Collections

This collection documents the activities, contributions, influence, and interests of women in the First Presbyterian Church (Mount Pleasant, Michigan) 1868-2000, as well as the church's history, activities, events, and members, in meeting minutes, financial records, and materials.

The Trustees of the First Presbyterian Society, Book of Minutes and Accounts, 1868, 1874-1899 (1 volume), documents the activities of the men who tried to build the First Presbyterian Church. The Meeting Minutes, a Constitution, adopted in 1868, and List of Members for 1868 and 1873 are noted as having been copied from earlier and other materials. The volume also includes Meeting Minutes, 1874-1899, and Accounts, 1873-1875, as well as the original subscription list of people interested in paying for the first Presbyterian Church building and land it was built upon, 1873.

The Ladies Aid Society is document in the Records Books, 1869-1934 (6 volumes). The first volume, 1869-1906, includes Society information from 1869 to 1889 which was copied for preservation purposes in 1889 into a new volume, and later recopied on Jan. 8, 1896. The copied records include the revised Constitution of 1889, a summary of total earned money, 1867-1882, a summary of financial accounts, 1882-1895, Lists of Officers, 1869-1898, Treasurer’s Accounts, 1889-1891, and Annual Meetings Minutes and Accounts, 1892-1895. From 1896 through 1906 there are more complete Accounts and Meeting Minutes in the Record Book.

Additionally, the Society is documented in Record Books, 1906-1934 (5 volumes). The 1912-1917 Record Book includes loose 1915 correspondence between the A.B. Felgemaker Organ Co. of Erie, Pennsylvania, and Mr. Ralph O. Doughty of the First Presbyterian Church, concerning the purchase and installation of the church’s second pipeorgan. According to the correspondence of October 2, 1915, the Ladies Aid Society paid $700 cash towards the $2,560 purchase price. [Additional, related correspondence is found in the Ralph O. Doughty Correspondence, 1915 collection, which is also housed in the Clarke.]

The Woman’s Christian Missionary Society (WCMS) is documented in its Book of Receipts and Expenditures, 1877-1883 (1 volume), which includes the dues members paid and the names of the members, as well as brief Accounts of money and the types and number of purchased and crafted gifts which were distributed to needy, local families, at least some of whom were church members.

The Women’s Home and Foreign Missionary Society (WHFMS) is documented by its Record Book, 1906-1912 (1 volume), which includes: Meeting Minutes, Accounts, Programs, a Constitution, a List of Members, and some loose Correspondence.

The Missionary Society is documented by its Record Books, 1920-1927 and 1927-1934 (2 volumes). The Record books include Meeting Minutes, Accounts, and Lists of Members. The first volume also includes By-Laws and completed annual report forms for the Local Report, March 1, 1929, to the Board of National Missions/ the Board of Foreign Missions, of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

The Women’s Association is documented by its Record Book, 1934-1941 (1 volume), which includes its Constitution, By-Laws, Meeting Minutes, and Accounts, Treasurers’ Annual Reports, which include social, service, and membership activities as well as financial information, 1955-1957, 1961, 1964, 1966-1968, 1970-2000, with loose Correspondence, 1971, and Clippings, 1964, 1972 (copies), and Treasurers’ Books, 1925-1962 (2 volumes).

The first of the women’s circles at First Presbyterian Church was the Sylvia Hawkins Society, which is documented through a Memory Book (Scrapbook), 1941-1950 (including Programs, 1941-1949); Record Books (Meeting Minutes, Accounts), 1939-1951 (2 volumes). The first volume includes the Constitution and By-Laws, while the second includes Lists of Members. Also documenting the Sylvia Hawkins Society are a Secretary’s Books of Meeting Minutes and Attendance Lists, 1951-1971 (1 volume), and a Treasurer’s Book, 1941-1951 (1 volume).

The Brooks Circle is documented in its Meeting Minutes Books, 1953-1958 and 1959-1976. Both sets of minutes consist of loose papers.

The Bishop-Brooks is documented by one brief set of Meeting Minutes, January 1978-May 1980 (1 volume).

The Cutler Circle is documented by one set of Meeting Minutes, January 26, 1960-May 27, 1980 (1 volume). The last set of meeting minutes notes that May 27th was the last meeting of the circle and that a new name for a new circle was to be decided in fall 1980.

The Dewitt Circle is documented by three sets of Meeting Minutes, 1951-1954 (1 volume), 1955 (1 volume), and 1956-1966, which consists of loose pages.

The Doughty Circle is documented by two sets of Meeting Minutes, 1951-1952 (1 volume) and 1953-1966, which consists of loose pages.

The combined Doughty-DeWitt Circle is documented by Meeting Minutes, for January-June and October-November 1967 and the 1967 List of Members, which consists of loose pages.

The Junke Circle is document by one book of Meeting Minutes, with correspondence from the missionaries in Wooten, Kentucky, and a List of Members, 1951-1952 (1 volume).

Organizational records include reports, meeting minutes, legal papers, birth records, programs, and materials related to the establishment of the church.

The collection includes reports and meeting minutes of the Board of Trustees and the Quarterly Conference, various legal papers, the pastor’s quarterly reports, birth records, 1839-1880, and other materials related to the establishment of the church.

The collection contains mostly his research about the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi versus the Regents of the University of Michigan, county history, biographical materials, maps, and papers of students.

The collection consists mostly of Dain’s materials relating to the Children of the Chippewa… versus the Regents of the UM trial, 1971-1980, including briefs, transcripts, orders, exhibits, depositions, his sworn statement, 1978, other legal documents, and newspaper clippings (copies); materials for county or city events he collected or helped create; papers of students or other people related to Michigan history; biographical materials; and some miscellaneous maps (copies). Other materials relating to the trial may be found in the Elmer White papers and in cataloged materials.

The collection includes mostly black and white photographs and negatives in various sizes documenting multiple generations of hundreds of families from the Mount Pleasant, Michigan, area and nearby locales..

The collection includes mostly black and white photographs and negatives, circa 1910-1990, in various sizes hosued in envelopes, no folders. Several generations of local families are documented in the collection through family portraits, first communion, wedding, high school graduation, identification, and armed service photographs. Other topics include sports teams, marriage licenses, service discharge certificates, hunting and fishing, buildings, art, vehicles, and a burn victim, among others. There may be more than one view of an image, Ex. - 2, and more than one sleeve or envelope of images on a topic or a person, Ex. (2 envelopes). There are eight folders of Francisco family photographs and negatives in the back of Box 9. A folder of biographical information on the Franciscos and mostly World War II postcards is in the front of Box 1. Oversized photographs (4) are also of the Francisco family. Some of the photographs are copies of images from the turn of the 19th/20th century.

The collection is organized as it was created, with negatives and photographs separated by media, then by size, and then either alphabetically by customers’ surname or by date as follows: Box 1- 5 x 7 inch Negatives, A-G; Box 2- 5 x 7 inch Negatives, H-R; Box 3- 5 x 7 inch Negatives, S-Z; Box 4- 3.5x 4.5 inch Negatives, A-Gr; Box 5- 3.5x 4.5 inch Negatives, Gr-R; Box 6- 3.5x4.5 inch Negatives, S-Z; Miscellaneous Smaller Photos: 5.5 x 7.25 inches Photographs and Negatives; Box 7- 8 x 10 inch Negatives; Box 8- 8 x 10 inch Photographs, 1961-1970; 5.5 x 6 inch Photographs, 1958-1965; Box 9- 5.5 x 6 inch Photographs, 1965-1969; 3.5 x 4 inch and Smaller Sized Photographs and Negatives, 1917-1958; Francisco Family Photographs, 1927-1964 and undated; Negatives, undated; Oversized folder Francisco Family (4 Oversized prints). Any additional notes or abbreviations are taken from the original wrappers and were made by the photographers.

Collection consists mostly of diaries, papers, and financial accounts of Mrs. Robinson, some papers of Mr. Robinson and their sons, and family photographs and correspondence, mostly about family concerns.

The collection includes mostly diaries, papers, and financial accounts of Mrs. Robinson, some papers of Mr. Robinson and their sons, family photographs, and family correspondence, mostly about family concerns.

The collection consists of various financial records, meeting minutes, membership lists of the Friends of Veteran's Memorial Library.

The collection consists of various financial records, meeting minutes, and membership lists of the Veteran’s Memorial Library. The collection is organized by type of record, alphabetically, and chronologically

The 2021 addition includes meeting minutes, treasurer’s reports, foundational documents, lists of board members, membership lists, organizational history, project files and photographs of their various activities, 1976?-2021.

The collection, 1974-2018 (Scattered) and undated, documents the impact of PBB on the Neyer family and their cattle and dairy farm, their ongoing efforts to educate themselves and the public about the dangers of PBB, in the media, and politically, and to fight for financial reimbursement in Circuit Court, and to understand and document the impact of PBB on their health.

The collection, 1974-2018 (Scattered) and undated, documents the impact of PBB on the Neyer family and their cattle and dairy farm, their ongoing efforts to educate themselves and the public about the dangers of PBB, in the media, and politically, and to fight for financial reimbursement in Circuit Court, and to understand and document the impact of PBB on their health. Parts of the collection were generated or collected by brothers David and George “Tim” Neyer. The collection has several broad series. The first and largest of these, over half of the collection, is collected documentation of the disaster and its impact. Research journal articles, newspaper and magazine clippings from local, state, and national publications, reports, fliers, and newsletters compose about half of the collection. Also in this series are correspondence, fliers, bills, and related information Neyer and his family collected from researchers, physicians, politicians, Michigan State University, Farm Bureau Services, the PBB Health Studies, a variety of beef and agricultural organizations. There are nine folders of materials from the Michigan departments of Agriculture and Public Health, later Community Health. Also included are communications, newsletters, and other information from organizations which sought to educate and inform farmers and the public about PBB and/or advocate for the farmers, notably the PBB Action Committee of Reed City (2 folders). A second series is the documentation of the direct impact of PBB on the Neyer family and farm as recorded the Neyer brothers’ ongoing efforts to tell the story from their perspective in the media, including newspapers and on television, in family cow photographs, family correspondence to Neyer and to politicians by Madden relatives, health test records, and the Neyers’ claim in Circuit Court, and related materials and correspondence with lawyers Abood, Abood and Abood, P.C. MI. Lastly, Tim’s efforts as a member of the PBB Citizens Advisory Board for Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health and its MI PBB Registry are documented in five folders. The collection is organized by size, alphabetically and chronologically.

Health test results are in Box 1 in 3 folders: Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, MI PBB Registry, Correspondence, Test Results of George Neyer and Informational Materials, 2004-2018 (Scattered), undated; MI. Dept. of Public Health, Long-term PBB Study, Correspondence, Proposal, Forms, Test Results of George and Kacey Neyer, 1975-1988 (Scattered); MI. Dept. of Public Health, Long-term PBB Study, Correspondence, Test Results of George Neyer, 2000-2012 (Scattered). In 2023 Archivist Marian Matyn obtained permission from George and Kacey Neyer to retain and make available for public research the family’s medical test results. Copies of the permission form are in the relevant folders in Box 1.

Processing Note: A total of .5 cubic feet of materials, mostly acidic or poor-quality newspaper clippings and articles, such as thermal copies, were returned to the donor as per the donor form. Photocopies of these items were retained in the collection. Also returned to the donor were a few items that were peripheral to the collection, such as copies of general family photographs. All photographs remaining in the collection were sleeved for preservation and access purposes.

The collection consists of project renovations plans, meeting minutes, notes, blueprints, and other materials for Central Michigan University's Park Library and Finch Fieldhouse renovations, 1998-2009.

The Gerry Edgar Papers consist of project renovations plans, meeting minutes, notes, and other materials, and blueprints for the Park Library and Finch Fieldhouse renovations, 1998-2009.

Processing Note: Two cubic feet of materials, mainly duplicates and financial records (copies), were removed from the collection during processing.

Organizational records, 1988-2015 and undated, of the Central Michigan University chapter of the society.

Organizational records, 1988-2015 and undated, of the Central Michigan University chapter of the society include: meeting minutes, board materials, correspondence, new member materials, plaques, scrapbook materials, awards, statistics, merchandise (objects), conference materials. The records document the organization’s officers, members, social and volunteer activities.

Processing Note: 1 cubic foot of peripheral materials, duplicates, and unmailed invitations was withdrawn during processing. In addition, a box of pencils and pens was added to the supplies of the archives unit of the Clarke.

The collection documents the activities and history of the Isabella County Girl Scouts.

The collection of Organization Records, 1930-1980, undated, documents fifty years of the Council. Materials include: financial records, 1937-1945, 1953-1962; scrapbooks, 1951-1980; bulletins, 1951-1959; record book, 1947-1962 (with correspondence, bulletins, and meeting minutes); photographs, 1945, 1959, 1980; constitution and by-laws, 1938, 1955; journals of activities, 1930-1956 (meeting minutes of the Leadership Council); annual reports, 1952-1958; directories, 1940-1962; some loose correspondence and meeting minutes, which document the leadership, not the actual Girl Scout meetings, 1960-1962, 1954-1964. Special events such as Senior Round-Ups and conferences are also included in the collection. Boxes 1-2 contain letter-size materials while Box 3 contains legal-size materials and Box 4 has oversized materials.