Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Soldier from Ann Arbor, Mich., member of 337th Field Hospital who served in the Allied intervention in Russia, 1918-1920, the "Polar Bear Expedition." Collection includes photographs taken during training at Camp Custer, Michigan and while in Russia; also photos of Michigan National Guard troops at Camp Grayling, Michigan; and photographs of the Nordman family in Ann Arbor, and of the Merchants Delivery Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The album contains ca. 80 photographs, including scenes of men at Camp Custer, on board ship, and on patrol in Russia, an ice-covered river, barracks scenes, pictures of Russian people and scenery, prisoners, warships on a river, and scenes of men in Brest, France. Also included is a large group portrait of the 337th Field Hospital taken at Camp Custer, a snapshot of a 1968 Polar Bear Association ceremony, photos of the Michigan National Guard at Camp Grayling in the 1920s, photos of the Merchants Delivery Company Ann Arbor, and family scenes in Ann Arbor.

Fifth chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity for African American college students. Epsilon Chapter was established at the University of Michigan in April 1909. Various photographs, including a photo of a group of Black men and women posed on the front porch steps of the Alpha Phi Alpha House (1017 Catherine St., Ann Arbor, Michigan).

The physical photographs are arranged in two folders. Photographs taken at the University of Michigan depict African American men and women posing in front of the East Catherine Street house as well as an informal group photo in the university's chemical laboratory. The collection's other various photographs primarily depict unidentified African American men and children.

Scrapbook of World War I-era photographs and post-war personal activities, includes snapshots from Polar Bear expedition to northern Russia after World War I; also photos of post-World War I military groups and activities.

German-born resident of Saginaw, Michigan; worked variously as a laborer, mechanic, shop foreman, factory superintendent, and traveling salesman. Includes scattered correspondence and unpublished literary works and essays with details of early cross-country automobile travel on the Yellowstone Trail and Lincoln Highway and perspectives on Michigan's manufacturing economy.

The Robert W. Schoening papers are primarily of interest due to their detailed description of his cross-country automobile trips and extensive traveling through the western United States from 1919 to 1921. Other writings reveal period attitudes towards capitalism, patriotism, and industrialism. The collection includes original manuscripts and correspondence as well as digitized images of these works created by Schoening's family.

The collection also includes a series of digitized photographs from Schoening's trip out west circa 1919 and collected materials related to the Saginaw Cigar Manufacturers and local life in Saginaw and Flint, Michigan.

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.

Photographs, mostly unidentified, of members of the Frazier and Burden families, their homes, and a diverse range of friends and acquaintances.

Engineer on various Great Lakes steamship, photographer and collector of photographs; includes photos and some glass negatives depicting Grand Army of the Republic encampment in Detroit in 1891; photographs of war bond rally in Detroit, ca. 1918; photographs of downtown Detroit buildings and street scenes; some of the photographs of Belle Isle other water views.

The Merrill collection consists of photographs (with some glass negatives) depicting public events associated with a meeting of the Grand Army of the Republic organization in Detroit in 1891; photographs of war bond rally in Detroit, including patriotic displays, ca. 1918; photographs of downtown Detroit, including views of commercial buildings, modes of transportation, and people on the street; and some of the photographs of Belle Isle other water views.

J. V. Smith was a Detroit architect. The Davenport house was built on East Michigan Avenue in Saline, Mich. in ca. 1872-1874 for Beverly Davenport.

This collection is comprised of drawings and specifications for the Beverly Davenport House, E. Henry St., Saline, Michigan, designed by J. V. Smith.

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.

Upper-class Michigan family in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with various business interests including lumbering, mining, and land transactions in Montana, Michigan, California, West Virginia, and British Columbia. The family was also active in the development of the Orchard lake area, especially during in the 1920s through the 1940s. The collection contains both business and personal materials including correspondence, subject files, legal records, maps, blueprints, and photographs.

The Palmer Family papers document the activities of an upper-class family in nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century Michigan. The strength of the collection is its documentation of the growth of early business in Michigan. The Charles Henry Palmer (Senior) series contains the bulk of this information, with papers documenting his activities as an investor in mining and railroads in Michigan's Upper Peninsula from the 1850s through the 1880s. The balance of the collection contains both business and personal materials documenting the lives of various Palmer family members. Materials include correspondence, legal materials, business records, photographs, diaries and journals, and newspaper clippings.