Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Records of the Law School document the evolution of legal education at the University of Michigan as well as tenures of various deans and faculty. Documentation includes historical and class files; student organizations and activities; planning and construction of Law School buildings; information on William W. Cook and his bequest; topical files; deans' correspondence; reports and minutes. Also included are materials related to the Thomas M Cooley and William W. Cook lecture series and portraits of faculty and students, photographs of activities of the Judge Advocate General's School held at the Law School during World War II, the construction of the Law Quadrangle and Law Library addition, and student activities.

The Law School Records begin in 1852 and span the years through the end of the twentieth century. The records document the history of legal education at the University of Michigan, the administration of the Law School, and the lives of some of the scholars who have studied and taught there.

The physical arrangement of the records reflects the various accessions of material that have been received from the Law School over the years. This finding aid is structured to reflect the intellectual organization of the records - continuing series and like materials have been brought together regardless of when the records were transferred to the library. The Summary Contents List provides and overview of the organization of the records.

There are eight major series in the record group: Historical and Class Files (1865-1974); Deans of the Law School (1852-1999); Faculty Files (1859-1994); Student Files (1894-1996); Law Quadrangle and William W. Cook, (1919-1938); Law School Lecture Series; Committee of Visitors and Audio/Visual Materials.

University of Michigan unit devoted to exchanging knowledge and resources across campus and with institutions worldwide by bringing in scholars, funding overseas research and study, and collaborating with campus programs, including seventeen centers and programs under the institute. Materials include minutes and meeting books from 1993-1999 and a video recording from a 2017 event featuring Congressman John Lewis.

The International Institute papers include minutes and meeting books for executive committee and governing board meetings, covering November 1993 to April 1999. It also includes a video recording of the keynote speech from the II-supported Fall 2017 Marching Forward series launched by the Conflict and Peace Initiative (CPI) at U-M featuring Congressman John Lewis.

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).

The ISR Publications contains publications of the Institute for Social Research and several sub-units, especially the Survey Research Center. The publications include annual reports, histories, bibliographies, newsletters, brochures and research reports.

The ISR Publications include annual reports, bibliographies and book catalogs, brochures, histories, lectures, newsletters, such as FYI and Open Channel, and reports such as Perceptions of safety and security at the University of Michigan. Contains annual reports, bibliographies, brochures, bulletins and course catalogs, manuals, newsletters, and reports from the Center for Political Studies, Center for Research on Utilization of Scientific Knowledge, CIEL Project: Computers in Early Literacy, Inter-university Consortium for Political Research, National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging, Research Center for Group Dynamics, Survey Research Center, and the Population Studies Center.

The Publications series (6.5 linear feet, 477.9 KB) consists of three subseries: Unit Publications, Sub-Unit Publications, and Topical Publications.

As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Institute for Social Research, individuals connected with the history were interviewed. Excerpts of the videotaped interviews were used to produce "In the Public Interest: Fifty years of Social Research." Includes videotaped interviews with ISR personalities and typed transcripts of the interviews. For some interviews only a transcript is available. A copy of the final product excerpted from the interviews is included along with digital materials containing copies of the transcripts.

During 1997-1998, as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of ISR, a series of filmed interviews were conducted by Erik Austin with individuals connected with the history of ISR. The interviews were excerpted and used to produce the videotape history In the Public Interest: Fifty Years of Social Research. Documentation from this project includes a copy of the final video, videotaped interviews with individuals associated with ISR, and typed transcripts of the interviews. The records are arranged as two series: Videotapes and Transcripts.

The Videotapes series (29 VHS tapes) includes a copy of In the Public Interest: Fifty Years of Social Research a copy made from a 1956 University of Michigan television program featuring Angus Campbell, and 27 videotapes of interviews from 1997-1998. The Transcripts series contains written transcriptions of the interviews, along with a digital convenience copy of the written text. The digital material contains the text of the interview transcripts in Microsoft Word, PDF and TXT formats. Researchers should note that there are some interviews for which only a transcript is available. As such, the transcript series is more comprehensive than the videotape series.

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 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.

University of Michigan committee which selects the annual Henry Russell Lecturer, the highest faculty award and the nominee for the Henry Russell Award recognizing a junior faculty member for superior scholarship and teaching ability.

The Henry Russel Lectureship Committee record group provides for unique research possibilities. An overview of the history of teaching at the University of Michigan can be examined throughout these files, primarily documenting the period from 1969 to 1989. The collection is arranged into four record series: General Files, Nomination Files, Photographs, and Audio Cassettes.

Proceedings, treasurer's reports, committee reports, scrapbooks, and various administrative records.

The University of Michigan Faculty Women's Club record group contains materials from 1921-2008, which document the work of this organization to promote friendship and collegiality among women faculty and wives of faculty members. The record group contains information about the activities and administrative procedures of the club. The record group is arranged in five series: Administration, Newcomers, Interest Groups, Events and History.

Office serving as chief advisor to the university's executive offices on matters of health policy, research, finance, education, and provides oversight for the Health System and Medical School. Contains administrative files, committee minutes, topical files and correspondence.

The records for the Office of the Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs are held in five series existing in multiple accessions: Central Files, Life Sciences Initiative, Speeches and Presentations, Committees, and the Archived Website series.