Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

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Collection

Standish Backus papers, 1919-1942

4 linear feet — 1 oversize volume

Detroit, Michigan, businessman, president of the Burroughs Adding Machine Co. Correspondence and reports relating to the Kelsey Expedition to the Near East for the University of Michigan and correspondence files, 1926-1942, concerning business affairs and social activities in Detroit and Grosse Pointe, Michigan; also writings of father Charles K. Backus, and photographs.

The Standish Backus collection consists of correspondence and reports relating to the Kelsey Expedition to the Near East for the University of Michigan and correspondence files, 1926-1942, concerning business affairs and social activities in Detroit and Grosse Pointe, Michigan; also writings of father Charles K. Backus, and photographs. The Photographs include portraits of members of the Backus and Standish families, and of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Boyer.

The collections is arranged into five series: Kelsey Expedition to the Near East; Correspondence files; Personal and memorabilia; Charles K. Backus volumes; and Photographs.

Collection

Levi L. Barbour papers, 1857-1926

0.5 linear feet (2 boxes) — 2 oversize folders — 1 oversize volume

Correspondence, poems, articles, addresses, account book, and Delta Kappa Epsilon autograph book; letter book, 1883-1884, dealing mainly with prisons and jails in Michigan which Barbour inspected; scrapbook of miscellaneous clippings and scattered correspondence. Portraits and informal photos of Barbour, daguerrotypes of Barbour as a child and of his father, John Barbour, and autograph book (1860s) with portraits of members of Delta Kappa Epsilon (University of Michigan); a composite photo of the a composite photo of Michigan Constitutional Convention, 1907/1908 (with Barbour).

Collection

Wilber M. Brucker Papers, 1877-1968

54 linear feet — 2 oversize folders — 22 GB (online)

Online
Prosecuting attorney of Saginaw County, Michigan, attorney general of Michigan, 1929-1931, governor, 1931-1932, general counsel to the Department of Defense during the Army-McCarthy Hearing, 1954-1955, and Secretary of the Army, 1955-1961. Correspondence, speeches, tapes, appointment books, scrapbooks, photograph albums, newspaper clippings, and other materials concerning his political career.

The Wilber M. Brucker Collection consists of correspondence, subject files, scrapbooks, tape recordings, visual materials, political ephemera, and other materials from a lifelong career in public service. The collection provides significant, though not always extensive, material on his activities as state attorney general, governor, and secretary of the army. In addition, the papers include documentation from Brucker's private career: his law practice, his involvement in the preparation of a plan for the reapportionment of the Michigan Legislature, his devotion to Republican Party causes, his activities with the Knights Templar of Michigan, and as a member of the World War I Rainbow Division. With some exceptions, the early phases of Brucker's life are not as well represented as one might hope. There is really no body of Brucker gubernatorial materials extant. What remains are scattered items, largely concerning the election campaigns of 1930 and 1932.

The collection has been arranged into twelve series: Biographical; Correspondence; Family Papers; Subject Files; Knights Templar; Rainbow Division; Appointment Books; Speeches; Secretary of the Army; Newspaper Clippings; Personal: Albums, Scrapbooks, etc.; and Visual Materials.

Collection

George William Cushing papers and sound recordings, 1942-1955

1.3 linear feet — 230 audiotapes (in 9 boxes) — 260 GB (online)

Online
News editor and vice president of Detroit, Michigan, radio station, WJR, moderator of radio program, "In Our Opinion". Correspondence, radio transcripts, scrapbooks, broadcast discs, and audio-tapes of discs; include material concerning career of Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg, the senatorial campaign of 1942 between Prentiss Brown and Homer Ferguson, and radio broadcasting in general.

The Cushing collection consists largely of sound recordings of a selection of the "In Our Opinion" radio program. There are also additional textual materials: clippings and other documents pertaining to the program and some transcriptions of particular programs.

The sound recordings of the "In Our Opinion" program were originally phonograph transmission discs. Nearly impossible to listen to because of their oversize format and the absence of appropriate players, the library applied for and received a grant in 1977 from the NHPRC to transfer a selection of the more than 600 discs onto reel-to-reel tapes. Many of the discs already showed signs of deterioration. The selection of what discs to preserve was based on the significance of the topics discussed and the importance of the interviewees. Among the guests were Senators Arthur Vandenberg and Homer Ferguson, automobile executive (later governor) George Romney, Congressman George Dondero, military historian General S.L.A. Marshall, political science Professor James K, Pollock, Governor Kim Sigler, Lowell Thomas, Thor Heyerdahl, Edward R. Murrow, and Episcopal Bishop Richard S. Emrich, among many others. Topics ranged from state and national politics, the impact of the war, foreign affairs, post-war re-conversion of the economy, and issues specific to Detroit and Michigan.

Collection

John C. Dancy papers, 1920-1960

1 linear foot — 1 oversize volume

Executive director of the Detroit Urban League. Correspondence, scrapbook, photographs, and miscellanea concerning personal matters, the work of the Urban League, and the concerns of the black community of Detroit.

The collection consists of personal correspondence, a scrapbook documenting in part his career as executive director of the Detroit Urban League, and scattered photographs. There is also the transcript of an oral history interview of John Dancy made in 1964.

Collection

Detroit News records, 1856-1991 (majority within 1912-1982)

164.5 linear feet (in 180 boxes) — 33.4 GB (online)

Online
The Detroit News was a prominent daily newspaper founded by James Edmund Scripps in 1873. The success and expansion of the paper is largely attributed to Scripps' son-in-law, George Gough Booth. The collection contains photographic materials including glass plate negatives, film negatives, and photographic prints of various sizes as well as scrapbooks of newspaper clippings from the Detroit News.

The Detroit News records, 1856-1991 (164.5 linear feet) consist of photographic materials including glass plate negatives, film negatives, and photographic prints of various sizes as well as scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings from the Detroit News. The arrangement of the collection is alphabetical and maintains original order as far as could be discerned. In instances where multiple formats were stored together, they have been rehoused separately for preservation purposes. Researchers are encouraged to review the entire container list of this finding aid to identify corresponding materials of different formats within the collection, which have been indicated.

The researcher will find that a significant portion of the photographic materials depict interior and exterior views of the Detroit News building designed by Albert Kahn and erected in 1917. Additional topics of photographic materials include the radio station, WWJ and various events hosted by the News. Images of the Scripps and Booth families as well as employees of the Detroit News are also present among the collection. The scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, which present a broad range of subject matter as covered by a daily metropolitan newspaper. All of the glass plate negatives and a selection of film negatives have been digitized and can be viewed by following the links in the container list of this finding aid.

Collection

Jay G. Hayden scrapbooks, 1916-1965

8 linear feet (46 volumes.)

Newspaper articles and columns by Detroit News Washington correspondent, include extensive comment on national politics and foreign relations, particularly as they relate to Michigan

Scrapbooks, 1916-1965, of Jay G. Hayden, Washington correspondent for the Detroit News, contain extensive comment on national politics and foreign relations, particularly as they relate to Michigan. Personal subjects include: Sherman Adams, Smith W. Brookhart, Prentiss M. Brown, William Jennings Bryan, James F. Byrnes, Benjamin N. Cardozo, James Couzens, George Creel, Charles DeGualle, Edwin Denby, Lewis Douglas, John Foster Dulles, Dwight D. Eisenhower, James A. Farley, Henry Ford, Felix Frankfurter, John Glenn, James Hoffa, Herbert Hoover, Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, Robert M. LaFollette, Douglas McArthur, Joe McCarthy, Andrew Mellon, James Meredith, Billy Mitchell, Frank Murphy, Truman H. Newberry, Richard M. Nixon, Sam Rayburn, Owen J. Roberts, Nelson A. Rockefeller, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Frank L. Smith, Joseph Stalin, Harlan F. Stone, Harry S. Truman, Arthur H. Vandenberg, William S. Vare, Henry A. Wallace and Leonard Wood.

Collection

Horace H. Rackham and Mary A. Rackham Fund Records, 1929-1950 (majority within 1934-1940)

14 linear feet — 1 oversize volume

The last will and testament of Horace H. Rackham provided for the establishment of a trust fund to provide for the health and welfare of individuals, particularly the sick, aged, the young, the poor, and other underprivileged. Much of the trust money went to the University of Michigan to be used for a building for the graduate school and an endowment to be used for different kinds of research. The Fund also awarded grants to agencies involved in child welfare, community culture, education, health, philanthropy, and science. The Fund distributed money from 1934 until about 1941. The series in this record group consist of administrative and executive files, and project applications and grant files.

The records of the Horace H. Rackham and Mary A. Rackham Fund document the continuing generosity of Horace Rackham and Mary Rackham to numerous charitable, educational, and scientific organizations and causes. The records contain the files of the Fund's trustees and directors and provide insight and information about such topics as the administration of a philanthropic fund-giving organization during the mid-1930s, the kinds of gifts made, the relationship among the Fund's trustees and officers, and the relationship between the Fund and the grant recipients. Because of the size of the gift, most of the documentation within the record group details the close ties between the Fund and the University of Michigan. These files concern not only the establishment of the Rackham endowment to the University, but also the different scientific and educational grants made. Additionally, these files detail the construction of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies building in Ann Arbor and the Rackham Educational Memorial building in Detroit.

The records of the Fund cover the period of 1929-1950 though they bulk largest for the period of the Fund's greatest activity, 1934-1940. The record group has been separated into two series: Combined Administrative and Executive Office Files and Project applications/grants.

Collection

Henry Bourne Joy Papers, 1883-1937

19 linear feet — 2 oversize folders — 2 oversize volumes

Online
Detroit financier and industrialist, president of Packard Motor Car Company, leader of the "Good Roads Movement" and president of the Lincoln Highway Association, active in the Republican Party and business associations. Papers include correspondence, scrapbooks and photographs relating to automobile business, cross country auto travels and Joy's political interests.

The Henry B. Joy papers consist of correspondence concerning his business activities in Detroit, Michigan, his support of the Lincoln Highway Association, his campaign against the Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition), and their interest in the Federal Council of Churches; also business letter books, 1888-1892, and 1902-1903; photograph album, 1915, concerning automobile trip from Detroit to San Francisco; scrapbooks, 1883-1937, containing newspaper clippings and articles relating to the development of the automobile industry, national economic affairs and Republican politics; and collection of printed pamphlets and newsletters, 1927-1936, of conservative individuals and organizations, including the American Coalition, American Liberty League, the Vigilant Intelligence Federation, the Daughters of the American Revolution, Elizabeth Dilling, Robert E. Edmonson, the Industrial Defense Association, the National Civic Federation, and the Union League of Michigan. The collection also includes photograph albums of cross-country automobile trips and of racing cars; also portraits of Joy.

Collection

Edward G. Kemp papers, 1922-1962, undated

1.3 linear feet — 1 oversize volume — 1 oversize folder

Edward Gearing Kemp was an attorney who served as legal adviser of Frank Murphy. The collection includes correspondence, photographs, and other materials related to Kemp's work with Murphy and other professional activities, and memorabilia.

Mainly correspondence related to Kemp's professional affairs, particularly his work with Murphy in the Philippines and Kemp's service as an Assistant to the U.S. Attorney General and at the U.S. Bureau of the Budget. Kemp's correspondents included Henry M. Bates, Thomas E. Dewey, Arthur S. Flemming, J. Edgar Hoover, Charles E. Hughes, Cordell Hull, Robert H. Jackson, J. Weldon Jones, George A. Malcolm, Frank Murphy, Chase S. Osborn, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, among others.

A scrapbook, 1933-1962, with photographs, clippings, and other memorabilia relating to Kemp's public career and his association with Frank Murphy. The Philippines-period photographs depict Murphy, his sister Marguerite Murphy, Kemp, other members of Murphy's staff (e.g., Murphy's secretary Eleanor Bumgardner) and their families, as well as scenes in the Philippines. Materials related to Kemp's career in Washington include mostly newspaper clippings, letters, invitations, and memorabilia.

The collection also includes a small amount of biographical information and miscellaneous material (personal applications and notes, work-related notes, summaries of reports, etc.)