Karl Pohrt papers, 1976-2013
3.5 linear feet (including oversize) — 1 oversize folder — 241 MB (online)
3.5 linear feet (including oversize) — 1 oversize folder — 241 MB (online)
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.
3.5 linear feet (including oversize) — 1 oversize folder — 241 MB (online)
0.2 linear feet (in 1 oversize box and 1 oversize volume)
This collection consists of approximately 180 charcoal portraits made by Leon Makielski between 1923 and 1961, with most dated between 1924 and 1931. About a third of the subjects of the portraits are former faculty and staff of the University of Michigan, where Makielski taught from 1915 to 1927. Other subjects include physicians, politicians, architects and golfers, among others. Notable subjects in the collection include Speaker of the House of Representatives Nicholas Longworth, Secretary of the Interior Ray Lyman Wilbur, Michigan governor Frank Murphy, Michigan State Supreme Court Justice Henry M. Butzel, Polish Ambassador to the United States Titus Filipowicz, and pro golfers Al Watrous and Walter Hagen. Many, though not all, of the portraits are signed. The collection also includes a spreadsheet identifying the subjects of the portraits and any known details about each of them (profession, association with the University, etc.).
0.2 linear feet (in 1 oversize box and 1 oversize volume)
3 linear feet
The Lewis Cass papers (approximately 1195 items) contain the political and governmental letters and writings of Lewis Cass, American army officer in the War of 1812, governor and senator from Michigan, American diplomat to France, secretary of war to Andrew Jackson, secretary of state to James Buchanan, and Democratic candidate for President. Included are letters, speeches, financial documents, memoranda, literary manuscripts, newspaper clippings, and a travel diary. In addition to documenting his official and governmental activities, the collection contains material related to Cass' influence on Native American policy and his role in presidential politics.
The Correspondence series (approximately 990 items) contains the professional and political letters of Lewis Cass. These reveal details of Cass' entire career and involve many of the most important political topics of the day. Within the series are communications with many prominent American politicians and military officers, including John Adams (2 items), Thomas Hart Benton (4 items), James Buchanan (20 items), John C. Calhoun (3 items), Henry Clay (1 item), Jefferson Davis (3 items), Stephen Douglas (2 items), Secretary of State John Forsyth (5 items), Albert Gallatin (2 items), William Henry Harrison (3 items), Samuel Houston (1 item), Andrew Jackson (23 items), Thomas Jefferson (1 item), Francis Scott Key (3 items), Alexander Macomb (4 items), James Monroe (1 item), Samuel F. B. Morse (2 items), Franklin Pierce (1 item), James K. Polk (8 items), Richard Rush (6 items), William Seward (3 items), Winfield Scott (3 items), Zachery Taylor (2 items), John Tyler (2 items), Martin Van Buren (8 items), Daniel Webster (4 items), and many others. This series also contains a small number of personal letters, including communications with Cass' siblings, his nephew Henry Brockholst Ledyard, and his friends.
The collection's early papers (1777-1811) contain material related to Cass' family, his education, his professional career in Ohio, and relations between the United States government and Native Americans. The earliest item is from Elizabeth Cass' father, Joseph Spencer, relating to his service in the Revolutionary War. Two letters are from John Cass, Lewis' father, concerning business, and five items are from Cass' siblings, written to him at Philips Exeter Academy (1790-1795). His service as an Ohio congressman is represented by a single resolution, drafted by Cass, and submitted by the Ohio Congress to President Jefferson, voicing their commitment to the constitution and the Union (December 26, 1806, with Jefferson's response enclosed). Also present are nine items related to Native American relations, including formal letters to the Chippewa, Delaware, Miami, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Shawnee, and Wyandot tribes, from Superintendent of Indian Affairs Richard Butler, Northern Territory Governor Arthur St. Clair, and Secretary of War James McHenry. Of particular importance is a signed letter from several tribes to President James Monroe, composed shortly after the Battle of Tippecanoe, stressing the importance of treaties and lobbying to employ John Visger on behalf of the Indians (November 13, 1811). Two miscellaneous items from this period are letters from John Adams: one letter to Charles Guillaume Frederic Dumas requesting permission for Adams to return to America after the Treaty of Paris (March 28, 1783), and one to a group of volunteer troops of light dragoons (July 12, 1798).
Eleven letters deal with Cass' role in the War of 1812. Topics discussed include raising a regiment in Ohio (March 23, 1813), concerns with obtaining food and clothing for troops and British prisoners at Detroit (November 1813), and Cass' thoughts on receiving the governorship of the Michigan Territory (December 29, 1813). Of note is a letter containing William Henry Harrison's impressions on Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's victory on Lake Erie, sent to Secretary of War John Armstrong (enclosed in September 13, 1813). For more material relating to the War of 1812 see the Manuscript Writing series.
The collection contains 55 letters from Cass' tenure as governor of Michigan Territory (1815-August 1831). These represent a broad range of topics including territorial administration, expeditions throughout the western territory, western expansion, and studies of and treaties with Native Americans. Contacts include travelers from the east coast interested in Michigan and Indian affairs, officials in outposts throughout Michigan, officials from eastern states, and officials from Washington including presidents, their cabinets, and congressmen.
Cass communicated frequently with David Bates Douglass, an engineer who worked with Cass in Michigan. In his letters, Douglass often mentions their mutual colleague Henry Schoolcraft, and Douglass' mapping areas of Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois. Also of interest are five letters to George Wyllys Silliman, a lawyer in Zanesville, Ohio, and nephew of Lewis Cass, from friend William Sibly (November 17, 1827-November 6, 1828) and from cousin Elizabeth Cass (May 1, 1829). Sibly discussed personal and social news and made several comments on women. Elizabeth mentioned a month-long visit from Martin Van Buren and described Detroit as being "in turmoil" because of conflicts between the "Masons & Anti-Masons--Wing men & Biddle men--Sheldonites and Anti Sheldonites . . ."
Cass served as Andrew Jackson's secretary of war from 1831-1836. Most of the approximately 195 items concern Washington politics; department of war administration; affairs of the president and cabinet; and requests for appointments, promotions, and political favors from congressmen and other politicians. Of note are 18 letters and memoranda from Andrew Jackson to Cass and other cabinet members, regarding Indian resettlement (1831-1836), firearms delivered to members of congress (November 3, 1834), and news of generals Samuel Houston and Santa Anna and the war with Mexico (August 31, 1836). Cass was also involved with the administration of West Point; he received news of leadership changes and recommendations for admissions and teaching posts, including one request from author Washington Irving (March 20, 1834). During this period, Cass kept in close contact with Secretary of the Treasury Louis McLane.
From 1836 to 1842, Cass served as Jackson's minister to France. Many of the 148 items from this period are letters of introduction from Cass' colleagues in Washington, New York, Albany, Boston, Baltimore, and Virginia, for family and friends traveling in France and Europe. Though most of these travelers were well connected young men from prominent families, two letters were for women traveling without their husbands (August 29 and September 27, 1841). In 1842, before Cass returned to America, he communicated with senators and the President's cabinet regarding negotiations with the British for Canadian boundary lines, and other news from the continent. Throughout Cass' time in France, he received updates on his finances and properties in Detroit from Edmund Askin Brush.
Between 1842 and 1857, Cass served two senate terms representing Michigan, competed for the Democratic nomination for president in 1844 and 1852, and lost the presidency to Zachery Taylor in 1848. Letters from this time period amount to approximately 278 items. In December 1842, when first arriving back in America from France, Cass received a number of welcoming letters from officials in Boston and Philadelphia, including one that suggested he could be chosen as Democratic vice presidential nominee (December 28, 1842). Cass soon returned to Detroit but kept up with news from Washington. As presidential contender and then senator, Cass was concerned with the biggest issues of the day, including relations with England over the Oregon Territory; relations with Mexico; Indian affairs; and the Wilmot Proviso and the spread of the slavery to new states and territories. In addition to discussions of slavery in the South, Cass received reports on slavery in California, Missouri, Utah, Kansas, and Texas. The year 1848 is dominated with material on the presidential election, consisting of letters expressing support and discussing the landscape of the election. Of note are 45 letters, spanning 1844-1859, from Cass to Massachusetts Congressman Aaron Hobart of Boston, which feature both personal and political content.
The series contains 172 letters from Cass' service as James Buchanan's secretary of state from 1857-1861. During his time, he received communications dealing with political unrest in the South over the slavery issue, and concerning foreign relations with Mexico, England, France, Russia, Nicaragua, and Cuba. Of particular interest are ten letters from the Minister to England George Mifflin Dallas who reported on parliamentary and political news in London (April 28, 1857-February 2, 1858). He discussed the British views on slavery in America and about the Oregon border; activities of the British East India Company; England's conflicts in India, West Africa, and China; the planning of the transatlantic telegraph and the first communication between Queen Victoria and President Buchanan; and American relations with France and Russia. Cass also received frequent memoranda from Buchanan concerning foreign relations, focusing on treaties with Mexico. The series contains 10 letters from supporters, reacting to Cass' resignation from Buchanan's administration for failing to use force in South Carolina (December 14, 1860-January 2, 1861). Also present are three personal letters from Cass to his young nephew Henry Brockholst Ledyard.
The collection contains only 9 letters written after Cass' resignation from the Buchanan administration until his death, though a few of these are from old connections in Washington. One particularly interesting letter is a response from President Lincoln's office concerning Cass' request that he parole two of Elizabeth Cass' nephews who were Confederate officers (June 30, 1864). Going against his standard policy, Lincoln agreed to the parole out of respect for Cass.
Of the 50 letters written after Cass' death (1766-1917), the bulk are addressed to Cass' granddaughter, Elizabeth Cass Goddard of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Cass' grandson, Lewis Cass Ledyard. These primarily relate to family and business matters and are not related to Lewis Cass. Of note are a letter from William Cook to Lewis Cass Ledyard containing copies of four letters from Cass to J. P. Cook in 1856 (September 15, 1909), and a letter to Henry Ledyard concerning Cass family portraits. Other notable contributors from this period include Ulysses S. Grant (August 18, 1868), Congressman James A. Garfield (1871) Julia Ward Howe (written on a circular for a New Orleans exposition, 1885), and Elizabeth Chase on women's suffrage (October 1886).
This series contains 24 undated letters from all phases of Cass' career, including his time in Detroit, Paris, and Washington. Of note is a letter to Cass from William Seward concerning a social engagement, and three letters to Elizabeth Goddard from Varina Davis, in which she voices her opinions on bicycling and offers sympathy for the death of a child.
The Diary series (1 volume) contains a personal journal spanning June 11 to October 5, 1837, just before Cass began his service as diplomat to France. The 407-page volume, entitled "Diary in the East," documents Cass and his family's tour of the Mediterranean and Middle East. Among the places visited were the Aegean Sea, the Dead Sea, Egypt and the Nile, Cyprus, and Lebanon. Entries, which were recorded daily, range from 3 to 20 pages and relate to travel, landmarks, local customs, and the group's daily activities.
The Documents series (116 items) is made up of financial, legal, military, honorary, and official government documents related to Cass and his relatives. Early documents relate to the Revolutionary War service of Dr. Joseph Spencer, the father of Elizabeth Cass and the military discharge of Cass' father Jonathan Cass. War of 1812 items include 16 receipts of payments to soldiers for transporting baggage, a payment of Cass' troops approved by Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, and a report made up of eyewitness accounts of General Hull's surrender at Detroit (September 11, 1812).
Material related to Native Americans includes a treaty between Anthony Wayne and various tribes (August 3, 1795); the Treaty of St. Mary's with Cass, Duncan McArthur, and the Wyandot Indians; several permission bonds awarded by Governor William Hull to Michigan merchants for Indian trade (1798-1810); and Cass' 48-page report detailing the reduction of Native population in North America (with a population count by region), the agriculture and hunting practices of Native Americans, and the history and future of American Indian relations (July 22, 1829).
Cass' personal accounts are documented in three ledgers kept by Edmund Askin Brush's agency, which managed his financial and land interests, including payments on loans, interest, rent, and land sales and purchases (September 1832-March 1843, January 30, 1836, and undated). Honorary documents include memberships in the New York Naval Lyceum, the Rhode Island Historical Society, and the Buffalo Historical Society, and a degree from Harvard.
The Speeches series (17 items) contains 16 items related to Indian affairs spanning 1792-1816, and one undated item concerning agriculture in Michigan. The speeches were delivered by individual Native Americans (Grand Glaize, Painted Tobacco, Maera Walk-in-the-Water, Yealabahcah, Tecumseh, and the Prophet); Indian confederacies to the Commissioners of Indian Affairs; and the Indian commissioners to the Cherokee, Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomie, Shawnee, and Wyandot tribes.
For additional Indian speeches see the Manuscript Writings series. The Clements Library Book Division has several published versions of Cass' political speeches spanning 1830-1856.
The Manuscript Writings series (41 items) consists of Cass' non-correspondence writings, of which 30 are undated. Though Cass did not pursue a formal higher education after his years at Philips Exeter Academy, he received many honorary degrees and published scholarly works on the history of Native Americans and American political issues. This series contains 13 items that reveal Cass' views on Native Americans, including a 104-page item on Indian treaties, laws, and regulations (1826); notes on the war with the Creek Indians in 1833 (undated); undated notes and articles on the Shawnee, Kickapoo, and Miami tribes and lands; a 23-page review of published works on Indians; two sets of notes with corrections by Cass that were later published in the Northern American Review, and a four-page essay on Indian language.
Two items relate to the War of 1812. The first is a notebook entitled "Extracts from Franklin's Narratives," which contains copies of letters, speeches, and documents relating to Tecumseh and The Prophet, Canadian Governor George Prevost, President Madison's speeches to Congress, and Canadian General Henry Proctor, spanning 1812-1813. The second is an eyewitness account of the siege and battles of Fort Erie in 1814 by Frederick Myers (September 27, 1851). Also present are copied extracts from other writers' works, including Charlevoix's Histories and a work on Indiana by an unidentified author.
The Printed Items series (14 items) is comprised of printed material written by or related to Cass. Many of the items are contemporary newspaper clippings reporting on Cass' role in government and eulogies assessing his career after his death.
The Autographs and Miscellaneous series (21 items) contains various autographs of James Buchanan (October 10, 1860), Theodore Roosevelt (August 11, 1901), and author Alice French with an inscription and a sketch (September 29, 1906). This series also contains 19 pages of notes from Cass collector Roscoe O. Bonisteel, who donated many of the items in this collection, and four colored pencil sketches of furniture.
1 volume
This minute book (53 pages) pertains to the Maternal Association of St. Michael's Church in Bristol, Rhode Island. The first 7 pages are comprised of an explanation of the founders' decision to form the society (1 page), a constitution adopted in July 1836 (4 pages), and a membership list (2 pages). Two later pages contain a list of children under the age of fifteen who belonged to the association. The bulk of the volume (44 pages) consists of monthly meeting minutes dated December 28, 1836-February 27, 1839; the minutes for several months are missing because of the secretary's absence. At their meetings, the women prayed, sang religious songs, shared readings, and discussed their difficulties with or advice for raising children as Christians. Some entries mention the deaths of members' children. The volume also includes an annual report for 1838.
0.4 linear feet
Portrait collection of Michigan politicians spanning the years 1885-1982, with most photos from the period 1927-1982. Collection consists of two folders: "Governors" which contains 19 photographs, and "Senators", which contains 7 photographs. All dates listed correspond to the terms served by each politician.
1 volume
This volume is a manuscript copy of Captain Moses Brown's diary, August 9, 1776 to January 22, 1777, bound into the end of a copy of Major-General William Heath's published memoirs [Memoirs of Major-General Heath (Boston: I. Thomas and E. C. Andrews, 1798)]. Captain Brown served in the 21st Massachusetts Provincial Regiment and the 14th Continental Regiment.
The binding together of the 11-page diary and printed memoir conveniently collocates Heath's and Brown's firsthand accounts of the same battles. Beginning when Brown left his hometown of Beverly, Massachusetts, the diary pages contain brief records of daily troop movements, lodging, dining, and correspondence around the Battles of Long Island, White Plains, and Trenton. The final pages include two military returns in the form of a list and a table: a return of men belonging to Captain Brown's company who went to Trenton, and a return of prisoners taken at Trenton, both dated December 26, 1776. The last diary entry shows Brown returning to Beverly.
A pastedown inscription reads "Ex Libres Theodore Satter; Retournez s'il vous plait," and precedes a black and white engraved printed portrait of Major-General William Heath. A printed portrait of Brown, originally painted by John Gilbert Stuart, is situated between the memoir and diary sections.
0.25 linear feet
This collection (78 items) is made up of correspondence, legal and financial records, and other items related to the Clark family of Montgomery County, Georgia.
The Correspondence series contains 27 letters between members of the Clark and Purvis families. The first item is a 1-page letter that William S. Clark wrote to his father while serving with a military unit on Jekyll Island, Georgia, in January 1861. Margaret Clark also received a letter from a nephew about his life in Patroon, Texas, in April 1882, as well as letters from nieces and nephews about their lives in Seward, Georgia. The letters from 1885-1887 largely concern Thomas R. Clark's legal difficulties after he shot a member of the Troop family, an African American family who lived near the Clarks. His mother, who hoped that the case could be settled out of court, offered advice and later reported to relatives that the matter had cost him $60. Margaret and Thomas Clark also received letters from members of the Purvis family. The final item is a letter that Alma Clark wrote to Ellen Murray in April 1939.
The Legal Documents series (23 items) contains contracts and other documents related to the Clark family and to land in Georgia. Ten indentures and deeds are dated before 1853, mainly in Telfair County, Georgia; one includes a sketch of a plot of land in Wilkinson County, Georgia (June 20, 1807). Four items relate to African American laborers who worked for Nimrod Clark, including 2 receipts for the sale of a female slave (October 16, 1844, and October 10, 1853). Nimrod Clark and Mary Clark, a "freed laborer," made a contract in April 1866, and a judge apprenticed Caroline Clark, an 11-year-old African American girl, to Nimrod Clark in December 1866. Other items pertain to Georgia property and to Lewis P. Allard's discharge from the United States Army (June 9, 1865).
Financial Documents (17 items) include 3 Confederate war bonds (1862-1864), 13 receipts pertaining to members of the Clark family, and a small hand-bound volume with undated accounts and genealogical notes about members of the Clark family.
The Portraits and Photographs series (4 items) contains a drawn portrait of a soldier, a tintype print of a soldier, and two cartes-de-visite of Abraham Lincoln and his family.
The Ephemera series (7 items) includes 2 buttons from the "Dragoons Infantry" (1860), printed pages from a Bible class curriculum, and a school copybook.
12.5 linear feet — 1 oversize box — 1 oversize folder
While most of the material relates directly to Patricia Hill Burnett, the papers also relate to the more general women's movement during the 1970s and early 1980s.
12.5 linear feet — 1 oversize box — 1 oversize folder
1 volume
The Rowland Stephenson scrapbook contains numerous clippings, engravings, illustrations, notes, and ephemera primarily related to British banking and finance, the Royal Family, and prominent political and historical figures.
The scrapbook (23 x 18 cm) has brown board covers, is lacking a spine, and contains 184 pages in total. While it is unlikely that Stephenson himself created the scrapbook, it does appear that it may have been compiled by a close associate or relative of Stephenson's. Dated contents range from ca. 1767 to 1840 and generally speaking include numerous engraved portraits of various individuals (mainly royal personages, aristocrats, politicians, military and religious leaders, writers, artists, doctors, scientists, athletes, eccentrics, criminals, and historic figures), engravings and illustrations of buildings and other scenes, handwritten notes and ephemeral materials related to various subjects including royal finances and banking, multiple pasted in signatures, and newspaper clippings regarding various subjects including a reward notice for information on Stephenson's whereabouts after his disappearance following his embezzlement scandal. A number of engravings appear to have been clipped from European Magazine as well as R. S. Kirby’s Wonderful and Eccentric Museum; Or, Magazine of Remarkable Characters. Many undated engravings of pre-18th century historic figures were likely produced prior to 1767.