Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Established by students in 1896, the University of Michigan Band had its first salaried director in 1915. The William Revelli era (1935-1971) brought the Band to prominence as the marching, concert, and symphony bands toured and performed extensively, including a tour of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union by the Symphony band in 1961, the Jazz Band's 1965 tour of Latin American, and the Symphony Band 2011 tour of China. Records include scrapbooks of band activities (including photographs); bound volumes ("Blue Books"), 1936-present, containing band formations, newsletters, and announcements of band activities, also topical files relating to band tours and concerts. The Marching Band is best documented, although concert band, symphony band, and related ensembles are represented.

The University of Michigan Band records are divided into eight series: Tours and Concerts, Yearbooks, Photographs and Posters, Audio-Visual Material, Band Books ("Blue Books"), Scrapbooks, Publications, and Director's Records. The majority of the records consist of bound volumes of band formations, announcements, and publications, and oversized scrapbooks of band activities. Additional material includes topical files documenting tours and performances. The bulk of the documentation pertains to the Marching Band.

Aviator, civilian personnel officer with the U.S. Air Force; chronological and topical files, audio-visual materials, and clippings and scrapbooks.

The Chauncey Spencer collection is an accumulation of personal materials - correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, sound and video recordings - relating to his lifelong interest in aviation, his career with the military, and the career of his mother, poetess Anne Spencer.

The Chrystal G. Tibbs Papers comprise over a half-century of documents pertaining to Tibbs's membership in various chapters of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and to the history of the sorority at large. Founded at Howard University in 1908, A.K.A. was the first sorority established by African-American women and currently has approximately 250,000 members. The collection's four series contain papers pertaining to Tibbs's personal participation in sorority activities (including those related to her tenure in various administrative posts), materials from several Michigan chapters, sorority publications, and audiovisual materials. In addition, the collection contains work done by Tibbs and family members to document the Powell, Webster, and Winchester family history.

The Chrystal G. Tibbs Papers comprise materials accumulated through Tibbs's participation in Alpha Kappa Alpha conferences, chapter meetings, and special interest groups at the local, state, regional, and national level over a span of fifty years. The activities of Michigan-based chapters are particularly well represented. Materials also include personal and professional documentation directly related to Tibbs and her immediate family. The collection is divided into four series: Personal Papers, Professional Career, Powell Family Papers, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Gerontologist at the Institute of Gerontology of the University of Michigan, specializing in Alzheimer's Disease and the training and education of people working with the elderly. Professional papers, including correspondence, subject files, papers and reports, and files relating to workshops and symposia attended; Alzheimer's Disease research files; photographs; and other audio-visual materials.

The Dorothy H. Coons Papers comprise five series: Professional Papers (1936-1987); Alzheimer's Disease Research Project (1982-1986); Photographs (1966-1972);Audio-visual Materials (1976-1986); and Personal Papers (1999). The records cover the years 1936 to 1999, but the bulk of the material falls between 1970 and 1983. Within each series, files are arranged alphabetically by topic.

African American Detroit poet and librarian, and founder of Broadside Press in Detroit, Michigan which supported and published black and African American poets and authors. Poet laureate of Detroit, 1981. Materials consist of personal and business correspondence, topical files, photographs, drafts and publications, audio recordings, and film reels.

The papers document the personal and professional life of Dudley Randall as an independent African American poet and founder of the Broadside Press in Detroit, and span the years 1900-2002. Material includes drafts and publications of original works, correspondence, photographs, sound recordings on audiocassettes and audio reels, and films featuring Randall, his family, and poets connected to the Broadside Press. Series in the collection may have overlapping subjects, as original folder contents were maintained. Folders are arranged first by date, and then alphabetically by original title where applicable. The collection is divided into four series: Biographical (1900-2002), Broadside Press (1939-1999), Topical Files (1908-2002), and Writing (1933-1983).

Frederick Moncrieff worked as an editor, writer, photographer, and manager for the University of Michigan News and Information Services between 1946 and 1966. He accompanied the University of Michigan Symphony Band on its 1961 tour of the Soviet Union and the Near East. The majority of the collection is materials relating to this tour. Other items pertain to historic buildings in Ann Arbor and Camp Michigania

The Frederick E. Moncrieff papers primarily document Moncrieff's work with the University of Michigan. These papers are divided into three series: University of Michigan Band Tour Papers; Other Materials; and Audiovisual Materials.

Governor of Michigan 1949 to 1960, under-secretary of state for African Affairs from 1961 to 1965, and Michigan Supreme Court justice from 1970 to 1986 and leader in state and national Democratic Party. Papers document his public career and aspects of his personal and family life and include correspondence, subject files, staff files, speeches, press releases and news clippings, photographs, sound recordings, films and videotapes.

The G. Mennen Williams Papers consist of official and personal files arranged into six subgroups: 1) Gubernatorial papers, 1949-1960 (681 linear ft.); 2) Non-gubernatorial papers, 1883-1948 and 1958-1988 (107 linear ft.); 3) Visual materials, ca. 1911-1988 (ca. 25 linear ft.); 4) sound recordings, 1950-ca. 1988 (5 linear ft.) Scrapbooks, 1948-1987 (43 vols.) and State Department Microfilm, 1961-1966 (23 reels).

As part of its own control system, the governor's office maintained a card index to the correspondents in many of the subgroups and series within the gubernatorial papers. This card file is located in the library's reading room. In addition, Nancy Williams and her staff compiled an extensive and detailed run of scrapbooks covering the Williams years. There is a separate inventory to these scrapbooks in a separately bound volume.

Strategy for Use of the Gubernatorial Papers: Although the Williams gubernatorial collection consists of hundreds of linear feet of material, the file arrangement created by the governor's staff is a fairly simple one to understand and to use.

The bulk of the collection falls within specific functional groupings, corresponding to the various activities and responsibilities that Williams performed as governor. Thus, if the researcher is uncertain of what portions of the collection might be relevant to his/her research, he/she is advised to think in terms of gubernatorial function. Does the proposed research concern the workings or area responsibility of a state board? If so, the Boards and Commissions series would be the most likely place in which to find material. The election of 1954? Then Democratic Party/Campaign Papers should be first choice. The passage of a specific piece of legislation? Here, Legislative Files is an obvious choice. The possible choices (called subgroups and series) that the researcher has are listed in the Organization of the Collection section. A description of the contents of each of these subgroups/series is provided below.

If, at first, unsuccessful in finding material on any given topic, the researcher might consider these additional strategies:

1. Refer to the Williams card index (located in the library's reading room). Sometimes, the name of an individual associated with a subject provides the easiest point of access into the collection. This file is arranged alphabetically and lists the dates of letters between an individual and the governor's office. This file only indexes the larger series and subgroups in the collection. It does not index the staff files, or parts of the Democratic Party/Campaign subgroup. Nevertheless it is an invaluable tool, and can uncover important material otherwise buried.

2. Refer to the various series of staff papers. Staff members were often closely involved in a specific subject areas (Jordan Popkin and aging, for example) and thus their files are frequently rich in source material.

3. If only partially successful in locating desired material, the researcher should think of an alternative subgroup or series. The governor's office, for a variety of reasons, often filed related material in different locations depending upon the source of a document. Thus, information relating to a strike might be filed both under the Labor Mediation Board in Boards and Commissions, and Strikes in General Subjects. Furthermore, if the strike influenced a specific piece of legislation, there could be material in the Legislative Files.

Ecumenical Christian campus ministry at the University of Michigan. Records include correspondence, minutes, financial reports, annual reports, newsletters, photographs, audio-tapes; materials concerning University of Michigan religious organizations, including Office of Religious Affairs, the Association of Religious Counselors, Student Religious Association, the Interfaith Center, and the Protestant Foundation for International Students; also files on other religious organizations, especially the Ann Arbor Bible Chair, the Michigan Christian Foundation of the Disciples of Christ; and papers concerning Ann Arbor churches, particularly the Bethlehem Evangelical Church, the First Congregational Church, and the Memorial Christian Church.

The records of Guild House have come to the library in different accessions dating from the 1970s. Covering the period from the 1920s to the 2000s, the records document the different roots of the modern Guild House. Besides correspondence, financial reports and annual reports, the record group includes the student newsletter The Microphone, as well as various reports of retreats, banquets, luncheons, and discussion sessions.

Because the members of the Guild House were so active, the record group includes materials on social issues such as civil rights, disarmament, diplomatic recognition of China, apartheid, and social and political issues in Central America. For a view of the Vietnam War peace movement and other political issues the collection of J. Edgar Edwards, director and campus minister of the Guild House from 1957 to 1973, should be consulted. This collection has been separately cataloged.

There are also numerous sound tape recordings of Guild House programs and meetings, a microfilm copy of the record book of the Upper Room membership under H.L. Pickerill's predecessor Thomas Iden, photographs, and scrapbooks.

More specifically, the record group has been arranged into the following series: Church Campus Ministries; Guild House Organizational Records; Related Organizations; Publications and related; Directors; Photographs, Scrapbooks, and Sound Recordings. The strength of the collection is its documentation of Guild House's involvement in significant social and political issues of the 1950s-2000s.

Parent organization of the Interlochen Arts Academy and the Interlochen Arts Camp (formerly the National Music Camp) founded by Joseph Maddy. Includes administrative records of the Center, the Academy and the Camp and personal papers of Maddy, photographs, sound recordings, and motion pictures.

The records of the Interlochen Center for the Arts were received in installments over many years. They came from several sources: the Camp office in Ann Arbor, the Tremaine family, an alumni leader, and various administrators at Interlochen, but the greatest proportion was assembled from Maddy's home and Interlochen offices, after his death, by Margaret (Peg) Stace, his long-time assistant.

The Camp files for 1935-1945 comprise the major portion received in their original order, and they were in disarray because of frequent changes in Camp secretaries and the practice of moving the office (along with relevant files) from Ann Arbor to Interlochen and back each summer. Also, Maddy kept many items of a personal and confidential nature at home.

In processing the records, an attempt was made both to preserve the original order, where ascertainable, and to highlight major subjects and individuals, some of whose importance only became apparent with the passage of time. A separate name index is available for major correspondents. Where extant, explanatory historical and background information has been placed at the front of records categories. Because of Maddy's influence on the development of Interlochen both past and present, his correspondence with later administrators has been included if practical, under "Administration" in their papers.

The surviving records have been divided into nine series: Chronological, Subject, Post-Maddy Administrators, Boards, Closed, Printed, Visual Materials, Sound Recordings, and Scrapbooks. The Chronological focuses on Maddy and the Camp until 1966 while the Subject, is composed of two subseries. The first, mainly 1928-1989, though also heavily relating to Maddy, also includes much on developments through the '90s. The second subseries, 1930-2003, Later Acquisition represents a group of files that were acquired in 2005. Many files pertain to the early camp and Joesph Maddy. The Post-Maddy Administrators series begins in the late 1950's when Maddy expanded the staff in anticipation of making Interlochen a year-round institution and continues unto the most recent accession. Boards (governing bodies) starts with the Camp's founding in 1928 and ends in 1989 while the Closed series covers the Maddy, Haas, and Wilson administrations through 1971. Printed offers coverage to the present but is more complete for the early years through the 1980's. While the Visual Materials and Sound Recordings series extend from the 1920's into the 1980's, it offers best coverage from 1924 to 1942 Scrapbooks, with gaps in the early years, documents both Maddy and the Camp, beginning with the National High School Orchestra and ending with the Camp's 50th anniversary celebration in 1978.

James Karoub was an Arab American lobbyist and legislator from Highland Park, Michigan. Most notably, he served in the Michigan House of Representatives and founded the successful Michigan lobbying firm, Karoub Associates. Karoub represented Wayne County's 15 District, 1963-1964 and 1965-1968 The Karoub papers consist of newspaper clippings and articles, correspondence, some campaign material, scrapbooks, photographs, and a sound recording.

The Karoub papers consist mainly of newspaper clippings and articles covering various aspects of Karoub's political career. Other papers include correspondence, some campaign material, documents from the Michigan Supreme Court case covering the mayoral controversy, and a few notes and speeches.

The collection also includes a scrapbook, photographs, and a sound recording. The photographs include portraits of Karoub, photographs of Karoub at different events, as well as photos of Karoub with various political figures, including G. Mennen Williams, George Romney, James J. Blanchard, and Hubert Humphrey. Karoub's farewell speech for mayor is also included in this collection.