Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

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.

Active member of Ann Arbor, MI community, Lois Thompson McLaughlin was the daughter of the University of Michigan president James Burrill Angell and Sarah Caswell. The collection includes diaries from McLaughlin's trip to China, as well as correspondence and a newspaper clipping regarding her marriage to UM professor Andrew McLaughlin.

The Lois Thompson McLaughlin papers primarily consist of diaries and correspondence written by McLaughlin. The correspondence is mostly personal in nature. It includes childhood letters to McLaughlin’s aunts and uncles, as well as letters to friends during her time in China. Letters to McLaughlin’s father, James Angell, and mother, Sarah Caswell Angell, are found in the collection as well. Collection also includes three diaries dated 1880 to 1881, during which McLaughlin visited Peking, China with the rest of the Angell family. These entries offer descriptions of day-to-day events and activities, and even contain some of her drawings. One newspaper clipping is held in the collection with a detailed account of her wedding including the guests who attended, and the location of the ceremonies.