Collections

The collection consists of Schock's recording business correspondence and the actual recordings, mostly of Mount Pleasant area businesses, organizations, people and schools.

This collection consists of Schock’s recording business correspondence, documenting arrangements and ideas for recorded interviews, commercials, dance recitals, and musical recordings, mostly of Mount Pleasant people, businesses, schools, and organizations, and Central Michigan University faculty and students musical productions, 1991-1997, and undated. Included are paper business correspondence, notes, drafts of scripts, as well as informational materials about the businesses and organizations (1 cubic ft.), and the master and draft cassette recordings (in 6 cassette storage boxes). The Mary McGuire School cassettes document activities school teachers and students pursued after receiving a unique state grant. Hash marks in folder descriptions indicate illegible words written on the cassettes.

The David Schock 2021 addition, 1989, 2021, and undated, consists of various videos Schock contributed to with and without the help of Central Michigan University (CMU). Box 8 contains all health-related videos with majority focusing on HIV/AIDS awareness and a few focusing on various systems of the body. Box 9 includes education-related videos, such as a series titled Problem Solving Students, a series from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education videos, and other educational resources. Boxes 10 and 11 house videos filmed in collaboration with the Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP) that feature multiple public service announcements (PSAs) and Roll Call videos. Box 12 features raw footage of Schock’s documentary Road to Andersonville. Included with this are interviews for the documentary. Box 13 contains miscellaneous film that do not fit into a clear category. Some examples of this are VHS tapes about quail egg hatching, sculptures, and music.

Box 14 contains materials related to Justice Elizabeth Weaver. Schock helped write Justice Weaver’s book, a copy of which is separately cataloged in the Clarke. Also included are correspondence and interview release forms and Thelma South Schaibly’s 1994 publication of short stories to teach children morals and the meaning of life.

A few folder titles require further description, which we received from the Donor in April 2021. NGS is the abbreviation for the National Geographic Society. Schock created a video for them about geographic education with Mike Libbee of the CMU Geography Department. PDS is likely in collaboration with OHSP. The Hospice Experience documented hospice in Mount Pleasant. The Audition Crashes were stock footage of crashes for the OHSP projects, for example Life’s a Wreck, a film about physics concepts.

The addition is organized by topic, format, and chronological order.

Boxes 8-13 are each 1 cubic foot boxes and Box 14 is .5 cubic foot.

Researchers may also be interested in his personal papers collection, other recordings, and the papers of Elizabeth A. Weaver, which are separately housed and cataloged in the Clarke.

Copyright Note: Copyright is complicated for this collection. CMU holds the copyright for materials used in programs for the CMU Education Materials Center, including interviews from the early 1990s with young people infected with AIDS. The copyright for the Interfaith Ministries immigrant labor tapes, used for final appeals, is held by the Interfaith Ministries, Schock holds the copyright for the Road to Andersonville documentary material, regarding ceremonies held for Michigan Native Americans buried at Andersonville Prison in Andersonville, Georgia.

Permission/Release forms: The only interview permission/release form in the collection is for an interview with one of Elizabeth A. Weaver’s relatives (see Box 14).

This collection consists of the family papers of Leonard E. and Louise A. Plachta, providing a personal view into their childhoods, university experiences, married life and relationship with each other, friends, and relatives through their correspondence, and careers, mainly in Detroit and Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

This collection consists of the family papers of Leonard E. and Louise A. Plachta, providing a personal view into their childhoods, university experiences, married life and relationship with each other, friends, and relatives through their correspondence, and careers, mainly in Detroit and Mount Pleasant, Michigan. While most of the collection is in English, some correspondence, stories, family history and vital records, and school grades are in Polish. The collection is organized by creator and then alphabetically by topic and, finally, chronologically. Physically, the collection is in very good condition. Boxes 1-4 are letter-size .5 cubic foot and Box 5 is a letter-size .25 cubic foot box.

The Papers of Leonard E. Plachta:

The Papers of Leonard E. Plachta (in Boxes 1-3) includes his family history with family tree information, and his elementary grades (some in Polish) and high school grades and activities, such as childhood photographs and his Safety Patrol Pledge, Grade 7-8. His university materials included applications, in which he wrote about his hopes, dreams, interests, and lack of parental support to pursue a college degree. His university degrees and related commencement materials are included. There is one folder each of material documenting his wedding to Louise, and another his army training. We see some of his personal relationships with each other and family in Correspondence, from Leonard to Louise,; and in Correspondence, Personal to Leonard, Leonard and Louise.

The majority of his papers focuses his career at Central Michigan University (CMU His Annual Personal Data Report (Academic Accomplishments), are annual reports of his professorial academic accomplishments in the Business School. When he became Dean of the CMU Business School he wrote Some Thoughts on Becoming Dean of the School of Business Administration at CMU]. Photographs of Dean Plachta with students, other CMU faculty and administrators, and when he attended the Small Business Institute Award Dinners also document his time as dean.

Most of the CMU material is from his tenure as CMU president. When he became Interim President he received numerous congratulatory notes. Those retained in the collection are from CMU and Mount Pleasant people, among them former CMU Presidents Harold Abel and William B. Boyd, presidents of other universities, and Michigan politicians and businessmen. Other materials documenting his tenure as CMU president include: CMU Agreement with Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara (student exchange program established), 1993; a Caricature by Paco; CMU Correspondence, Thank yous for Hospitality to Leonard and Louise from Alumni Class 1947 for their 50th Reunion; an invitation to the CMU Robert and Marjorie Griffin Endowed Chair in American Government Celebration Dinner; Morning Sun Interview Materials; Photographs in the collection document Awards and Recognition Events, one with Governor Jennifer Granholm, Commencements, 1992-1995, 1997; Groundbreaking, Official Building Openings and other events, Homecoming, 1995 and 1997; Students, Alums; and international visits to Villa Bosch, a conference center, in Heidelberg, Germany, and the Tatsuzawa Educational Establishments (Morioka Chou Senior High School),a preeminent private high school, in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. Demands for his resignation in 1998 are documented in the folder labeled CMU Students Demand Plachta’s Resignation.

His retirement and honors received afterwards are documented by Awards and Certificates, Leonard and Louise together; CMU Correspondence, Congratulations Upon His Retirement; CMU Plachta Day, Dinner Invitation; CMU President Mike Rao, Goals, Strategic Plans, Correspondence. Certificates and awards, newspaper clippings, plaques, and CMU Correspondence- General span his entire career or entire life. There is one folder of materials from the semester he taught at Michigan State University. An overall view about him is provided by his obituary and self-generated biographical materials.

The Papers of Louise Plachta:

The Papers of Louise Plachta (in Boxes 4-5) document her family history in copies of her parents’ vital records, stories, and correspondence (some in Polish from her mother and other relatives), and secondary education with childhood elementary grades (some in Polish) and high school grades and class anniversary materials. Her University of Detroit materials include her degree. The one folder of their wedding material is filed under Leonard’s name. Her writing is documented in her English papers, Correspondence, and Stories, h Interview materials, Articles, and Speeches. Materials specifically related to her time at CMU include: Caricature by Paco, Brent Wisher; Certificates; her CMU Master of Arts Degree in Case; CMU Plachta Scholarships and Awards Materials; Identity Cards; her unofficial Correspondence, re: Leonard Resigning; all but one of her English papers; most of her Photographs and CMU Photo Identity Card; ‘Robert Frost and the rural’ CMU Bohannon Schoolhouse, Program, and Photographs; and two plaques. An overview of her life is found in her photographs, resume, and obituary.

Researchers may also be interested in the official CMU Office of the President Papers of Leonard E. Plachta, which are administrative in nature. For more detail please see that finding aid. Additional materials about both Plachtas may be found in multiple manuscript collections in the Clarke, especially those related to public relations, as well as digitized CMU publications. A copy of his 1964 dissertation, A search for a proper accounting for the issuance of stock dividends, is also available in the Clarke.

Processing Note: Approximately 1 cubic foot of materials were removed from the collection during processing including: miscellaneous financial information, pay raise requests, benefits information, letters of recommendation, generic travel mementos, generic correspondence, information with social security numbers, unidentified photographs, CMU publications (duplicates) and acidic materials, mainly newspaper clippings (copies were retained). Material of a more personal nature were returned to the donor as per the donor agreement.

This collection includes materials by and about Les O. Carlin, materials by and about his wife, Marguerite "Margo" R. Carlin, and CMU materials they collected from others.

This collection is organized into three series: materials by and about Les, materials by and about Margo, and CMU materials they collected from others.

Box 1 (.5 cubic foot) includes: Les’ materials include six folders of his biographical materials, honors, retirement, papers, and family trees, 1940-1999 (scattered); and Margo’s materials include biographical information, her B.S. degree and case, an alumni photograph, and a resolution of appreciation, 1958-1991 (scattered).

Box 2 (.5 cubic foot) includes mostly photographs and photograph albums. The Carlins are in a few folders including family photographs and some homecoming court photographs, 1992-1993. They are also in the group photographs of CMU students on European tours, 1964 and undated. Photographs include CMU homecoming court, parades, alumni events, the dedication of the Peace Grove in 1995. Photograph albums include two nice leather bound volumes, one inscribed to Norvall C. Bovee, [after 1964], the other without an inscription [before 1968]. The albums are dated based on the construction or replacement of certain buildings in each album. The only non-photographic item in Box 2 is a list (copy) of girls (meaning female CMU students) rooming at C.E. Russell’s, 1910-1916 (copy, 2014).

Oversized materials (approximately 1 cubic foot) include the very interesting CMU SATC (Student Army Training Corps) Photograph Album, 1984. This includes mostly copies of portraits and group photographs of CMU students enrolled in the SATC at CMU practicing with guns, attacking targets, one with a bugle. Three of the group photographs are laminated and identified as the entire company (four platoons of 250 men) and one image is of the 4th platoon. These photographs are identified by Private Carl W. Dalrymple of the 4th Platoon. The album also includes two 1984 color photographs of senior men who were once SATC members. Also oversized are Les Carlin’s coat of arms in oval frame with glass, by V.R. Nickerson, 1984, and his Retirement Scrapbook, 1991.

Related Collections: Related Clarke collections documenting the Carlins include Marguerite R. Carlin’s Papers, 1954, 1979, and Al G. Tennant’s Collection, 1951, [2013]. A catalog subject search for Central Michigan University. Student Army Training Corps will retrieve catalog records for all relevant collections with SATC materials in them.

Processing Note: Duplicates (many photographs) and a few peripheral items were withdrawn from the collection during processing. Acidic items were copied and the originals were withdrawn from the collection. A total of less than .25 cubic foot was removed from the collection. The Carlin materials were originally housed in storage with alumni events and meeting minutes, now in the separate CMU Alumni collection.

The collection documents several initiatives of the Office in agendas, meeting minutes, related materials, some reports, new releases, emails, and correspondence.

The collection documents several initiatives of the Provost’s Office when Richard Davenport was the Provost, under President Leonard Plachta in the 1990s and under President Mike Rao in 2001. The strategic initiatives include Academic Reorganization of CMU, 1994-1997, and the development and implementation of Core Values under the Steering Committee in 2001. The Strategic Planning Committee, 2001, is also documented. The collection consists of committee agendas, meeting minutes, attachments and related materials, some reports, news releases, emails, and correspondence. The 2009 website for the office was printed off and added to the collection. Also included is a list of provosts. The collection is in excellent physical condition. Materials are filed in chronological and then alphabetical order. This is the first collection from the Provost’s office to be transferred to the Clarke documenting the history of the department.

The collection includes President Plachta's Biographical Materials, Subject and Correspondence files, Speeches, Subject and Correspondence files.

The collection consists of President Plachta’s subject and correspondence files on a wide variety of CMU related topics, organizations, people, and events, including larger sections documenting scholarships, the Board of Trustees, and various colleges and universities. Speeches, 1992-1996 (.5 cubic ft.) are also included. They are mostly Addresses to Campus or the Academic Senate. One folder of Biographical Materials precedes the Speeches.

Processing Note: Duplicates, reading or FYI materials, and papers with social security numbers were removed from the collection during processing.