Collections

The collection documents the reconstruction and new addition of the CMU Park Library building and temporary redesign of Finch Fieldhouse. There is also one set of blue-line drawings of the old Park building.

This collection, 1966,2001 [bulk 1997-2001], documents the reconstruction of the old Park Library building, and the temporary redesign of Finch Fieldhouse, and the planning and construction of the new addition of the new addition. The collection includes concept and presentation drawings in the following formats: blue-line drawings, drawings on FoamCor Board, artists Renderings, and Vendor Sample Board. These materials were created and used during the design phase and came to the archivist once they were no longer needed by the architects or for promotional reasons. The archivist decided to incorporate the only blue-lines of the old building in the Clarke into the collection for continuity. Also included is a three-dimensional model with wooden base and clear plastic cover, undated [1999-2000]199. The model measures 28x35x8 inches and includes the building, people, cars, trees, sidewalks, and Preston Street. The model is made of cardboard and plastic in red, white, blue, green, brown, and black.

Researchers may also be interested in additional architectural materials documenting the addition which are found in the CMU. Park Library New library collection, 1996-2008, which is also housed in the Clarke Historical Library. This collection includes final drawings, which came to the archivist after re/construction was completed. The collection also documents the open house events and other events held in the new building. Collections documenting the history and functions of the library are also housed in the Clarke.

The papers include committee minutes, reports, statistics, surveys, photographs, expansion plans, policies, manuals, etc.

The Organizational Records include: committee minutes, reports, statistics, surveys, photographs expansion plans, policies, manuals, etc.

The records dated from 1958 through 1970 are mostly those of Eaton, who either created or collected them while he was the Head of the Library Department at CMU. Pre-1958 records were either created or collected by Charles V. Park.

Constitutions, by-laws, meeting miinutes, reports, subject files, newsletters, and scrapbooks of Central Michigan University. Student Government Association and related organizations' materials, 1949, 2002, and undated.

This is a mixed collection, 1949, 2002, and undated, of information which includes constitutions, by-laws, meeting minutes of the SA and SGA, council meeting minutes from various dorms and other CMU organizations, reports, subject files, newsletters, and scrapbooks. Various topics and concerns of interest to students at CMU, including Homecoming in the Scrapbooks, are documented in this collection.

The collection is the 2017/18-2018/19 addition and includes: CMU. SGA committee meeting minutes, reports, budget, Bylaws and Constitution, and subject correspondence on topics of interest to SGA, 2013, 2019.

This is the 2017/18-2018/19 addition to the Central Michigan University. Student Government Association (CMU. SGA) organizational records. The 2017/18 addition consists of 1 box (.5 cubic foot) with committee meeting minutes, reports, budget, Bylaws and Constitution, and subject correspondence on topics of interest to SGA, and 1 Oversized scrapbook. The 2018/19 addition is 1 Oversized Scrapbook. The collection is ongoing and is organized by size, alphabetically, and chronologically. Researchers may also be interested in other collections of CMU. SGA which are housed in the Clarke.

The collection includes Central Michigan University Theatre Department Scrapbooks, 1939, 1972.

This collection includes scrapbooks documenting the academic years of the Theatre Department, 1939/1940-1965/1966 and 1970/1971-1972. Materials include production programs, music, photographs, newspaper clippings, and some correspondence.

Materials were removed from rotting, plastic binders, duplicates were sorted out, and miscellaneous materials removed. Remaining materials were filed into acid-free folders. Due to the overall high acidic content of the materials, nothing was photocopied.

Researchers should also check CMU. Theatre Department photographs, which are part of the CMU. Photographs Collection.

The collection includes 20,000 images, in various formats, of mostly Michigan railroad-related topics, as well as people, scenic views, bays, towns, fires, inside and exterior views, Camp Custer, World War I and II military, and lumber camps.

This is a collection of 41,1056images in various photographic formats, booklets, CDs, and databases of digital images and information. Most of the images were taken or collected by Mr. Conn although some small groupings of images were given to him by other senior railroad enthusiasts over time. The collection is physically organized by format and intellectually by topic. Most of the topics are railroad-related, engines, companies, lines, stations, and others are of people, scenic views, bays, towns, fires, inside and exterior views, Camp Custer, World War I and II military, lumber camps, notably, Day Lumber Company, Emmet Lumber Company, Yuill Brothers Lumber, and some unidentified lumber camps, the Cadillac Handle Company and the Antrim Iron Company.

The first part of the collection includes original images or scans (either positive or negative) that have been made into slides or negatives. This includes 13 boxes of slides (1 slide box), slide negatives and negatives (approximately 5.5 cubic feet in 6 boxes), a few photographs, glass-plate negatives of various sizes (2 cubic feet in 4 boxes), and booklets of reproduced images (approximately .5 cubic foot in 1 box). These materials are organized by format and then by alphabetically by topic. Most of the items are undated. Dates noted by the photographers are 1913-1914, 1916, and 1918. A few miscellaneous items, possibly related to the photographers have been retained in the collection (see Box 12, Photograph, 1918, and Letter, 1916.)

While most of the collection is in very good condition, a number of the slides suffer from peeling emulsions and cracks, as well as other damage, which are noted on each individual negative’s sleeve. Also, because of the damage the glass-plate negatives sustained, not all of them were scanned.

The second part of the collection includes databases of the digitized images and identifying information about the images. A copy of the database called Michigan Railroad.accdb is divided into Conn and Conn Neg, and a copy of the TIFF files, called MichiganRailroad, which is organized by subject, are both available in the Clarke reading room (as of October 2012) as well as on the archivist’s office computer. The TIFF files are organized by general subjects so the link between the two databases is not always obvious to a non-railroad enthusiast. Mr. Conn reused identifying numbers, so everything related to one location has the same number, which may mean multiple railroads in one city. There is also a hard drive for preservation purposes.

Processing Note: Only a few extremely badly damaged glass-plate negatives were withdrawn with Mr. Conn’s permission from the collection.

Charles Conn Michigan Railroad Collection Negatives includes negatives of Michigan railroads and other Michigan-related topics, as well as people, scenic views, and buildings in Michigan.

This collection, 3 cubic feet (in 3 boxes), undated, is the 2018 addition to Charles Conn’s Michigan Railroad Collection. As far as we know this material has not been digitized and therefore is not part of the Charles Conn Michigan Railroad Database. Box 1 of the collection includes negative pages with one page or more of a specific Michigan city or county with image subjects such as buildings, businesses, people, and scenic views. Box 2 is a continuation of city and county negatives, with multiple locations in each page of negatives. At the end of Box 2 begins negatives categorized by specific railways in Michigan. Lastly, Box 3 includes miscellaneous railroad negatives, logging negatives, and unidentified negatives of people and buildings. Two folders of interest are glass-plate negatives (2), undated, of a blacksmith and equipment on a flatbed car, and Railroad index, undated, which appears to index items in Conn’s other collection. The collection is organized alphabetically and by topic. It is housed mostly in the original negative sleeves provided by Conn.

The collection includes 3,100 black and white and colored slides of Michigan railroad companies, vehicles, tracks, wrecks, depots, workers, and Michigan towns.

The slide collection includes approximately 3,100 mostly black and white, but with some colored 35 mm slides of Michigan railroad companies, their cars, engines, tracks, wrecks, depots, workers; Michigan towns on railroad lines, and the people, organizations, events, and buildings in them; logging camps, their crews, trains, kitchens, big wheels, and river jams; ships and boats; special trains and train cars; and miscellaneous. Towns well documented in the collection include: Charlevoix, Deward, Ellsworth, Flint, Gaylord, Honor, Midland, Petoskey, and Traverse City, Michigan. Lumber companies well documented in the collection include: Stephan’s Lumber Company, Waters, Michigan, and Yuill Bros. Lumber Company, Vanderbilt (Mich.). Two negatives of an unidentified railroad depot and an inventory to the slides completes the collection.

Michigan is abbreviated “Mich.” in the box and folder listing.

The papers include legal papers of circuit court cases from Saginaw and Genesee counties, Michigan, his service records while Quartermaster of the Michigan Infantry, 23rd Regiment during the Civil War, and biographical materials.

Lists of other Littles are found in the deeds. Legal papers include circuit court cases from Saginaw and Genesee counties. His service records as Quartermaster to the Michigan Infantry, 23rd Regiment are likely to be of the most interest to patrons.

A number of the legal papers have blurred ink due to water damage.

The papers include family correspondence before, during, and after the Civil War, photographs, muster rolls, lists of military supplies and men.

The Papers include his personal and family correspondence, 1854-1878 and 1882-1926, mostly with his parents, brother (Frank), sister (Maggie), and his bride, or soon to be wife (Fannie Spencer). There are four diaries, 1860-1864, which like his letters discuss marches, battles, General McClellan and General Hooker, the treatment of soldiers, and cadets shot for desertion. Letters prior to and after the Civil War discuss life and business in Detroit. Part of the collection includes eleven muster rolls of Company E, 7th Michigan Infantry, June 1861-August 1863, and nine monthly returns, October 1862-September 1863. These are now separately housed with the collection of oversized Civil War muster rolls. Lists of military supplies and men killed may be found in Curtiss’ 1864 diary. There are also photographs of Curtiss and one of Fannie, including one of her in a 1855 New Testament. An illustration of the Curtiss homestead is found in one April 1907 issue of the Huntington Hills (p.3). Lastly, item index cards are available to assist researchers.