Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Officially established in 1959, the Office of Research supports and administers large interdisciplinary projects called research centers and administers research institutes. The record group includes individual vice president's files, central office files, staff files, financial records, administrative files, committee and task force documents and reports, special event files, and project and institute files.

The records of the vice-president for research date from 1911 to 2013 and measure 323.5 linear feet, 1 oversize box and 157 MB of digital materials. The records document the activities of the office overseeing grant funded research at the University of Michigan and offer some insight into the range of research undertaken at the university. Records include administrative files of vice-presidents, including correspondence, memoranda, and budgetary material relating to research projects and grants of university units and departments; and photographs.

The organization of the records, particularly the early accessions, reflects the tenure of the successive vice presidents for research. Later accessions included files of associate vice-presidents and senior staff officers as well topically organized files that spanned the tenure of several vice presidents. The records are organized into the following series:

1. A. Geoffrey Newman -- Boxes 1-15, 70-71
2. Charles Overberger -- Boxes 15-69
3. Charles Overberger/Warren Sussman -- Boxes 72-87
4. Linda S. Wilson,-- Boxes 88-100
5. William C. Kelly -- Boxes 102-105
6. Central Files -- Boxes 108-127, 180-210, 266-275, Boxes 277-301, Boxes 311-322
7. OVPR Staff Files -- Boxes 128-134
8. Julie Ellison -- Boxes 135-136
9. Marvin Parnes -- Boxes 137-146
10. OVPR Financial and Administrative Files -- Boxes 147-148
11. Administrative Files -- Boxes 149-150, Boxes 323-324
12. Committees and Task forces -- 151-164
13. Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project and Ford Nuclear Reactor -- Boxes 165 --166, 218-219
14. Special Events, Symposiums, and Promotional -- Boxes 167-170, 275
15. Presidential Initiatives Fund -- Boxes 171-179
16. Contractual Restrictions Requests (PAF-R's) -- Boxes 213-216
17. Michigan Life Science's Corridor -- Boxes 216-218
18. Discretionary Fund -- Boxes 220-264
19. Indirect Waivers -- Boxes 265
20. Research Faculty Appointments -- Boxes 276, Box 322
21. Washington D.C. Office -- Boxes 302-310

The Office of the President records group includes the records of University of Michigan Presidents Robben Fleming, 1968-1978 and 1988 (interim); Allan Smith, 1979 (interim); Harold T. Shapiro, 1980-1987; James J. Duderstadt, 1988-1996; Homer Neal, 1996-1997 (interim); Lee C. Bollinger, 1997-2001; B. Joseph White, 2002 (interim); Mary Sue Coleman (2002-2014); and Mark Schlissel (2014-present). The record group includes annual files from the Office of the President, which include topical files and schools and colleges files. Other series in the record group include supplemental files for each president, search files, committee appointment files, audio and visual materials, development files, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) files, and ephemera.

The records of the University of Michigan President contain the central files created and collected by the President and members of the President's staff. There is some content inherited from earlier presidents, but the record group effectively begins in 1967 with the administration of Robben W. Fleming and continues through successive administrations. (Records of Presidents prior to Fleming are cataloged under the name of the individual office holder).

The University of Michigan President's records are organized into the following series: Topical Files; Schools and Colleges Files; Supplemental Files; Search Files; Committee Appointment Files; Development; Facilities; Freedom of Information Act; Audio-Visual Material Files; Ephemera; Archived Website. Three first three series are major recurring series (Topical, Schools and Colleges, and Supplemental Files). The additional series (Committee Appointment; Searches; Development; Facilities; Freedom of Information Act; Audio-Visual Material Files; Ephemera; Archived Website) are not consistently created or predictably transferred.

Although the series are collectively described, the actual ordering of the boxes in the contents listing are not necessarily consecutive given the timing and sequence of transfers. For a summary bringing all boxes together under a particular series, see the Summary Contents list for a collective representation of boxes.

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.

Central academic administrative unit of the University of Michigan which functions as chief executive assistant to the president, responsible for appointments and promotions with oversight for schools, colleges, educational units and programs; including budget planning, legislative relations, institutional research, and affirmative action policies. The Staff Files subgroup contains the files of individual of vice-presidents, associate and assistant vice-presidents, and other staff members within the vice-president's office.

The Staff Files subgroup of the record group Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs consists of 570 linear feet and spans the years from 1947 to 2013. The Staff Files subgroup is comprised of the records of the associate and assistant vice presidents for academic affairs. Whereas the records of the Central Files subgroup often contain finished products, such as reports and policy statements, the Staff Files subgroup tends to document the process of policy formation and other decision-making functions. Scattered through the associate and assistant vice presidents' papers, for example, are frank statements of opinion regarding various schools and programs, candidates for promotion, and the relationship between the branches of the university, as well as notes on meetings with faculty members, committee activities, and other subjects.

The Staff Files subgroup includes the records of the following past and current associate and assistant vice presidents, listed in the order in which their records first appear in the boxlist: Ernest R. Zimmermann, Carolyne K. Davis, Edward A. Dougherty, Richard A. English, Robert L. Williams, John H. Romani, Mary Ann Swain, Robert S. Holbrook, W. Allen Spivey, Robert B. Holmes, Niara Sudarkasa, Robin Jacoby, Robert Sauve, E. Kay Dawson, Susan Lipschutz, Paul Courant, Marilyn Knepp, Pamela A. Raymond, Katharine Soper, Karen Gibbons, John Godfrey, Nancy Cantor, A. Lawrence Fincher, Ralph P. Nichols, Valerie Castle, Glenda Haskell, Linda Gillum, Janet Weiss, Ben van der Plijm, Sharon Schmidt, Kathleen (Kati) Bauer, James Hilton, Stephanie Riegle, Catherine Shaw, Philip Hanlon, Teresa Sullivan, Anne Berens, Brian Konz, John King, Lester Monts, Martha E. Pollack, Lori Haskins, and Ron Fitzgerald. The records of an individual, while still in office, are received by the archives on an ongoing basis.

The University Library system at the University of Michigan provides information resources and services to faculty, students, staff, and the public, and is comprised of undergraduate, graduate, and subject-oriented divisional collections. The record group includes administrative files of library directors, reports, committee files, financial records, photographs, and publications.

The records of the library of the University of Michigan document the development and administration of the central library. The records include topical files, miscellaneous correspondence and reports, and business record books, 1886-1916; include files of librarians/directors/deans Theodore W. Koch, William W. Bishop, Warner G. Rice, Frederick H. Wagman, Richard Dougherty, Robert M. Warner, Don Riggs, William A. Gosling, and Paul Courant; also assorted papers of earlier librarians, Andrew Ten Brook and Raymond C. Davis.

1. The records are organized into elleven subgroups:
2. Assistant Director for Technical Services, 1984 - 1999
3. Associate Director for Public Service Files, 1976 - 1998
4. Associate Director for Technical Services, 1979 - 1986
5. Associate Director's office, 1982 - 1989
6. Audio - Visual Materials, 1954 - 2001
7. Collection Development Office, 1949 - 1986
8. Deputy Director's Office, 1980 - 1991
9. Directors Office, 1905-2013
10. Human Resources, 1956 - 2001
11. Miscellaneous Records, 1837 - 1985
12. Other Offices and Programs, 1904 - 2004

Founded in 1841, the College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA) is the liberal arts college of the University of Michigan, encompassing over 100 academic departments and non-departmental centers, programs, institutes, museums, and laboratories. The record group includes correspondence, meeting minutes, memoranda, reports, proposals, subject files, and program materials from the administrative offices of the dean and the academic units that make up the college.

The records of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA) of the University of Michigan date from 1846 with the first meeting of the literary college's faculty. They now span more than a century and a half and comprise 549.4 linear feet (in 550 boxes), 3 volumes, and 169.9 GB of minutes, correspondence, memoranda, reports, and subject files detailing the activities of the college from its early beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century to its present status as the largest of the university's colleges.

The administrative records of the college have come to the library in six major accessions beginning in 1942 with small periodic accessions thereafter. In addition, the college has periodically deposited bound record copies of the minute books of the meetings of the LSA faculty. Covering the years 1846 to 2007, the minute books (oversize volumes, boxes 204 to 209, and box 388) are the most important source of information about the college, especially for the period before World War I because few other extant records document the activities of the university's liberal arts college.