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Archives of folklore collected by students in the course "Survey of American Folklore" offered by the University of Michigan Program in American Culture and first taught by Bruce Conforth in 2005. Collected folklore reports compiled by students in American Folklore course based on oral interviews with informants. (Interviews are included on a variety of physical formats--cassettes, microcassettes, CDs, VHS tapes). Reports include essays, transcripts on topics ranging from popular folklore to campus legends and traditions.

The American Culture Folklore and Oral History Archives consists of folklore collection reports prepared by undergraduate students in the American Folklore course offered by the University of Michigan Program in American Culture. Prior to the transfer to the Bentley Historical Library, the folklore reports were organized according to general topics by students in the course and placed in archival folders and boxes under the direction of the professor. That order has been retained. Very often the media and objects included in the report have remained. The collection is meant to directly serve students who may take the Survey of American Folklore class in the future, and indirectly to those who, years from now, may re-discover and research aspects of American folklore that were pertinent during present day.

There is considerable overlap in subject matter between the categories of collecting topics. In the collection, folders for the first set of reports in a series are ordered according to their pre-assigned number (which can be found in the Administrative Files series) and not according to the last name of the student or title. For the second set, however, where no such number exists, the reports are ordered by surname of the student. In this finding aid, only the student's name and title of the report is listed. Further in the series names will appear to be in alphabetical order when the pre-assigned numbers were not continued.

The Frederick Gilbert Bourne collection is made up of correspondence, photographs, printed items, and ephemera related to Bourne, president of the Singer Manufacturing Company and commodore of the New York Yacht Club, and to his son-in-law, Ralph Strassburger, who served as consul general to Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia in 1913.

The Frederick Gilbert Bourne collection is made up of 73 letters, 11 telegrams, 9 photographs, 1 photograph album, 17 invitations and pieces of ephemera, and 22 printed items related to Bourne and to his son-in-law, Ralph Strassburger.

The Correspondence series (84 items) comprises the bulk of the collection, and is arranged by author and recipient. Bourne composed 45 letters to his daughter May and her husband, Ralph Beaver Strassburger, offering financial advice and sharing news of his social and leisure activities near his Long Island home and during his vacations on Jekyll Island, Georgia. These vacations often included hunting trips and yachting excursions. Several letters composed in 1912 and 1913 reflect Strassburger's time as a diplomat in Eastern Europe, with content respecting his father-in-law's efforts to secure him a reassignment following a local cholera outbreak. Bourne commented on the 1912 presidential election and controversial office appointments made by the outgoing Taft administration.

Incoming correspondence to Frederick Gilbert Bourne documents the social lives of his wealthy friends and family members in the early 20th century. Additional correspondence includes personal letters addressed to Ralph and May Strassburger and to Mrs. Emma Bourne from various acquaintances. The telegrams (11) contain messages between members of the Bourne family, most related to travel arrangements.

The Photographs series includes 9 individual photographs and one photograph album. Nine silver gelatin prints and real photo postcards depict Frederick Gilbert Bourne; "The Towers" on Dark Island, New York; and Indian Neck Hall, Bourne's estate in Oakdale, Long Island, New York (including 1 panoramic photo). The photo album, ca. 1904-1914, contains over 100 images of yachts and automobiles, as well as scenes from Jekyll Island, Georgia, and the leisure activities of wealthy Americans (including sailing races).

The Printed Items and Ephemera series includes 6 visiting/calling cards, a menu, 10 invitations, 7 picture postcards, 13 newspaper and magazine clippings, a magazine, and a book. The calling cards and invitations pertain to the activities of Frederick and Emma Bourne; the postcards depict the Bourne's estates and other buildings; and the clippings, magazine, and book concern Frederick Bourne (including yachting articles from The Rider and Driver and The Illustrated Sporting News). One of the calling cards is personally addressed to Bourne by J. Pierpont Morgan. The book is Henry H. Klein's Dynastic America and Those Who Own It (1921). The series also contains a reproduction of a document commending Bourne's lengthy service with the Singer Manufacturing Company (March 7, 1906) and a composite image of Frederick Bourne working in various occupations.

The Media series is comprised of 6 compact discs containing digital images of the Frederick G. Bourne family, the Jekyll Island Club, and Airy Hall Plantation, the South Carolina plantation owned by Robert George Elbert, another of Bourne's sons-in-law. The series also includes a VHS tape with filmed views of Bourne's estates and of Ralph Strassburger's home, transferred from a 28 millimeter reel from 1918.

George Lincoln Rockwell was the founder and leader of the American Nazi Party. This sound recording is from a speech he gave at Hill Auditorium at the University of Michigan in 1964. Everett M. Dirksen was a member of Congress from Illinois. The sound recording also includes a speech he gave on the state of union.

The George Lincoln Rockwell sound recording consists of a single tape reel. The recording consists of a speech George Lincoln Rockwell gave at Hill Auditorium on October 13, 1964. Rockwell's appearance was part of a speakers program sponsored by the Special Projects Committee of the Michigan Union. It stirred considerable controversy on campus on the nature of the American Nazi Party, the limits of academic freedom, and the role of the university in society.

The recording also includes a 1964 speech from Illinois Senator Everett M. Dirksen on the State of Union.

Statewide organization established in part to create an awareness of Michigan's cultural heritage and architectural history and to encourage the preservation and stewardship of important state historic resources. Records document the administration and programs of the Network, including conferences, publications, training sessions, and awards given for local preservation achievements.

These records were assembled and processed in 2004 in preparation for a conference marking the organization's 25th anniversary. The records are organized in five series corresponding to the creators of the records.

Naomi Long Madgett is a prominent poet, educator, and editor, recognized for her significant contribution to African-American letters. Since 1972 she has run, single-handedly, Lotus Press, which publishes poetry by African-Americans and others. The collection documents Madgett's career and the operation of Lotus Press, through correspondence, manuscripts (both by Madgett and by authors published by Lotus Press), ephemera, audiovisual material, and photographs.

The Naomi Long Madgett Papers document the prominent career of Ms. Madgett as a poet and a teacher, and her operation of Lotus Press, which Madgett has run single-handedly for more than 30 years. Thus, the collection makes a good source of insight both into Madgett's own writing and aesthetic sensibility, and into the cultures of lyric poetry and African-American letters in the latter decades of the 20th Century. The bulk of the material covers the 1980s, the 1990s, and the first few years of the 21st century, with Madgett's activities in the 1970s being fairly well represented as well. From the correspondence collected here a vivid picture emerges of Madgett's relationships with some of the authors whose work she published--such as James Emanuel and Gayl Jones--as well as with other authors, such as Gwendolyn Brooks. In addition, correspondence and ephemera evidence the growth of Madgett's own reputation, documenting her many professional activities, awards, and honors over the years. While manuscripts by Madgett herself do not comprise a large part of the collection, the fortunes of one of her most famous poems, "Midway," are documented in detail, and an unpublished autobiography ( Pilgrim Journey) provides an extensive synthesis by the author of her own influences and career (a section of which has been published by Gale's Contemporary Authors' Autobiography Series). Finally, the collection provides a close look at the daily operation, from its inception, of a small literary press.

The Naomi Long Madgett papers have been arranged into nine series: Personal, Writings, General Correspondence, Workshops and Events, Author Files, Business Records, Ephemera, Photographs, and Audiovisual. Books published by Lotus Press, as well as other books and periodicals from Madgett's library, have been catalogued individually and are shelved by call number in the Special Collections Library. Within the collection, however, much material is available from the production of certain Lotus Press books; see below Writings and Author Files.

The collection focuses primarily on John Tailyour, a Scottish merchant who traveled to North America and Jamaica in the 1770s and 1780s to conduct business, before finally returning to his home in Scotland in 1792. His correspondence is heavily business related, centering especially on his trading of slaves, foodstuffs, and sundry goods. It also chronicles the current events in both Jamaica and the Empire. Many of Tailyour's correspondents debate the meaning and merit of the cessation of the slave trade in the late 18th century, as well as the military events of the American and Haitian revolutions, and of the Maroon rebellion of 1795. The papers also include letters between John and his family in Scotland regarding John's mixed-race Jamaican children. He sent three of his children to Britain to be educated, which caused much family concern. Tailyour's account books and financial papers relate both to his Jamaican estate and business, and to his Scottish estate, from which he received added income from rents. The accounts for this estate continue for several decades after Tailyour’s death in 1815. A number of disparate and miscellaneous letters, war records, photographs, and realia that belonged to various members of the extended Tailyour family date mainly from the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.

The collection has three substantial parts. The most comprehensive and cohesive section is the one concerning John Tailyour, until his death in 1815. The second part contains business papers and accounts related to the Tailyour estate. The third part is the least integrated, and consists of a variety of family papers, photographs, military memorabilia, and other miscellanea.

The Tailyour papers date from 1743 to 2003, with the majority of the collection concentrating in the period from 1780 to 1840. Within these bulk dates, are the two largest portions of the collection: the correspondence and accounts of John Tailyour until his death in 1815, and the account records of the Tailyour estate after 1815.

Seven boxes contain John Tailyour's personal and business correspondence of 3757 letters. The letters focus on Tailyour's mercantile activities in the Atlantic market, especially on the slave trade, its profitability, and the threat posed by abolitionists. Tailyour's correspondence also chronicles personal and family matters, including the education and provision for his mixed-race children from Jamaica. In addition, the collection contains four of Tailyour's letter books of 1116 copies of retained letters that cover the period from 1780 to 1810, with the exception of the years 1786-7 and 1793-1803. In these letters, Tailyour's focus is business, particularly as it relates to the slave trade, but he also includes personal messages to his friends and family.

Tailyour's business papers contain 32 loose account records, as well as five account books documenting the years between 1789-90 and 1798-1816. These primarily concern his Kingston and Scottish estates, including the expense accounts and balance sheets for each, as well as the finances of his merchant activities during the period. Finally, 38 documents of probate records for John Tailyour mainly relate to his landed estate.

The latter portion of collection within these bulk years (1815-1840) also contains correspondence and accounts, although the 228 letters are almost entirely concerned with business accounts. These focus on Tailyour's estate after his death, with John's brother Robert as the main correspondent. Additional materials include 1761 business papers that chronicle the finances of the estate, 11 account books, and 6 hunting books. The business letters and account books detail the estate's expense accounts and receipts, as well as the balances for their annual crops, salmon fishing business, and profits derived from the rents collected on their land. The hunting books contain descriptive accounts of the family's hunts and inventories of their hunting dogs.

The third, and final, part of the collection consists of Tailyour family records (bulk post-1815), including 49 letters from various family members in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries and five letterbooks, kept by Alexander Renny Tailyour and Thomas Renny Tailyour. 4 account books are also present kept by Alexander Renny Tailyour and others. Some of the records concern the First World War, including a group of prisoner-of-war records sent from Germany, and journals kept at home that detail news of the war, and daily domestic activities.

The family history documents include 64 genealogical records and 58 probate records. Many of the genealogical items are brief notes on family history, and sketches of the family tree, including a large family tree that spans several hundred years to the present day. The probate records contain one will from the late-nineteenth century, but are otherwise entirely concerned with John Tailyour's estate in the years immediately after his death.

Of the printed records, Memoirs of my Ancestors (1884), by Hardy McCall is a genealogy of the McCall family, and Tailyour's Marykirk and Kirktonhill's estates are described in two printed booklets, one of which is an advertisement for Kirktonhill's sale in the early-twentieth century. Other printed material includes 14 various newspaper clippings concerning the family over the years, and 12 miscellaneous items.

The illustrations, artwork, and poetry comprise 14 fashion engravings, 12 sailing illustrations, a picture of a hunting cabin, two silhouettes, and a royal sketch, all of which date from the early- to mid-nineteenth century. Kenneth R. H. Tailyour's sketches are represented in two sketch books created in his younger years (1917 and 1920). Loose records of poetry, as well as a book of poems from George Taylor, are in this section.

The 221 photographs are of the Tailyour family from the late-nineteenth to the twentieth century, with the majority falling in the early decades of the twentieth century. Most are portraits of the Tailyour family from the early twentieth century, particularly Kenneth R. H. Tailyour.

The 138 pieces of ephemera are, for the most part, postcards of foxhunts during the nineteenth century. These announce the almost-weekly family foxhunts during the middle years of the nineteenth century. The 19 items of realia, include Robert Taylor's quill pen from 1826.

The audio-visual portion of the collection contains three items: a compact disc with an audio interview of John Dann, Director of the Clements Library, on National Public Radio's "The Todd Mundt Show;" a compact disc with photos of the West Indies; and a collection of photographs of the Tailyour papers in their uncatalogued state, and of the festivities surrounding the acquisition of the collection.

Finally, miscellaneous material of 18 pieces includes Robert Taylor's commonplace book of short stories, letters, and poems; the catalogue of Robert Taylor's books; James Tailyour's 1771 style and form book; and a communion book.

Oral interview on two CDs with Virginia Allan conducted by Jean Rainey under the auspices of the Pennsylvania State University Archives as part of its "A Few Good Women" Oral History Collection. Also included is an edited transcript of the interview.

William Kaufman, M.D., Ph.D (Physiology), discovered that niacinamide (vitamin B-3) can effectively treat symptoms in arthritic patients. This collection documents Kaufman's niacinamide research, his work as an author of academic and popular medical articles, and his personal life. William's wife's, Charlotte (Schnee) Kaufman's papers are also included, especially those relating to the Family Life Film Center of Connecticut.

The William and Charlotte Kaufman Papers document many facets of both William and Charlotte Kaufman's professional and personal lives. The collection has been arranged into fourteen series: Niacinamide, Other Medical Topics, Other Writings, General Correspondence, Professional Organizations, Personal, Charlotte Kaufman, Patient Records, Computer disks, Artwork, Audiovisual, Slides, Photographs and Negatives, and Realia.

William Kaufman's research in the therapeutic use of niacinamide and its effect on arthritis is documented by professional correspondence, correspondence with interested members of the public, patient records, published and unpublished writings, notes, photographs and negatives, and relevant writings by others. Kaufman's involvement in various medical organizations and his work as an author of popular and academic articles are also well represented. Drafts of plays and poems, an autobiography, sketchbooks, and paintings show William's creative work as an amateur artist, playwright, and poet. Papers relating to Kaufman's personal life are also present in the collection.

Material relating to Charlotte Kaufman mostly stems from her work as Executive Director of the Family Life Film Center of Connecticut, Inc. A wide range of materials document the workings of the Film Center: correspondence, leaflets, memos, discussion notes, training materials, posters, newspaper clippings, and photographs. Charlotte's activity in other community organizations and her personal life are represented by photographs, schoolwork, biographical material, creative writings, invitations, newspaper clippings, and correspondence.

Series Level Scope and Contents Notes:

The Niacinamide series consists of approximately 4.5 linear feet and provides insight not only into Kaufman's research and writing on niacinamide as a therapy for arthritis but also into his research's impact and general reception. This series includes data such as charts and summary results, but please note that some niacinamide study data is in other parts of the collection: forms recording individual patients' joint measurements are in the Patient Records series and are mostly restricted due to the presence of personally identifiable health information; a significant number of photos, slides, and negatives of Kaufman's patients who participated in the niacinamide studies are part of the Photographs and Negatives series and many of these visual materials are also restricted.

Niacinamide correspondence constitutes the largest group of material in the Niacinamide series and this correspondence is subdivided into three groups: professional correspondence and name files (exchanges with doctors and other health care providers, companies, government agencies, etc.); requests for niacinamide or arthritis advice or treatment testimonials from members of the public; and simple requests and delivery confirmations for Kaufman's articles and books on niacinamide. The professional correspondence includes exchanges between Kaufman and important medical figures such as Linus Pauling, Abram Hoffer, Jonathan Wright, Andrew Saul, and others. Researchers interested in Kaufman's niacinamide work may also want to consult the General Correspondence series as it contains a small amount of correspondence mentioning niacinamide.

The Niacinamide series documents Kaufman's niacinamide work in several other ways: through drafts, publications, notes, press notices on Kaufman's two monographs, material related to Kaufman winning the Tom D. Spies Award, as well as material related to Kaufman's role in a 1942-1943 study at the Bridgeport Brass Company, in which workers were given vitamin supplements and the effect on their overall health and mental state was assessed.

The Other Medical Topics series is composed of roughly 2 linear feet of material directly related to Kaufman's medical writings (those not about niacinamide). The writings cover a wide range of topics, from electrocardiography to psychosomatic eating problems and are intended for a wide range of audiences, from medical specialists to members of the public. Drafts, copies of Kaufman's publications, and notes make up the bulk of the series. There is also correspondence, published background material, drafts, and notes related to the Béla Schick Festschrift (1958) , which Kaufman edited, and about the Lowenfeld Mosaic Test (the test, which consists of a set of colored plastic shapes that the subject is supposed to arrange into a pleasing pattern, is part of the Realia series).

Other Writings consists of about 6 feet of mostly unpublished material directly related to Kaufman's writings that are neither medical nor niacinamide-related in subject. They are divided into four subseries: creative writing, money, autobiography, and miscellaneous.

The creative writing subseries consists of drafts, publications, and notes and fragments of Kaufman's short stories, poems, plays, and novels. This subseries also contains a small amount of correspondence and other material related to Kaufman's efforts to publish and publicize his creative writings.

Kaufman's interest in money led to the publication of a few articles, most notably "Some Emotional Uses of Money," primarily about what Kaufman termed "psycho-economic behavior." The money subseries contains drafts, publications, notes, source material for Kaufman's articles, and an unpublished book on money. The subseries also includes letters expressing readers' reactions to Kaufman's money pieces, as well as requests for advice.

Two draft versions and some notes and fragments of William Kaufman's autobiography, Snippets , make up the autobiography subseries. The miscellaneous subseries consists of drafts, notes, and publicity on writings of Kaufman's that don't fall into any of the above categories (i.e. are neither medical, nor creative pieces, nor money-related), for example, an opinion piece on writing obituaries .

The General Correspondence series (roughly 3 linear feet) is divided into two groups: personal correspondence between William and Charlotte Kaufman and general correspondence (correspondence that doesn't primarily concern niacinamide, the business of William's professional organizations, or William's employment) between William and others.

The correspondence between William and Charlotte Kaufman spans their relationship from their first meeting in Ann Arbor in 1936 until just before William's death in 2001. The early correspondence also includes a fair amount of attachments, including creative writings by both William and Charlotte, letters from others, and some sketches by William. The bulk of the letters date from 1938 and 1939, the years just before Charlotte and William were married. Their correspondence is arranged chronologically by, but not within, year.

The general correspondence subseries ranges in subject from personal to medical and includes correspondence with: Dave Brubeck, Luke Bucci, Rodrigo Carozo, William Crook, Thomas Dorman, Carlton Fredericks, John Fulton, Anna Freud, Bernard Halpern, David Harley, Fred Hodges, Paul Kallós, Heinz Karger, Sam Kaufman, John Leonard, Marshall Mandell, Theron Randolph, Samuel Schnee, Béla Schick, Nicholas Spinelli, Frank Wilson, and White House staff members during the Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower administrations.

The Professional Organizations series (approximately 1 linear foot) details Kaufman's involvement with various medical organizations, including as American Editor-in-Chief of the International Archives of Allergy and Applied Immunology , President of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, and in various posts in the American College of Allergists and other organizations. The series consists primarily of correspondence and memos. It also contains programs, menus, schedules, some newspaper clippings, and meeting minutes.

The Personal series consists of about 3 feet of papers that relate to William Kaufman's personal affairs. The material falls in nine groups: biographical, education, employment, family, finances, health, homes, inventions and copyrights, and articles and press releases.

A broad swath of material documents Kaufman's basic personal information. Included are passports, a diary, and Who's Who entry material. William Kaufman's academic achievements are well represented and span from Pottsville High to University of Michigan Medical School to continuing education courses. His academic life is reflected in grades, notes, yearbooks, newspaper clippings related to scholarships and honors, fraternity materials, student identification cards, financial records, graduation programs, and alumni correspondence and reunion materials.

Periods of William Kaufman's employment in hospitals and New York pharmaceutical advertising agencies are documented in memos, drafts of industrial writings (interpretation of FDA regulations, drug labeling, promotion and education, etc.), announcements and press about Kaufman's professional appointments, and other business papers. The family material documents particular episodes in the lives of the Schnee and Kaufman families. These papers were originally grouped together and have been retained in this order. Besides these few groups, all correspondence with members of the Schnee and Kaufman families is part of the General Correspondence and Charlotte Kaufman series.

The remainder of the Personal series is composed of two smaller groups: information related to the selling, buying, rezoning, taxation, and insuring of the Kaufmans' homes; and certificates of copyright, letters patent, legal paperwork, correspondence, and design plans related to the construction of Kaufman's joint measuring instruments.

The Charlotte Kaufman series is 7 linear feet of Charlotte Kaufman's files. The bulk of the series arises from Charlotte Kaufman’s role as Executive Director of the Family Life Film Center of Connecticut (established February 22, 1967). The Family Life Film Center papers overlap with Charlotte’s involvement with other citizens’ groups championing causes such as better schools and better police-community relations. Charlotte’s original topical folder organization, where present, was retained and most folder labels are hers. All dates assigned to the folders are rough bulk dates and not necessarily comprehensive. There is a significant amount of material related to a grant given to the Family Life Film Center by the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Social & Rehabilitation Service to conduct a pilot program designed to raise awareness of career options for handicapped individuals.

Also included in the Charlotte series are materials relating to Charlotte's other community activities (such as her involvement with the Alliance Française du Comte de Fairfield), correspondence between Charlotte and other individuals (not related to niacinamide--those letters have been included in the Niacinamide series), and personal materials, which include biographical material, papers relating to Charlotte's education, employment, family, and health. A highlight of the personal Charlotte material is a folder of material about her 1939 trip to Alaska and Charlotte's interest in Alaska becoming a place for resettlement of refugees from Hitler's Europe.

The Patient Records series (one linear foot) consists primarily of joint measurements of and case histories of patients, most likely collected as part of William Kaufman's niacinamide studies in the 1940s. A few patients have more extensive files that may include correspondence or additional charts. Due to the presence of personally identifiable health information, much of the material in this series is closed to researchers and consultation with Special Collections staff is required before accessing this series. Original binder and folder titles have been retained where present. This series contains a few photographs, but most patient photos have been transferred to the Photographs and Negatives series.

The Computer Disks consists mostly of 3.5 inch floppy disks that contain backups of emails and files the Kaufmans had on their home computer. The majority of the disks are indexed and organized in binders and their original order and housing has been retained. The series also includes 3 CDs.

The Artwork series is comprised of William Kaufman’s drawings, sketches, and paintings. This includes a series of mostly black-and-white drawings of imaginary creatures titled “Kaufman’s Kritters.” Documents complementing the artwork are also in this series and include Kaufman’s efforts get his artwork published and his entries into various shows and contests.

The relatively small Audiovisual series is comprised of cassette tapes, including a 1978 interview William Kaumfan did with Carlton Fredericks, and film in various formats including 16mm motion pictures reels, microfilm, and canisters of 36mm film. Among the films is a short film, A Day in the Life of P. T. Barnum, that Charlotte Kaufman produced.

The Slides series consists of a few thousand color slides, including a small number of glass-plate slides. The patient studies slides, which are mostly images of mouths, tongues, eyes, and, to a lesser extent, other body parts, make up the largest part of the series. It is very likely that these slides were produced as part of William Kaufman's niacinamide studies. The patient studies slides are divided into three groups: boxed, sleeved, and glass-plate. All three groups are organized alphabetically by patient name. Most of these patient slides are closed due to the presence of personally identifiable health information. Researchers interested in the slides should consult Special Collections staff. Additionally, there are a small number of personal and other slides.

The Photographs and Negatives series is divided into three subseries: Photographs, Negatives, and Photographs and Negatives (the Photographs and Negatives subseries, while redundant, is used because some photographs were bundled together with their original negatives and these were kept together). All three subseries contain a variety of sizes and formats. The Photographs subseries and the Negatives subseries both include a substantial number of patient images, mostly demonstrating the flexibility of a particular joint. While some of these photographs are restricted (please consult with Special Collections staff if interested), some do not contain personally identifiable information and are open for research. All three subseries contain personal images (which include portraits, images of homes and artwork, as well as travel and conference pictures). The Negatives subseries also encompasses color transparencies, many of which are images associated with the Lowenfeld Mosaic Test .

Finally, the Realia series contains three dimensional artifacts, mostly metal medical instruments that William Kaufman invented and used in his niacinamide studies. In particular, many of the objects are goniometers, or instruments for measuring flexibility. The Lowenfeld Mosaic Test , in its original green case, is also part of this series.