Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

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.

Harlan Henthorne Hatcher (1898-1998) was president of the University of Michigan from 1951 to 1967. The papers span the years 1837-1998 and document Dr. Hatcher's University of Michigan presidency, Ohio State University career, literary career, organizational involvement, personal life, and family history. Includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, manuscripts, speeches, yearly datebooks, oral history interview transcripts, magnetic audio tape recordings, an audiocassette recording, and photographs.

The Harlan Henthorne Hatcher Papers document his University of Michigan presidency, Ohio State University career, literary career, organizational involvement, personal life, and family history. The collection spans the years 1837-1998, with the bulk of the materials covering 1891-1986. It includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, manuscripts, speeches, yearly datebooks, oral history interview transcripts, magnetic audio tape recordings, an audiocassette recording, and photographs. The collection is strongest in its documentation of Dr. Hatcher's presidency at the University of Michigan, especially in correspondence and speeches. Documentation is weakest on the subjects of his Ohio State University career before 1944 and organizational involvement before 1967. The collection may be useful to researchers interested in the history of the University of Michigan from 1951-1967, the duties of university administrators and their spouses, authors of the 1920's to 1950's, and environmental activism in Michigan in the 1970's and 1980's.

The Harlan Hatcher collection has been divided into two subgroups of files: those which were created or accumulated from his tenure as president of the University of Michigan (1951-1967) and those materials (mainly personal) dated either prior to or subsequent to Hatcher's presidential years.

The library, as archives of the University of Michigan, is the repository for all of the files of its presidents. For historic reasons, all of the papers of presidents up to and including Harlan Hatcher have been treated as personal collections and cataloged under the name of the president. Beginning with Hatcher's successor - Robben Fleming - and continuing to the present, the files of individuals occupying the president's office have been considered both personal and institutional. Records created from an individual's responsibility as president, usually materials from the years when he was president, are treated as office files and have been cataloged as part of the University of Michigan President's Office record group. Materials from either before or after an individual's tenure as president have been treated separately and have been cataloged under that president's name.

The Michigan Historical Collections Polar Bear Expedition Photograph Collection includes images relating to the American intervention in north Russia, 1918-1919, the "Polar Bear Expedition." The provenance of most of the photographs has been lost and therefore these images have been grouped together by subject into an artificial accumulation.

The photographs in this collection were received from various sources, the provenance of most of the photographs has been lost and therefore these images have been grouped together by subject into an artificial accumulation. The digitized Polar Bear Expedition photograph collection is a part of a larger collection which includes a wide range of subject matter. The 24 images relating to the "Polar Bear Expedition" include photographs and postcards depicting various scenes, events, and individuals. Identified individuals include Private Walter Streit of Company M, 339th Infantry and General Richardson (W. P. Richardson?), as well as various photographs of Russian people. The collection also includes photographs of Company M, 339th Infantry and the 339th Infantry Supply Company and a photograph of a marker for Company H, 339th Infantry soldiers killed in action. Russian places documented in these photographs include Murmansk, Tegra, Archangel, Konetsbor, and the Vologda Railway.