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Western Michigan teacher, businessman and local historian. Correspondence, journal, speeches, notes and articles.

The collection is arranged into four series: Correspondence; Journals; Speeches, notes and articles; and Other materials. The collection documents his career as a teacher in Battle Creek, Kalamazoo and Galesburg, Michigan. Of interest are his experiences as a teacher in Mississippi before the Civil War. The correspondence and journals reveal his scholarly and political interests. The collection also includes minutes, 1861-1876, of the Galesburg Temperance Society.

Circuit court judge and Michigan Supreme Court justice; his wife, Ann Lapham Graves, was a Battle Creek educator and civic leader; their son, Henry B. Graves, was a Detroit lawyer. Family correspondence concerning life in Battle Creek, Michigan, student life of H. B. Graves at the University of Michigan, 1879-1882, Kansas land speculation, 1883-1885, the Spanish-American War and legal affairs; personal journals and circuit court and Supreme Court record books of B. F. Graves; and photographs.

The Benjamin F. Graves papers consist of family correspondence concerning life in Battle Creek, Michigan, student life of H. B. Graves at the University of Michigan, 1879-1882, Kansas land speculation, 1883-1885, the Spanish-American War and legal affairs; personal journals and circuit court and Michigan Supreme Court record books of B. F. Graves; and correspondence of Henry B. Graves and Ann Lapham Graves. The collection has been arranged by name of individual family member: Benjamin F. Graves; Lapham family; Henry B. Graves; and Miscellaneous.

The correspondence of Benjamin F. Graves includes letters from Henry B. Brown, December 26, 1890; Julius C. Burrows, March 17, 1869; James V. Campbell, 1858-1883; Isaac P. Christiancy, June 1868, November and December 1862, February 1873, August 1877; Thomas M. Cooley (throughout); Donald M. Dickinson, undated and December 1883; Alpheus Felch, December 1894; and John W. Longyear, April 1864 and March 1865.

Battle Creek, Mich. historian and collector of rare books and manuscripts. Much of Lowe's research was devoted to the life and career of Black abolitionist Sojourner Truth. The collection contains material related to Sojourner Truth and includes biographies and bibliographies, book reviews, clippings, songs, images and photographs, etc. Other materials in the collection include letters of John G. Whittier, George W. Cable, correspondence of Lowe with writer Gerald Carson, diaries of Lowe's 1963 trip to Europe, as well as miscellanea and photographs.

The collection is arranged into two series. The Sojourner Truth (collected material) series includes biographies and compiled biographical information about Truth, bibliographies and book reviews, obituaries, tributes, newspaper articles, images of portraits, photographs, songs, and other information relating to the life of Sojourner Truth. Of special interest is a scrapbook that was kept by Frances Titus, Sojourner Truth's assistant.

Most of the Sojourner Truth files have been microfilmed except for a folder of material which came to the library after the 1965 filming. A few photographs that were microfilmed in 1965 were reported missing. These images are only available on the microfilm.

The Other Materials series contains items concerning Lowe's various activities and interests, including Battle Creek history and personalities, her travel diaries, and materials related to her friendship with writer Gerald Carson. Also included collected autographs and papers of individuals, including authors John Greenleaf Whittier and George Washington Cable. Also of note are letters of D. J. Van Schnell who wrote to members of the Oldfield family that contain watercolor drawings indicative of English life in the late 1930s and the early years of the World War II.

Soldier from Battle Creek, Michigan who served as captain in the Second Michigan Infantry during the Civil War. Diary of his war-time activities.

Diary of his war-time activities.

Governing body of the Episcopal church in western Michigan, established in 1874; records include bishops' files, diocesan organization and committee files, photographs, scrapbooks, diocesan historian files.

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.

Employee with the Postum Cereal Company, Battle Creek, Michigan. Jones was responsible for efficiency studies on routine processes at the plant. Diaries, 1923-1992, of Jones; diaries, 1932-1936, of his wife Marjorie Hallobaugh Jones; and transcript of oral history interview, 1992.

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.

Papers collected by Minnie C. M. Fay of Battle Creek, Michigan. Genealogical, and family records, and photographs.

The Minnie Fay collection consists of genealogical and family records, family photographs, and a diary, 1857-1858 probably of a Henry Chandler.

Papers of the Squier family of Battle Creek, Michigan. Include letters and diary of John E. Hickman, Civil War soldier in Co. C, 13th Michigan Infantry; letters and miscellanea of Theodore L. Squier, Sr., University of Michigan undergraduate student, medical student and instructor ca. 1914-1921 and Nina La Barge Squier, student in the University of Michigan Nurses' Training Program, 1919-1920; and letters and miscellanea of several family members who served in WWII. Also some records of the American Manufacturing Company of Battle Creek, Michigan.

The Squier Family Papers are organized into nine series, eight series of documents related to specific members or branches of the family and one series of photographs.