Eeta Bayla Freeman papers, 1962-1965
0.3 linear feet
Letters to her parents in Detroit, Michigan, a diary fragment, newspaper clippings and miscellanea relating to social work in the United States and Pakistan.
0.3 linear feet
Letters to her parents in Detroit, Michigan, a diary fragment, newspaper clippings and miscellanea relating to social work in the United States and Pakistan.
0.4 linear feet
The Eli A. Griffin papers are organized into a single Personal Papers series, which includes family genealogical information, correspondence, personal diaries, photographs, military records, and other materials. The collection documents Griffin's various travels (including trips to the California gold fields in 1849 and 1853 and other trips to Iowa, Missouri, Colorado, and Utah), service in the Union army during the Civil War, and information about his family.
1 volume
Chadwick's diary (Mar. 10, 1864-Mar. 14, 1866) tells of camp and scouting duties in Missouri and Arkansas and forays against General Shelby; a steamer trip to take part in the engagement against Mobile; the overland march in "mopping up" operations in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana; the trek to San Antonio, Texas where they were part of the Military Department of the Southwest under General Sheridan, guarding the Mexican border and engaging in garrison and scouting duties. Special mention is made of the trouble with Colonel Mizner; the mutiny over rations and "unfair" orders with resulting court martial; a review of troops by General Sheridan; and a description of San Antonio.
9.25 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The papers are divided into seven series: Personal Papers, Michigan Historical Commission, Michigan Historical Collections, Miscellaneous, Democratic Party, Compiled Information, and Collected Materials.
2 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The Ellis B. Merry Personal Papers were assembled by Merry during his lifetime and include a number of documents from his years spent at the National Bank of Detroit. The collection, as arranged by his stepdaughter, Jean Dodenhoff, focuses primarily on his business activities, personal interests and travels. Materials found here include business and personal correspondence, journals, lists, some legal documents and publications, commendation certificates, travel itineraries, chronologies, reports, and memorabilia. There are a significant number of photographs documenting the boards of directors on which he served as well as the bank-related activities in which he participated. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Business Activities; Personal Activities; Personal Journals; Travel; and Photographs.
0.2 linear feet — 1 oversize folder — 2 film reels (16 mm)
The Elzada Clover collection consists almost entirely of material relating to the 1938 Nevill's Colorado River Expedition. Included are Clover's journals, motion pictures of the trip, photographs, plant list, and drawings of plant habitats both from the 1938 Expedition and from later travels in 1939. There are also articles written about the expedition.
In 2009, DVD use copies were made of the motion pictures.
23 linear feet
Records include the programs for each year, a trainee file, and the diaries of Sherlock during the time he served as coordinator, 1941-1945.
119 linear feet — 2 oversize folders — 1 drawer — 19 oversize volumes
The records of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan are a rich resource of material, not only for the programs and activities of the Episcopal Church in western Michigan, but also for their documentation of the role of the church in the life of the various communities served by the diocese.
Records from the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan first came to the Bentley Historical Library in 1972. Since then, the diocese has made several significant additions to their records. In 1999 the record group was reprocessed with the aim of drawing together like materials. The record group now consists of twenty-two separate series. These are: Bishop's Files, Chancellor, Treasurer, Diocesan Historiographer, Standing Committee Files, Miscellaneous Files, Diocesan Record Books, Publicity Files, Defunct Parish and Mission Churches Files, Diocesan Committee Files, Diocesan Organization Files, Diocesan Financial Records, Visual Materials, Sound Recordings, Scrapbooks, Western Michigan University (WMU) Ministry Files, Women's Organizations, Miscellaneous office and staff files Bulletins of Church Services, Church of Christ the King, Miscellaneous parish materials, and Miscellaneous diocesan materials.
1 linear foot
The collection consists of two kinds of materials: papers of Frank Murphy that Gressman accumulated as clerk to the Supreme Court Justice; and Gressman's own papers. The greater part of the collection are the papers of Frank Murphy, dating from 1935 to 1948, with the bulk of the files falling in the period of 1939 to 1941, when Murphy was US Attorney General and the first year of his tenure on the Supreme Court bench. Always conscious of history, Murphy made valuable notes on the cabinet meetings he attended and his meetings and conversations with various public figures. These individuals include Hugo Black, Louis Brandeis, William J. Donovan, Carter Glass, Charles E. Hughes, Cordell Hull, Joseph P. Kennedy, John L. Lewis, Sir Robert Menzies, Manuel Quezon, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Francis B. Sayre, Harlan F. Stone and Sumner Welles. Also of importance are the several files of letters exchanged between Frank Murphy and Justice Felix Frankfurter.
Gressman's own papers are much smaller, but these also relate to his association with Frank Murphy, including notes that he made preparatory to writing a proposed biography of Murphy. Gressman's diary on his time spent as Murphy clerk of the Supreme Court is dated July 1943 to April 1944.
7 linear feet
The F. Clever Bald collection includes correspondence, speeches, lecture and research notes, and manuscripts of published and unpublished research writings. Of interest is Bald's manuscript of his "The University of Michigan in World War II." Other World War II materials include completed questionnaires which he sent out to Michigan colleges and universities relating to their activities during the war. There are also letters (1944-1946) received from Chester A. Antiau discussing his work with the U. S. Army Information and Education Service during World War II including comments on conditions in Italy and Germany. Other parts of the collection are the letters he wrote while serving in the 111th Ambulance Company. Other files concern his activities with the Michigan Historical Collections, the Civil War Centennial Observance Commission, and the Algonquin Club of Detroit.
23.5 linear feet (in 25 boxes) — 7 oversize volumes
The Ferry family papers document the rise to prominence of this family who first gained their fortune as seed merchants. The papers also reveal the workings of other Detroit businesses, the development of the Detroit Institute of Arts, turn-of-the-century Michigan politics, and the suburban development of Grosse Pointe. The papers span the years 1758 to 1989 with the bulk of the materials covering 1855 to 1959. The collection consists of: account books, ledgers, journals, and business reports; blue prints, deeds, titles, abstracts, and mortgages; correspondence (business and personal); appointment books, diaries, scrapbooks, and clippings; receipts and tax returns, photographs, and printed miscellanea. It is important to note that the Michigan Historical Collections does not house all extant Ferry materials. The donor, Dexter M. Ferry, III, retains possession of several early account books, ledgers, and journals related to D.M. Ferry & Co.; he also kept some family correspondence and virtually all photographs.
The Ferry family papers arrived at the Michigan Historical Collections in an order based on when the donor reviewed the materials. In the course of reprocessing, this order was altered, and an arrangement assigning primacy to the generation of Ferry who created the document was followed. This reprocessing has resulted in three series: Historical and Background, materials predating Dexter M. Ferry; Dexter M. Ferry; and Dexter M. Ferry, Jr. The few problems presented by overlap between generations are duly noted in the contents list. Within these generational series the materials are arrayed in business, personal, philanthropic, and political subseries. Given the natures of the family and the family business, the researcher should note that murkiness exists between subseries divisions. In general these dividing principles work well. They preserve Dexter M. Ferry, III's original order at the folder level while facilitating access by independent researchers.
The strengths of the Ferry collection are myriad. The family correspondence provide unique insight into a family which grew wealthy but remained close-knit. Especially interesting are the long runs of correspondence between Dexter M. Ferry and his mother, Lucy Ferry Crippen, and Dexter M. Ferry, Jr. and his mother, Addie Miller Ferry. The former run reveals much about the fluid society of late nineteenth-century Detroit, and the latter reflects the pressures of more rigidly defined social strictures. The correspondence between Ferry, Jr. and his sisters, Blanche Ferry Hooker and Queene Ferry Coonley, are illuminating on the handling of the family business in the changing economic climates of the twentieth century.
Some facets of the development of the Detroit business community are well documented as the family invested heavily in local real estate and business. The strengths of the present collection revolve around the Dexter M. Ferry, Jr. materials relating to business and finance in Detroit from 1920 to 1950, particularly the banking community's reaction to the crisis of the Depression. The links between automobile touring, the good roads movement, and the development of ancillary industries to support the burgeoning automotive industry are fairly well documented by Dexter M. Ferry, Jr.'s papers. Young Ferry's close association with the development of the Detroit Institute of Arts is extremely well documented and these papers provide a case study of twentieth century patronage.
A somewhat refracted view of Michigan politics at the turn of the twentieth century is provided through the scrapbooks and clippings on Dexter Ferry's failed campaign in 1900 for governor of the state. The papers are stronger in their documentation of Dexter Ferry, Jr.'s political involvement with the local governance of Grosse Pointe. Here the details of community control are thoroughly covered by correspondence, reports, and minutes.
2 linear feet
The collection is comprise of two series: Correspondence and Other family papers. Included is business and family correspondence of Abby Field, a worker with the Church of Christ of Englishville and Grand Rapids, Michigan. There is also correspondence of Myron and Susan Field Buck, Sylvester Field and Flora Bennett. Beyond correspondence, the collection includes a scattering of newspaper clippings, legal papers, diaries, and other materials relating to personal affairs, farm life and the Civil War.
19 linear feet (232 volumes and 1 folder) — 1 oversize volume
The records of the business enterprises of Oren Stone consist of 232 volumes and a folder of miscellaneous loose items. Beginning in 1851 when Stone was working in Stony Run, the records extend up to 1910. The collection includes some of the records of Stone's mercantile activities in Stony Run and Flint primarily in the 1850's and 1860's. The great bulk of the collection, however, pertains directly to the activities of the Flint Woolen Mills. Since 1867, these have been arranged by type of record, including letterpress books of correspondence, invoices, order books, cashbooks, inventories, ledgers, journals, and daybooks. Some of the records relate to specific activities within the mill such as knitting, carding, spinning, weaving and finishing, and dyeing.
2 linear feet — 4 oversize volumes
The collection is comprised of four series: Biographical; Newspaper career; Miscellaneous; and Scrapbooks. The Biographical series is important for Miller's diary of his life and career in the period of 1932-1954. The diary provides a detailed description of the operation of the newspaper during the depression with comments on state and national politics. The Newspaper career series includes scrapbooks of his editorials and his "Personally Speaking" column. The Scrapbook series includes clippings, programs, scattered photographs, and memorabilia from his career and personal activities.
2 volumes
The Floyd V. Ames papers consists of a diary with brief comments on daily life and reminiscences. Contains detailed passages about lumbering and wildlife in the region of Dickinson County and Iron County (Michigan).
2 volumes
Diary, 1860, of two months at Prairie Seminary; and account of a trip to Europe in 1867.
2 linear feet (20 volumes and 36 folders)
The Francis Wayland Dunn collection consists of diaries, correspondence, writings, and miscellaneous personal materials.
5 linear feet
The Kelsey papers consist of Correspondence, Papers, Diaries, and Photographs relating to his career at the University of Michigan. There is also a small amount of material on Archaeological Forgeries found in Michigan and photographs and other materials of his son, Easton Kelsey. Subjects include the papyri acquisition of the University library, archeological expeditions to the Near East, and the University Musical Society. In his correspondence written while abroad, Kelsey frequently comments on the world scene with mention, for example, of political conditions in Turkey and the controversy surrounding the Lausanne Treaty.
4 linear feet (39 volumes)
The collection consists of the diaries of Frank Jones from the years 1923 to 1992. Also included are the diaries of his wife, Majorie Hollabaugh Jones, for the years 1932 to 1936, and an oral history that was conducted by the Kraft General Foods archives in 1992. The diaries are of two types: originals and recopying of originals. The first type, diaries for 1923 to 1930, 1932 to 1933 and 1948 to 1952 are originals. The second type, diaries dating from 1923 to 1992, are either a handwritten recopying of the originals or the original volumes themselves. While the recopied volumes are more legible, they do not include the photographs, newspaper clippings and other scrapbook type of material found only in the older, original volumes. The only year that did not get copied into the larger recopied volumes was 1932. Within the diaries, there is a small volume labeled My Five Years. This volume contains the entries for Jones from 1932 to 1933. The remainder of this volume was taken over by Marjorie Hollabaugh Jones who made the entries for the years 1934 to 1936. Marjorie Hollabaugh Jones had her own diaries for the years 1932 and 1933.
All of the diaries contain more than just written entries. They were also used as a scrapbook and contain photographs, newspaper clippings, marriage announcements and obituaries. These items are found throughout the diaries, although the photographs are usually found on the inside of the front and back covers.
The diaries are arranged in chronological order with the larger volumes containing more than one year. The diaries were kept continually since 1923 and an entry was made for every day. They give a glimpse of a young man's life in the 1920's and 1930's and his impressions of his world. For the most part, the early entries are a brief recounting of the day's events. The entries from his later life become more reflective and detailed. The diaries provide good description of Jones' working life at the Postum Cereal Company and exactly what his job entailed and some of his reactions as he lived through changing management styles and techniques. The diaries provide a good insight into the working, social, and home life of Jones and his wife.
The diaries of Majorie Hallobaugh Jones consist of two separate volumes and entries in the volume labeled My Five Years for the years 193 to 1936. Her diaries provide good insight into her life as a schoolteacher in Indiana prior to her marriage and her life as a young housewife in Battle Creek from 1933 to 1936.
4 linear feet (in 6 boxes) — 7 oversize volumes — 1 phonograph record
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.