Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Music, theatre, and dance education unit of the University of Michigan. Also represented in this collection are its predecessor organizations, the Ann Arbor School of Music and the University School of Music, and its departments. Includes records of students and instructors, correspondence, topical files, and materials related to student and faculty performance groups. Archived versions of the School's websites provide additional documentation of academic programs, research, events, people, and policies.

The School of Music, Theatre, & Dance (University of Michigan) records document music education in Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan and student and faculty musical production beginning in 1885. The records include student ledgers listing names, tuition, and instructors; correspondence and clippings, 1924-1953, concerning the University Band, including correspondence of William D. Revelli; files relating to musical programs, particularly the Michigan Singers' Spring Tour, the Union Opera, and Musket productions; minutes of the executive committee and faculty; and digitized audio and video recordings of performances, including performances at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, by the Michigan Youth Ensembles, and other groups associated with the School of Music, Theatre & Dance. Also included are files associated the Department of Dance and Department of Theatre and Drama.

1. Topical Files -- Boxes 1-5, 25-30, 35-41, online
2. Student Ledgers -- Volumes 1-7
3. Dean's Files -- Boxes 6-8, 30-31
4. Faculty Records -- Boxes 9-24
5. Donor Files -- Box 31
6. Executive Committee -- Boxes 32, 34
7. Department of Dance -- Boxes 44-46, online
8. Department of Theatre and Dance -- Box 33
9. Archived Website -- online
10. Audio recordings (original audiotapes and digital recordings) -- Boxes 42-43, online
11. Video recordings -- online

Includes miscellaneous newsletters, bulletins, programs, brochures, articles, calendars, histories, sound recordings, video recordings, and posters produced by or for the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance.

The School of Music, Theatre & Dance Publications (8 linear feet, 57.3 GB, 1 oversize boxes, and 1 archived website) contains newsletters, bulletins, programs, sound recordings, video recordings, and other materials produced by the School of Music, Theatre & Dance.

Aviator, civilian personnel officer with the U.S. Air Force; chronological and topical files, audio-visual materials, and clippings and scrapbooks.

The Chauncey Spencer collection is an accumulation of personal materials - correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, sound and video recordings - relating to his lifelong interest in aviation, his career with the military, and the career of his mother, poetess Anne Spencer.

Peter Sparling is Professor of Dance at the University of Michigan School of Music. Well known as both performer and choreographer, he has danced with Martha Graham and Jose Limon. Papers consist of materials relating to Sparling's dance training, performance, and teaching including background materials; choreography notes and sketches; correspondence; clippings and publicity from dance companies with whom he was associated; programs and reviews; photographs, video and film of performances; and posters.

The Peter Sparling Papers include materials relating to Sparling's dance training, performance, and teaching. The papers are divided into eight series: Background Materials, Choreography, Correspondence, Dance Companies, Programs, Reviews, Photographs, Performance, Audition, and Rehearsal Videos, and Posters.

John and Leni Sinclair were leaders of the counterculture movement in Michigan, organizers of radical social, political, and cultural endeavors primarily in the areas of music, poetry, graphic design, and community welfare projects. Papers and photographs (1957-1979) relating to all phases of their careers, including participation in the Artists' Workshop in Detroit, the Rainbow Multi-Media Corporation, the White Panther Party and its offshoot, the Rainbow Peoples Party; also materials concerning the legalization of marijuana, radical politics, and prison reform. Also material, 1979-2000, relating to John Sinclair's work as a writer, performer, radio show host and music promoter.

The John Sinclair papers came to the library in 1979. Jointly donated by John and Leni Sinclair, this initial accession, covering the period 1957-1979, included textual material, sound recordings, and photographs relating to all phases of their careers, including participation in the Artists' Workshop in Detroit, the Rainbow Multi-Media Corporation, the White Panther Party and its offshoot, the Rainbow Peoples Party; also materials concerning the legalization of marijuana, radical politics, prison reform, and rock and jazz music.

The Sinclair papers provide a rich and unique source for the study of America's radical movement in the nineteen sixties and seventies. Beginning with a remarkable series of correspondence that includes letters from Abbie Hoffman, Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, and Jerry Rubin, and continuing on through extensive subject files, the collection details the cultural, political and business activities of a man whose energy and charisma made him a local and national leader of the counterculture. In addition, the collection documents the support and creativity of his wife and partner, who as writer, photographer and publicist helped to showcase the lifestyle which he symbolized.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, John Sinclair added to his papers with materials relating to his career as a writer and performer. In the winter of 2000, he donated a second large accession relating mainly to the period since leaving Detroit for New Orleans.

The Sinclair collection has been divided into four subgroups: Textual Files, Printed Material, Sound Recordings, and Visual Material.

Author and political consultant from Charlotte, Michigan who wrote a book on the Milo Radulovich Case; records include interviews, correspondence, newspaper clippings, Radulovich military records, research notes, and documentation relating to the writing and publication of To Strike at a King: The Turning Point in the McCarthy Witch-Hunt.

The collection consists of six series: Milo Radulovich Research materials, Writing and Publicity, Later Milo Radulovich materials, Other articles, Video materials, Sound materials, and Posters. The collection's strength lies in Ranville's interviews with Milo, his sister, and other's involved in Radulovich's Air Force Security Hearing, as well as in the other accumulated research materials.

Owner and operator of the Shaman Drum Bookshop, a noted independent bookstore in Ann Arbor, Mich. that gained national recognition and regularly hosted leading contemporary American writers from 1981 until its closure in 2009. Collection includes business records, articles about the bookselling industry, press coverage, photographs, printed broadsides, catalogs, store newsletters and posters documenting events at the Shaman Drum. Also contains records of Pohrt's other business affiliations and involvement in local cultural initiatives such as the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair and the Ann Arbor Book Festival.

The Karl Pohrt papers consist of materials relating to Pohrt's personal life, education, teaching, business ventures, and involvement in professional associations and community initiatives. Photographs, personal writings, signed broadsides, and correspondence document Pohrt's contact and friendships with writers and academics. In addition, the Pohrt papers include press articles and documentation from meetings providing a view into the effects of online retail on the bookselling industry.

Research materials used by Laurie Palazzolo in writing of her book Horn Man: the Polish-American Musician in Twentieth-Century Detroit (Detroit, Mich.: American-Polish Music Society, 2003). The collection sheds light on the history of 20th century Polish-American musical landscape of greater Detroit.

The collection documents the history and repertoire of Polish folk music bands in the greater Detroit area as well as professional careers of musicians. The records date primarily from the 1940's until 1980s. Materials dated 1990s-2000s are primarily transcripts of interviews taken by Gomulka Palazzolo. Records include correspondence, business contracts, performance schedules and programs, sheet music, scanned copies of photographs, copies of Keynote magazine, biographical information and interviews of musicians, performance advertisements, and recordings. The records are arranged into five series as follows: Research files, Detroit Federation of Musicians, Sheet music, Sound recordings, and Visual materials.

Michigan-born lawyer, judge, politician and diplomat, served as Detroit Recorder's Court Judge, Mayor of Detroit, Governor General of the Philippines, Governor of Michigan, U. S. Attorney General and U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Papers include extensive correspondence, subject files, Supreme court case files, scrapbooks, photographs, newsreels and audio recordings, and other material.

The Frank Murphy Collection documents in detail the life and career of one of Michigan's most distinguished public servants. Through correspondence, subject files, scrapbooks, visual materials, and other documentation, the collection traces Murphy's life from his years as Detroit judge, later Mayor, to his service in the Philippines, his tenure as governor, his stint as U.S. Attorney General, and culminating in his final years as U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

The Frank Murphy Collection consists of eight series: Correspondence, Other Papers, Supreme Court Case Files, Speech File, Speech Material, Miscellaneous, Visual Material, and Newsclippings/Scrapbooks.

Michigan Peaceworks (MPW) was an Ann Arbor based grassroots organization dedicated to peace, social justice, and human rights that was founded in 2001 following the September 11th attacks. The collection includes material related to their public events and outreach activities in Ann Arbor. These events and activities are well represented in posters, fliers, and photographs.

The Michigan Peaceworks Collection (4.5 linear feet) is largely composed of visual material in the form of photographs, flyers, and posters, related to events and rallies sponsored by Michigan Peaceworks and offers strong documentation of the peace community in Michigan in the decade following the September 11th attacks. The collection has been arranged in the following series: Administrative Files, Events and Activities, Publications and Outreach, Topical Files, Digital Materials, and Visual Material.