Collections

Papers of James Burrill Angell, the third President of the University of Michigan (1871-1909) and U.S. Minister to China (1871-1909) and Turkey (1897-1898). Includes correspondence, lectures and lecture notes, addresses and articles, subject files and personal materials, and photographs.

The Angell papers documents Angell's academic and diplomatic career. There is extensive material on all phases of University of Michigan business, particularly Angell's contacts with the state legislature, the board of regents, faculty relations, and the various schools, colleges, departments and divisions. Much of the correspondence and the Angell diaries relate to his diplomatic missions, higher education in the United States, and family matters.

Soldier from Detroit, Mich., member of Co. E, 339th U.S. Infantry who served in the Allied intervention in Russia, 1918-1920, the "Polar Bear Expedition." Collection includes diary of service in Russia, Nov.7, 1918-Jan.14, 1919 and other war-related papers.

The papers include a diary, Nov. 1918-Jan. 1919, describing daily life, monotony, the weather, and fighting at Kodish, Dec. 1918. Also included are newspaper clippings, miscellanea, and photographs. Also artifacts: helmet, shell casing trench art (75 mm), 37 mm shell, VFW Post 436 cap, and uniform insignia. (The photographs and artifacts have not been digitized.)

Digital copies of materials relating to the military service of James F. O'Brien, who served as 2nd lieutenant in Company E, 339th Infantry, sent to Archangel, Russia at the end of World War I, the "Polar Bear Expedition."

This collection contains digital records; the original papers and/or photographs are owned by the donor. The digital items in this collection were digitized from originals by the individual donors before being received by the Bentley Historical Library. Preservation copies of these files with their original file names and CD-ROM file structures intact have been submitted to Deep Blue. Access copies of these digital files can be viewed by clicking on the links next to the individual folders in the Content List below.

In this finding aid, the files have been arranged into one series, Papers and Photographs. Within each series, files are listed numerically according to the file arrangement they were given by the donor. The files in this collection are in JPG and BMP format.

Files include digitized military documents diary entries, photographs relating to his service ca. 1918; also includes photographs of O'Brien and Captain Otto Odjard in a hospital ward, and photographs and newspaper clippings, possibly at the Detroit Ordnance District ca. 1943.

Nuclear engineer, professor and eleventh president of the University of Michigan (1988-1996), leader in efforts to transform the University of Michigan, and higher education generally, into a culturally diverse, financially secure, and technologically advanced institution. Collection consists of both paper and digital documents, including speeches, presentations, writings and images. Portions of the collection are restricted. This collection represents the "personal papers" of president Duderstadt. Other material relating to his presidency is located in the record group "University of Michigan. President."

The James J. Duderstadt papers span the years from 1963 to the present, although the bulk of the material covers 1970 to 1996. The collection, consisting mainly of Speeches, Position Papers, and Presentations, effectively documents Duderstadt's vision, agenda, and planning process. There are two subgroups in the collection: Paper Documents and Digital Documents.

The Paper Documents subgroup is comprised of thirteen series: Biographical / Background Material, Speeches and Accompanying Material, Computer Printouts of Speeches, Position Papers, Publications, Presentations, Correspondence, Research, Topical Files (Pre-Presidency), Teaching, Presidential Transition Files, Strategic Planning, and Diaries and Notebooks. It includes a few papers from his years as engineering dean and his term as provost, along with a substantial amount of material from his years as professor of nuclear engineering and as president of the university.

A second subgroup, Digital Documents, is comprised of material created and maintained in electronic form (utilizing a number of software programs), and is particularly strong for representing Duderstadt's entire term as president of the university. The subgroup includes eight series: Speeches, Idea Files, Strategy, Position Papers, Presentations, Write Files and Legacy Files. The digital files of speeches and position papers frequently contain various and well-organized iterations of key documents. Of particular note are the Strategy Files, which hold substantial planning documents, many designed to encourage and promote vigorous response to change at many levels within the university. The subgroup also contains a series of Digital Images, most of which appeared in the 1996 publication Rebuilding the University: 1986-1996.

University of Michigan professor of political science, special advisor to the U.S. Military Government in Germany after World War II, participant in numerous government commissions; papers include correspondence, working files, speeches, course materials, and visual and sound materials.

The James K. Pollock papers represent an accumulation of files from a lifetime of academic teaching and research and an extraordinary number of public service responsibilities to both his state and his nation. The files within the collection fall into two categories: types of document (such as correspondence, speeches and writings, visual materials, etc.) and files resulting from a specific activity or position (such as his work as delegate to the Michigan Constitutional Convention or his service with the Office of the Military Government in Germany after World War II).

The collection is large and of a complicated arrangement because of Pollock's many activities. When received in 1969, the files were maintained as received; very little processing was done to the collection so that an inventory to the papers could be quickly prepared. The order of material is that devised by James K. Pollock and his secretarial staff in the U-M Department of Political Science. Recognizing the anomalies within the order of the collection, the library made the decision to list the contents to the collection while at the same time preparing a detailed card file index (by box and folder number, i.e. 16-8) to significant correspondents and subjects. While there was much to be said for this method of preparing a finding aid expeditiously, it also covered up some problems in arrangement. Thus series and subseries of materials are not always grouped together as they were created by Pollock. Files on the Hoover Commission and the Michigan Constitutional Convention, for example, come before Pollock's work in Germany after the war. In 1999, effort was made to resolve some of the inconsistencies and obvious misfilings of the first inventory but because of the numbering system used in 1969 and the card index prepared for the files, there are still some problems. Researchers should be alert to these difficulties and take time to examine different parts of the collection for material on a similar topic.

Eight letters of recommendation for Fisher from fellow officers relating to his Civil War service; correspondents include Melvin Brewer (Sept. 18, 1863), John W. Geary (June 31, 1863), W. D. Mann (Aug. 27, 1863), Angelo Paldi (Oct. 7, 1863), C. H. Town (Oct. 17, 1863), and C. I. Walker (Aug. 13, 1861); also one letter (April 21, 1863) from George C. Gordon of Company I, 24th Michigan Infantry. Collection also includes a typescript of excerpts from Fisher's diary describing a Michigan boat trip from Detroit to Ontonagon via Sault Ste. Marie in 1850, and student days at the University of Michigan in 1860; also diary of an overland trip to California in search of gold and the return trip by sea, with comments on mining; three University of Michigan student notebooks on courses by James V. Campbell, Thomas M. Cooley, and Charles I. Walker; and notes on the James Fisher family by Max Fisher.

Jimmie Howard Reynolds (1925-2013) was a band director from Louisiana who taught and directed music programs at the high school and collegiate level. During the 1970/1971 academic year, Reynolds took a sabbatical leave from his position as Director of Bands at Louisiana Polytechnic University to serve as a graduate assistant under Dr. William D. Revelli during his final year as Director of Bands at the University of Michigan. Reynolds kept a journal of rehearsals and performances from that time and wrote extensively about the pedagogical practices Revelli employed as Director. This diary is a digital transcription of the entire diary as written, prepared by Reynolds' son, Dr. Patrick Allen Reynolds, in 2021.

The Jimmie Howard Reynolds diary, titled "Rehearsals with WRD", was maintained by Reynolds during the 1970-1971 academic year at the University of Michigan. Reynolds was a graduate student assistant for William D. Revelli during his last year as Director of Bands. The diary held by the Bentley Historical Library is a transcription, prepared and edited by Reynold's son, Dr. Patrick Reynolds, in 2021. Dr. Reynolds transcribed the diary as written, with minor changes to punctuation and grammar to aid in clarity. Dr. Reynolds also added some additional information to the text, usually to clarify names, dates, or events as written about by his father; these additions are added in brackets.

While Reynolds and Revelli maintained a close professional relationship for forty years, the diary documents criticisms Reynolds had of Revelli's conducting and pedagogy. In some entries, names have been removed by Dr. Reynolds to avoid embarrassment on behalf of the performers. A full note regarding Dr. Reynolds' transcription work is included in the digital file.

Three Civil War diaries, a supply record book, and correspondence between Faxon and his wife and other members of the family concerning family affairs, the Rochester Colony (1851-1852), and a trip from Adrian to DuPlain township (1851), and description of Mount Clemens, Michigan, in 1849. In letters related to Faxon's Civil War service, he describes Camp Lyon, a boat trip to Cleveland, and the flooded Ohio River, a Washington's Birthday celebration, and the execution of a traitor. He tells of camp life and duties and of sickness in camp, of foraging and scouting parties, picket duty, skirmishing, and marches with the wagon trains. He shook hands with Lincoln and describes his appearance. Much of each letter is devoted to his religious activities and reflections. Also includes letters of Mary Stephenson Faxon describing her trip to Michigan before her marriage (1850) and a letter (1859) enlisting Faxon's aid in recruiting Methodist missionaries for work among Michigan Indians. Letter (Feb. 23, 1862) describes Washington's Birthday celebration. Correspondents include Edward F. Everest (Dec. 3, 1851), Theron James, and John Bromley. Diary entries describe William H. Howard speech (Jan. 27, 1864) and Abraham Lincoln White House reception (Apr. 1, 1864).

Member of Co. D, 339th U.S. Infantry who served in the Allied intervention in Russia, 1918-1920, the "Polar Bear Expedition." Collection includes transcript of his diary describing his experiences in Russia.

Transcript of a diary describing his experiences in Russia.

Diary entries on daily life, the weather, and battles in which he participated; also includes a photograph (photostatic copy). Typewritten copy of a diary (1861-64) kept while he was serving in the 4th Michigan Infantry as sergeant and lieutenant. Most of the entries are short and terse. The chief items of interest concern his service with Professor Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe (an American Civil War aeronaut who pioneered military aerial reconnaissance) and his balloon. Also includes Bancrofts reflections on the following battles: Gaines' Mill, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. There is an outline of what a day in camp is like; descriptions of marches-the countryside, fatigue, the weather, food or lack of it, and campsites. He tells about foraging for food and for building materials, and describes his quarters. He speaks of General McClellan and President Lincoln; of his reading, and of his bouts with dysentery and the remedies prescribed. He was mustered out in June of 1864. The original of the diary is in the Auburn University Special Collections and Archives, Alabama.