Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, was a federal unemployment relief program designed to put single young men to work during the Great Depression. The CCC employed over 2.5 million men between 1933 and 1942, including 250,000 African Americans, who served in segregated companies. This collection is comprised of 60 photographs, 48 photographic negatives, and digitized images of CCC African American enrollees assigned to work in Michigan companies, including Company 670, Camp Bitely, Company 2695, Camp Free Soil, and and Camp Wahalla.

The collection is comprised of images of the Civilian Conservation Corps African American enrollees from 1933 to 1939. Materials were received by the Bentley in 2016 and in 2018.

The 2016 acquisition includes portrait-style photographs of predominantly unidentified men, assigned to work in Michigan company/camps including Company 670, Camp Bitely, project F-22 and Company 2695, Camp Free Soil, most likely, project F-7.

The title of each photograph was taken from the photograph's inscription, when applicable. All photographs titled "unidentified" had no identifying information, but may have been labeled with a date. After the photographs were digitized and became available online, some of the people depicted on the photographs have been identified by the public.

In 2018, Ray Lyons Jr. donated additional materials that were collected by his father, Ray Lyons Sr., a former member of the CCC. Mr. Lyons Jr. donated additional 30 photographs, 48 negative images, and a small number of clippings to the collection. The images depict African American members of the CCC at a number of locations, including Camp Bitely, Camp Free Soil, and Camp Walhalla. The pictures also document CCC projects such as the building of a Fire Lookout Tower, the clearing of fields and woods, and the construction of a stump fence.

The A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (TC; also referred to as Taubman College) was established in 1931 as the College of Architecture. However, courses in architecture have been offered at the University of Michigan since 1876, and a department of architecture, formed in 1913, preceded the creation of the college. Since its formation, TC has offered courses and programs in several areas, including landscape architecture, urban planning, urban design, real estate, and, of course, architecture. The record group includes dean's administrative files and correspondence, other administrator files, meeting minutes, department and program files, materials from the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), lectures and other documentation on the Raoul Wallenberg lecture hosted by the college, and several photographs and negatives of the college and TC-related events.

The A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (University of Michigan), records document the teaching of architecture and design at the University of Michigan beginning in 1878. The records include administrative files, correspondence committee minutes, reports, photographs and architectural drawings. The records have been received in a number of separate accessions which may include material that continues or complements record series from a previous accession or may overlap chronologically with previous accessions. This finding aid reflects the intellectual structure of the records by bringing like material together across accessions. As a consequence, in the container listing box numbers will not necessarily be in consecutive order.

The records are organized in the following principal series:

1. Minutes of Meetings
2. Dean's Administrative Files
3. National Architectural Accrediting Board
4. Miscellaneous (correspondence and select files)
5. Raoul. G. Wallenberg
6. Dean's Correspondence
7. Doctoral Program Files
8. Topical Files
9. Administrative Files
10. Architectural Drawings
11. Photographs and Negatives
12. Art and Architecture Building Renovations
13. Department of Urban Planning
14. Audio-Visual Material
15. Articles, Reports and Speeches
16. Artifacts
17. Archived School of Architecture Website

Alan Abrams is a Detroit-based press agent/public relations consultant in the music business; publicist for Motown Record Corporation, 1964-1966, later with Stax Records, 1967-1968. The collection consists of press releases, clippings, publicity material, scrapbooks containing press coverage of the recording artists that he represented, including the Supremes, photographs, and his writings about Motown, Otis Redding, and Florence Ballard.

The Al Abrams collection contains scrapbooks, correspondence, press releases, photographs, and memoirs detailing Abrams' work as a publicist and press agent for Detroit's Motown and for Stax Records in Memphis. The collection is valuable for its documentation of Motown in the period of the early to mid-1960s when this Detroit company was beginning its great string of record successes. Abrams was a great collector of press and other materials about the artists who worked for Motown and Stax-Volt.

The Abrams collection measures two linear feet and four oversize volumes whose contents have been foldered. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Motown Record Company, Stax Record Company, Al Abrams Associates, Miscellaneous, Visual Materials, and Scrapbooks.

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.

Albert Kahn was a Detroit-based architect, active from 1896 to 1942. He founded the firm, Albert Kahn Associated Architects & Engineers, which is today known as Albert Kahn Associates, Inc. He was best known for his industrial design work, including the Ford Motor Company's Highland Park and River Rouge plants; numerous commercial buildings in Detroit such as the Fisher Building, Detroit Athletic Club, and General Motors Building; and much of the University of Michigan's Central Campus, including Angell Hall, the Clements Library, and Hill Auditorium, as well as the Willow Run Bomber Plant near Ann Arbor, Michigan. After Kahn's death in 1942, his architectural firm, Albert Kahn Associates, Inc., has continued to be a worldwide leader in the design of factory buildings that enhance the manufacturing process. The Albert Kahn Associates records are composed of materials produced by Albert Kahn the architect, as well as materials produced by his firm, Albert Kahn Associates, Inc., and include correspondence, company files, photographs, published materials, and architectural drawings.

The Albert Kahn Associates records offer researchers the opportunity to study the correspondence, transcripts of speeches, photographs, and architectural drawings of the preeminent, American, industrial architect, Albert Kahn, and his firm, Albert Kahn Associates, Inc. On March 21, 2003 (the 134th anniversary of Albert Kahn's birthday), Albert Kahn Associates, Inc. (AKA) donated this collection to the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan to ensure the conservation and accessibility of these records. Through this gift, AKA has shown its commitment to preserving the legacy of Kahn, whose factories on five continents influenced the development of industrial architecture and whose commercial, residential and institutional buildings define the character of Detroit and the University of Michigan today. The collection encompasses 166 linear feet (in 180 boxes) of correspondence, transcripts of speeches, newspaper and journal articles, company files, audiovisual materials, photographs and slides, as well as 90 leather portfolios containing photographs of completed buildings, 22 albums of sample architectural materials, 131 books, and 12,731 architectural drawings in 45 flat-file drawers and 114 oversize tubes.

The narrative and visual materials in the collection illuminate the breadth of Kahn's career and highlight the work of his architectural firm, Albert Kahn Associates, Inc., which continued to develop projects after his death, and remains a living institution. In pairing the textual materials with the photographs and architectural drawings associated with Kahn's projects, this collection offers a rich perspective on the master architect himself, illuminating his personal views on his own architecture and its place in a changing and often tumultuous world.

Fifth chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity for African American college students. Epsilon Chapter was established at the University of Michigan in April 1909. Various photographs, including a photo of a group of Black men and women posed on the front porch steps of the Alpha Phi Alpha House (1017 Catherine St., Ann Arbor, Michigan).

The physical photographs are arranged in two folders. Photographs taken at the University of Michigan depict African American men and women posing in front of the East Catherine Street house as well as an informal group photo in the university's chemical laboratory. The collection's other various photographs primarily depict unidentified African American men and children.

University of Michigan chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity for Black college students. The Epsilon chapter was founded in April 1909. History, administrative records, topical files, reports, and photographs largely relating to the chapter and activities of African American students at the University of Michigan. Also included is some material related to the chapter's 2009 centennial celebration.

The records of the Epsilon Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha include correspondence, minutes, photographic material, publications, reports, and topical files.

The records—which document the activities and experiences of African Americans at the University of Michigan—also provides a rich source of information about the history, activities, and administration of the Epsilon Chapter, particularly during the 1920's, 1980's, and 1990's. Also documented is the chapter's centennial celebration in 2009.

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.

The American Citizens for Justice, (or the Asian American Center for Justice), is a Detroit-based Asian American civil rights group founded in reaction to the fatal beating of Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American man. The ACJ later evolved into an organization advocating for the rights of Asian-Americans in general. Records consist of meeting minutes, financial reports, correspondence, publications and grants, Vincent Chin related information, legal case files, health project files, as well as topical files and audiovisual material.

The American Citizens for Justice record group details the administrative functions as well as the activities and goals of the organization. Records consist of meeting minutes, financial reports, correspondence, publications and grants, Vincent Chin related information, legal case files, health project files, as well as topical files.

Researchers should be aware that there is significant overlap between the Roland Hwang Files and the other series in this collection, and so should consult all appropriate groupings as needed.

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.

Community organization awarding grants and scholarships to support civic initiatives in the Ann Arbor, MI area. The collection includes administrative records, grant files, scholarship records, and photographs.

The Ann Arbor Community Foundation (Ann Arbor, Mich.) records (38 linear feet and 257.6 MB) include administrative materials such as topical files, correspondence, and event planning materials. The collection also contains grant files, publications, photographs, press clippings, and records from the organization's Youth Council.

The records of the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan include council proceedings (1834-1919); assessment rolls (1830, 1839, and 1958-1959); scrapbooks relating to city government (1904-1951); and records and photographs detailing the city's waste management and recycling program beginning in the 1980s. Miscellaneous materials include plats of the wards, 1912; election returns, 1847-1852; records of the former city of East Ann Arbor and the Village of Ann Arbor (Lower Town); and minutes of the Ann Arbor Park Commission (1905-1956). Also of interest are files concerning the Ann Arbor Railroad and the city's street railway and interurban system.

The series in this record group include: Election returns; Bonds; Assessment Rolls; Miscellaneous; City of East Ann Arbor; Council proceedings; Scrapbooks; Ann Arbor Park Commission; Village of Ann Arbor (Lower Town); Photographs; Recycling and Environmental Issues; and Other City Records.

Social and political activist whose main causes included access to high quality health care for marginalized ethnic and racial groups and the elderly, homelessness, hunger, job skills training, and Democratic political activism. Papers are comprised of materials documenting her professional and personal life after the passing of her husband, Roger Warren Barney, in 1978. Materials include meeting minutes, notes, correspondence, reports, awards, photographs, and family materials.

The Jane L. Barney papers are comprised of materials documenting her professional and personal life. The Professional Files include organization meeting minutes, correspondence, notes, flyers, manuals, press articles, and personnel files, as well as other administrative papers and reports for the organizations she worked to establish, develop, and run. Also found here are speeches, papers relevant to her work with churches, marginalized ethnic and racial groups, and gerontology.

Jane L. Barney's personal papers largely include correspondence with friends, co-workers, politicians, and family, as well as notebooks, diplomas, hospital and assisted living documentation, and photographs.

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.

Michigan-based architect, founder of Gunnar Birkerts and Associates, professor in the University of Michigan College of Architecture and Urban Planning. The collection is comprised of six series: Personal papers, Professional papers, Faculty papers, Project records, Personal Project Files and Personal Correspondence and Files. Personal papers includes biographical information, family photographs, early architectural drawings, and course notebooks and project drawings completed while a student at the Technische Hochschule Stuttgart. Professional papers includes transcripts and notes of speeches, lectures and seminars (many of these are also available on audiotapes; some are available on videocassettes). Also included are correspondence, awards, travel diaries with conceptual drawings, newspaper and journal articles and photographs. Faculty papers include course and other materials relating to his career as professor at the University of Michigan College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Project files contains textual files, photographs, and conceptual drawings associated with 122 of the buildings and projects designed by Birkerts. Scanned images of some conceptual drawings are available online.

The Gunnar Birkerts Collection offers researchers the opportunity to study the personal, professional and faculty papers and conceptual sketches of one of the masters of American modern architecture, whose career spans the second half of the twentieth century. The collection encompasses 15 linear feet of Birkerts' student work, notes and transcripts of speeches, lectures and interviews, video and audio tapes, writings, correspondence, awards, travel diaries, academic course materials, photographs and project records. Perhaps the greatest significance of this collection lies in its presentation of over 1900 drawings of 122 buildings and projects by the architect's own hand, many of which are valuable, early conceptual sketches.

In its pairing of narrative and visual documents, the Gunnar Birkerts Collection offers a rich perspective on the architect himself, illuminating his views on the creative process and the resulting conceptual designs which have defined his expressive architecture over his illustrious fifty-plus-year career. The Gunnar Birkerts Collection is the architect's deeply personal legacy. He recognizes that, while some of his buildings may be demolished over time, his original conceptual designs on paper are conserved here for future generations to study and enjoy. To this end, he has endowed the Gunnar Birkerts Collection to ensure that his drawings will be preserved and that his place in architectural history can be studied and understood.

The Gunnar Birkerts Collection is comprised of six series: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Faculty Papers, Project Records, Personal Project Files and Personal Correspondence and Files. The narrative and visual documents in these series illuminate the full breadth of the architect's life and work, from his early years as a student at the Technische Hochschule in Stuttgart, Germany in the 1940s to his career in Michigan as an internationally acclaimed architect, esteemed design professor and global lecturer from the early 1950s to the present.

Organization created by Baptist minister Reverend Edward Pinkney to fight economic and social injustice in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Includes correspondence, news articles, court documents, protest fliers, protest signs, religious writings, website captures, and photographs. Also contains a copy of the 2006 documentary, "What's going on in Benton Harbor? : The Trial of Reverend Pinkney."

The Black Autonomy Network Community Organization records (1 linear feet, 1 oversize box and 3.41 GB) contains correspondence, news articles, court documents, protest fliers, religious writings, and photographs. The collection also includes a box of protest signs supporting Reverend Pinkney and digital files containing email correspondence, website pages and a copy of the 2006 documentary, "What's Going On in Benton Harbor: The Reverend Pinkney Story." The materials focus on the voter fraud charges against Reverend Edward Pinkey and the protests in response to his conviction.

Student organization at the University of Michigan established in 1968 for students of African descent. The materials in the collection include minutes, correspondence, agendas, officer reports and topical files on issues including the Michigan Mandate and the 2000 Michigamua protest. The collection also contains photographs, audio/visual recordings, Twitter posts, and event flyers.

The Black Student Union (University of Michigan) records document the various activities of the Black Student Union at U-M. Materials in this collection include agendas, budgets, correspondence, event flyers, minutes, officer reports, photographs, topical files, Twitter posts, and audio/visual recordings.

William Bolcom (born 1938) is a composer and pianist. Joan Morris (born 1943) is a mezzo-soprano. They were both members of the University of Michigan School of Music faculty. Bolcom and Morris have given numerous performances since 1973. They have also recorded albums of classical and popular songs. Performance files include programs, itineraries, newspaper articles and reviews of each performance, and contracts. There are also files relating to the University of Michigan student production of Mina & Colossus as well as Barnum's Nightingale; original scores to Bolcom's compositions, including McTeague, Casino Paradise, and A View from the Bridge; topical files relating to awards, competitions, and other activities and interests; and physical and digital audiovisual materials.

The papers of William Bolcom and Joan Morris document Bolcom's work as a composer and performer as well as Bolcom's and Morris's collaboration in performing and recording American popular songs and classical music. There is also some material relating to their academic work at the University of Michigan, notably a 1988 production of a student opera, Mina & Colossus. The papers include programs, itineraries, and correspondence relating to performances, manuscript and published scores, topical files, audio and visual material (including sound recordings), and photographs.

Marjorie Bradfield was the first African American librarian in Detroit, working for the Detroit Public Library and as head librarian for Detroit Public Schools. Horace Bradfield was an African American Physician at Providence and Hutzel hospitals, and out of offices on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit. The collection contains Marjorie Bradfield's autobiography, audio recordings of interviews with Horace Bradfield, and photographs of the Bradfields.

The Marjorie and Horace Bradfield papers consists of autobiographical material and photographs.

In her autobiography, Marjorie Bradfield describes her first library jobs, and the events that led her to the Detroit Public Library. It highlights Bradfield's professional accomplishments, as well as challenges she faced as an African American woman in the library field. The autobiography includes an appendix with citations of essays and articles written by Bradfield.

Also contained within the collection are recordings of a 1978 interview with Horace Bradfield, facilitated by his daughter, Trudy Bradfield Taliaferro. The first part of the interview, Bradfield discusses his time as a student at the University of Michigan between 1931 and 1935. Throughout the interview, Bradfield describes his experience as an African American student at the University of Michigan during the 1930s. The second part of the interview covers his struggles finding a job as an African American physician in Detroit following his graduation in 1935.

The collection includes a small number of photographs in the collection, primarily portraits of the Bradfields, and a photograph from their wedding day in 1938. One of these photographs is available online as a digital file.

Sam Breck was an Ann Arbor, Mich., photographer. The collection consists of color slides of railroad depots and other railroad scenes, chiefly in Michigan but including scenes in other states; slides, photographs and negatives of Ann Arbor and University of Michigan buildings, views, and events; photographs and negatives of Michigan Youth Symphony.

The Sam Breck photograph collection consists of color slides of railroad depots and other railroad scenes, chiefly in Michigan but including scenes in other states; slides, photographs and negatives of Ann Arbor and University of Michigan buildings, views, and events; photographs and negatives of Michigan Youth Symphony. The collection is divided into four series, based on format: Slides, Prints, Negatives, and Contact sheets, along with a small Other series.