Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Hugh Acton (1925-), the "Cowboy-Designer," was a furniture designer, specializing in mid-century modern furniture, and artist in Augusta, Mich. He is best-known for his 1973 Acton Stacker chair for American Seating, as well as for his 1954 Suspended Beam Bench. This collection includes a brief history of the designer through articles and resumes, with a primary focus on his designs--including photographs (with negatives, transparencies, and online), catalog information, sketches, and design boards for his various furniture designs.

The Hugh Acton papers includes a brief history of the designer through articles and resumes, with a primary focus on his designs--including photographs, catalog information, sketches, and design boards for his various furniture designs. The collection is divided into two series: the Personal series and the Designs series. All materials are dated in the 1960s-1970s, unless noted otherwise.

The Human Rights Party (HRP) of Ann Arbor was a radical socialist third party that influenced local politics in the period 1971 to 1975. The record group contains organizational and campaign documents of several parties including predecessor and successor parties to HRP. Campaign materials, platforms, position statements and numerous newspaper clippings along with committee and meeting minutes form the bulk of the records of this activist organization.

The records of HRP consist mainly of campaign activities, campaign issues, platforms, and clippings. The record group is divided into six series: Radical Independent Party, 1970-1971, Human Rights Party Organization, 1972-1975, HRP Campaigns, Socialist Human Rights Party, 1975-1977, Human Rights Party of Michigan, 1971-1976, and the People's Party, 1972-1979. In this collection, focal political issues are filed under the Steering Committee, if not separately foldered. Clippings are a major source of information and researchers should consult them for details.

The Information Technology Division, formed in 1985, consolidated academic and administrative computing at the University of Michigan. Douglas Van Houweling was named head of the unit and at the same time appointed to the new position of Vice Provost for Information Technology. During the 1980s, the unit oversaw a shift away from Michigan Terminal System (MTS) mainframe computing to a distributed, networked environment. The Information Technology Division record group documents the development of networked computing at the University of Michigan as it evolved from 1979 to 1995, mainly during the tenure of Douglas Van Houweling. The records include historical data, internal and external committee material, correspondence, and topical files and visual material.

The records of the Information Technology Division measure 23.5 linear feet and date from 1976 to 1998; the bulk of the material represents the years 1985 to 1997. The records consist of correspondence, meeting minutes, electronic mail, newspaper clippings, and reports. They document the administration of ITD, the development of computing on campus, UM's role in the development and management of local, regional, and national computer networks, and ITD's participation, largely in the person of Douglas Van Houweling, in a number of computing organizations, most notably EDUCOM and CIESIN (Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network).

The ITD record group is divided into fourteen series including Central Files, Divisions, Networks, University Files, Vendors, Organizations, Deputy Vice-Provost for Information Technology, Vice-Provost for Information Technology, Virginia Rezmerski Files, Computer Sales Program, Computing Sites, Dean's Partnership Program, Software, and Photographs.

The Institute for Social Research (ISR), an interdisciplinary center for social science research, was created in 1949 when the Research Center for Group Dynamics (founded at Massachusetts Institute of Technology) joined the university's Survey Research Center. ISR houses the Center for Political Studies (CPS), Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), Population Studies Center (PSC), Research Center for Group Dynamics (RCGD), and the Survey Research Center (SRC). Records document the founding and development of ISR and its related centers and programs and include audiovisual materials, minutes, correspondence, topical files, reports, and proposals. Administrative records include governance committees and director's files. Records of the Program for Research on Black Americans (PRBA) consist of grant proposals, survey instruments, focus group transcriptions, correspondence, bulletins, and internal governance records created under the auspices of PRBA and its various projects. Records of the Research Center for Group Dynamics are primarily the papers of director Kurt Lewin, including manuscripts and talks. Survey Research Center records consist largely of proposal and project files, although they also include faculty oral histories. The records of the Population Studies Center consist of lectures from its founder, Dr. Ronald Freedman, while the Center for Political Studies contains one binder of material from the American National Election Survey conducted in 1980.

The Institute for Social Research (ISR) records are dated from 1936-2017 (scattered) and consist of 143.8 linear feet (in 146 boxes) and digital files (online). Materials in this record group include audiovisual material, committee files (which include minutes and agendas), correspondence, directors' files, oral histories, publications, reports, and topical files. These records document the founding and subsequent development of ISR as well as its centers and programs, particularly the Program for Research on Black Americans (PRBA) and the Survey Research Center (SRC). The records also provide an overview of ISR's administration and the evolution of social science survey research methodology.

There are gaps in the records, which can be addressed in part through the papers of Rensis Likert, Angus Campbell, Dorwin P. Cartwright, and Philip E. Converse—all of which are held at the Bentley Historical Library (BHL). When viewed in conjunction with other ISR-related personal papers in the Bentley Historical Library, a rich and detailed picture of the growth of ISR as a center and the social science research discipline emerges.

The Inter-Cooperative Council at Ann Arbor is an organization established to coordinate the activities of cooperative houses founded and operated by University of Michigan students. Their records are comprised of minutes, office files, and newsletters, as well as organization-level topices and related research. The collection also contains records of student cooperative, the Socialist House.

The records of the ICC at Ann Arbor cover the years 1932 to 2012 and are divided into ten series: Minutes, Office Files, Printed Materials, Events and Programs, Organizational Topical Files, Correspondence Files, Collected Research Materials, House Records, External Organizations, and Audio-Visual Materials.

Researchers should note that because of the differences between ICC office organizational systems and the individual processing archivists working on the collection, topics and materials might be found in multiple series.

Records of the Interfaith Council For Peace and Justice, a Washtenaw County-based interdenominational organization encouraging participation in social justice education and activism. The collection is divided into twelve series, Chronological Files, Topical Files, Hunger Task Force, Clergy and Laity Concerned, Photographs and Audiovisual Materials, Steering Committee, Religious Coalition on Central America, Middle East Task Force, Racial and Economic Task Force, Disarmament Working Group, and Posters.

The files of the Interfaith Council have been arranged into twelve series: Chronological Files, Topical Files, Hunger Task Force, Clergy and Laity Concerned, Photographs and Audiovisual Materials, Steering Committee, Religious Coalition on Central America, Middle East Task Force, Racial and Economic Task Force, Disarmament Working Group, and Posters.

The records of the University of Michigan International Center contain administrative records from the various Directors of the center. These materials include documentation on the establishment of the University of Michigan's foreign student exchange scholarships, records relating to the development of important programs and national associations for international students, housing surveys between 1965-1971, printed materials such as annual reports, newsletters, and manuals, scrapbooks, photographs, and newspaper clippings.

The collection is divided into six series. The first series, Historical Files, contains early filing methods of the Directors and a small amount of background on the Center. It also contains early papers from 1927-1930 on the Cosmopolitan Club and spring trips for foreign students. The second series, Director's Files, has been organized according to the filing systems employed by each of the Center's first four directors: J. Raleigh Nelson (1933-1943); Esson M. Gale (1943-1954); James M. Davis (1954-1964); and Robert B. Klinger (1964-1971). Files of each director comprise separate sub-series. Each of these four sub-series includes administrative records such as papers of the Board of Governors, minutes of committees connected to the International Center, and annual reports. Within each sub-series there are files of particular importance and interest. Photographs compose the third series, including one scrapbook of directors, students, and visitors to the International Center. Printed materials comprise the fourth series. The fifth series is made up of newspaper clippings. The sixth series consists of National Association of Foreign Student Advisers (Publications).

Jack Kausch was a photographer who specialized in family portraits and historical photography. The collection includes still and moving images created and collected by Kausch throughout his career.

This collection highlights a portion of the projects that Jack Kausch completed during his photographic career. A range of subjects is covered and both original and historical photography is included. The collection is divided into two series: Photographs and Other Visual Materials.

Papers of Dr. Jack Kevorkian (1928-2011), medical pathologist, social activist, advocate for the terminally ill patient's right to die and physician-assisted suicide (which Kevorkian called "Medicide"), author, artist, and musician. By his own estimation, Dr. Kevorkian assisted in the suicides of more than 100 terminally ill people between 1990 and 1998. Kevorkian was acquitted in three physician-assisted suicide trials, and a mistrial was declared in the fourth. In a fifth trial, he was convicted of second-degree murder after administering a lethal injection and served eight years in prison. The collection includes materials related to the Kevorkian family (personal and business records, correspondence, photographs, and audiovisual recordings); Jack Kevorkian's research files and files related to Medicide (files related to the physician-assisted suicides and recordings of Kevorkian's consultations with the terminally ill); and miscellaneous papers (his personal and professional correspondence, published works and manuscript drafts, records related to his court trials, photographs, recordings of news coverage and interviews, audio recordings of Kevorkian's music, and images of his art).

The Jack Kevorkian Papers are arranged into five series: Kevorkian Family, Research and Practice, Morganroth & Morganroth, Personal Interests, and Medicide Files.

The Kevorkian Family papers mostly include correspondence, recollections, photographs, and video and audio recordings of family gatherings. The Research and Practice series contains Kevorkian's correspondence on scientific subjects, his research files, and Kevorkian's articles on various medical, ethical, and bioethical topics. Also included are recorded interviews and media segments featuring Kevorkian as well as media reports about his activities and court trials. Materials in the Personal Interests series include sheet music of Kevorkian's musical compositions, recordings of Kevorkian playing music, reproductions of his paintings, publicity regarding exhibits of his art, and a sample of collected books. The Morganroth & Morganroth series includes materials used during the court trials, such as correspondence and Kevorkian's research as well as the script of the HBO film, You Don't Know Jack, annotated by Mayer Morganroth. The Medicide Files series contains the files of the terminally ill patients who had asked him assist in ending their lives and who he helped in doing so. Medicide files include correspondence between Kevorkian and his consulting "patients" and their families, photographs, and forms developed by Kevorkian as well as recordings of consultations.

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.