Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Grand Rapids, Michigan family, involved in furniture making and other businesses, also active in local state and Republican Party politics and businessmen's associations. Papers include family papers and correspondence, business records, scrapbooks and visual materials.

The Sligh family collection consists of the personal and business papers of the four generations of Slighs mentioned in the biographical introduction: James W. Sligh, Charles R. Sligh, Charles R. Sligh, Jr., and Robert L. Sligh. Although there is some overlap, the files have been arranged into seven series, one for each of these three Slighs, one for the Sligh Furniture Company and related family businesses, and one each for Newspaper clippings and Scrapbooks, and Visual Materials.

Grand Rapids, Michigan, businessman, and participant in the Home Front, a reform group within the Republican Party of Grand Rapids. Reminiscences and biographical material; Home Front files, including correspondence, and newsletters; and topical files relating to other political and civic activities.

Stanton Todd's papers document the political activities of a Grand Rapids, Michigan businessman who was involved in reform movements, notably the "Republican Home Front," within the city's Republican Party. The Todd papers have been divided into three series: Biographical/Family Materials, the Home Front (Republican Party), and Topical Files.

Professor of Law and American History at the University of Michigan, Michigan Supreme Court Justice, and chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Papers include correspondence, diaries, lectures, notes and photographs.

The Thomas McIntyre Cooley papers document the life and career of an attorney, jurist, teacher, scholar, and public official. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence received. A comprehensive calendar of these letters has been compiled by Virginia Ehrlicher in her doctoral thesis Thomas McIntyre Cooley : a calendar of his papers, 1846-1898. This three volume calendar is an important tool in accessing names of correspondents and topics covered. The remainder of the collection includes diaries, speeches, scrapbooks, course notes from some of his classes taught at the University of Michigan, and a scattering of photographs.

The Thomas M. Spaulding collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence and other materials; Biographical and Personal; Organizational Affiliations; Political Materials; Topical Files; Writings; Stephen Tucker Spaulding Materials; and Photographs. The correspondence is of interest for its mention of current affairs, national politics, and the Cosmos Club of Washington, D.C. Of special interest are two volumes of diaries, covering the period of 1941-1944, with detailed comments on the conduct of World War II as viewed from Washington, D.C.

Michigan Republican State Senator; the collection relates primarily to proposed legislation, other files document issues of concern to the Hispanic community of Michigan; also issues relating to Michigan veterans.

The Papers of Valde Garcia contains documents that span his entire career as a Michigan State Senator from 2001 to 2010. A small number of records date from Garcia's time as a Michigan State Representative before entering the senate. The collection is arranged into three series: Bills and Legislation, Hispanic Issues, and Personal Records.

Letters of Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg with family members John and Barbara Bailey; also papers of Arthur H. Vandenberg, Jr., aide to President Dwight Eisenhower, largely concerning Republican politics, 1948-1952, and election of 1952.

The Vandenberg Family papers, 1923-1965, and Washington, D.C.; include letters of Arthur H. Vandenberg with family members John and Barbara Bailey; also papers of Arthur H. Vandenberg, Jr., aide to President D. Eisenhower, largely concerning republican politics, 1948-1952, and the election of 1952. Correspondents include: Thomas Dewey, Dvight Eisenhower, and Nelson Rockefeller.

Wyandotte, Michigan, businesswoman, chairwoman of the President's Task Force on Women's Rights and Responsibilities during the Nixon Administration, later deputy assistant secretary of state for public affairs. Papers and photographs relating to her interest in women's rights, the equal rights amendment, Republican Party politics, the activities of International Women's Year, 1975, and the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs.

The Virginia R. Allan Papers have been grouped both according to types of documents covering her entire career (biographical, correspondence, writings and speeches, etc.). These are followed by three series of files pertaining to Allan's activities and organizational affiliations within specific time periods in her career. These chronological divisions (with some overlapping of dates) are 1950s-1972, 1971-1977, and 1977-1985. Although each of these chronological series documents Allan's life-long interest in women's issues, there are obvious highlights to each. The first chronological series - 1950s-1972, is especially solid with material relating to Allan's association with the Michigan and the National Federation of Business and Professional Women, and her service on the President's Task Force on Women's Rights and Responsibilities. The second of these series - 1971-1977 - obviously documents Allan's work at the State Department, her role with the International Women's Year and her participation in the Mexico City Conference in 1975. And the third chronological series - 1977-1985 - contain files pertaining to her participation in the second and third United Nations International Women's Conferences and to her faculty responsibilities at George Washington University.

The collection concludes with a small series -- Groups and Activities -- which contains both material dated after 1985 as well as earlier materials, a series of Personal materials, and a series of Audio-Visual materials that includes photographs, a videotape, and sound recordings.

Public opinion research pollster, aide to Michigan governor George Romney. Polling materials prepared for various Republican campaigns, notably the gubernatorial campaigns of George Romney in 1962 and 1966, Romney's campaign for president, 1967-1968, and the gubernatorial campaign of William Milliken, 1970; and polls conducted on state issues including detailed demographic information on the views of ethnic, religious, and racial minorities; also survey done for Senator Robert Griffin in 1971, and on attitude of state voters towards abortion in 1972. A small collection of material donated in 2013 is related to George Romney's son and the 2012 Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney.

The papers of Walter De Vries reflect primarily his work for Romney and Milliken from 1962 until 1970. The papers are divided into two series, De Vries office files and polling data.

Hillsdale, Michigan physician, regent of the University of Michigan. Correspondence, notes, reports, addresses, and other papers relating to board of regents activities and state medical issues.

The Sawyer papers contain a mixture of papers relating to his political and regental activities, and to his medical practice and association with professional medical groups. The collection has been arranged into three series: Correspondence and other papers (arranged chronologically); University of Michigan Board of Regents; and Addresses and Miscellaneous. Sawyer's regent's papers are significant for information on those individuals who were considered for the presidency of the University of Michigan in 1909, 1920, 1925, and 1930. As a heavily involved regent, Sawyer maintained communications with his fellow regents, with university presidents and other administrators. These letters and other documents will be found throughout the Correspondence series. These individuals include James B. Angell, Harry B. Hutchins, Marion L. Burton, Clarence C. Little, and Alexander Ruthven.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Republican city councilman, 1960-1964; mayor, 1965-1969, and deputy director of the U.S. Office of Intergovernmental Relations; councilman and mayoralty files; also materials concerning his activities with several U.S. government agencies and Florida Southern College.

The Hulcher collection consists primarily of files created while serving as city councilman, 1960-1964, and as mayor of Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1965-1969. Some of the topics confronting city government at that time included the Fair Housing Ordinance and the work of the Human Relations Commission, revision of the zoning ordinance and the sign ordinance, Police-Community Relations, and relation with the University of Michigan.

Prosecuting attorney of Saginaw County, Michigan, attorney general of Michigan, 1929-1931, governor, 1931-1932, general counsel to the Department of Defense during the Army-McCarthy Hearing, 1954-1955, and Secretary of the Army, 1955-1961. Correspondence, speeches, tapes, appointment books, scrapbooks, photograph albums, newspaper clippings, and other materials concerning his political career.

The Wilber M. Brucker Collection consists of correspondence, subject files, scrapbooks, tape recordings, visual materials, political ephemera, and other materials from a lifelong career in public service. The collection provides significant, though not always extensive, material on his activities as state attorney general, governor, and secretary of the army. In addition, the papers include documentation from Brucker's private career: his law practice, his involvement in the preparation of a plan for the reapportionment of the Michigan Legislature, his devotion to Republican Party causes, his activities with the Knights Templar of Michigan, and as a member of the World War I Rainbow Division. With some exceptions, the early phases of Brucker's life are not as well represented as one might hope. There is really no body of Brucker gubernatorial materials extant. What remains are scattered items, largely concerning the election campaigns of 1930 and 1932.

The collection has been arranged into twelve series: Biographical; Correspondence; Family Papers; Subject Files; Knights Templar; Rainbow Division; Appointment Books; Speeches; Secretary of the Army; Newspaper Clippings; Personal: Albums, Scrapbooks, etc.; and Visual Materials.

Detroit, Michigan, attorney, Republican regent of University of Michigan; regent’s files; political materials; and personal miscellanea.

The Cudlip collection contains files relating to his activities as regent of the University of Michigan, 1963-1972, to his work as delegate to Michigan's Constitutional Convention, 1961-1962, and as general counsel for the Michigan Bankers Association, 1932-1953. In addition, there is personal and political correspondence, 1922-1985, detailing in part with his involvement in Republican Party affairs, especially his friendship with Michigan Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg and his support of Vandenberg's candidacy for the Republican nomination for president in1940. Other files include speeches relating mainly to banking during the depression; an essay, entitled, "Pages from the diary of a lumberjack"; and notebooks from his University of Michigan Law School classes, 1923-1926.

Republican mayor of Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1945-1957. The collection consists of topical files on Ann Arbor municipal issues, business records from his real estate and automobile sales ventures, scrapbooks, and photographs

The Brown papers have been arranged into the following series: Topical files; Other mayoralty papers (relating primarily to off-street parking); Scrapbooks; Business records; and Photographs. The Topical files are the largest portion of the collection and include correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, and miscellanea concerning such issues as housing, the new city charter, off-street parking, the new Veterans Administration Hospital, planning for a new city hall, Brown's election campaigns, and the support given by Brown to Albert E. Cobo in his campaign for governor of Michigan in 1956. The scrapbooks, 1945-1962, contain newspaper clippings and other materials relating to his mayoralty.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, archivist; collected materials relating to local Democratic Party politics; student papers; and photographs.

The McNitt papers consist of materials collected relating to his interest in, and activities with, the local Democratic Party. Included are newsletters, leaflets, campaign materials and newspaper clippings concerning state, county, and municipal politics, particularly the presidential campaigns of Eugene McCarthy in 1968 and George McGovern in 1972, Ann Arbor City Council and school board elections; the New Democratic Coalition of Michigan; the Human Rights Party; the state presidential primary in 1972; Democratic state conventions; state elections in 1968, 1970, 1972, and 1974; and the election campaign of Congressman Richard F. VanderVeen in 1974.

The collection also includes copies of student papers on topics relating to Michigan history. The titles of these papers are "The Library Extension Movement in Grand Rapids", "Journalism and the Republican Party of Michigan, 1890-1920; A Study of the Michigan Republican Newspaper Association", and "Peace and American Society : Rebecca Shelley and the Peace Movement."

Finally, there are many hundreds of photographs taken by McNitt relating to the construction of the Bentley Library and to the accessioning of the papers of Gerald R. Ford.

Civil War officer, banker, Republican State Representative and Senator from Jackson, Michigan. Correspondence, special orders, notes, business papers, and miscellaneous items, primarily relating to his Civil War service as Colonel of the Seventeenth Michigan Infantry, and to a possible appointment to the U.S. Senate in 1894; also notes on the management of the Withington & Cooley Manufacturing Company, 1895-1903, diary of a European trip, 1897, and photographs.

The papers of William H. Withington consist of correspondence, special orders, notes, and miscellaneous items relating to his Civil War service as Colonel of the Seventeenth Michigan Infantry; business records of the Withington & Cooley Manufacturing Company, correspondence and other material concerning his political career as Republican state legislator and state senator.

This collection is divided into four series: Civil War Activities, Personal Papers, Withington & Cooley Manufacturing Company Records, all of which are arranged chronologically, and Newspaper Clippings.

Bay City, Michigan, industrialist, Republican member of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, 1909-1933, and founder of the William L. Clements Library. University and regental files concerning selection of university presidents and other university affairs; and photographs.

The collection consists of regental papers arranged alphabetically by correspondent. There is also a smaller series of photographic portraits. Clements' correspondents include University of Michigan presidents, administrators, faculty, as well as other members of the board of regents.

Wayne County sheriff, 1969-1982, Wayne County Executive, 1983-1986, and Republican candidate for governor of Michigan, 1986. Correspondence, subject files, clippings, videotapes, and photographs primarily concerning his work as sheriff and county executive, and his gubernatorial campaign.

The William Lucas Papers consist of manuscript and audiovisual materials which primarily document economic and social affairs in Wayne County, when Lucas served as county executive, and Lucas's campaign for governor in 1986. There are few materials on Lucas's career prior to his service as Wayne County executive. His gubernatorial campaign is documented in a somewhat piecemeal fashion, and study of it would be enhanced by the use of oral interviews. Media coverage of the campaign, however, has been preserved quite thoroughly. The Lucas Papers (34 linear feet) are comprised of six series: Personal, Wayne County Offices, Political, Clippings, Videotapes, and Photographs.

Ann Arbor, Michigan attorney, American consul in British Guiana in 1905, and U.S. Congressman, 1911-1913. Political and business correspondence, notes and addresses, and other materials relating to his business interests and political career; also papers concerning his trips to Alaska, British Guiana, and Panama.

The Wedemeyer collection includes political and business correspondence, notes and addresses, and other materials relating to his business interests and political career. There are also papers concerning his trips to Alaska, British Guiana, and Panama. Some of his correspondents included Russell A. Alger, James B. Angell, Gerrit J. Diekema, Frederick Douglass, Benjamin Harrison, Frank Knox, Charles E. Townsend, James Schermerhorn, Henry C. Smith, and Fred M. Warner.