Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Governor of Michigan, writer, businessman; papers include correspondence, business records, speeches, writings, visual materials, diaries.

The Osborn collection consists of correspondence, diaries, business papers, scrapbooks, photographs, and other materials accumulated during his life. Materials prior to 1889 are scarce possibly because of a fire which destroyed Osborn's home; thereafter and up to the time of his death in 1949, the Osborn papers are voluminous, documenting each of this man's varied activities. Although his career as elected public official was limited to one term as governor, the collection reflects the importance of his life in areas beyond politics alone. His voice was heard, in letters and speeches and monographs, speaking out on the issues of the day - prohibition, conservation, the New Deal, and of course his life-long interest in the development of Michigan's Upper Peninsula economy and natural resources.

Active in numerous civic and charitable organization, Clara Brucker assisted her husband Wilber M. Brucker, who had served as both governor of Michigan and Secretary of the Army. The collection includes correspondence, speeches, travel briefs and diaries.

The Clara Brucker collection includes papers concerning her work with the Mock Republican Conventions and her interest in the prevention of sex crimes against women and children, the General Federation of Women's Clubs and miscellaneous other charities. One of Clara Brucker's correspondents was May-ling Soong Chiang (Mme. Chiang Kai-shek). The collection has been arranged into the following series: Personal and biographical; School of Government; Women's civic, political and service organizations; Clippings; Travel and trip briefings; Diaries; and Miscellaneous.

Saginaw, Michigan, attorney, aide and political advisor to his brother, Governor Wilber M. Brucker. Diaries, notebooks, correspondence and photograph albums concerning in part the political career of his brother.

The collection includes the following series: Diaries; Notebooks containing letters exchanged between Robert and Wilber Brucker; Photograph albums; and Miscellaneous notebooks and other volumes.

Republican attorney general of Michigan, 1951-1954, general counsel of the Department of the Army. World War I letters, papers detailing work as chairman of the committee on emerging problems of the Michigan Constitutional Convention; miscellaneous genealogical material, and diaries and memoranda books; scrapbooks concerning political career, especially his service as state attorney general; and photographs.

Only a few papers survived Millard. Correspondence, most interesting for his letters written in France during 1917, and a small body of papers from his committee chairmanship at the 1961 state constitutional convention, highlight the collection. A large number of newspaper clippings about his career, and many awards and citations he received, are also available. A few items regarding his military career, his political activities and his membership in the Masons can also be found.

A large number of photographs and albums are also found in the collection. Included are five scrapbooks, 1955-1961, covering the period when Frank Millard was general counsel in the Department of the Army. These scrapbooks are 70-80 percent photographic, and the remainder consist of clippings, programs, correspondence, schedules and itineraries. Another scrapbook covers the years 1912-1914 when Millard was a student at the University of Michigan. It also contains three pages of earlier material dated 1901-1910. This scrapbook is more than half photographic in content with the rest consisting of programs, clippings, and memorabilia.

Farmer and businessman in Eagle Township, Clinton County, Michigan; thirteen-term (1923-1933, 1935-1949) Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives; Chairman, Ways and Means Committee (1939-1949). Correspondence, newspaper clippings, diaries, photographs, and miscellanea concerning his life and legislative career.

This collection presents material concerning the life, business affairs, and legislative career of John P. Espie (1881-1949). The first folder contains copies of three biographical sketches and some handwritten genealogical information concerning Espie's 19th century forebears. Subsequent folders contain correspondence, newspaper clippings, miscellaneous items, and photographs.

The Thomas M. Spaulding collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence and other materials; Biographical and Personal; Organizational Affiliations; Political Materials; Topical Files; Writings; Stephen Tucker Spaulding Materials; and Photographs. The correspondence is of interest for its mention of current affairs, national politics, and the Cosmos Club of Washington, D.C. Of special interest are two volumes of diaries, covering the period of 1941-1944, with detailed comments on the conduct of World War II as viewed from Washington, D.C.

Detroit, Michigan, attorney and judge, Democratic candidate for governor in 1934. Correspondence, legal case files, family materials, speeches, essays, diary notes, financial materials, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, photographs, and transcript of oral interview.

The Arthur J. Lacy collection consists of correspondence and other papers documenting his political activities within the Democratic party and career as a Detroit attorney. The collection has been divided into the following series: Biographical information; Personal letters; Professional correspondence and related papers; Lacy Family papers; Speeches; Early personal materials; Writings, essays, etc.; Financial files; Miscellaneous; Newspapers clippings; Photographs; and Legal files.

The Lacy Collection documents particularly well Lacy's major legal cases (Wilson vs. White, the Ford Stock Tax Case, Mary A. Rackham Estate) and his transition from conservative Democrat to conservative Republican. His letters home from Valparaiso, Indiana and Ann Arbor and his letters to his future wife Beth Garwick give a detailed picture of college life in the 1890's. Major subjects covered in the public papers are the Detroit Domestic Relations Court, problems of taxation and banking in the depression, Lacy's friendship with James Couzens, and the campaigns of 1932 and 1934. A series of notes Lacy wrote to himself from 1915-1928 and 1946-1956 reveal his political ideals, personal morality, and his relationship to his family.

Within the Professional Correspondence and related papers series, the researcher will find correspondence with many notable political and business figures. These include John W. Anderson, William R. Angell, Art Baker, Arthur A. Ballantine, C.C. Bradner, John V. Brennan, Thomas E. Brennan, Prentiss M. Brown, Wilber M. Brucker, George E. Bushnell, Daniel T. Campau, Harvey J. Campbell, John J. Carson, E.R. Chapin, John S. Coleman, William A. Comstock, Calvin Coolidge, Grace G. Coolidge, Frank Couzens, James J. Couzens, John D. Dingell, Patrick J. Doyle, William J. Durant, Henry T. Ewald, Mordecai J.B. Ezechiel, James A. Farley, Homer Ferguson, Woodbridge N. Ferris, Clara J.B. Ford, Edsel B. Ford, Joseph Foss, Fred W. Green, Alexander J. Groesbeck, Edgar A. Guest, James M. Hare, Herbert C. Hoover, J. Edgar Hoover, Kaufman T. Keller, Stanley S. Kresge, David Lawrence, Arthur F. Lederle, John C. Lehr, Fulton Lewis, Percy Loud, William G. McAdoo, William McKinley, George A. Marston, Eliza M. Mosher, Frank Murphy, George Murphy, William J. Norton, George D. O'Brien, Elmer B. O'Hara, Hazen S. Pingree, Mary A. H. Rackham, Horace H. Rackham, Clarence A. Reid, George W. Romney, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Alexander G. Ruthven, W.M. Skillman, Albert E. Sleeper, Edward D. Stair, Arthur E. Summerfield, William H. Taft, Joseph P. Tumulty, Arthur H. Vandenberg, A. VanderZee, Murray D. Van Wagoner, Henry F. Vaughan, Carl Vinson, Matilda R.D. Wilson, Clarence E. Wilcox, and R.A.C. Wollenberg.

The Lacy Family papers are rich in detail about life in Michigan in the nineteenth and early twentieth century; the surviving letters document family crises and Lacy's role in them as the oldest and most successful child and later, as family leader. Lacy was the family genealogist and he collected and preserved the family correspondence of his uncles and aunt, some of which date back to the 1850's.

Grand Rapids, Michigan family, involved in furniture making and other businesses, also active in local state and Republican Party politics and businessmen's associations. Papers include family papers and correspondence, business records, scrapbooks and visual materials.

The Sligh family collection consists of the personal and business papers of the four generations of Slighs mentioned in the biographical introduction: James W. Sligh, Charles R. Sligh, Charles R. Sligh, Jr., and Robert L. Sligh. Although there is some overlap, the files have been arranged into seven series, one for each of these three Slighs, one for the Sligh Furniture Company and related family businesses, and one each for Newspaper clippings and Scrapbooks, and Visual Materials.