Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Anthropologist; professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan and the City University of New York. The collection is organized into eight series: Biographical; Correspondence; Fieldwork; Courses; Lectures; Publications; Graduate school and other notes; and Political activities.

The Eric Wolf papers include notes and analysis related to his anthropological fieldwork, personal and professional correspondence, as well as course and lecture materials, documenting the many aspects of Wolf's professional life as an anthropologist, instructor, and mentor. The collection is organized into ten series: Biographical, Correspondence, Fieldwork, Early/Unpublished Writing, Courses, Lectures, Publications, Notes, Political Activities, and Other Materials.

Sherwin T. Wine was the iconoclastic founder of Humanistic Judaism and an openly gay rabbi who established the Birmingham Temple and formed the Society for Humanistic Judaism, the Center for New Thinking (a community forum for discussion of current events and issues), and various groups devoted to free thought and humanism. Papers include biographical content, correspondence, writings, educational and worship materials, sound recordings, visual materials, and various organizational records.

The Sherwin T. Wine papers illustrate the intellectual traits and organizational acumen of a man who devoted his life to the establishment of a new branch of Judaism and the advancement of humanistic values and rationalism. The collection will be of value to those individuals who seek a deeper understanding of Wine as a person as well as the founder of Humanistic Judaism. Writings, correspondence, and clippings detail the process by which Wine broke free from the traditions of Reform Judaism to found a new denomination. Materials from the Birmingham Temple and other Secular Humanist Judaism organizations trace the development and expansion of the movement. Content related to the many other groups with which Wine was involved reveal an individual able to organize and inspire others to act at local, national, and international levels.

African American civil rights activist and Black militant leader in Monroe County North Carolina who came to advocate armed self-defense in response to violence, left the United States in 1961 and lived in Cuba and China until 1969 when he settled in Baldwin Michigan. Papers include correspondence, newspaper clippings, audio-visual material, manuscripts, petitions, and government documents documenting the civil rights movement, black nationalism, radical politics in the United States and Williams's experiences in Cuba and China.

The Robert Williams papers, dating from 1951, include correspondence, notes, newspaper clippings, audio-visual material, manuscripts, petitions, and government documents. The collection documents a wide variety of subjects: the American civil rights movement, Black Nationalism, cold war politics, Castro's Cuba, Mao's China, and the radical left in the United States.

As Robert Williams continued to add to his collection following his initial donation in 1976, it was necessary to arrange and describe the materials based on groupings of dates of accessioning. Thus the bulk of the collection is divided into two subgroups: 1976-1979 Accessions and 1983-1997 Accessions with much overlapping of material. In addition, the collection contains a small series of papers collected by his son John C. Williams and a separate series of Audio-Visual Materials.

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.

Church originally established by German immigrant families to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Quarterly and annual reports of the church, records of church boards and commissions, Sunday School minutes and reports, subject files, publications, visual materials, and sound recordings.

The West Side United Methodist Church (Ann Arbor, Mich.) record group contains all extant records of the West Side United Methodist Church of Ann Arbor from its founding as the Erste Deutsche Methodisten Kirche in 1847 up to the 1990s. All records dating prior to World War I are in German, those from later time periods are in English.

Records from the German period are not complete, but do include quarterly conference meeting minutes (1847-1867 and 1883-1916), official board minutes (1897-1908), Sunday School board meeting minutes (1876-1915), Sunday School attendance and contribution records (1901-1918), a record of baptisms (1857-1901), minutes of meetings of the leaders (1901-1908), Epworth League minutes (1900-1917), and records on receipts and expenditures (1879-1893).

Records from the years since World War I vary in completeness depending on the time period. Records from the years prior to the move to the church on Seventh Street in 1952 are less complete than those for the most recent decades. For the period from World War I to 1952, the collection contains quarterly conference reports for most years; official board minutes (1922-1931 and 1944-1952); Board of Christian Education minutes and correspondence (1943-1952); Ladies Aid/Women's Society for Christian Service records (1935-1952); Sunday School board minutes and records on attendance, contributions, and expenditures (1923-1952 - incomplete); letters from former pastors and their wives upon celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Jefferson Street church (1934); photographs of the church building and activities of the congregation, yearbooks (1946-1952), and correspondence concerning the sale of the Jefferson Street church and the construction of the Seventh Street church (1949-1952).

The records for the years since 1952 are relatively complete and quite extensive. Included are quarterly (more recently annual) conference reports, minutes and correspondence of major boards and commissions (Administrative Council, Board of Trustees, Education, Evangelism, Finance, Memorials, Council on Ministries, Missions, Nominations, Outreach, Staff-Parish Relations, United Methodist Women, and Worship) plus various short-lived temporary committees and task forces, correspondence chronological files, subject files on special projects and events, church newsletters, Sunday bulletins, directories, and photographs of the church building and activities of the congregation.

The record group is arranged in six series: Quarterly and Annual Reports, Boards and Commissions File, Sunday School File, Topical File, Publications File, Photographs File, and Audiotapes, Films and Video.

Researchers interested in baptismal and marriage records should contact West Side United Methodist Church.

Papers of Arnold Weinstein, American poet, playwright, librettist, and translator. Material in both paper and digital formats includes manuscript drafts and final versions of libretti, music scores with Weinstein's lyrics, manuscript and published literary works; research and background material related to individual works and projects, as well as programs, publicity material and reviews of shows. Also commercially produced and non-commercial audio and video recordings.

The Papers of Arnold Weinstein collection documents the work of the American librettist, playwright and poet between the late 1950s through the 2000s.

Papers of Mike Wallace (1918-2012), broadcast journalist; CBS News correspondent; co-founder and correspondent on CBS 60 Minutes news program from 1968 to 2006. The collection comprises 60 Minutes program files, including transcripts of the broadcasts and interviews with participants, viewer correspondence, background research, newspaper clippings and photographs, and story ideas in various stages of development that were dropped or never aired. General files consisting of Wallace's personal and professional materials covering his responsibilities within CBS News beyond 60 Minutes, notably his work covering the war in Vietnam and political campaigns in the 1960s and 1970s. The general files include speeches, awards and personal correspondence. Photographs and other visual materials, sound recordings, and biographical materials.

The Mike Wallace CBS/ 60 Minutes Papers document the career and associated activities of one of television news's most influential broadcasters. The collection currently spans a thirty-five year career at CBS News and includes program files, correspondence, speeches, writings, memoranda, photographs, and other materials relating to Wallace's work as co-editor of 60 Minutes and as principal correspondent of various other CBS documentaries. The papers range broadly, covering both his activities within CBS as well as within the larger broadcast community. The collection has been largely maintained in the series established by Wallace and his staff. These series are: Program Files; General Files; Personal/Biographical; Visual Materials; and Litigation Files.

The Mike Wallace CBS/ 60 Minutes collection is a combination of CBS News files and Mike Wallace Personal Materials. The Personal Materials, a much smaller part of the total collection, is indicated in container listing with an asterisk (*).

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.

Republican U.S. Senator from Michigan; advocate of the United Nations and bipartisan foreign policy. Correspondence, scrapbooks, diaries, and visual materials.

The Arthur H. Vandenberg collection consists of 8 linear feet of materials (available on microfilm), 25 volumes of scrapbook/journals, and assorted audio and visual materials. The collection covers Vandenberg's entire career with a few folders of papers post-dating his death in 1951 relating to the dedication of memorial rooms in his honor in the 1970s. The collection is divided into four major series: Correspondence; Speeches; Campaign and Miscellaneous Topical; Clippings, Articles, and Scrapbooks; Miscellaneous and Personal; Visual Materials; and Sound Recordings.

Singing group established in 1902 as the University of Michigan Girls' Club before changing the name to Women's Glee Club in the 1940s. The group performed on campus and throughout Michigan as well as touring nationally and internationally. The group disbanded in 1953 and was reactivated in 1976. This records include concert programs and posters, fundraising information, correspondence, photographs, audio/visual recordings of performances, newspaper clippings and scrapbooks. Also included are administrative papers including budget information, schedules, rosters and rules.

The Women's Glee Club collection dates from 1903 to 2017 and is comprised of multiple accessions. Because these accessions came with little discernible structure, and because their contents overlapped, they were combined into one collection made up of printed and manuscript materials, as well as posters, scrapbooks, sound and video recordings in a few different formats. The collection has been divided into four series: Audio/Visual Materials, Topical File, Scrapbooks and Concert Posters. The first two series of the collection have been arranged alphabetically by topic, and chronologically within the files. The Scrapbooks series is contained in Box 2, and each scrapbook has retained its original organization.

Organized in 1879 to "cultivate the public taste for music," the Society sponsors concert series, opera, dance and theater performances at the University of Michigan. The records consist of director's files of Albert A. Stanley, Charles A. Sink, Gail Rector, and Kenneth Fischer; include correspondence relating to performances and management of the Society; ledgers and account books, board of directors minutes and packets; files concerning the Choral Union, the University of Michigan School of Music, the Henry S. Frieze Memorial Organ Fund, and Hill Auditorium; also visual materials and audiotapes of Board meetings.

The records of the University Musical Society document its founding in 1879, governance and administrative restructuring through the years, its activities sponsoring musical, dance and theatrical performances on campus, and its role in music and arts education. The records include directors' correspondence files, board of directors minutes, ledgers and financial records, photographs, sound recordings and videotapes.

Intellectually, the records are organized into eight series: Directors' Correspondence, Financial records, Historical file, Board of Directors, Committees, Topical File, Contracts, Photographs, President's Correspondence, Staff Files, Executive Directors' Files, and Motion Pictures (film, videotape and digital materials).

The records were received in several major and numerous small accessions and the physical arrangement of the records (the order in which they are arranged in boxes/folders) reflects this. In this finding aid, the records are described in term of their intellectual organization regardless of the particular accession in which they were received. As a result, the box number order in which the descriptions are displayed in the contents list will not always be consecutive.

Records of the administrative office responsible for developing and coordinating affirmative action programs for women, minorities and disabled faculty, staff, and students. Documentation includes topical files, minutes, reports, photographs and audio and video tapes. This record group also includes records of the Commission for Minority Affairs and the Commission for Women.

The records of the Affirmative Action Office span 1969 - 1993 and document the activities of the office and its predecessors, and provide information about affirmative action programs at the university and the status of minority, women, the disabled and other groups on campus. The records have come to the library in a number of accessions.

The Affirmative Action Office record group is organized into five subgroups: Affirmative Action Office, 1969 - 1993; Commission for Minority Affairs, 1971 - 1980; Commission for Women, 1970 - 1985; Council for Minority Concerns, 1979 - 1983; and Advisory Committee on Affirmative Action Programs, 1977 - 1986. The Affirmative Action Office subgroup includes records created or acquired by the Office. The other subgroups represent various university units that were merged into or whose function were taken over by the Affirmative Action Office.

Records of the University Human Resources and its predecessors. University Human Resources plans, administers, and monitors the university policies regarding personnel and employee relations and nondiscrimination. This office coordinates with various executive officers and deans of the schools and colleges.

University Human Resources records (27.4 linear feet) are divided into three subgroups: Affirmative Action, Personnel, and Human Resources and Affirmative Action.

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.

Archives of folklore collected by students in the course "Survey of American Folklore" offered by the University of Michigan Program in American Culture and first taught by Bruce Conforth in 2005. Collected folklore reports compiled by students in American Folklore course based on oral interviews with informants. (Interviews are included on a variety of physical formats--cassettes, microcassettes, CDs, VHS tapes). Reports include essays, transcripts on topics ranging from popular folklore to campus legends and traditions.

The American Culture Folklore and Oral History Archives consists of folklore collection reports prepared by undergraduate students in the American Folklore course offered by the University of Michigan Program in American Culture. Prior to the transfer to the Bentley Historical Library, the folklore reports were organized according to general topics by students in the course and placed in archival folders and boxes under the direction of the professor. That order has been retained. Very often the media and objects included in the report have remained. The collection is meant to directly serve students who may take the Survey of American Folklore class in the future, and indirectly to those who, years from now, may re-discover and research aspects of American folklore that were pertinent during present day.

There is considerable overlap in subject matter between the categories of collecting topics. In the collection, folders for the first set of reports in a series are ordered according to their pre-assigned number (which can be found in the Administrative Files series) and not according to the last name of the student or title. For the second set, however, where no such number exists, the reports are ordered by surname of the student. In this finding aid, only the student's name and title of the report is listed. Further in the series names will appear to be in alphabetical order when the pre-assigned numbers were not continued.

University of Michigan unit responsible for admitting applicants to the university's various undergraduate programs. Includes the correspondence and topical files of former Director Ted Spencer and Associate Director Marilyn McKinney, Board of Admissions meeting minutes, admissions guidelines and related material, minutes and data of the Enrollment Working Group, and audiovisual and photographic material. Also included are numerous publications produced or collected by the office, such as newsletters, reports, brochures, and procedures.

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions (University of Michigan) records documents the activities of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, particularly its leadership and outreach activities. Material is dated from 1911-2022 and includes the correspondence and topical files of former Director Ted Spencer and Associate Director Marilyn McKinney, Board of Admissions meeting minutes, admissions guidelines and related material for various university units, minutes and data associated with the Enrollment Working Group, and audiovisual and photographic material. Also included are numerous publications produced or collected by the office, including newsletters, reports, brochures, administrative materials, applications, information on recruitment programs, transfer and application guides, recruiting videotapes, and admissions data reports aimed at prospective students, admitted students, transfer students, international students, high school guidance counselors, as well as faculty and staff.

The Institute for the Humanities, founded in 1987, was developed in response to a recognized need for renewed dialogue across disciplines. Originally oriented around the humanities and the arts, the center soon evolved into a widely recognized venue for international scholarship. The records are largely comprised of video and sound cassettes documenting a diverse range of events.

There are two series in the Institute for the Humanities record group: Administrative Records and Audio-Visual Material. The records, largely comprised of videotapes and cassette tapes, provide dynamic evidence of the steady growth and refinement of an initiative that greatly enriched teaching and scholarship in the humanities at the University of Michigan.

The University of Michigan committee appointed by president James Duderstadt to facilitate the preservation, promotion, and appreciation of the history and traditions. Material includes oral history interviews with university presidents and their wives, administrative and academic officers, regents and faculty members, as well as administrative records.

The bulk of the History and Traditions Committee records consists of interviews (recordings and transcripts) with University of Michigan presidents, wives of presidents, regents, and administrators. Also included materials pertaining to the University of Michigan history, and administrative records.

University of Michigan group established in 1946 devoted to production of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. Records include production files with programs, photographs, reviews and newspaper clippings, and scattered production notes and memoranda; topical files relating to the Society, its friends organization, and its publication; slides of productions; Society newsletter, "Gasbag"; posters; phonorecords, tapes, and videos of productions.

The records of UMGASS have been divided into ten series: Slides, Topical Files, Production Files, Posters, Memorabilia Volumes, Magnetic Tape Recordings, Sound Recordings, Audiotapes, Videotapes, and Scrapbooks. Because materials on one production can include photographs, scrapbooks, recordings, or slides- all of which live within different boxes of the collection -- a directory has been compiled in the Production Files series. The directory lists the year and title of the UMGASS production for which the library has materials and a lettered key exists that denotes the physical existence and location of materials within the collection.

This record group pertains to the University of Michigan Department of Afroamerican and African Studies and to campus, regional, and national organizations devoted to political and civil rights causes from the 1960s to the 1990s. The collection includes print documents, photographs, and audio-visual material that document racial harassment incidents, political protests, scholarly conferences and symposia, MLK Day celebrations and black student life on the U-M campus. There are also materials about the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the anti-apartheid and divestment movements of the 1980s. Originally a Center, the unit was formally recognized as a department of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts in 2011.

The records of the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS; formerly known as the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies, or CAAS) include correspondence, syllabi, clippings, publicity materials, photographs and audio and video recordings of campus speakers. The record group includes archival material that was originally collected and made available in DAAS's library relating to black activism and to organizations of interest to black students, faculty and staff, as well as DAAS's own organizational archives. Because these materials have been consulted and cited by researchers prior to their transfer to the Bentley in 2011, their original arrangement has been preserved so far as possible.

Paper and photographic records consist of three major series: Black student activism, 1969-2001 (5.5 linear feet), Blacks at U-M, 1969-2007 (4.5 linear feet) and Organizational archives of CAAS, 1962-2010 (17 linear feet) (formerly designated simply "Archives.") There is some overlap of subject matter. These categories reflect the organization of the materials imposed by CAAS librarians and archivists prior to transfer to the Bentley in 2011.

The following list identifies the greatest concentration of material relevant to some of the notable subjects in the collection:

1. The Black Action Movements (Boxes 1-2 and 55)
2. Incidents of on-campus harassment and responses (Boxes 1, 2, 4)
3. South Africa, apartheid, and divestment -- (Boxes 2, 3, 5)
4. Free South Africa Coordinating Committee (Box 3)
5. Washtenaw County Coalition Against Apartheid (Box 5)
6. United Coalition Against Racism and the Baker-Mandela Center (Boxes 1, 4, 5)
7. The Michigamua controversy (Box 3)
8. The Nelson Mandela Honorary Degree Petition (Boxes 3, 11)
9. Gulf War activism (Boxes 3, 4)

This record group also includes a large number of audio and video recordings of presentations, interviews, documentaries, and cultural performances from the 1970s to the 1990s. The recordings include several notable faculty members, visiting scholars, and activists, including Harold Cruse, Cornell West, Rita Dove, Jesse Jackson, Angela Davis, Marian Wright Edelman and Rosa Parks.

The audio-visual material in the collection is organized is organized in to six series by format: Audio recordings on cassettes, 1975-2001 (486 cassettes, 9 linear feet), U-Matic videotapes, 1971-1989 (91 videotapes, 9.1 linear ft.) VHS videotapes, 1971-2004 (131 videotapes, 7 linear feet), Open reel videotapes, 1971-1980 (12 videotapes, 1 linear feet), Reel-to-reel audiotape, 1971, 1980 and undated (4 audiotapes, 0.3 linear feet) and Mini DVDs, 1999-2000 and undated (24 Mini-DVDs, 0.2 linear feet).