Collections

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.

Ann Arbor, Michigan businessman, Republican Regent of the University of Michigan, 1972-1996, candidate for office of United States Senator, 1976 and 1982. The collection includes Campaign and Political Files, 1964-1998, Personal Files, 1945-2004, Regental Files, 1975-1996, Photographs, and University of Michigan Presidential Search Files, 1978-1996.

The Deane Baker collection consists primarily of documentation of his campaigns for political office and his service as Regent of the University of Michigan. As the Bentley Library has a separate collection of Board of Regents records, the focus of the Deane Baker collection has been in those areas of university policy, procedure, and programs of most concern to him. The researcher is directed to the files of the Board of Regents and administrative offices of the university for the fullest description of Board of Regents history during the Baker years. Other portions of the collection relate to his various campaigns for public office. There is also a sampling of his other business and personal activities.

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.

Michigan State Police officer, 1923-1941, Michigan Civil Defense Director during World War II, State Police Commissioner, 1947-1951, Republican candidate for governor, 1954, served on Michigan Liquor Commissioner and as Detroit Recorders Court judge. Papers include extensive documentation of his service as Director of Civil Defense and State Police Commissioner and his political activities.

The Donald S. Leonard collection is a valuable resource to researchers studying topics of law enforcement and civil defense and Michigan state politics and government. The Donald S. Leonard collection has been arranged into seven series: Personal and Correspondence, 1925-1966; Civil Defense; World War II Era, 1941-1946; Michigan State Police, 1929-1952; Detroit Police Department, 1952-1954; Political Files, 1950-1956; Organization and Activities Files; Audio-Visual Materials; Committee on Equal Educational Opportunities. Leonard also taught law course at the State Police Recruit School and Metropolitan Police Academy of Michigan.

President of the Wayne County Republican Precinct Organization and member of the 14th Congressional District Republican Committee; files relating to political activities; also photographs, motion pictures, and sound recordings.

The papers of Edward N. Hartwick center around his involvement in the Republican party in the Wayne County area, and on the state and national level. The series in the collection are Wayne County Republican Party Activities; State Republican Central Committee; Election of 1952; Miscellaneous Political Files; Personal; Visual Materials; and Sound Recordings.

Included in the collection are meeting minutes, party organizational materials, and other materials relating to his activities within the Wayne County party organization and the Michigan State Central Committee. In addition, there are papers dealing with Hartwick's role as a delegate to the 1952 Republican National Convention. He received many letters urging him to support the various candidates - Eisenhower, MacArthur, and Taft.

Michigan Republican Party official, 1961-1969, assistant chairman of the national Republican Party, 1963-1964 and 1969-1970, candidate for, U.S. senate in 1964, and co-chair of ERAmerica, a national organization promoting the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. Papers consist of correspondence, reports, speeches, organizational records of ERAmerica, scrapbooks and photographs.

The Elly McMillan Peterson papers document the career of a Republican party activist and official, an advocate of the Equal Rights Amendment, and candidate for the U.S. Senate. The papers, comprised largely of correspondence, reports, and memoranda, are organized into seven series: Republican Party Activities, ERAmerican, Other Organizational Activities, Personal/Biographical, Speeches, Photographs, Scrapbooks/Clippings.

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.

Republican member of the Ann Arbor, Michigan City Council, 1957-1961; active participant in civic and political affairs on the state and local level. Subject files relating to her involvement with various civic and community organizations.

The Florence R. Crane papers document her activities as a civic leader in Ann Arbor and in Michigan and reflect her civic and political involvements. The papers cover the years 1949-1989 and include materials on Ann Arbor charter revision, housing, and zoning and planning activities; the Republican Party; the Michigan Corrections Commission; the University of Michigan; and other civic activities.

The Crane papers have been retained in their original order and arranged in five series: Ann Arbor Citizens' Council, Ann Arbor Citizen's Housing Committee, Ann Arbor City Council, Michigan Corrections Commission, Republican Party and Topical.

Republican State Senator, 1951-1968, from St. Clair, Michigan, and member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Scrapbooks of correspondence, newspaper clippings, and printed material detailing his political career; notebooks of speeches; papers relating to the proposed state income tax, 1962-1963; papers concerning the administration of the Blue Water Bridge, 1955-1963; and miscellanea.

Scrapbooks documenting Beadle's career as a state legislator and politician, and as writer of doggerel poetry. The records include correspondence, newspaper clippings, and printed material detailing his political career; notebooks of speeches; papers relating to the proposed state income tax, 1962-1963; papers concerning the administration of the Blue Water Bridge, 1955-1963; and miscellanea.

Grand Rapids, Michigan businessman and politician; correspondence, business papers; scrapbooks, and photographs.

The Frank D. McKay collection is divided into the following series: Correspondence; Topical Files; Business and financial papers; Newspaper clippings and scrapbooks; and Photographs.