Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Transcripts of oral interviews conducted by University of Michigan history professor Sidney Fine in cooperation with the Michigan Historical Collections with individuals on the subject of the life and times of Michigan governor and U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Frank Murphy; and sound recordings of the interviews.

The transcripts of the interviews are arranged alphabetically by interviewee. The collection also includes the tapes of some of the interviews.

Oral history project of the Michigan Historical Collection to document politics and government during the gubernatorial administration of G. Mennen Williams; transcripts of interviews, sound cassettes, and administrative records of the project.

This is a collection of oral history tapes and interviews relating to the history of the gubernatorial administration of G. Mennen Williams. Interviews have been arranged alphabetically and include Paul Adams, Michael Berry, Geraldine N. Bledsoe, Ernest R. Boehm, Raymond Clevenger, John D. Dingell, Tom Downs, Alfred B. Fitt, Hicks and Martha Griffiths, Adelaide Hart, Jane B. Hart, Erma Henderson, Stella Lecznar, Wade H. McCree, Louis Mezzano, Victor G. Reuther, Horace Sheffield, Otis Smith, Paul W. Weber, Nancy (Quirk) Williams, Joseph L. Wisniewski, and Leonard Woodcock. Project files also include questionnaires (but not interviews) from other individuals associated with G. Mennen Williams.

The Bentley Historical Library houses the Michigan Historical collections, which documents the history of Michigan; and the University Archives and Records Program, which maintains the historical record of the University of Michigan. Founded in 1935 as the Michigan Historical Collections, directors of the library include Lewis G. Vander Velde, F. Clever Bald, Robert M. Warner, Francis X. Blouin, Jr., and Terrence J. McDonald. The records include administrative files, correspondence, meeting materials, files on exhibits, archived websites, images, audio-visual media, and documentation of special projects such as the Vatican Archives project.

The records of the Bentley Historical Library were received in six main accessions 1991, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2014. Together the records comprise 79 linear feet, plus two oversize boxes, and oversize folder, three flat file drawers, and more than 16 GB of data spanning the years 1935-2014. The researcher should consult the summary box list on page vii for a quick overview of the materials in the collection.

Photographs and sound recordings of Alston remarks at the dedication of the Robert Hayden Lounge in the University of Michigan Center for Afroamerican and African Studies in 1988. The Center was renamed the Department Afroamerican and African Studies in 2011. A 1988 discussion between Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Alston, William McAdoo, and member of the Bentley Historical Library staff about African American historical material housed at the Bentley. Interview conducted by William McAdoo (1990, includes transcript) relating to the Inventory of Negro Manuscripts project at the Bentley Historical Library.