Collections

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.

University of Michigan inter-disciplinary, area studies and resource center. Records relating to the administration of and the programs supported by the Center, including information on funding, courses, exchange programs, publicity, and affiliated activity; audio and video tapes of presentation and lectures; and various publications.

The records for the Center for Russian and East European Studies (CREES) document an array of activities that the center has been involved with since its inception and includes administrative files, audio and visual material, clippings, press releases, proposals, publications, and subject files. Records from the 1980s to the 1990s make up the bulk of this record group. The documents reflect how the Center has grown and become active not just at the university level, but also at a global level. The financial, global, and business ties that CREES has worked hard to cultivate can be traced through this record group. The way those ties developed as well as the many other interests of the center will be of interest to researchers.

Center was established as the Historical Center for the Health Sciences. Records include interviews of emeritus University of Michigan Medical School faculty members conducted by the Center for the History of Medicine. Transcripts and audio recordings of interviews discussing their backgrounds, education, careers, and tenure at the University of Michigan.

An oral history project undertaken by the University of Michigan Center for the History of Medicine, the project focused on interviewing retired or emeritus faculty members in order to preserve their institutional knowledge of the Medical Center and the university.

Between the years 2002 and 2004, the center's assistant director for programs, Christine Bass, conducted four interviews. From 2004 to 2007, Enid Galler, proprietor of Voice Treasures, took over the interviewing process and conducted fourteen additional oral histories. All interviews include discussions of the faculty member's early life, education, and career accomplishments.

The interviews are available as digital materials online and were recorded on audio cassettes. In addition to these audio formats, there are one or more folders corresponding to each interview, which contain a typed transcript of the interview, a copy of the faculty member's curriculum vitae and in some cases, additional biographical information. The interviews conducted by Enid Galler include an index (with people, organizations, and subjects) and a detailed subject list. Mary Beth Reilly conducted later interviews.

Transcripts are arranged alphabetically by last name, with all audio cassettes in Box 2.

Republican member of the state house and the state senate; president of the University Musical Society. Legislative and campaign files, 1919-1935, detailing his election campaigns, his activities within the legislature, and his various responsibilities as a member of the Republican State Central Committee; general correspondence files, 1922-1960, largely pertaining to his work with the University Musical Society and other civic activities; topical files; family history and memoirs; diaries and appointment books; papers of wife Alva Gordon Sink; and visual materials.

Ann Arbor, Michigan civil rights activist known for his confrontational style and advocate of black economic development, welfare rights, affordable housing and other causes, and a founder of the Washtenaw County Black Economic Development League. Papers, primarily documenting his work with the WCBEDL, include correspondence, scrapbooks, trial transcripts, and photographs.

The Charles Thomas, Jr. papers relate mainly to the activities of WCBEDL, the organization founded by Thomas in 1970. Materials in the collection include scrapbooks, trial transcripts, newsclippings, photographs, and correspondence, (including four letters from Coretta Scott King located in the WCBEDL correspondence file).

Aviator, civilian personnel officer with the U.S. Air Force; chronological and topical files, audio-visual materials, and clippings and scrapbooks.

The Chauncey Spencer collection is an accumulation of personal materials - correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, sound and video recordings - relating to his lifelong interest in aviation, his career with the military, and the career of his mother, poetess Anne Spencer.

Widely published and award winning Detroit born Polish-American author whose life is at the heart of her poetry, diaries, and publications. The collection primarily consists of correspondence between Pacosz, certain family members, and associates; diaries highlighting pivotal events in her life; creative works; publicity materials; family and biographical information; and photographs.

The Christina V. Pacosz papers gives the researcher an insight into the works and mind of an American born Polish poet. This collection, in which the files are arranged chronologically, spans the years 1899-2019, with the majority of the materials reflecting the years 1961-2012.

The collection comprises of correspondence between Pacosz, her literary cohorts, and family members; published and unpublished anthologies, manuscripts, and poetry; biographical and genealogical records pertaining to Pacosz and her family; works created by her students; personal diaries; photographs of herself, family, and colleagues. The collection also comprises of publicity and research materials.

Photographs and sound recordings of Alston remarks at the dedication of the Robert Hayden Lounge in the University of Michigan Center for Afroamerican and African Studies in 1988. The Center was renamed the Department Afroamerican and African Studies in 2011. A 1988 discussion between Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Alston, William McAdoo, and member of the Bentley Historical Library staff about African American historical material housed at the Bentley. Interview conducted by William McAdoo (1990, includes transcript) relating to the Inventory of Negro Manuscripts project at the Bentley Historical Library.

The Chrystal G. Tibbs Papers comprise over a half-century of documents pertaining to Tibbs's membership in various chapters of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and to the history of the sorority at large. Founded at Howard University in 1908, A.K.A. was the first sorority established by African-American women and currently has approximately 250,000 members. The collection's four series contain papers pertaining to Tibbs's personal participation in sorority activities (including those related to her tenure in various administrative posts), materials from several Michigan chapters, sorority publications, and audiovisual materials. In addition, the collection contains work done by Tibbs and family members to document the Powell, Webster, and Winchester family history.

The Chrystal G. Tibbs Papers comprise materials accumulated through Tibbs's participation in Alpha Kappa Alpha conferences, chapter meetings, and special interest groups at the local, state, regional, and national level over a span of fifty years. The activities of Michigan-based chapters are particularly well represented. Materials also include personal and professional documentation directly related to Tibbs and her immediate family. The collection is divided into four series: Personal Papers, Professional Career, Powell Family Papers, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Interdenominational church women's organization, formerly known as United Church Women of Ann Arbor. Minutes, reports, yearbooks, scrapbooks, photographs, sound recordings, and other files relating to activities and interests.

The record group begins with a file relating to the organization's history and administrative structure. This is followed by a bound volume containing minutes for the years of 1941 to 1950. The record group is then arranged into yearly files dating from 1950 to 2004. These files include such materials as mimeographed board of directors reports as well as a variety of newsletters, bulletins, and financial reports. An important source of information about the organization is a series of scrapbooks with clippings and some photographs detailing group activities in the period of 1960 to 2001.

Environmental group formed in 1978 by landowners in Clare County, Michigan in resistance to government plan to use pesticide to control gypsy moth population. The organization has since broadened its focus to include other environmental issues such as solid waste management, wetlands protection, the use of herbicides, concerns about toxic waste, and problems of pollution in Michigan. Series in this record group include organizational files, Eco Conferences, subject files, and related organizations. Organizational files includes minutes, newsletters, reports, correspondence, grant proposals, and other materials relating to the work of the organization. The Eco Conferences series documents annual conference bringing together speakers to lead talks and workshops. This series includes annual planning files and audiocassettes and videocassettes of the conferences. Subject files contains correspondence, reports, background information, and other information on environmental issues. Related organizations consists of files on other Michigan and local environmental groups.

The Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination record group provides an in-depth look at the life of a very active and influential Michigan environmental organization, for a period of nearly two decades -- from 1978 to 1997. While describing in particular the activities of one individual organization, the collection also lends itself to research about environmental issues and Michigan environmental organizations in general. The collection is arranged into four record series: Organizational Files, Eco Conferences, Subject Files, and Related Organizations.

President of the University of Michigan, 1924-1929, educational reformer, geneticist and cancer researcher, also interested in a range of reform movement including birth control, eugenics, international peace, and immigration. Papers include correspondence, speeches and reports concerning all phases of his career as president of the University of Michigan and his civic and reform activities.

The C.C. Little papers document a wide range to topics, events, administrative actions, policy developments during Little's tenure as president of the University of Michigan. The collection contains mainly reports and replies to letters but very little incoming correspondence. However, the researcher may use these replies as clues to other collections in the library which contain the individual correspondent's papers.

The chronological ordering of the papers makes subject access somewhat difficult. To selective indexes of correspondents and subjects found in the papers provide some assistance in using the Little papers. The following discussion of the papers follows the structure of the subject index.

The growth of the university which had begun at the close of World War I continued to be felt during President Little's tenure. New buildings completed earlier were handling classroom and laboratory needs, so attention now turned to living accommodations and the athletic department's needs (Sec. II). The period of the 1920s was one of increased interest in theories of progressive education. President's Little's primary interest was in educational policy arising from such theories. Thus, academic and departmental proposals and reorganizations (Sec. III of the subject index) form a major part of his papers. He made fewer administrative changes (Sec. I of the subject index). The twenties are also remembered as a time of social ferment in the country and this was reflected in campus life, with more attention being paid to regulating student social mores and the use of alcohol and cars (see Secs. I and IV of the subject index).

Although President Little oversaw the reorganization of some administrative offices, his attention was mainly focused on educational policy, his primary interest. This is reflected in materials on admissions policy, freshman orientation, continuing education of alumni, and the re-organization of the university into two separate units.

A few months after President Little took office, the "Day Report", so named because Edmund Day, Dean of the School of Business Administration chaired the committee which drew it up, was completed. It was the result of an exhaustive study of athletics, physical education and recreation in the university and led to changes in the Board in Control of Athletics, development of women's and intramural athletics, and gave impetus to the financing and building of the stadium (opened in 1927).

President Little's concern with developing students of good moral character resulted in regulation of the use of cars and alcohol, thought to be related twin evils, and the initiation of planning for dormitories, where all students would live under university supervision.

The major building projects that came to fruition during the Little Administration were the Stadium and the Women's League Building. Construction work at the Law School and the School of Education represented on-going projects begun in earlier administrations, while plans for a natural science museum were just beginning to take shape.

During President Little's tenure, schools and departments established earlier continued to grow, while some projects, such as the Creative Arts Fellowship, were brought to a close. The financing and governance of the Lawyers' Club presented on-going difficulties. Compensation for and the role of "outside work" in Medicine, Engineering, and Education required continued attention. The university contributed to scientific research through the Hobbs Expedition to Greenland which also showed the value of the university's fledgling radio program in maintaining communication with such distant projects.

With the appointment of Samuel Trask Dana as Dean, the School of Forestry was established in the spring of 1927. At that time the state was faced with the problems of cutover lands and the collapse of the lumbering industry. In 1927 the School of Forestry provided leadership in dealing with these problems by sponsoring two conferences which brought together owners and operators in the lumbering industry, state officials, and forestry experts to consider solutions.

The School of Education continued its growth with the addition of an elementary school building. The completion of that building in 1929 enabled the School to provide K-12 education under the supervision of its faculty. Some attention was given also to providing pre-primary education, but nothing came of this during Little's tenure.

The university and its academic life did not escape the impact of the societal upheavals of the "roaring twenties". Perhaps more so at the University of Michigan because of President Little's active role in several of those issues, as is reflected in his correspondence. He was an officer in the American Eugenics Society, a vocal proponent of both population control and the "betterment of the human race", and also served as chairman of the Michigan chapter of the League of Nations Non-partisan Association.

Professor of Speech at the University of Michigan and active participant in local, national, and university theater. The collection includes correspondence, press, and programs and photos documenting various theatrical productions.

This collection documents Claribel Baird Halstead’s life as an educator, theatrical director, and actress. It provides insight into the development and history of theater at the University of Michigan and into Claribel’s specific contributions. The collection is divided into five series: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Audiovisual Materials, Theater Programs, and Published plays.

Professor of history at Cornell University; recordings and transcripts of interviews conducted in the course of Salvatore's research into the life and career of C. L. Franklin, African American clergyman, long-time pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, and active participant in the civil rights movement.

The records of the C.L. Franklin Oral History Project, 1998-2002, consist of audiocassette recordings and typed transcripts of interviews conducted by Dr. Nick Salvatore as part of his research which resulted in publication of the book Singing in a Strange Land : C.L. Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America. Among the 47 interviewees were family members, parishioners in Franklin's church, ministerial colleagues from Detroit, and civil rights activists. Among the topics covered are personal recollections of Franklin, his preaching style, the role of gospel music in Franklin's ministry and his influence gospel music styles, and Franklin's role as civic and civil rights leader.

Oral histories of University of Michigan College of Engineering faculty members, conducted by Enid Galler in 2003, discussing their background, education, careers, and the college and university

The University of Michigan College of Engineering Oral History Interviews are comprised of typed transcripts and audio cassette tapes of nine interviews with retired faculty members recorded during an oral history project undertaken by the college. The interviews were conducted by Enid H. Galler in 2003.

Interviews typically include information on the subject's background, education, and family, and commentary on his or her career and overall involvement with the university. The interviews also contain a great deal of information on the administration of, and issues within the College of Engineering, as well as on the operation of the university as a whole.

Collected material relating to the debate over the University of Michigan's participation in genetic research, mainly recombinant DNA, and broader issues of ethics and values in scientific research.

The records of the Collegiate Institute for Values and Science document the activities and programs of the institute and several campus issues involving ethics and scientific research, most notably the debate over research on Recombinant DNA in the 1970s. The records are organized into four series; Recombinant DNA Controversy, Topical File Audiotapes and Alan Price records.

Community Action on Substance Abuse (CASA) was an Ann Arbor-based, non-profit organization of volunteer parents, educators and service groups. CASA's mission was to educate adolescents in the community about the risks of using alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, and to encourage adolescents to live drug free. The records consist of CASA organizational materials – meeting minutes, annual reports and more – publicity and prevention materials, program information, Ann Arbor-area and national substance abuse resources, conference materials, local drug use surveys, fundraising materials, VHS and cassette tapes, and photographs and other items from Ann Arbor's Drug Free Schools drug prevention art contests.

The Community Action on Substance Abuse records consist of CASA organizational materials – meeting minutes, annual reports and more – publicity and prevention materials, program information, Ann Arbor-area and national substance abuse resources, conference materials, local drug use surveys, fundraising materials, VHS and cassette tapes, and photographs and other items from Ann Arbor's Drug Free Schools drug prevention art contests. The records have been arranged into thirteen series: CASA Organizational files, Publicity, Prevention Materials, CASA Programs -- Ann Arbor Schools, CASA Programs -- Ann Arbor Community, Area Treatment Resources, State and National Affiliations, Conferences, Drug Use Surveys, Fundraising, Sound Recordings, Visual Materials, and Ann Arbor Schools Drug Prevention Contest.

Attorney, student and investigator of different cults and cult activities, primarily focusing on the New Age Movement; published writings, collected topical files; cassette sound recordings, and videotapes.

The Constance Cumbey collection consists of her publications, research files and other material related to her investigations of alleged connections between New Age cults and the New World Order and various politicians, organizations and institutions. There are also files documenting her interest in Christian fundamentalism and prominent evangelists and their ties to cults. The collection has been divided into three series: Topical Files (three subseries), Personal Files, and Other Media.

Gay rights activist of Ferndale, Mich. Files relating to his involvement with AIDS prevention and gay rights; include minutes of the board and other materials of the Midwest AIDS Prevention Project, 1988-2001; files accumulated from his work with the Michigan Organization for Human Rights; and miscellanea relating to his campaigns for Ferndale City Council in 1995, 1999, 2003, for mayor in 2007, and for Oakland County Commissioner in 2010.

The Craig Covey collection is arranged into two series: Topical Files and Audio-Visual Materials. The topical files are especially important for their documentation of his work in various education and prevention study programs. These include the Midwest AIDS Prevention Project (MAPP for short) and the Michigan AIDS High Risk Education program. Also of important are files documenting his participation in the political and civic life of Ferndale, both within the gay community and as a member of the city council and as Mayor. There is documentation of his campaign for office and his participation in a gay and lesbian neighborhood association, Friends and Neighbors of Ferndale (FANS for short). The Audio-Visual series is comprised mainly of video recordings relating to gay pride ceremonies and activities.

Biographer of Kenneth E. Boulding. Collected information about life and career of Kenneth E. Boulding; tapes and transcripts of interviews with Kenneth E. Boulding and his family and associates; copies of Boulding articles; and photographs used in the biography.

The collection is comprised of Cynthia Kerman's research file on Kenneth E. Boulding. In addition to collected materials, the files include interviews, correspondence, and audio cassettes of conversations with Kenneth Boulding.