Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Circuit court judge and Michigan Supreme Court justice; his wife, Ann Lapham Graves, was a Battle Creek educator and civic leader; their son, Henry B. Graves, was a Detroit lawyer. Family correspondence concerning life in Battle Creek, Michigan, student life of H. B. Graves at the University of Michigan, 1879-1882, Kansas land speculation, 1883-1885, the Spanish-American War and legal affairs; personal journals and circuit court and Supreme Court record books of B. F. Graves; and photographs.

The Benjamin F. Graves papers consist of family correspondence concerning life in Battle Creek, Michigan, student life of H. B. Graves at the University of Michigan, 1879-1882, Kansas land speculation, 1883-1885, the Spanish-American War and legal affairs; personal journals and circuit court and Michigan Supreme Court record books of B. F. Graves; and correspondence of Henry B. Graves and Ann Lapham Graves. The collection has been arranged by name of individual family member: Benjamin F. Graves; Lapham family; Henry B. Graves; and Miscellaneous.

The correspondence of Benjamin F. Graves includes letters from Henry B. Brown, December 26, 1890; Julius C. Burrows, March 17, 1869; James V. Campbell, 1858-1883; Isaac P. Christiancy, June 1868, November and December 1862, February 1873, August 1877; Thomas M. Cooley (throughout); Donald M. Dickinson, undated and December 1883; Alpheus Felch, December 1894; and John W. Longyear, April 1864 and March 1865.

Student papers, 1930-1987 prepared for classes in history at the University of Michigan (primarily Michigan history class taught by Lewis G. VanderVelde, but also including research papers for classes taught by Sidney Fine and others); topics concern Michigan social and political history; Michigan biography and bibliography; and local community history.

The student papers are organized alphabetically by author in two series, which are similar in date range and topics covered. Topics of papers concern Michigan social and political history; Michigan biography and bibliography; local community history and University of Michigan history. A topical index to the papers is available in the first box of the collection.

Professor of history and director of Michigan Historical Collections of University of Michigan. Personal and professional correspondence; class notes and lectures; Michigan Historical Commission files; research material on Thomas M. Cooley; material concerning Azazels, University faculty club; letters written as student at University of Michigan, 1912-1913, and at Harvard; and letters written as instructor at Culver Military Academy, and at Teachers' College, St. Cloud, Minnesota in the 1920's; also photographs.

The papers of Lewis George Vander Velde date from 1855 to 1975 and comprise 7 and 3/4 linear feet of material. The collection is valuable for its documentation of the life of an historian and teacher. Vander Velde papers show a constant attention to, and interest in, Michigan local history. The Collection is arranged into seven series: Biographical Materials; Professional Files; University Class Notes and Lectures; Research Materials (Thomas M. Cooley); Family Papers; Personal Correspondence; and Miscellaneous.

Portrait photographs of University of Michigan faculty, administrators and staff.

This collection contains portraits of about 750 University of Michigan faculty members. It is strongest for people who served on the faculty during the nineteenth century and in the 1930s, although a few portraits as late as about 1960 are included.

In addition to faculty, librarians, and research staff, the collection contains portraits of a few nineteenth-century campus characters, including Robert Howard, the bellringer, Jolly the Janitor, "Doc" Gregor Nagele, the Medical School janitor, and Jimmy Ottley, the campus postman.

The photos are arranged alphabetically. Outsize portraits listed in this finding aid are found in the medium-size photograph collection (UAm) under the name of the person.

Faculty portraits are also found in a number of other collections, including:

1. Rentschler's Studio (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
2. Shaw, Wilfred Byron.
3. Swain, George Robert.
4. University of Michigan class albums.
5. University of Michigan. Alumni Association.
6. University of Michigan. News and Information Service. Series D.

The original negatives of some prints in the Faculty Portrait collection may be found in the Rentschler, Swain, and News and Information Service collections. In addition to these collections, faculty portraits can be found in the records of many schools, colleges, and departments, as well as in the papers of individual faculty members.