Collections : [University of Michigan Special Collections Research Center]

The Broadside Press records include correspondence, typescripts, broadsides, books, financial records, audiovisual material, photographs, realia, and other printed material. These records document a portion of the history of the Detroit-based African-American-owned publisher of poetry broadside, anthologies and other works.

The Broadside Press records include correspondence, typescripts, broadsides, books, financial records, audiovisual material, photographs, realia, and other printed material. The ten linear feet span the years 1968 to 1998, with the bulk of materials falling between 1985 and 1996. Records are arranged in ten series: Correspondence (0.5 linear feet), Book Production Material (1 linear foot), Broadsides (0.25 linear feet), Programs and Events (0.5 linear feet), Business Records (1 linear foot), Financial Records (1 linear foot), Photographic Material (0.5 linear feet), Audiovisual Material (0.5 linear feet), Ephemera (1.5 linear feet), and Realia (.25 linear feet).

The Alternative Press was a literary and artistic small press started in Detroit in 1969 by Ken and Ann Mikolowski. The press initially focused on publishing the work of Detroit artists and later became international in scope. The collection documents the press's management and publication processes, including those for its acclaimed subscription mailings, which contained poetry, bookmarks, bumper stickers, drawings, paintings, collages, and postcards.

The Alternative Press Records held by the University of Michigan Special Collections Library is the founders' full set of press records up until 1996. It contains items such as correspondence from poets, artists, and friends, manuscripts of poems and other writings, sketches, Christmas cards, event announcements, the press' printed products, subscription renewal requests and more. Records from all three operating locations of the press are included, although the records from business done from Grindstone City predominate.

The Alternative Press Records is divided into ten series: Artists and Poets: Correspondence, Writings and Ephemera; Business Records; Ephemera; Events and Organizations; Original Postcards; Printed Materials; Printing Process; Small Presses; 1996 accretion; and 2018 accretion. Records sorted by individual or organization (primarily Artists and Poets and Small Presses) are arranged in alphabetical order. Other series and subseries (primarily those containing correspondence, business records, artwork/writings, and event announcements) are arranged in chronological order to preserve evidence of the creative process and organizational decisionmaking.