Collections

The Central Michigan University Off-Campus Libraries Services (OCLS) Organizational Records, 1981-2018, and undated includes mostly OCLS but also some Institute for Personal Career Development (IPCD), and College of Extended Learning (CEL) reports, goals, promotional, educational and informational materials, including posters and U-Matic and VHS videotape recordings, budgets, photographs, student satisfaction surveys. The Annual reports, Goals folder includes some individual reports and goals of OCLS staff.

The Central Michigan University Off-Campus Libraries Services (OCLS) Organizational Records, 1981-2018, and undated includes mostly OCLS but also some Institute for Personal Career Development (IPCD), and College of Extended Learning (CEL) reports, goals, promotional, educational and informational materials, including posters and U-Matic and VHS videotape recordings, budgets, photographs, student satisfaction surveys. The Annual reports, Goals folder includes some individual reports and goals of OCLS staff. A 2021 addition (Box 3) includes planning documents, with some lists of conference attendees and evaluations for the 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018 conferences.

Researchers may also be interested in additional OCLS, IPCD or CEL information found in numerous other collections in the Clarke Historical Library.

The Archivist would like to acknowledge that identifying CMU Library staff member in older photographs would not have been possible without the help of current Park Library staff member Vicki Swarthout, who once worked in OCLS.

Processing Note: During processing approximately .5 cubic foot of duplicates and miscellaneous materials were withdrawn from the collection.

The collection includes church brochures, historical materials, the building project, membership events, sermons, the children’s ministry, Vacation Bible School materials, special programs, general outreach, a partial copy of the church’s website, giving the church’s history, information about its ministers, and related links, annual and other reports, and CDs.

Collection of various brochures of the church describing the new building project, membership events, sermons, the children's ministry, summer camp, a woman's workshop program, and general outreach, a partial copy of the church's website, giving the church's history, information about its minister, May 2003 newsletter, general outreach information, and related links, Annual Reports, and CDs, however Vacation Bible School materials, including photographs, trading cards, CDS, and program materials, compose the majority of the collection. The collection is ongoing.

Family Papers, 1865-2015, and undated, are a genealogical history for the Smalley and Beemer families and also documents early history of the white settlement of Clare, Michigan.

Family Papers, 1865-2015, and undated, is a genealogical history for the Smalley and Beemer families and also documents early history of the white settlement of Clare, Michigan. The collection contains many different formats including 3-dimensional objects, original documents, and printed material. Box 1 is legal sized, the rest are letter-sized boxes, Boxes 2-3 are .5 cubic foot boxes, and Box 4 is .25 cubic foot. The collection is organized according to original order. The folders are ordered so that you may recreate the binders that the documents were originally donated in. Besides this, the folders are ordered alphabetically. Box 1 (Legal) Includes: Mainly original documents which includes Tax Papers, Wills, Bank Papers, as well as Birth and Death Records. Most of this Box contains tax documents and related paraphernalia. Boxes 2-4 Include: history and genealogical study of the Beemer and Smalley families, including a focus on David Smalley and his time in the Civil War. Photographs, late 19th -20th centuries (Box 2, Folders 4/5; Box 3, Folders 2/5). An autograph book for Cordelia Smalley (Box 3, Folder 4). A rationing booklet with stamps intact (Box 4, Folder 2). A family history, as remembered by the donor (Box 4, Folder 2). There are multiple oversized and 3-dimensional objects, including Alice Smalley Beemer’s diploma from Central Normal School, 1909, a photograph probably of Alice Smalley Beemer printed onto cloth, a tinted photograph of what is probably the old centennial farm of the Smalley family, and the honorable discharge papers of David Smalley from the Civil War Union Army at age 18.

Box 1 (Legal) Includes: Mainly original documents which includes Tax Papers, Wills, Bank Papers, as well as Birth and Death Records. Most of this Box contains tax documents and the related paraphernalia.

Boxes 2-4 Include: A thorough history and genealogical study of the Beemer and Smalley families, including a focus on David Smalley and his time in the Civil War. Photographs dated back to the late 19th century into the 20th century (Box 2, Folders 4/5; Box 3, Folders 2/5). An autograph book for Cordelia Smalley (Box 3, Folder 4). A rationing booklet with stamps intact (Box 4, Folder 2). A family history as remembered by the donor (Box 4, Folder 2).

Oversized Materials: Multiple oversized and 3-dimensional objects. Some of which include Alice Smalley Beemer’s degree paper from Central Normal School dated to 1909, a picture of what we can assume is Alice Smalley Beemer printed onto cloth, which came to the archive framed, a tinted photograph of what is believed to be the old centennial farm of the Smalley family, and the honorable discharge papers of David Smalley from the Civil War Union Army at age 18.

Processing Note: 1 cubic foot of materials, including duplicates, blank documents, and books already a part of the collection, were removed and given back to the donor during processing. Six teacher’s books were separately cataloged.

The collection mostly documents Michigan railroads, focusing on the Ann Arbor Railroad Company (AARR), related lines, and its ferries in many formats. Also included are some organizational records of the Ann Arbor Railroad Technical and Historical Association (AARTHA).

Collection, collected over time by Don Wilson, some of which he was given by other rail fans. The collection mostly documents Michigan railroads, focusing on the Ann Arbor Railroad Company (AARR), related lines, its reorganization, abandonment, and its ferries. Some ferry information is general such as Twin Screw Specs (Box 5), and there is information specific to the M.V. [Motor Vessel] Viking (originally Ann Arbor No. 7) and the City of Milwaukee. Formats include slides, photographs, negatives, photograph printing plates, blueprints, scrapbooks, photograph albums, speeches, notes, newspaper clippings and magazine articles, maps, digital scans and positive prints from those scans, a CD, and miscellaneous, related publications. Also included are some organizational records of the AARTHA. Other railroads documented to various degrees in the collection include: Central Michigan Railroad (CM); Detroit, Caro and Sandusky Railroad (DC and S); Detroit, Toledo, and Ironton Railroad; Grand Trunk Railway (GT); Green Bay and Western Railroad; H and E Railroad [probably the Huron and Eastern]; Manistique and Lake Superior Railroad; Michigan Interstate Railway Company; Michigan Northern Railway Company; Mid-Michigan Railroad; New York Central Railroad (NYC) and St. Louis Railroad (SLRR); New York Central State Railroad (NYCS); Norfolk and Western Railway Company; Northwestern Pacific Railroad; Penn Central Railroad; Southern Pacific Transportation Company; Tuscola, Saginaw Bay Railroad (TSBRR); Toledo, Owosso, and Flint Railroad (TOandFRR); Wabash Railroad, and Wisconsin Central Railroad.

Items of special interest to researchers may include: manifests of the M.V. Viking, February-August 1976, and AARTHA bylaws, meeting minutes, newsletter information, member lists, and other information (Box 1); reorganization information (see Vincent M. Malanaphy folders (Boxes 2, 4), Michigan Interstate Railway Co. and MI Rail System Rationalization Plan information (Box 4), AARR photographs (Boxes 2-3), Pamona Derailment Negatives, undated (Box 5).

Photographs, negatives, and history of a plethora of railroad related topics are found throughout the collection. There are three slide boxes and two note card boxes full of slides on railroads (Slide Boxes 1-5).

Blueprints include line, lever circuit controllers, and station design plans, styling and painting design, system maps, tracks and structures, equipment, station and train car blueprints, and property drawings.

The 2016 addition, Boxes 14-16 and Folder #21 (legal-size), 1.5 cubic feet from Don’s friend Don Maddock was organized by Maddock into the series of Abandonment Petitions and Michigan Interstate Era. Included are paper documents, scans and positive prints of some of Wilson’s negatives, a few other topical files, a CD, and three color photographs. The addition largely documents the reorganization and end of the AARR. Sale papers for the City of Milwaukee are included. Most of the 2019 addition papers are copies. Note: 2016 addition negatives are housed in print file negative preservers, not archival negative sleeves.

Researchers may be interested in knowing that there are several collections and many publications by and about the Ann Arbor Railroad in the Clarke, as well as other collections and published sources documenting other railroad companies.

Processing Note: The collection is organized by size and format, and then in alphabetical and chronological order. A few publications, two general railroad films, and a tote bag were returned to the members of the AARTHA. Some publications (24), both monographs and parts of serials, were cataloged separately and added to the Clarke’s collections. Some of the items are quite acidic or fragile, most of which were photocopied and the originals were withdrawn from the collection (.25 cubic ft. total). In a few cases, where entire folders were composed of very fragile tissue paper records or acidic records, the decision was made to leave the materials as they were without copying them. Numerous abbreviations were used by Mr. Wilson within the collection, which were replicated by the processors. Michigan was often abbreviated MI by Mr. Wilson and is used in this finding aid. See the Scope and Contents Note for abbreviations used for names of railroad companies.

This collection contains materials related to Brooks’ research for her book, A Certain Sadness: The Untimely Deaths and Family of David and Romie Hodell in 1920s Rural Newaygo County, Michigan. This research mainly involved Hodell family history, focusing on the people and events surrounding the murder of her uncle, Romie Hodell, and her grandfather, David Hodell.

This collection, 1882-2016, and undated, contains materials related to Brooks’ research for her book, A Certain Sadness: The Untimely Deaths and Family of David and Romie Hodell in 1920s Rural Newago County, Michigan. This research mainly involved Hodell family history, focusing on the people and events surrounding the murder of her uncle, Romie Hodell, and her grandfather, David Hodell. Included in the collection are genealogies, photographs, copies of newspaper articles and telegrams, correspondence between family members, CDs of oral histories, and research notes. With rare exceptions, most of the materials were created during the 2010s and are copies of primary sources. The sources themselves date from before the murder in the 1880s to the 1990s. Some original materials are the undated pay book of David “Hotel,” {Hodell] Nina “Hotel’s” [Hodell’s] The Royal Path of Life published in 1882, and the 1922 yearbook of Hollis Hodell. There are also materials in Box 2 and 3 that are copies from other libraries, such as the Bentley Historical Library.

The 2021 addition, 1 box, .5 cubic foot, 1967-2015, and undated, contains biographical materials about Brooks’ life from birth to retirement, 1939-2015. The addition begins with her memoir, A Small Town Girl’s Life and Times, which details her life from birth to early retirement and is composed of poems and short stories that Brooks has written. This addition also contains an unbound scrapbook detailing Brooks’ experiences in Austria studying flute at the Vienna Academy of Music in 1967. During her career Brooks’ spent time working as a teacher on the Navajo Reservation in Shiprock, New Mexico. This folder contains photographs and short stories written by Brooks about her time as a teacher on the reservation. Notably, this folder contains drawings and a weaving project gifted to Brooks by her students. This addition also contains chapbooks, news articles and poems published by Brooks during her career. Most of the news articles (copies) were published by the Grand Rapids Press from 1980 to 1989. The chapbooks were published by Babbling Brooks Press and Finishing Line Press from 2011-2012 and 2015. There is a folder dedicated to Brooks’ watercolor paintings, photographs, letters and awards all done through her lifetime. Each folder in the addition contains photos taken by Brooks or of Brooks.

Processing Note: 3 cubic feet of materials, including duplicates, peripheral materials, and materials already in the archives, were removed and given back to the donor after processing. 3 Newago County history books were separately catalogued. One copy of the donor’s book, A Certain Sadnes…,2015, is included in Box 3 as per the donor agreement, and another copy is separately cataloged in the Clarke.

The collection includes material created or collected by Halbert about the Michigan PBB disaster and how it affected him and his family.

The collection includes material created or collected by Halbert about the Michigan PBB disaster and how it affected him and his family. Materials he created include: his co-written article with Jackson, an invitation letter from American Veterinary Medical Association and his speaking notes, his Outline for Bitter Harvest, his personal health records, speeches, speaking notes, and his testimony before the Michigan House of Representations (1974) and US House of Representatives (1978). Materials he collected includes newspaper, magazine, and journal articles in which he is cited, thanked, and/or discussed, remarks by Governor William G. Milliken about Toxic Chemicals in Michigan, June 24, 1978 and PBB history/legislative report from Milliken administration, undated [1978], and Remarks by Lt. Governor James H. Brickley about PBB in Michigan, October 4, 1978, and reference materials about PBB. A 1986 VHS videotape of Bitter Harvest was separately cataloged. The collection is organized alphabetically and in good physical condition, with some acidification.

Researchers may also be interested in other PBB research manuscript collections and secondary sources about PBB in the Clarke Historical Library, including the memoir, Bitter Harvest (1978).

Processing Note: During processing social security numbers were blacked out on copies of health records and those pages were photocopied. Extremely acidic materials were photocopied and the originals, as well as duplicates of other materials (1 folder total), were withdrawn and returned to the donor, as per the donor agreement.

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.

This collection is not composed of President Ross' official presidential papers. It is an artificial collection collected by Archivist Marian Matyn from newspapers, reports, updates, publications and university-wide emails.

This collection is not composed of President Ross' official presidential papers. Rather, it was culled from newspapers, reports, updates, publications and university-wide emails. The collection, 2009-2018, bulk 2012-2018, includes any information about Ross, his presidency, statements he made, CMU News Announcements documenting CMU history, people, events and changes during his administration and some information which predates but affected or is relevant to his administration. Major events during his tenure included: Budget Deficit/ Cuts, 2016-2017, CMU’s 125th Anniversary, 2017; the Executive Order on Immigration, January 30, 2017 (see also the Muslim Ban March collection in the Clarke); and the racist incident on campus (see Hitler Valentine Card Statement and Information, 2017 folder). CMU opened a $95 million Biosciences Building — the largest construction project in its history, funded through state, private and university dollars in January 2017; and although the process began under Interim CMU President Kathy Wilbur, CMU opened America's 137th College of Medicine (CMED) under Dr. Ross' direction and graduated its first physicians in 2017. Other topics documented in the collection include: Academic Reorganization, 2017-2018; the expansion of CMU’s medical/health studies programs into the Center for Integrated Health Studies, April 2018; and CMU Women’s Basketball team which won both the MAC and NCAA championships, 2018.

In addition, copies of any major published reports from the Ross administration which came to the Clarke are in the CMU vertical files.

Information about the March 2, 2018 shooting on CMU’s campus is in a separate collection as its impact and CMU responses to it continued after President Ross retired.

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.

George Weeks papers include: awards; audiocassettes; correspondence; copies of newspaper clippings; pamphlets; planners; maps; notebooks; photographs.

The collection contains awards, audiocassettes, correspondence, copies of newspaper clippings, pamphlets, planners, maps, notebooks, photographs, and other materials related to Week’s journalism career and research about Northern Michigan. The majority of the Northern Michigan research materials are for Week’s book, Sleeping Bear, Yesterday and Today.

Materials about the Day family were organized into a separate collection, the Day Family Papers. Correspondence between Weeks and the members of the Day family are within this collection and the Day Family Papers. Researchers may also be interested in his books and the D. H. Day Family Papers, which are separately cataloged in the Clarke.