Roy Dikeman Chapin Papers, 1886-1945 (majority within 1910-1936)
32 linear feet (in 33 boxes) — 7 oversize volumes
32 linear feet (in 33 boxes) — 7 oversize volumes
The Roy D. Chapin papers include correspondence, speeches, articles, interviews, business papers, receipts, scrapbooks, photographs, and miscellaneous notes and files of Chapin's wife, and his biographer, John C. Long, concerning family matters, highway transportation, the automobile industry, general economic conditions, foreign trade, World War I, national defense, state and national politics, the Republican Party, and the University of Michigan. The collection also contains extensive papers concerning the Hudson Motor Car Company, including information on management policies, production, and labor organizing.
32 linear feet (in 33 boxes) — 7 oversize volumes
12.5 linear feet
The Russell A. Alger papers contain personal and professional correspondence of Russell Alger, who served as governor of Michigan (1885-1887), United States secretary of war (1897-1899), and United States senator (1902-1907). The collection also includes military correspondence related to the Spanish-American War, materials from a distant branch of the Alger family, and letters related to United States Representative Bruce Alger's experiences in the Army Air Corps during the Second World War.
The Russell A. Alger materials series contains three subseries: Correspondence, Documents, and Scrapbooks. The Russell A. Alger Correspondence subseries is made up of 5 sub-subseries.
The Russell A. Alger incoming correspondence sub-subseries (1842-1919; bulk 1863-1865 and 1885-1907) contains 1.5 linear feet of letters, documents, and other items received by Russell Alger during his lifetime, with a particular focus on his military service in the Civil War, his political activities as a leading Republican Party member in Michigan, and his service and legacy as secretary of war under William McKinley during the Spanish-American War. The earliest letters in the collection are official correspondence from military leaders about the 5th Michigan Cavalry's service from 1862-1865. Several post-war letters concern Russell Alger's reputation, which opponents called into question during his rise to political prominence.
Items from the 1880s and early 1890s include many written by the era's leading Republicans, such as Mark Hanna, James G. Blaine, and Benjamin Harrison, who wrote a series of approximately 20 letters about Russell Alger's presidential campaigns in 1888 and 1892. Much of the later correspondence relates to Alger's service as secretary of war during the Spanish-American War, with letters from military personnel and political figures including J. Pierpont Morgan, Nelson A. Miles, William R. Shafter, Leonard Wood, Theodore Roosevelt, and William McKinley. Roosevelt wrote several letters to Alger during his own military service and during his presidency, regarding various political appointments. Two letters illustrate Roosevelt's hopes that Alger will support the reinstatement of the annual army-navy football match (August 17, 1897) and canal-building efforts in Panama (June 18, 1906). Much of William McKinley's correspondence (61 items) respects Alger's service as secretary of war, and includes the president's official acceptance of Alger's resignation from the cabinet (July 20, 1899). Much of Alger's incoming post-war correspondence pertains to efforts to secure his reputation following the Spanish-American War and to his published book on the conflict.
The Russell A. Alger outgoing correspondence sub-subseries contains items written by Russell A. Alger, including a small amount of Civil War-era correspondence and a larger number of letters written during his later political career. The bulk of the series, written from 1884-1907, represents Alger's tenure as governor of Michigan (1884-1887) and as secretary of war (1897-1899). Of interest is a letter of April 13, 1898, regarding the sinking of the Maine in Havana Harbor and the declaration of war against Spain. Other topics in Alger's letters include a shipment of reindeer from Norway (March 21, 1899), affairs in Alaska, the Panama Canal, and political endorsements for both local and national positions.
The items regarding the tour of officers & soldiers in the election of 1896, & the endorsement of Russell A. Alger as a member of President McKinley's Cabinet sub-subseries contains correspondence about Russell A. Alger and William McKinley's tour throughout Michigan during the presidential campaign of 1896, and about Alger's other efforts in the campaign. Of note is a letter from Senator Jacob H. Gallinger, who wrote to William McKinley, "I express the hope that you may invite General Alger into your official family. He will make a model Secretary of War, and will be a strong and reliable man in the Cabinet" (January 23, 1896).
The Letters and Telegrams from General Miles sub-subseries contains 564 once-bound pages of chronologically ordered copies of official military correspondence exchanged during the Spanish-American War. Army generals Nelson A. Miles and William R. Shafter are the most prominent correspondents in the subseries. They provided updates on the Cuban theater of the war. The series spans the entire calendar year of 1898.
The Russell A. Alger semi-official letters, semi-official orders, and telegrams sub-subseries contains 28 bound volumes of carbon copies dating from Alger's service as secretary of war. The series contains 20 volumes of semi-official letters (March 9, 1897-July 24, 1899), 2 volumes of semi-official orders (June 4, 1898-August 1, 1899), 5 volumes of telegrams (July 9, 1897-August 1, 1899), and one volume of letters relating to the GAR (October 1, 1889-November 28, 1894).
The collection also includes 9 volumes of typed transcripts, including incoming and outgoing correspondence as well as documents and materials related to Alger's military service.
The Russell A. Alger documents subseries contains four sub-subseries.
The Russell A. Alger Civil War service documents sub-subseries includes original and manuscript copies of documents related to Alger's Civil War service record and actions during the conflict. The subseries also contains two postwar documents. One of two postwar documents is a list of Civil War battles in which Alger participated.
The Testimony of General Alger Before the War Investigation Committee is a typed copy of Russell A. Alger's testimony regarding the hygiene of American soldiers and camps during the summer of 1898, given before the Dodge Commission later that year. The testimony includes manuscript annotations.
The Gervasio Unson proclamation and affidavits sub-subseries contains the original Spanish text and a translated English copy of Provisional Secretary Gervasio Unson's proclamation and accusations regarding the treatment of guerillas in the Philippines and the general conduct of American officials in the islands. Several documents appended to the proclamation lend factual support to the various allegations.
The Correspondence and documents regarding Florida, Puerto Rico, and Cuba sub-subseries is made up of the following items: correspondence describing rail systems in Florida in the early 20th century; a report on the island of Puerto Rico made on March 14, 1898; letters related to military supplies during the Spanish-American War; several letters regarding the publication of Washington the Soldier by General Henry B. Carrington, including a printed copy of the book's preface; the typescript of an interview given by Russell A. Alger to Henry Campbell of the Milwaukee Journal, March 24, 1900; a booklet on regulations for import/export officers; and a printed copy of the Cuban census of 1900.
The Alger family materials series contains eight subseries.
The Alger family correspondence subseries is divided into the seven sub-subseries: David Bruce Alger correspondence, Bruce Alger correspondence, Clare Fleeman Alger correspondence, Oberlin college correspondence and documents, Richard Edwin ("Eddy") Alger correspondence, Albert W. Alger correspondence, and Miscellaneous Alger family correspondence.
The David Bruce Alger correspondence contains numerous letters from Alger to his parents, Richard Edward Alger and Esther D. Reynolds, about David's time at Oberlin College in the early 20th century; the birth and early childhood of his son, Bruce Reynolds Alger; and about St. Louis, Missouri, in the 1920s, including descriptions of "plucky boy" and celebrated pilot Charles Lindbergh. Incoming correspondence consists of Civil War-era receipts; documents and letters of David Baker Alger; a letter from Russell A. Alger, Jr., to a sibling; a letter from an American soldier serving in France in 1917; several letters from David Bruce Alger's father written in 1943; and a 1975 letter regarding recent physical problems.
David Bruce Alger's Oberlin College correspondence and documents consist of items associated with Oberlin College in the 1910s, including ephemera. Of interest are a program from an Oberlin Glee Club concert (1912), three copies of a pamphlet for the "Eezy Cheezers," and an 1882 promotional thermometer.
The Bruce Alger correspondence consists primarily of Bruce Reynolds Alger's letters to his parents, written during his time in the Army Air Corps in the Second World War. Bruce wrote about his training at Kerry Field, Texas, and in California. In a number of letters from 1945, he described the end of the war as he experienced it in the Pacific theater. The sub-subseries also includes the annotated text of a 1937 chemistry examination from Princeton University, reports of Alger's academic progress at Princeton, and a newspaper article about his football career.
The Clare Fleeman Alger correspondence is made up of correspondence and documents related to David Bruce Alger's wife, Clare Fleeman Alger. In letters to her parents and to other friends and family, Clare described her life as a newlywed and, later, as a new mother. Miscellaneous items in this series include several religious tracts, drafts of poetry and essays, and documents regarding Bruce Reynolds Alger's academic progress at Princeton.
The Richard Edwin ("Eddy") Alger correspondence contains incoming letters, 1885-1921, written by family members to "Eddy" or "Cousin Ed." The group also includes a typed collection of several of his short poems.
In the Albert W. Alger correspondence are a number of letters written to various family members by Albert W. Alger.
The Additional Alger family correspondence, documents, and printed items consists of seven Civil War-era documents by various Alger family members, items related to the St. Louis Writers' Guild, invitations to various weddings and graduation ceremonies, a marriage certificate for Melvin C. Bowman and Mary H. Parcell, and a commemorative stamp from Lundy Island. Of note are two pages of a Civil War-era letter by John H. Houghes, who described a military engagement and the burial of a fallen soldier in the surrounding mountains. The group also contains books, pamphlets, and newspapers. Books include the Student's Reference Work Question Manual and Russell A. Alger's copy of Roswell Smith'sEnglish Grammar on the Productive System . The pamphlets are promotional material for a 1904 World's Fair exhibit, issues of various periodicals belonging to Clare Fleeman Alger (many of which contain her writing), and a copy ofAn Outline History of Richfield Township, 1809-1959 . Other items are newsletters from 1916 and 1921, with contributions by Clare Fleeman Alger; a printed map of the Alger Park neighborhood in Dallas, Texas; a newspaper clipping from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; a program from a piano recital; and scripts for two radio-based language-learning programs (French and German).
The collection includes 40 volumes of Alger family diaries. Six volumes include a book kept by David Bruce Alger and five volumes belonging to Esther Reynolds Alger, written between 1878 and 1881. Among other materials are an early item likely composed by Richard Edwin Alger (1891), a "Note Book for Sunday School Teachers and Workers" probably kept by Esther Reynolds Alger in the late 19th century, and an Esther Reynolds Alger diary from 1900.
The remainder of the series contains material, spanning 1905-1973, that belonged to David Bruce Alger. His early diaries include a "Foxy Grandpa" notebook (1905) and a series of annual daily journals written from 1910 to 1919. Two five-year diaries chronicle 1920-1924 and 1926-1930, followed by single and two-year volumes kept between 1931 and 1937. An uninterrupted series of five-year volumes covers 1938-1975, although his entries taper off around 1973. David Bruce Alger kept his diaries regularly, composing a few lines about the weather and his activities on a near-daily basis.
The Clare Fleeman Alger manuscript submission records are a series of index cards. They are filed alphabetically by poem or essay title. Each record contains the name of a work, the publication to which the manuscript was submitted, and the date. The records pertain to works written in 1917 and from 1931 to 1943. Occasional rejection letters and drafts are interfiled within the subseries.
The Receipts subseries consists of 9 items dating to the 19th century.
In the Documents subseries are manuscript copies of correspondence regarding Alger's Civil War service, made and authorized by the War Department at a later date. The subseries also includes two typed copies of Lieutenant Philip H. Sheridan's "Account of the Battle of Booneville," and two copies of a "Statement of the Military History of Russell A. Alger."
The Photographs subseries contains four photographs. One is a portrait of Russell A. Alger's wife, Annette Henry Alger, labeled "Aunt Nettie."
The Newspapers and clippings subseries contains a small number of short articles, dating primarily in the 1930s. The clippings relate to various members of the Alger family; for example, one item pertains to the death of Russell A. Alger's son, Frederick Moulton Alger, in 1934. The subseries also includes three full size Kansas City, Missouri, newspapers from 1883, 1897, and [1898].
approximately 136 images in 1 album
The Russell C. Shaul photograph album contains images and ephemera related to the life and career of photographer Russell Clifford Shaul, who owned a studio in Chicago in the 1930s and 1940s.
The album (36.5 x 28 cm) has string-bound brown covers with the words "Scrap Book" and a depiction of a boy and girl wearing wooden clogs embossed on the front; the covers and pages are in poor condition. The structure of the album is roughly chronological, with material from the 1920s appearing towards the beginning and material from the 1940s appearing towards the end. However, candid snapshots and studio portraits made in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the early 1930s are scattered throughout and mixed in with photos from other periods. At least one page includes dated photos from the early 1930s and late 1940s that appear side by side. Certain names and people reappear often, but exactly how they relate to one another is not entirely clear. Many photographs document people drinking as well as posing in a humorous manner.
Photographer Russell Clifford Shaul appears to have been the compiler of this album. Shaul’s name appears on numerous images as the credited photographer, including portraits taken in Milwaukee in the early 1930s and a Chicago cityscape view from the mid-1940s. Several photos are also inscribed with messages to “Russell,” while snapshots arranged on a page captioned “The Shauls” show him and his third wife Sarah visiting various U. S. tourist destinations between 1944 and 1949. At some point during the 1930s it appears that Shaul relocated from Milwaukee to Chicago and set up a new photography business. Several pages in the album suggest that Shaul and his colleagues practiced door-to-door operations.
Two pages document a man’s World War II service. He is pictured driving a Jeep and wearing a uniform bearing an “Official U.S. War Photographer” patch, training on a shooting range, interacting with people on the streets “In India,” and taking photographs with both still and motion picture cameras. This man appears throughout the album (identified elsewhere as “Carl”), including in the earliest Milwaukee shots in 1927. He may have been Shaul’s friend and/or business partner.
Items placed toward the end of the album include some scrapbook materials including letterheads advertising a company called Chicago Thrill Tours and Chicago-based radio host called “The Nitehawk,” as well as business cards identifying a fellow photographer in Chicago named Charles Lonk and a trailer park in Eau Gallie, Florida.
In addition to the album there is also an envelope containing several loose photographs and ephemeral items including portraits of various people and groups; pictures of people drinking at bars; photographs of the man elsewhere identified as Carl drinking at a Milwaukee bar in 1927 as well as posing in a bathtub while another man bathes him; an image of a photo supply storefront with a cutout of an unidentified man pasted over the front door (possibly shop owner I. Dobkin); photography-related clippings; aerial images of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, taken in 1938; and a portrait by Acme Newspictures of a man in the radio studio of “The Nitehawk - WBBM” captioned “J. W. Clark.” Also present is an enveloped typed letter signed by “The Nitehawk” written to Shaul in 1948 asking him to be on the lookout for early copies of Reader’s Digest.
7 linear feet
The Russell Barnes papers span the years 1920-1978. The bulk of the material concerns the period 1941-1953, the years Barnes spent as foreign correspondent for the Detroit News and the three-year interval during which he served in the Office of War Information.
The collection consists primarily of scrapbooks of his news stories, OWT leaflets, collected propaganda, and letters which he sent to his wife Constance, and, less frequently, to his children, Jeannot (Lucie Jeanne) and Jamie (John James Ingalls) while overseas and in New York. The most detailed description of his professional activities can be found in the letters he wrote during the months at the OWI in New York. He discusses the OWI personnel, its reorganization and the conflict with the OSS. The letters from the OWI Cairo and Algiers contain lively discussions of local customs and the rigors of life there, but are constrained by war-time censorship and thus shed less light than might be expected on his role as PWB director. The letters written while he covered the U.N. sometimes reflect the tense atmosphere there and the pressure brought to bear upon newsmen to take a stand on the issues they report. Barnes also discusses the power struggle in the Detroit Foreign Policy Association.
2 microfilms — 1 folder
The Salvador Araneta papers consist mainly of materials relating to his participation as a delegate to the Philippine Constitutional Convention, 1971-1972. Also included are various articles and speeches he made in the period of 1921 to 1955.
1 volume — 1 folder
Newspaper clippings concerning his teaching activities in Hastings, Michigan, and Albion College and also the Prohibition Party, the Reform Club of Albion, and personal matters; also photographs.
Portraits of Dickie and of his wife Mary B. Dickie.
approximately 208 photographs, 14+ items of ephemera, 1 newspaper, and 3 letters in 1 album
The Samuel May photograph album contains approximately 208 photographs as well as letters and ephemera compiled by U.S. Army soldier Samuel May from his time stationed in London, France, and Germany during World War II.
The album was originally housed in a vinyl binder but has since been moved to a separate binder where images and ephemera have been housed in plastic sleeves. In addition to photographs the album also contains a set of tourist postcards, five tickets, one drawing, one newspaper clipping, four magazine clippings, one event advertisement, two miscellaneous documents, one newspaper, and three letters home. All of the photographs have information written on their backs.
Images of note include pictures of leisure activities taken while May was stationed in France including views of Rheims, Marseille, and Paris; the destroyed German War Office and the 1936 Olympic Stadium in Berlin; the city of Aachen in ruins; and young men sporting Adolf Hitler-style mustaches as a joke captioned "This is just in case we lose." Also of interest is a drawing of Samuel May on American Red Cross stationery as well as letters home that were likely written while May was waiting to return home following the war’s conclusion.
approximately 208 photographs, 14+ items of ephemera, 1 newspaper, and 3 letters in 1 album
20 linear feet — 1 oversize folder — 1.2 MB (online)
The Samuel Miller Brownell and Esther Delzell Brownell collection documents the family life of two individuals from their courtship through their old age. To a lesser extent, the career of Samuel Brownell as educator is also documented. The papers are arranged roughly chronologically into three series, beginning with the lives of each of the Brownells before their marriage, and then following them as they moved from Nebraska to Michigan, to Connecticut, to Washington, D.C., to Michigan again, and finally to back to Connecticut.
20 linear feet — 1 oversize folder — 1.2 MB (online)
1 volume
This volume contains 18th- and 19th-century manuscripts, newspaper clippings, notes, and ephemera related to Reverend Samuel Peters and his descendants. The material concerns religion, the history of Connecticut, genealogy, and other topics.
The first 7 pages mainly contain newspaper clippings; most are dated 1887-1889 and relate to the history of religious legislation ("blue laws") in colonial Connecticut. Authors frequently referred to the work of Samuel Peters, especially his General History of Connecticut, and to the possibility that Peters fabricated his account. One article concerns the maintenance of Jonathan Trumbull's war office in the late 19th century. Samuel Peters's autograph and a page of notes are also pasted into the volume.
The clippings are followed by a 6-page manuscript account of the history, settlement, and early families of Hebron, Connecticut; and a 6-page manuscript biography of Samuel Peters, focusing on his education and religious duties. A page containing copies of documents pertaining to Samuel Peters is pasted into the volume, which is followed by three pages of manuscripts, newspaper clippings, and invitations.
The final section (approximately 140 pages) contains pasted-in manuscript letters to Samuel P. Bell of New York City (ca. 1880s-1890s), pasted-in manuscripts by Samuel Peters (late 1700s-early 1800s), and handwritten copies of correspondence by, to, and related to Bell, and to Peters and his descendants. Many of the early manuscripts concern religious subjects, such as baptism and the Episcopal Church. This section also includes a letter of sympathy that Samuel Peters wrote to Clara Meigs, widow of Josiah Meigs, after her husband's death (September 16, 1822).
Copied letters from the late 18th century and early 19th century include correspondence to Samuel Peters and letters from several members of the Jarvis family. Some are "signed" with autographs cut from contemporary manuscripts (not present) and pasted into the volume. Letters from the 1880s are addressed to and written by Samuel P. Bell, who corresponded with members of the Peters family about family history and genealogy. Newspaper clippings pasted into this section concern colonial Connecticut and biographies of members of the Peters family. The volume also includes an undated clipping outlining a proposal to make Great Britain a federation, an engraved portrait of John A. Graham, and an illustrated advertisement of the clipper Syren.
75 linear feet — 1 oversize box — 1 oversize folder — 1 oversize volume — 989 MB
The School of Natural Resources records comprise 54 linear feet and span a wide range of years from 1903 to 1994. The records document the internal activities of the school, both administrative and academic; the role of the school as a unit of the University of Michigan; and curricular changes and the development of new academic programs over the years.
75 linear feet — 1 oversize box — 1 oversize folder — 1 oversize volume — 989 MB