Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Ypsilanti, Michigan chapter of the Kiwanis Clubs. Historical information and club bylaws, monthly and annual reports, minutes of meetings, membership files, publications, scrapbook and clippings, and photographs.

The Ypsilanti Kiwanis Club Records are comprised of historical information and bylaws; monthly and annual reports which document the membership, activities and financial transactions of the organization; meeting minutes; membership information; Ypsilanti Kiwanis publications; scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, and photographs. The monthly reports cover the years 1957-1983, but there is a considerable gap for the early 1970s. Annual audit reports were compiled by the Club's budget committee and itemize the expenses and money raised by the Club through dues and fund raising. There are many gaps in the audit reports, which cover the period of the 1940s and 1950s. Several other annual reports are in the collection, such as the Club Achievement report, the Club report and an Activity Survey. The different titles and formats reflect the changing forms over the years. Unfortunately, these annual reports are very spotty, with only a few years' records being preserved. Club elections are recorded in the Annual Club Election file; there is again, however, a gap for the late 1960s and 1970s reports.

Minutes of the Club meetings document the weekly decisions and concerns of the organization between the founding in 1921 and 1986. The names and occupations of club members are located in the Club Roster files. Two newsletters are found in the publications series - the Kiwanis News and We are the Kiwanis of Ypsilanti. The scrapbook and photograph series reflect the community service activities of the Club.

Organization established in Ypsilanti, Michigan for the performance of Greek theater productions. Papers of theater president, Clara Owens; administrative files including minutes, correspondence, and financial records, printed material, press releases, clippings and scrapbooks, and photographs.

The records of the Ypsilanti Greek Theater (0.5 linear feet and 3 volumes) range in dates from 1963 to 1967. The bulk of the information covers only the years 1965-1967 and provides minimal information from 1963 and 1964. Really the only materials that cover the earlier years of the organization are the scrapbooks.

The collection consists mainly of the papers of former president of the organization, Mrs. Clara Owens. Included are administrative records, photographs, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, and printed materials. The papers have been divided into five series: Personal Records, Clara Owens; Administrative; and Publicity and Other Related Materials.

Originally formed as auxiliary to Ladies Literary Club. Minutes, scrapbooks, program books, and other organizational materials.

The records of the Woman's Study Club of Ypsilanti include a history of the organization written in 1980, minute books of the organization, programs, membership materials, and scrapbooks of club activities.

Norris family of Ypsilanti and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Papers of Mark Norris, Ypsilanti businessman and postmaster; papers of his wife, Roccena Vaill Norris, local teacher and woman's rights advocate; papers of their son, Lyman, attorney and regent of the University of Michigan, 1883-1884; papers of Lyman's son, Mark Norris, Grand Rapids attorney and Grand Master of the Knights Templar in the United States; papers of Lyman's daughter Maria Norris, Grand Rapids physician; papers of Mark's son, Abbott Norris; and related papers of other family members, notably the Whittelsey family of Connecticut.

The Norris family papers consists of three linear feet of correspondence, business papers, and scrapbooks. The bulk of the papers are letters among various family members which contain a wealth of information about 19th century daily life, social conditions, business affairs, and local and state politics. This collection is especially useful in researching: women's history; Norris family and kinship interrelationships; early area settlement and local history; university student life at the University of Michigan and elsewhere; 19th century economic conditions and political issues; and 20th century Freemasonry.

Michigan Visiting Nurses was created by the integration of the Visiting Nurse Association of Huron Valley into the University of Michigan Health System beginning in 1998. The Visiting Nurse Association of Huron Valley formed in 1980 with the merger of the Ann Arbor Visiting Nurse Association (AAVNA) and the Ypsilanti Visiting Nurse Agency (YVNA). The Ann Arbor association was formed in 1896 with the establishment of the University Hospital Circle of the King's Daughters, name later changed to the Ann Arbor Public Health Nursing Association. The Ypsilanti Agency was founded in 1941. Records include: Secretary's record books and files consisting of minutes, reports, and related organizational documents; scrapbooks; financial records; and subject files.

The Michigan Visiting Nurses (MVN) records cover over 100 years of public health nursing in Washtenaw County, documenting the changing nature of this service and its associated agencies over the course of the twentieth century. The MVN records are organized into four series: Ann Arbor Visiting Nurse Association, Ypsilanti Visiting Nurse Agency, Visiting Nurse Association of Huron Valley, and Michigan Visiting Nurses.

Minutes of meetings, scrapbooks, financial records, reports, and other papers; and photographs.

The Ladies Literary Club of Ypsilanti (LLC) Records (1882-2008) documents the development and changes of the activities of the LLC for more than a century. The record group consists of Historical/foundational documents, Regular Meeting Minute Books, Board of Trustees papers, Membership and Program books, Financial Records, Presidents' Files, History of building addition, LLC Magazines, Scrapbooks, and Miscellaneous files.

Administrative files, including board and finance minutes, agendas, fund-raising and promotional materials, scrapbooks, articles of incorporation, and other miscellanea; also files of the Ypsilanti, Wayne, and Brighton, Michigan, councils of the Girl Scouts.

The Huron Valley Girl Scout Council record group documents the administration and activities of a growing Girl Scout Council in Michigan. It is comprised of such records as Board and Council minutes, by-laws, annual reports, newsletters, financial material, various committee minutes, district files, promotional material, annual agendas, membership information, and staff position descriptions. Included in the records are the files of the Ann Arbor, Plymouth and Washtenaw County Girl Scout Councils. In 1958 these agencies combined to form the Huron Valley Girl Scout Council. The records cover the years 1940 through 1965 with the bulk covering 1958-1962. Only a portion of the records have been processed. Those materials which have been processed consist of the following series: Ann Arbor Girl Scout Council, Plymouth Girl Scout Council, Girl Scout Council of Washtenaw County and Huron Valley Girl Scout Council.

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.