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Correspondence, topical files, photographs, and printed material relating to the operation and activities of the department, primarily after 1960 during the administrations of Warner Rice, Russell A. Fraser, John L. Styan, Jay L. Robinson, John R. Knott, Robert Weisbuch, and Martha Vicinus; also include scattered files before 1960 and after 1979.

The bulk of the records of the Department of English Language and Literature are from the years 1960 to 1979 and generally coincide with the chairmanships of Warner Rice, Russell Fraser, John Styan, and Jay Robinson. The records primarily document the internal workings of the department and its relationship with other units in the university. The majority of the records were created by the department itself and consist of minutes of committee and faculty meetings, correspondence, department reviews, course outlines, position requests, and newsletters and publications.

The records of the Department of English Language and Literature are divided into seven series: Correspondence, Topical Files, Photographs, Executive Committee, Chair's Files, Presentations, and Faculty Files.

University of Michigan professor of English (1964-1991), director of the Hopwood Program (1975-1988), USIA Special Ambassador to Germany (1972-1973), and esteemed literary critic. Papers (1943-2004) include extensive personal and professional correspondence, published and unpublished manuscripts and writings, notes and lecture materials for courses taught, USIA program materials and correspondence, topical files, photographs, and audio-visual recordings.

The John W. Aldridge Papers document the professional and personal life of one of the twentieth century's most distinguished literary critics, and a longtime University of Michigan professor of English. The records in this collection measure 14.4 linear feet, and date from 1943 to 2006, with the majority of the records from the period 1950 to 2000. They are primarily comprised of correspondence, lectures and addresses, teaching materials, writings and publications, research notes, clippings, program and topical files, and are arranged into nine series: Biographical Materials, Correspondence, Hopwood Awards Program, Lectures and Addresses, Scrapbooks, Teaching, USIA/Special Ambassador, Writings, and Audio-Visual Materials.

Lemuel A. Johnson (1941-2002) was born in Maiduguri, Nigeria. An expert in African literature and the Diaspora, a literary critic, and poet, he taught English at the Fourah Bay College of the University of Sierra Leone and comparative literature at the University of Michigan. From 1985 to 1991 he served as director of the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies; author of a three-volume work of poems entitled the Sierra Leone Trilogy. and numerous works of literary criticism. Papers include biographical information, correspondence from colleagues and family, and information about his work in the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies and the Department of English Language and Literature. There are also notes and drafts of Johnson's literary criticism, poetry, and his other writings.

The Lemuel A. Johnson papers (6 linear feet) date from 1942-2002. The papers include biographical information, correspondence from colleagues and family, and information about his work in the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies and the Department of English Language and Literature. There are also notes and drafts of Johnson's literary criticism, poetry, and his other writings. They are arranged into six series: Biographical Information, Conferences, Correspondence, University of Michigan, Writings, Materials Related to, and Writings.