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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.

Battle Creek attorney, justice, later chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. Correspondence, clippings, speeches, and topical files relating primarily to the ceremonial, out-of-court, responsibilities of a supreme court justice, and to her election campaigns in 1971 and 1980; also files concerning her interest in juvenile justice and the reapportionment of the Michigan Legislature and miscellaneous photographs.

The Mary S. Coleman Collection is arranged by series or topic: Biographical/Personal; Correspondence; Miscellaneous Topical File; Speeches; Supreme Court Topical Files; Miscellaneous; and Visual Materials. While a portion of the collection contains pre-1972 material, the bulk concerns the 1972-1982 period during which Judge Coleman served on the Michigan Supreme Court.

Papers of Thomas M. Farrell, Michigan political journalist, editor, and State public information officer. Farrell started his career as a correspondent for the United Press International, was Congressman John C. Mackie Administrative Assistant (1965-1966), and at different times served as Public Information Officer for the Michigan State Highway Department (1959-1965) and for the Michigan Supreme Court (1985-1993), Public Information Director for the Michigan Department of Transportation (1966-1968) and Department Commerce (1969-1972), Assistant Superintendent for Public Affairs for the Michigan Department of Education (1972-1985), and as Director of Communications for Michigan Catholic Conference (1968-1969). Collection includes correspondence, research material and articles by and about Farrell, as well as material collected by Farrell on subjects of professional and personal interests, mostly related to Michigan politics, government, and political figures; also photographs and VHS videotapes.

The collection is organized into four series: Personal files, Professional files, Subject files, and Audio-Visual material.