Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

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Collection

Albert Joseph Engel Papers, 1885-1960

10 linear feet

Prosecuting attorney for Missaukee County, Michigan, Republican State Senator, and U.S. Congressman from the 9th Michigan District from 1935 to 1951. Correspondence, reports and newspaper clippings concerning his activities on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Armed Services; material on the Manhattan Project and the testing of the atomic and hydrogen bombs; and photographs.

The Albert J. Engel papers primarily document his eight terms of service in United States House of Representatives, 1935-1951, though is some correspondence and other material dating back to 1911. The papers include correspondence, speeches, press releases, clippings scrapbooks and articles about Engel, files on various topics that came before Engel's House committees -- notably the Bikini Island A bomb and H bomb tests, and photographs

Collection

Arthur H. Vandenberg papers, 1884-1974 (majority within 1915-1951)

8 linear feet (on 11 microfilm rolls) — 25 volumes — 20 phonograph records — 1 film reel — 1 audiotape (reel-to-reel tapes)

Online
Republican U.S. Senator from Michigan; advocate of the United Nations and bipartisan foreign policy. Correspondence, scrapbooks, diaries, and visual materials.

The Arthur H. Vandenberg collection consists of 8 linear feet of materials (available on microfilm), 25 volumes of scrapbook/journals, and assorted audio and visual materials. The collection covers Vandenberg's entire career with a few folders of papers post-dating his death in 1951 relating to the dedication of memorial rooms in his honor in the 1970s. The collection is divided into four major series: Correspondence; Speeches; Campaign and Miscellaneous Topical; Clippings, Articles, and Scrapbooks; Miscellaneous and Personal; Visual Materials; and Sound Recordings.

Collection

Arthur J. Tuttle Papers, 1849-1958 (majority within 1888-1944)

108 linear feet — 1 oversize folder

U.S. District Court Judge, Eastern District of Michigan; Federal trial court case files, personal and professional correspondence, scrapbooks, University of Michigan student notebooks, and other materials concerning legal activities, Republican Party politics, prohibition, the election of 1924, Sigma Alpha Epsilon affairs; also family materials, including grandfather, John J. Tuttle, Leslie, Michigan, Ingham County official and businessman; and photographs.

The Arthur J. Tuttle Papers are arranged in 13 series: case files, opinions and jury instructions, topical office files, conciliation commissioners, criminal files, correspondence, letterbooks, scrapbooks, University of Michigan, financial matters, miscellaneous biographical materials, Tuttle family materials, and visual materials.

Collection

Benjamin F. Graves papers, 1815-1950 (majority within 1848-1903)

2.5 linear feet

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.

Collection

Campbell family papers, 1860-1865, 1879-1949

2 linear feet

Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor, Michigan, area family; correspondence, diaries, and other family materials.

The Campbell family collection includes correspondence and other family materials. Items of interest include Civil War correspondence of Gabriel Campbell and John S. Farnill; correspondence, diaries, and teaching materials of William Campbell; personal correspondence of Mary and Sarah (Sadie) Campbell concerning farming, local Republican politics, and school affairs; and printed materials concerning the Free Silver question and the election of 1896. The papers of Robert C. Campbell include diaries and University of Michigan student notebooks. Of interest are the notes he took from the lectures of John Dewey in philosophy, Henry Carter Adams in political economy, Burke A. Hinsdale in pedagogy, Joseph B. Steere in zoology, and A.A. Stanley in music, among other professors. The collection also includes high school notebooks of Carrie Read and E. Mabel Read.

Collection

Chase S. Osborn Papers, circa 1870-1949 (majority within 1889-1949)

149.9 linear feet ((in 152 boxes)) — 3 oversize volumes — 1 oversize folder

Governor of Michigan, writer, businessman; papers include correspondence, business records, speeches, writings, visual materials, diaries.

The Osborn collection consists of correspondence, diaries, business papers, scrapbooks, photographs, and other materials accumulated during his life. Materials prior to 1889 are scarce possibly because of a fire which destroyed Osborn's home; thereafter and up to the time of his death in 1949, the Osborn papers are voluminous, documenting each of this man's varied activities. Although his career as elected public official was limited to one term as governor, the collection reflects the importance of his life in areas beyond politics alone. His voice was heard, in letters and speeches and monographs, speaking out on the issues of the day - prohibition, conservation, the New Deal, and of course his life-long interest in the development of Michigan's Upper Peninsula economy and natural resources.

Collection

Clarke family papers, 1830-1919

1 linear foot — 1 oversize volume

Family from Flint, and East Saginaw, Michigan; family correspondence.

The collection consists of papers and a photograph album. The papers, 1830-1919, of the Clarke and DeLand family of Flint and East Saginaw, Michigan. Clarke family materials include correspondence of Daniel Clarke and family, notably letters of Mary Flint (Mrs. Daniel Clarke) written from Argentina, 1837-1844, and letters of William Flint Clarke, written while he was a student at the University of Michigan, 1869-1873. DeLand family materials consist of correspondence of Charles V. DeLand and family, including letters of his daughter, Dell DeLand Clarke. The collection also includes miscellaneous writings and printed material, and an early account book of Leonard G. Perry. The photograph album is contains portraits of the members of the class of 1873 of the University of Michigan. This album also contains portraits of members of the faculty, views of University buildings, and various group images.

Collection

David Walbridge Kendall papers, 1862-1865, 1891-1924, 1932-1976 (majority within 1932-1971)

12 linear feet

Attorney, government official; general counsel, later assistant secretary of the treasury, 1955-1957; special counsel to President Eisenhower, 1958-1961; vice president for legal affairs of the Chrysler Corporation, 1962-1968; chairman of the board of incorporators of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation that led to Amtrak. Personal and autobiographical materials; correspondence, 1932-1976; copies of outgoing responses made as special counsel to the president; speeches, articles, scrapbooks, and clippings pertaining to his career and to his political and civic interests; Amtrak files, including memos and minutes of the board of incorporators, also copies of Civil War correspondence of his uncle Austin J. Kendall, 1862-1865, and papers of his father, educator Calvin Kendall, ca. 1890-ca. 1917; and photographs.

The David Kendall collection covers the period of 1932 to 1976. Included with the collection is a small group of earlier family material, principally copies of the Civil War letters of Austin Kendall, DWK's uncle, and papers of his father Calvin Kendall, a teacher and educator, from the turn of the century.

The Kendall papers (12 linear feet) have been arranged into 10 series: Personal, Correspondence, Chronological File (General Counsel to the President), Speech File, Articles, Topical Files, National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Scrapbooks and Newspaper Clippings, Student Papers, and Family Papers.

Collection

Emerson R. Boyles papers, 1879-1911, 1931-1960

6 linear feet — 1 oversize folder

Charlotte, Michigan, attorney, legal advisor to Governors Frank Fitzgerald and Luren Dickinson and justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. Correspondence, newspaper clippings and other materials on Michigan politics, the Republican Party, and his association with Governor Dickinson; scrapbook, 1885-1889, compiled by Fred A. Pennington; account book, 1904-1905; day book, 1941; log book, 1942, of Beaver Island cabin; and miscellaneous notebooks and photograph albums.

The Emerson Boyles papers consist of correspondence, newspaper clippings and other materials on Michigan politics, the Republican Party, and his association with Governor Dickinson; a scrapbook, 1885-1889, compiled by Fred A. Pennington; account book, 1904-1905; day book, 1941; log book, 1942, of Beaver Island cabin; and miscellaneous notebooks and photograph albums. The collection has been arranged into three series: Correspondence and other papers; Miscellaneous personal and family; and Photographs.

Collection

Ferry Family (Dexter Ferry) papers, 1758-1989 (majority within 1855-1959)

23.5 linear feet (in 25 boxes) — 7 oversize volumes

A pioneer Detroit, Michigan family, established the Ferry Seed Company and other business enterprises, active in civic and cultural affairs. Papers document the family and its business, cultural, political and philanthropic activities.

The Ferry family papers document the rise to prominence of this family who first gained their fortune as seed merchants. The papers also reveal the workings of other Detroit businesses, the development of the Detroit Institute of Arts, turn-of-the-century Michigan politics, and the suburban development of Grosse Pointe. The papers span the years 1758 to 1989 with the bulk of the materials covering 1855 to 1959. The collection consists of: account books, ledgers, journals, and business reports; blue prints, deeds, titles, abstracts, and mortgages; correspondence (business and personal); appointment books, diaries, scrapbooks, and clippings; receipts and tax returns, photographs, and printed miscellanea. It is important to note that the Michigan Historical Collections does not house all extant Ferry materials. The donor, Dexter M. Ferry, III, retains possession of several early account books, ledgers, and journals related to D.M. Ferry & Co.; he also kept some family correspondence and virtually all photographs.

The Ferry family papers arrived at the Michigan Historical Collections in an order based on when the donor reviewed the materials. In the course of reprocessing, this order was altered, and an arrangement assigning primacy to the generation of Ferry who created the document was followed. This reprocessing has resulted in three series: Historical and Background, materials predating Dexter M. Ferry; Dexter M. Ferry; and Dexter M. Ferry, Jr. The few problems presented by overlap between generations are duly noted in the contents list. Within these generational series the materials are arrayed in business, personal, philanthropic, and political subseries. Given the natures of the family and the family business, the researcher should note that murkiness exists between subseries divisions. In general these dividing principles work well. They preserve Dexter M. Ferry, III's original order at the folder level while facilitating access by independent researchers.

The strengths of the Ferry collection are myriad. The family correspondence provide unique insight into a family which grew wealthy but remained close-knit. Especially interesting are the long runs of correspondence between Dexter M. Ferry and his mother, Lucy Ferry Crippen, and Dexter M. Ferry, Jr. and his mother, Addie Miller Ferry. The former run reveals much about the fluid society of late nineteenth-century Detroit, and the latter reflects the pressures of more rigidly defined social strictures. The correspondence between Ferry, Jr. and his sisters, Blanche Ferry Hooker and Queene Ferry Coonley, are illuminating on the handling of the family business in the changing economic climates of the twentieth century.

Some facets of the development of the Detroit business community are well documented as the family invested heavily in local real estate and business. The strengths of the present collection revolve around the Dexter M. Ferry, Jr. materials relating to business and finance in Detroit from 1920 to 1950, particularly the banking community's reaction to the crisis of the Depression. The links between automobile touring, the good roads movement, and the development of ancillary industries to support the burgeoning automotive industry are fairly well documented by Dexter M. Ferry, Jr.'s papers. Young Ferry's close association with the development of the Detroit Institute of Arts is extremely well documented and these papers provide a case study of twentieth century patronage.

A somewhat refracted view of Michigan politics at the turn of the twentieth century is provided through the scrapbooks and clippings on Dexter Ferry's failed campaign in 1900 for governor of the state. The papers are stronger in their documentation of Dexter Ferry, Jr.'s political involvement with the local governance of Grosse Pointe. Here the details of community control are thoroughly covered by correspondence, reports, and minutes.