includes audiovisual material, committee and chronological files, correspondence, membership records, minutes, programs of annual banquets, reports, topical files, and treasurer's records. The records primarily document the activities of the University of Michigan chapter and the involvement of Peggie J. Hollingsworth in Sigma Xi's national organization.

Singing group established in 1902 as the University of Michigan Girls' Club before changing the name to Women's Glee Club in the 1940s. The group performed on campus and throughout Michigan as well as touring nationally and internationally. The group disbanded in 1953 and was reactivated in 1976. This records include concert programs and posters, fundraising information, correspondence, photographs, audio/visual recordings of performances, newspaper clippings and scrapbooks. Also included are administrative papers including budget information, schedules, rosters and rules.

The Women's Glee Club collection dates from 1903 to 2017 and is comprised of multiple accessions. Because these accessions came with little discernible structure, and because their contents overlapped, they were combined into one collection made up of printed and manuscript materials, as well as posters, scrapbooks, sound and video recordings in a few different formats. The collection has been divided into four series: Audio/Visual Materials, Topical File, Scrapbooks and Concert Posters. The first two series of the collection have been arranged alphabetically by topic, and chronologically within the files. The Scrapbooks series is contained in Box 2, and each scrapbook has retained its original organization.

The Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries began in 1909 as an organization offering food, shelter, and church services to the homeless of Detroit. Since then it has grown in size and scope as it now offers treatment for addiction, mental health services, and more throughout the Detroit Metropolitan area. The bulk of the collection includes project reports, program meeting minutes, photographs, and audio and video recordings relating to the organization. The collection also includes files of the organization's leaders administrators: Chad Audi, Donald DeVos, Barbara Willis, among others.

The Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries records primarily include materials dating from the 1980s up through the 2010s. A portion of the collection documents the early years, between the early and mid-1900s. The collection includes administrative records, project reports, as well as photographs and other publicity material.