Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Alan Abrams is a Detroit-based press agent/public relations consultant in the music business; publicist for Motown Record Corporation, 1964-1966, later with Stax Records, 1967-1968. The collection consists of press releases, clippings, publicity material, scrapbooks containing press coverage of the recording artists that he represented, including the Supremes, photographs, and his writings about Motown, Otis Redding, and Florence Ballard.

The Al Abrams collection contains scrapbooks, correspondence, press releases, photographs, and memoirs detailing Abrams' work as a publicist and press agent for Detroit's Motown and for Stax Records in Memphis. The collection is valuable for its documentation of Motown in the period of the early to mid-1960s when this Detroit company was beginning its great string of record successes. Abrams was a great collector of press and other materials about the artists who worked for Motown and Stax-Volt.

The Abrams collection measures two linear feet and four oversize volumes whose contents have been foldered. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Motown Record Company, Stax Record Company, Al Abrams Associates, Miscellaneous, Visual Materials, and Scrapbooks.

Files of state chairs, Neil Staebler, John J. Collins, Zolton Ferency, Sander Levin, James McNeely, Morley Winograd, Olivia Maynard, Richard Wiener, F. Thomas LeWand, and Gary Corbin; files of deputy state chair, Billie S. Farnum, vice chairs Adelaide Hart and Olivia Maynard, and vice chair Robert Mitchell; files relating to state constitutional convention, and to state and national political campaigns, since 1950; sound recordings and visual materials.

The records of the Democratic Party of Michigan have come to the library in several accessions beginning in 1967 and periodically thereafter. The record group is comprised of files mainly from the Lansing office of the Democratic Party of Michigan. The files are of the officers of the party: state chair, vice chair, deputy chair, and secretary among others. As might be expected, the records relate to the day-to-day operation of the party, the management of political campaigns (i.e. selecting candidates, defining issues, raising funds, getting out the vote, etc.). In addition, much of the records concern the state organization's relationship with the National Democratic Party and its participation in the national convention to select a presidential nominee. Because of inconsistencies in how files were maintained and used, the files of one party officer might also include materials of his / her predecessor. Thus the researcher should be examine the entire finding aid for material on any given topic or time period.

The records of the Democratic Party of Michigan has been arranged into the following series: (1) Earlier records, prior to 1965; (2) State Chair, Democratic State Central Committee files; (3) Other Party Officers; (4) Headquarters files; (5) Detroit Office Files; (6) Topical Files; (7) State Central Committee Meeting Minutes; (8) State and National Convention files; (9) Appeals Committee; (10) Publications and miscellaneous; (11) Visual Materials; (12) Sound Recordings.

Managing editor of the Detroit Free Press, president of the Michigan Press Association, 1969, and national treasurer of Sigma Delta Chi, professional journalism society. Activities and topical files; speeches; papers concerning work on Cooley High School Community Council, Detroit, Michigan, files concerning Detroit race relations and the Detroit riot of 1967; papers relating to Detroit Press Club; and photographs.

The Frank Angelo papers document his career in journalism, as editor of the Detroit Free Press, his professional and community activities. The Angelo papers came to the library in several accession which have been integrated in this description.

Oral history project of the Michigan Historical Collection to document politics and government during the gubernatorial administration of G. Mennen Williams; transcripts of interviews, sound cassettes, and administrative records of the project.

This is a collection of oral history tapes and interviews relating to the history of the gubernatorial administration of G. Mennen Williams. Interviews have been arranged alphabetically and include Paul Adams, Michael Berry, Geraldine N. Bledsoe, Ernest R. Boehm, Raymond Clevenger, John D. Dingell, Tom Downs, Alfred B. Fitt, Hicks and Martha Griffiths, Adelaide Hart, Jane B. Hart, Erma Henderson, Stella Lecznar, Wade H. McCree, Louis Mezzano, Victor G. Reuther, Horace Sheffield, Otis Smith, Paul W. Weber, Nancy (Quirk) Williams, Joseph L. Wisniewski, and Leonard Woodcock. Project files also include questionnaires (but not interviews) from other individuals associated with G. Mennen Williams.

Governor of Michigan 1949 to 1960, under-secretary of state for African Affairs from 1961 to 1965, and Michigan Supreme Court justice from 1970 to 1986 and leader in state and national Democratic Party. Papers document his public career and aspects of his personal and family life and include correspondence, subject files, staff files, speeches, press releases and news clippings, photographs, sound recordings, films and videotapes.

The G. Mennen Williams Papers consist of official and personal files arranged into six subgroups: 1) Gubernatorial papers, 1949-1960 (681 linear ft.); 2) Non-gubernatorial papers, 1883-1948 and 1958-1988 (107 linear ft.); 3) Visual materials, ca. 1911-1988 (ca. 25 linear ft.); 4) sound recordings, 1950-ca. 1988 (5 linear ft.) Scrapbooks, 1948-1987 (43 vols.) and State Department Microfilm, 1961-1966 (23 reels).

As part of its own control system, the governor's office maintained a card index to the correspondents in many of the subgroups and series within the gubernatorial papers. This card file is located in the library's reading room. In addition, Nancy Williams and her staff compiled an extensive and detailed run of scrapbooks covering the Williams years. There is a separate inventory to these scrapbooks in a separately bound volume.

Strategy for Use of the Gubernatorial Papers: Although the Williams gubernatorial collection consists of hundreds of linear feet of material, the file arrangement created by the governor's staff is a fairly simple one to understand and to use.

The bulk of the collection falls within specific functional groupings, corresponding to the various activities and responsibilities that Williams performed as governor. Thus, if the researcher is uncertain of what portions of the collection might be relevant to his/her research, he/she is advised to think in terms of gubernatorial function. Does the proposed research concern the workings or area responsibility of a state board? If so, the Boards and Commissions series would be the most likely place in which to find material. The election of 1954? Then Democratic Party/Campaign Papers should be first choice. The passage of a specific piece of legislation? Here, Legislative Files is an obvious choice. The possible choices (called subgroups and series) that the researcher has are listed in the Organization of the Collection section. A description of the contents of each of these subgroups/series is provided below.

If, at first, unsuccessful in finding material on any given topic, the researcher might consider these additional strategies:

1. Refer to the Williams card index (located in the library's reading room). Sometimes, the name of an individual associated with a subject provides the easiest point of access into the collection. This file is arranged alphabetically and lists the dates of letters between an individual and the governor's office. This file only indexes the larger series and subgroups in the collection. It does not index the staff files, or parts of the Democratic Party/Campaign subgroup. Nevertheless it is an invaluable tool, and can uncover important material otherwise buried.

2. Refer to the various series of staff papers. Staff members were often closely involved in a specific subject areas (Jordan Popkin and aging, for example) and thus their files are frequently rich in source material.

3. If only partially successful in locating desired material, the researcher should think of an alternative subgroup or series. The governor's office, for a variety of reasons, often filed related material in different locations depending upon the source of a document. Thus, information relating to a strike might be filed both under the Labor Mediation Board in Boards and Commissions, and Strikes in General Subjects. Furthermore, if the strike influenced a specific piece of legislation, there could be material in the Legislative Files.

The Grand Hotel records comprise documents, photographs, audio and videographic material collected about the hotel by its management. The strength of the collection is in its documentation of the guest experience at the hotel, and the evolution of amenities offered by the hotel during the mid-to-late 20th century. A small number of items also provide a glimpse of the hotel's earliest days as a summer resort.

The Grand Hotel records are arranged in six series: Printed Material, Miscellaneous, Press Clippings and Publications, Photographic Material, Audio Material, and Videographic Material.

James Karoub was an Arab American lobbyist and legislator from Highland Park, Michigan. Most notably, he served in the Michigan House of Representatives and founded the successful Michigan lobbying firm, Karoub Associates. Karoub represented Wayne County's 15 District, 1963-1964 and 1965-1968 The Karoub papers consist of newspaper clippings and articles, correspondence, some campaign material, scrapbooks, photographs, and a sound recording.

The Karoub papers consist mainly of newspaper clippings and articles covering various aspects of Karoub's political career. Other papers include correspondence, some campaign material, documents from the Michigan Supreme Court case covering the mayoral controversy, and a few notes and speeches.

The collection also includes a scrapbook, photographs, and a sound recording. The photographs include portraits of Karoub, photographs of Karoub at different events, as well as photos of Karoub with various political figures, including G. Mennen Williams, George Romney, James J. Blanchard, and Hubert Humphrey. Karoub's farewell speech for mayor is also included in this collection.

Pacifist, participant in World War I peace movement and later peace activities, member of Fellowship of Reconciliation, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and Women Strike for Peace. Papers include Correspondence, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, periodicals, reports, photographs, and other materials relating to the International Congress of Women, 1915, the Ford Peace Ship, the American Neutral Conference Committee, the Emergency Peace Federation, and the People's Council of America.

The papers of Rebecca Shelley (1887-1984) were donated by Shelley in several accessions between 1964 and 1984. The papers make up twenty-one linear feet of materials and cover the years 1890-1984, though only a few photographs and printed items predate 1910. Her anti-war activism, legal battles, writing career, and courtships with Franz Willman and Felix Rathmer are all well-represented. In addition to her personal papers, there are groups of material belonging to Emily Balch, Richard Olsen, Felix Rathmer, Paul Shelly, and William A. Shelly.

Many peace organizations are also documented in these papers through flyers, pamphlets, periodicals, newsletters, and correspondence. These include the American Neutral Conference Committee, Emergency Peace Federation, People's Council of America, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Women Strike for Peace, and many others. As Shelley served as an officer in the Michigan Fellowship of Reconciliation (F.O.R.) through the 1950s and 1960s, many of the organization's official papers came to be in her possession. Therefore, an effort was made to remove most of these official papers to the separate Michigan F.O.R. collection.

The collection is arranged in eleven series: Biographical; Newspaper Clippings; Correspondence; Topical Papers; Miscellaneous Papers; Papers Of Other Individuals; Printed; Periodicals; Diaries And Notebooks; Photographs; and Writings.

Detroit, Michigan, social worker, executive vice president of the Children's Fund of Michigan, and chairman of various relief commissions during the depression. Materials relating to his welfare activities, his interests in mental health and the work of the American Red Cross, and his general interest in the field of social work; also papers detailing his activities with the Detroit Prismatic Club; essays concerning the legislation of prohibition in Michigan; and photographs and sound recordings.

The William J. Norton collection relates mainly to relating to his welfare activities, his interests in mental health and the work of the American Red Cross, and to his general interest in the field of social work. The collection has been divided into seven series: Biographical Material and Correspondence, Presentations and Essays, Articles, Fiction Writing, Social Work Organizations, Audio Tapes and Photographs, and Other Materials.