Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

This collection includes material regarding the activities of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc., Chapter 9 (Detroit, Mich.). Some members of this group have also been involved in the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) State of Michigan Council, as well as the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund and Vietnam Monument Commission so materials from these groups have also been included in this collection.

This collection has five series: Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. Chapter 9 (Detroit), Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc., Michigan Veterans Trust Fund, Vietnam Monument Commission, and Audio and visual material. Records in this collection include administrative documents, Vietnam Veterans of American national convention materials, and VVA chapter newsletters and publications.

A coalition of state and local human rights organizations, served as resource, lobbying and educational agent for organizations and individuals engaged in struggle to eliminate all forms of discrimination, gay and lesbian rights became an early focus of MOHR. Records document founding and administration of the organization and numerous, legislative lobbying efforts and other activities.

The records of the Michigan Organization for Human Rights, measuring 10 linear feet, were donated to the library by M.O.H.R. in four accessions: May 1983, February and September 1994, and September 1998. The audio materials span the time period 1973 to 1980, while the manuscript materials cover the period from 1977 through the disbanding of the organization in Spring, 1994. The records are arranged in eight series: Administrative, Correspondence, Topical, Clippings, the Robert Lundy Papers (two series), Visual Materials, and Audio Materials. The series provide documentation of the founding, growth, and topical interests of a grassroots political and social organization, including the stresses involving fundraising and personality conflicts that occurred as M.O.H.R. experienced rapid growth during the late-1970s and early-1980s.

The two Robert Lundy series (1970-1995, 4 linear feet) were donated to the library in several accessions over a period of years. There is some overlap as each series contains files on legislation, files relating to his work with M.O.H.R., and topical files on issues organizations and events with which he was active in his capacity as M.O.H.R.'s legislation officer.

Detroit social activist involved in GLBT organizations and activities. The collection consists of correspondence, essays and articles, e-mails, conference materials, organizational records, publications and articles on the subjects of GLBT history, gay civil rights, gay marriage, interracial and interfaith marriage, GLBT families, sexual and gender equality, violence against GLBT persons, religion and homosexuality, gay clergy, clergy with AIDS, and violence against GLBT persons. The collection also includes materials related to the development of public transportation in the Detroit Metropolitan area; election campaigns and vote suppression of ethnic minorities; and U.S. and international politics and economy.

The collection, spanning 40 years of John Kavanaugh's activism, documents both the history and challenges faced by the Michigan and national GLBT community, as well issues facing the area's racial and ethnic minorities. Of most value, the collection provides documentation regarding the position of various denominations on questions of homosexuality and gay and interracial marriage; racial and ethnic discrimination, and voters' suppression based on race and ethnicity. Kavanaugh's correspondence includes letters and hard copies of e-mails, many of them sent to individual clergy and to groups of citizens. His writings are sometimes represented in form of a self-published newsletter or e-newsletter (e.g. The bead reader and The missing lines). The collection contains a great number of non-mainstream publications, as well as articles and clippings from obscure and rare periodicals. The collection also includes a significant amount of material on the subject of public transit in Michigan, specifically, in the city of Detroit.

The collection is organized into five series: Issues; Black and White Men Together; Religion; Public Transit; and Digital materials.

Student organization at the University of Michigan established in 1968 for students of African descent. The materials in the collection include minutes, correspondence, agendas, officer reports and topical files on issues including the Michigan Mandate and the 2000 Michigamua protest. The collection also contains photographs, audio/visual recordings, Twitter posts, and event flyers.

The Black Student Union (University of Michigan) records document the various activities of the Black Student Union at U-M. Materials in this collection include agendas, budgets, correspondence, event flyers, minutes, officer reports, photographs, topical files, Twitter posts, and audio/visual recordings.

A race desegregation assistance center based at the University of Michigan, the Program for Educational Opportunity (PEO) was established by funding through the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The program was expanded to encompass race, gender, and national origin equity in public schools in the Great Lakes region. The PEO ceased operation in 2011. Administrative files, topical files, workshop and task force material, handbooks, and material pertaining to desegregation and equality in public schools in Ann Arbor, Detroit, and elsewhere in Michigan and the Great Lakes region. Materials include reports from school districts, histories of desegregation, and recordings of conferences/workshops (1970-1993) including speakers Charles D. Moody, Junious Williams, Edward H. Steinman, and other notable individuals.

The records for the Program for Educational Opportunity, 1969-2002, (36.2 linear feet) are divided into twenty-two series: Administrative, Correspondence, Committees and Task Forces, Conferences and Workshops, Handbooks, Reports, Desegregation, Project for Fair Administration of School Discipline (PFASD), Public Schools, Topical Files, Administrative, Conferences, Center for Sex Equality in Schools (CSES), Desegregation Assistance Center, PFASD, Public Schools, Topical Files, Programs, Reports, CSES, Topical Files, and Recordings of Conferences and Workshops. All folders within series are arranged alphabetically. Series titles repeat due to multiple transfers of material received at different times.

Researchers of desegregation efforts and the controversy of school discipline will find many valuable resources in the record group such as research reports, case studies, and conference materials. Also well documented is the Ann Arbor Area School District within the general Public Schools series which includes information on various programs within the district, records from the Board of Education, community surveys, and statistical data on staff and students. The Conferences and Workshops and Committees and Task Forces are also series that are particularly well documented; included are conference and workshop materials, reports, and in some cases, evaluations. The Recordings of Conferences and Workshops (1970-1993) includes 515 audiovisual recordings and covers topics such as human relations training, recruiting minority staff, combating racism and sexism in the curriculum, multi-cultural education, student rights and discipline, and the development of staff counseling skills.

Historian of University of Michigan athletics, most notably football. Sound cassettes of interviews with African American athletes regarding their experiences at the University of Michigan.

The collection consists of audio cassettes and digital files of interviews with African American athletes regarding their experiences at the University of Michigan. Included is the proposal Behee wrote for the oral history project. The interviews were part of the Behee's research for his book Hail to the Victors.

Founded in 2001 as the Center for Religion and Society at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, the Center houses and supports the interdisciplinary minor in Religious Studies, and advances research on religion and its relationship to American society. The Pluralism Project, developed by Claude Jacobs, focused on religion and religious communities in Detroit, Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties, Michigan. The Center's records primarily document the Pluralism Project and the files of the director, Claude Jacobs. The collection also contains publications and printed material from religious communities across Michigan.

The Center for Ethnic and Religious Studies records primarily document the Pluralism Project collaboration between the University of Michigan-Dearborn and Harvard University. The records highlight communities within the southeast Michigan and the greater Detroit area in particular, as well as the Pluralism Project itself.

Claude Jacobs' Director's files document his time as Director of the Pluralism Project and professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

The collection also includes Michigan religious communities material includes inspirational/instructional texts, pamphlets, fliers, newsletters, community outreach, and various programs.

Republican member of the Michigan state legislature (House and Senate, 1971-1990); governor of Michigan (1991-2003); active member of the Republican Governors' Association and the National Governors' Association. The Engler collection consists primarily of materials created and maintained by Governor Engler and his staff during the period when he was governor, 1991-2003. Other records include papers from his several terms in the Michigan House and the Michigan Senate. The collection includes papers files, photographs, sound recordings, videotapes, memorabilia, and some electronic files. The gubernatorial files are arranged mainly by unit or functional responsibility within the governor's office. These series are Executive Office, Communications Division, Legal Division, State Government Affairs, Legislative Affairs Division, Operations Division, External Affairs, Scheduling, Washington DC Office, and Office of the First Lady. Topics extensively documented include state welfare and school funding reform, reorganization of state boards and commissions, notably the restructuring of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and Republican party politics.

The John Engler papers are the most important source available for the study of Michigan's state government from 1991 to 2002. The collection is particularly strong on the topics of welfare and school funding reform, state government reorganization and the rising impact of the National Governors' Association in state and national politics. Engler's efforts to attract commerce to Michigan are also well-documented. The materials are arranged into two main subgroups: Pre-gubernatorial Papers and Gubernatorial Papers. The bulk of the material relates to Engler's gubernatorial career, therefore, the analysis that follows focuses primarily on this subgroup.

The materials in the "Gubernatorial Papers" subgroup are arranged according to the offices and subdivisions of the governor's office that created them. This means that the governor's speeches and press releases, for example, may be found within a grouping or "series" called "Communications Division," within the "Gubernatorial" subgroup, while legislative histories for various public acts may be found within the "Legislative Affairs" series.

While some kinds of documents were produced uniquely by one division, other kinds were produced in several divisions of the governor's office. The governor's correspondence, for example, was drafted and approved by several different staff members. Letters to important business and political leaders may be found within the "Executive Office" series, the "State Government Affairs" series, and the "Washington DC Office" series in particular. There no comprehensive chronological correspondence file.

In using the collection, the researcher should think functionally and ask who would have created the information sought. For example, the policy advisors in the State Government Affairs Division created individual topical files which gathered together correspondence and research materials to support briefing memoranda which they presented to the governor, while the speechwriters in the Communications Division often gathered different types of materials to help them shape the presentation of the same policies to the public.

Soldier with C-Company, 307th Engineering Platoon, 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, in Vietnam, includes recorded letters sent home while stationed in Vietnam, 1968-1969; and photographic snapshots of Shepard, other members of his company, and the areas in Vietnam where they were stationed.

The Robert Shepard collection includes recorded letters (18, 3-inch reel-to-reel tapes) sent home while stationed in Vietnam, 1968-1969; and photographic snapshots of Shepard, other members of his company, and the areas in Vietnam where they were stationed. The Photogaphs consist of two photo albums and two envelopes full of loose photographs as well as scans of the photo albums created by the donor.

The recordings consist of 18 audio letters sent to his family from Vietnam. These were sent through the army mail's "Voices from Home" program using 3M's "Living Letters" brand.

Douglas Ross (1942- ) is a Michigan political figure. He has been active in many political organizations and the Democratic party and served as Michigan Director of Commerce and United States Assistant Secretary of Labor. He also ran, unsuccessfully, for governor of Michigan in 1998. Ross' main concerns are economic policy and education. He currently runs a charter school in Detroit, Michigan. The papers cover most of his career, especially as Michigan Senator and at the Department of Labor, and include his notes and articles, correspondence, publications, and videotapes.