Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

University of Michigan professor of economics and accounting, businessman, U-M regent; papers include biographical material, topical files, correspondence, publications and speeches, audio-visual material, and scrapbooks.

The papers of Robert P. Briggs document aspects of his career as educator and administrator at the University of Michigan, and his experience as businessman and advocate for business. The papers are arranged in seven series: Biographical/Family Material; Topical files; Correspondence; Publications, Speeches, and Addresses; Audiovisual Material; and Scrapbooks.

William Joseph and Ethel Fountain Hussey family of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Correspondence, diaries, scrapbooks, photographs and other materials relating especially to Hussey's activities as professor of astronomy and director of the astronomical observatory at the University of Michigan, including his scientific visits to South America and South Africa.

The Hussey family collection divides between the papers of William Joseph Hussey and his wife Ethel Fountain Hussey. The William Joseph Hussey papers includes correspondence, papers relating to his astronomical work, travels abroad, and affairs at the universities where Hussey held appointments, particularly The University of Michigan. Of interest are two letterpress books, two University of Michigan student notebooks containing notes on John William Langley's course in physics and notes on mathematics, account books, scrapbooks, and diaries of Argentina and South Africa travels and activities in The University of Michigan Observatory.

The papers of Ethel Fountain Hussey include correspondence, diaries, manuscript drafts of articles, and subject files relating to her organizational activities, her early work with the Michigan League and with the Association of Collegiate Alumnae. Some of the couple's correspondents included James B. Angell, Levi L. Barbour, Luther Burbank, Marion L. Burton, William W. Campbell, William L. Clements, Ralph H. Curtiss, David Starr Jordan, Robert P. Lamont.

Vice-president and secretary of the University of Michigan; correspondence; research materials for his biographies of university presidents; files relating to activities on the Ann Arbor City Council; course notes from classes at the University of Michigan; and photographs.

The Shirley Wheeler Smith papers include a combination of personal and professional materials. Much of Smith's career with the U-M is documented in the official records of the University, most notably in the records of the Secretary's Office and the papers of the presidents under whom he served (Angell, Hutchins, Burton, Little, and Ruthven). Even so, these papers contain much material relating to the business affairs of the U-M. The extensive correspondence files (with partial index) demonstrate wide influence in all phases of University operations as he corresponded with presidents, faculty, members of the board of regents, and other university personnel. Also documented in the collection is Smith's activities with the city of Ann Arbor and with other community organizations.

The collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Research for writings; Topical files; Ann Arbor City Council; Papers (by date); Personal and miscellaneous; and Photographs.

Professor of English at University of Michigan. Correspondence, diaries, and topical files relating to his interest in English grammar and usage, his evaluation of various dictionaries, his interest in Polish-American relations, and the controversy surrounding Henshaw Ward's denial of Peary's discovery of the North Pole.

The Wells collection is comprised of the following series: Subject file; Personal diaries; Robert E. Peary; and Other papers.

Professor of philosophy at Glasgow University and University of Michigan. Extensive correspondence, scrapbooks, lecture notes, addresses, newspaper clippings and other papers relating to questions of philosophy and to his activities at University of Michigan; diaries, 1896-1927, relating to his European travels and career at the University; and photographs.

The Wenley papers have been divided into the following series: Correspondence; University of Glasgow/Queen Margaret College; Biographical and personal; Notes from University of Michigan and other courses and lectures; Speeches and addresses; Miscellaneous; and Scrapbooks.

Professor of geology and paleontology at the University of Michigan, director of the Michigan Geological Survey, and chancellor of Syracuse University, popular lecturer and writer on scientific topics and as a Methodist layman who worked to reconcile traditional religious beliefs to nineteenth-century developments in the fields of evolutionary biology, cosmology, geology, and paleontology. Papers include extensive diaries, field notes and maps from travels and geological expeditions, correspondence, speeches, articles and other publications and photographs.

The papers of Alexander Winchell are those of an orderly man who carefully documented his own life through well-organized correspondence, diaries, notebooks, and scrapbooks. Winchell kept thorough evidence of his activities, writings, lectures, and thoughts, for most of his life. The only area that seems poorly documented is his university teaching. The collection does not appear to include significant material relating to relationships with students in the classroom.

"Alexander Winchell, an editorial tribute," published in The American Geologist (Feb. 1892, MHC call number DB/2/W759/A512), includes a year-by-year account of Winchell's life, based on the papers, and probably written by his brother N. H. Winchell. Although there are no footnotes in this work, it provides a useful summary of Winchell's activities and clues to the existence of documentation in the collection.

The collection is divided into six major series: Biographical, Correspondence, Diaries and journals, Writings and lectures, Reference and research files, and Scrapbooks; and three smaller series: Visual materials, Processing notes, and Card files.

Winchell's bibliography is located in Box 1 (the most complete copy is in the "Permanent memoranda" volume), and drafts of many of his writings are found in Boxes 8-14. Copies of many, but not all, of Winchell's publications are found in the MHC printed collection. The card catalog includes details for all separately cataloged items. There are also three collections of pamphlets that are not inventoried: two slightly different bound sets prepared by N. H. Winchell after Alexander Winchell's death (MHC call numbers DA/2/W759/M678/Set A and DA/2/W759/M678/Set B) and a two-box collection of pamphlets collected by the University Library (MHC call number Univ. of Mich. Coll./J/17/W759).