Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Methodist clergyman, pastor of the Centre Methodist Church in Malden, Massachusetts, the Elm Park Methodist Church in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Central Methodist Church in Detroit, Michigan. Correspondence, 1938-1958, subject reference file, ca. 1902-1966, name reference file, 1938-1958, sermon file, 1925-1958, scrapbooks, 1928-1958, church bulletins and newsletters from church at which Crane pastored, sound tape recordings of messages preached by Crane, and visual materials consisting of photographs and motion picture film. The Crane papers document an interest in, and activities with, various liberal and progressive organizations, and his association and friendship with other clergy and individuals with similar pacifist and activist backgrounds.

The files of clergy are often narrow in scope encompassing only the activities of an individual within the setting of his/her own church. Henry Hitt Crane was more than the pastor of Central Methodist Church in Detroit. He was a nationally known speaker, eloquent in his advocacy of pacifism and civil rights. The Crane collection reflects the scope of his activities both within the churches he pastored, within the city of Detroit as an influential church leader, and nationally within larger Methodist circles and among other advocates of liberal causes similar to his own. Through his correspondence, articles, and published messages, we see Crane as representative of that class of nationally known clergymen, respected for their opinions, champion of progressive causes, and willing participants in the often contentious debates that followed World War I on matters of morality, politics, and social justice.

The Crane papers, with some exceptions, cover the period when Henry Hitt Crane first entered the ministry during the years of World War I and continuing past his retirement, until approximately 1964. There is decidedly less material from the years before his coming to Central Methodist Church in 1938; by far the largest bulk of documents date from 1938 to 1958 when Crane pastored this metropolitan church. The exceptions to the basic span dates of 1917 to 1958 are files collected by Crane of sermons, published pamphlets, and other materials of his father and uncle, also Methodist clergymen. There are also materials that date after 1958, mainly copies of messages received from other clergy with some correspondence.

The Crane papers have been maintained in the order as created by Crane and his secretarial staff at Central Methodist Church. The series in the collection are Correspondence, Subject Reference Files, Name Files, Sermon Files, Scrapbooks, Church Bulletins and Newsletters, Visual Materials, and Retirement Files.

First president of University of Michigan. Correspondence, essays, sermons, lectures, poetry, and photographs.

The Tappan papers include addresses, lectures, sermons, poems, biographical material, list of books in the Tappan library, and correspondence.

Methodist clergyman and author; pastor of the Ann Arbor (Mich.) First United Methodist Church. Drafts and galleys of books and articles, correspondence relating to writings and printed sermons.

The collection is comprised almost entirely of drafts of his writings and other materials relating to publication of his writings. There is also an extensive run of his published sermons.

Benzonia and Ann Arbor, Michigan; papers of individual family members, detailing in part activities in the Philippines, 1907-1912. The collection also contains photographs and albums of images from the period when they lived in the Philippines.

The Hubbell Family Papers date from 1859 to 1983 and measure one linear foot. Included in the collection are genealogical material, and correspondence and other papers of individual family members.

Methodist Episcopal clergyman; sermons.

The Elwood collection consists of sermons and outlines and notes for sermons delivered in Marquette, Fenton, Saginaw, Morenci, Ann Arbor, Port Huron, Ypsilanti, and Flint, Michigan. Also included are sermons on temperance, an essay on Charles Sumner (1866), and a brief history of Sunday School in Morenci, Michigan.

Unitarian minister, anti-imperialist, and advocate of independence for India. Extensive professional and family correspondence, diaries, sermons, manuscripts of books and articles, research notes, topical file on India, printed material, newspaper clippings, and miscellanea; also papers concerning his career first as a Baptist minister, later a Unitarian minister in Ann Arbor, Michigan and elsewhere, including his involvement in the Western Unitarian Conference.

The Sunderland papers are very complete for the early years of his career (1868-1887). The collection is divided into the following thirteen series: Correspondence, undated and 1868-1936, Visual Materials, Student papers and notebooks, Church and Ministerial Activities, Western Unitarian Conference, Diaries, Notebooks, etc., Sermon file, Manuscripts of Books and Articles, Research Notes and Manuscripts, Printed Materials, Topical Files on India, Miscellaneous Papers and Notebooks, Biographical/Autobiographical Material, and Topical File.

Papers of the Rev. James A. Brown, Michigan Methodist minister, and his wife Winifred Croel Brown. Correspondence, diaries, sermons, photographs and other materials relating in part to their pastorate in Elsie, Michigan, life during the depression; include comments on farming conditions, politics, and the effects of prohibition.

The James Brown collection consists of papers of James Brown, his wife Winifred Croel Brown and several relatives of James Brown. It includes correspondence, diaries, sermons, photographs and other materials relating in part to their pastorate in Elsie, Michigan, life during the depression. In addition to information on family and church matters, the papers include comments on farming conditions, politics, and the effects of prohibition. The collection has been arranged into three series: the papers of James A. Brown, Winifred Croel Brown, and the extended Brown Family.

African Methodist Episcopal pastor with churches in Albion and Ann Arbor, Michigan. Collection includes sermons, biographical materials, materials related to history of the church, scattered minutes of meetings, newspaper clippings, and photographs.

The John A. Woods papers measure 1.75 linear feet. The majority of the collection consists of sermons (1.5 linear feet). Because most of the sermons are undated, their original order has been retained. Other significant files concern Bethel AME Church. An audio cassette captures the groundbreaking ceremonies for the new church in 1971, and a program documents the Burn the Mortgage Celebration service in 1989. Also found in the collection are miscellaneous church meetings minutes, dated 1982 and 1987.

The Biographical Materials folder includes biographical information about Reverend Woods, as well as letters of recommendation and/or appreciation, and tributes. Of importance are old school records, pastoral certificates and the program from Reverend Wood's funeral service on November 14, 1989. The Newspaper Clippings folder also contains a wealth of biographical information about Reverend Woods. Photographs date from circa 1930 and include images of Reverend Woods from a young man onwards, and pictures of groundbreaking and the completed Bethel AME Church. The Services folder contains programs of various services that took place in different AME churches. Miscellaneous material includes printed religious texts and a heavily annotated 1979-80 DBC Student Directory.

First president of University of Michigan, 1817-1821, Presbyterian minister in Detroit, Blissfield, Michigan, and Elyria, Ohio; professor at Hamilton College; correspondence, diaries, sermons, speeches, and papers of other family members.

The John Monteith microfilm collection consists of correspondence, diaries, sermons, and papers of other family members. The originals of these materials are also available at the library; to best preserve the originals, access is limited to the microfilm copies.

The correspondence includes letters from Monteith to members of his family and others discussing current events, his work, travel, places visited, temperance reform, slavery, and bank failures. There are also letters to/from Monteith's wife, Abigail, his daughter, Sarah, his sons George, John Jr., Charles, and Edwin, and scattered letters from other relatives and friends. George's letters cover his service as an officer in the Fourth Michigan Infantry during the Civil War. Besides the letters there are diaries kept by Monteith (1815-1838), notes on his library, sermons and a volume of sermon outlines, speeches, notes on class lectures and other subjects, personal account books, a notebook (1820) containing Chippewa-English vocabulary, student notes (1797-1798) taken by Alexander Monteith at Dickinson College. In addition, there is a manuscript play written by John Monteith Jr. entitled, "The Raging Firelands," and a biography of Abigail Monteith, written by her son, Edwin (1859).

Of special interest is the annual report, Nov. 1818, of John Monteith to governor and judges of Michigan Territory concerning the University of Michigania.

Popular novelist, author of The Robe and Magnificent Obsession, and minister of the First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Correspondence with his family, publishers and other authors concerning his work and including comments on national politics, Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, and World War II; also manuscripts of addresses, articles, sermons, and novels; scrapbooks; and photographs.

The Douglas papers consist of material collected by his daughters, Virginia Douglas Dawson and Betty Douglas Wilson Herman, in the preparation of their biography of their father, The Shape of Sunday. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Ministerial Activities; Literary Career; Miscellaneous and personal; and Scrapbooks.