Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Detroit, Michigan, attorney and judge, Democratic candidate for governor in 1934. Correspondence, legal case files, family materials, speeches, essays, diary notes, financial materials, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, photographs, and transcript of oral interview.

The Arthur J. Lacy collection consists of correspondence and other papers documenting his political activities within the Democratic party and career as a Detroit attorney. The collection has been divided into the following series: Biographical information; Personal letters; Professional correspondence and related papers; Lacy Family papers; Speeches; Early personal materials; Writings, essays, etc.; Financial files; Miscellaneous; Newspapers clippings; Photographs; and Legal files.

The Lacy Collection documents particularly well Lacy's major legal cases (Wilson vs. White, the Ford Stock Tax Case, Mary A. Rackham Estate) and his transition from conservative Democrat to conservative Republican. His letters home from Valparaiso, Indiana and Ann Arbor and his letters to his future wife Beth Garwick give a detailed picture of college life in the 1890's. Major subjects covered in the public papers are the Detroit Domestic Relations Court, problems of taxation and banking in the depression, Lacy's friendship with James Couzens, and the campaigns of 1932 and 1934. A series of notes Lacy wrote to himself from 1915-1928 and 1946-1956 reveal his political ideals, personal morality, and his relationship to his family.

Within the Professional Correspondence and related papers series, the researcher will find correspondence with many notable political and business figures. These include John W. Anderson, William R. Angell, Art Baker, Arthur A. Ballantine, C.C. Bradner, John V. Brennan, Thomas E. Brennan, Prentiss M. Brown, Wilber M. Brucker, George E. Bushnell, Daniel T. Campau, Harvey J. Campbell, John J. Carson, E.R. Chapin, John S. Coleman, William A. Comstock, Calvin Coolidge, Grace G. Coolidge, Frank Couzens, James J. Couzens, John D. Dingell, Patrick J. Doyle, William J. Durant, Henry T. Ewald, Mordecai J.B. Ezechiel, James A. Farley, Homer Ferguson, Woodbridge N. Ferris, Clara J.B. Ford, Edsel B. Ford, Joseph Foss, Fred W. Green, Alexander J. Groesbeck, Edgar A. Guest, James M. Hare, Herbert C. Hoover, J. Edgar Hoover, Kaufman T. Keller, Stanley S. Kresge, David Lawrence, Arthur F. Lederle, John C. Lehr, Fulton Lewis, Percy Loud, William G. McAdoo, William McKinley, George A. Marston, Eliza M. Mosher, Frank Murphy, George Murphy, William J. Norton, George D. O'Brien, Elmer B. O'Hara, Hazen S. Pingree, Mary A. H. Rackham, Horace H. Rackham, Clarence A. Reid, George W. Romney, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Alexander G. Ruthven, W.M. Skillman, Albert E. Sleeper, Edward D. Stair, Arthur E. Summerfield, William H. Taft, Joseph P. Tumulty, Arthur H. Vandenberg, A. VanderZee, Murray D. Van Wagoner, Henry F. Vaughan, Carl Vinson, Matilda R.D. Wilson, Clarence E. Wilcox, and R.A.C. Wollenberg.

The Lacy Family papers are rich in detail about life in Michigan in the nineteenth and early twentieth century; the surviving letters document family crises and Lacy's role in them as the oldest and most successful child and later, as family leader. Lacy was the family genealogist and he collected and preserved the family correspondence of his uncles and aunt, some of which date back to the 1850's.

Detroit newspaperman and United States Senator from Michigan. Correspondence chiefly concerning his 1952 senatorial campaign and his newspaper work in the United States and abroad during World War II; scrapbooks of newspaper articles written by Moody and published for the most part in the Detroit News and Barron's; tape recordings of public affairs radio program; photographs and motion pictures of public affairs interview programs.

The Blair Moody collection documents the career of a Washington-based newspaper correspondent and columnist and United States Senator. The collection covers the period 1928 to 1954, though the bulk of materials date since the mid-1940s. Much of the collection pertains to that period of time when Moody was in the Senate or was running for election to the Senate, although his newspaper career is also well documented. The collection has been divided into the following series: Biographical; Correspondence; Personal/Family; Newspaper Career; Gridiron Club; Senatorial Papers; Speeches; Scrapbooks; Sound Recordings; and Visual Materials.

Executive Assistant to Governor George Romney, later Deputy Undersecretary to Romney, then secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, collection includes chronological correspondence files, campaign related files, topical files. HUD files, including chronological files and topical files relating to housing and urban policy.

The Orlebeke papers dating from 1962 to 1973 are divided into two series, Governor's Office and HUD Files. The files demonstrate the close relationship between Orlebeke and George Romney. The files also shed light on housing policy trends, civil rights issues, and Michigan politics. The papers reveal a great deal about Orlebeke's public service career before he began work as a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago.

Scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings detailing all aspects of state government, including the gubernatorial administrations of Kim Sigler, G. Mennen Williams, John B. Swainson, and George Romney; also; and miscellaneous reference files, including political and governmental press releases. Also, general topical index for the years 1935-1966, legislature topical index for 1960-1961, and Constitutional Convention topical index for 1961-1962.

The records consists primarily of scrapbooks dating from 1931 to 1966, miscellaneous press and reference files, and clippings of articles by reporter Glenn Engle. The scrapbooks provide detailed and complete coverage of state government with particular emphasis on the gubernatorial administrations of Kim Sigler, G. Mennen Williams, John Swainson and George Romney. There are also clippings pertaining to Michigan politics, the work of Michigan's Grand Jury (1943-1962), and the state constitutional convention, 1961-1964.

The collection also includes alphabetically organized topical indices for general files (1935-1966), Legislature (1960-1961), and Constitutional Convention (1961-1962). Each card contains a summary of events relating to a particular topic.

Ann Arbor, Michigan businessman, president of the Washtenaw Conservatives, active in local Republican Party affairs; correspondence and other papers relating to politics, the Board of Education, the Housing Commission and Police Department of Ann Arbor, and the Willow Run project of the federal anti-poverty program.

The George Lemble collection consists of a series of correspondence, clippings, newsletters and other publications dating from 1958 to 1968, and relating to his political activities in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County. Another series of miscellaneous other papers relates to the debate over establishment of Ann Arbor Housing Commission in 1965, to his 1966 campaign for election to the Ann Arbor City Council, and to local conservative politics in general.

Lawyer and Democratic candidate for Michigan Lieutenant Governor in 1966; campaign files.

The collection consists of a Campaign files series documenting his election to become state lieutenant governor in 1966. Included in the papers are correspondence, speeches, and campaign schedules. There are also various papers concerning political personages of the day: Zolton Ferency, George Romney, G. Mennen Williams and Robert Griffin.

Republican state senator, 1948-1950, from Kent County, Michigan, state auditor general, 1950-1954, unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate nomination in 1952, and member of the Republican National Committee. Correspondence, newspaper clippings, speeches and printed material relating to his political career, particularly his activities on the Michigan Commission on Aging, the Michigan Constitutional Convention of 1961-1962, and the Michigan Senate campaign of 1952.

The John B. Martin papers consists of correspondence, memoranda, clippings, and subject files relating to his political and organizational activities. The series in the collection are: Correspondence; Newspaper clippings; Political and Campaign Materials; Auditor General, 1950-1954; Aging organizations; Michigan Constitutional Convention, 1961-1962; Michigan Crime and Delinquency Council; Scrapbooks; Sound Recordings; Visual Materials; and Miscellaneous.

Attorney, Michigan State Senator, and Judge; correspondence and other papers primarily from the period when he served in the Michigan State Senate, 1959-1964.

The collection is arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Michigan State Senate, 1959-1964; University of Michigan Law School; Photographs; Campaign Materials; Michigan Supreme Court; and Press files.

Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, Regent of the University of Michigan, Michigan Supreme Court justice. Political files include activities as Republican State Chairman and his involvement in the presidential campaign of Nelson Rockefeller (1964) and George Romney (1967-1968); also files from his service as regent of the University of Michigan (1969-1975) and justice of the Michigan Supreme Court (1975-1977).

The Lawrence Lindemer Papers contain correspondence, memoranda, official reports, newspaper clippings, photographs, and an audio tape documenting the political and legal career of Lawrence B. Lindemer. While the entire collection spans from 1954 to 1982, the bulk of the records date from 1964 to 1976 with an additional cluster of records dated 1981-1982.

The collection has been divided into four series: Political files; Regent of the University of Michigan; Legal Career, including Michigan Supreme Court; and Other materials. The Lindemer files are especially valuable for their documentation of Lindemer's activities within the Republican Party, as state chairman, as chair of the Midwest Nelson Rockefeller campaign for President in 1964, and his involvement in the presidential candidacy of George Romney for President in 1968.

Civic leader, wife of Michigan governor, George Romney, and Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1970. Correspondence, political background files, speeches, and miscellanea largely concerning election of 1970; and campaign and speech files covering gubernatorial career of George Romney.

The Lenore Romney papers (1960-1974) include correspondence, speeches, and other materials relating to her official role as the wife of Governor George Romney. In addition, there are files that relate to her participation in the political campaigns of her husband and to her own campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1970.

Owen J. Cleary was an attorney, president of Cleary College in Ypsilanti (1940-1960), Michigan secretary of state (1953-1954), and chairman of the Republican State Central Committee (1949-1953). The collection includes correspondence, scrapbooks and clippings, organizational files, and Republican Party files.

The collection documents the later period of Cleary's life, mainly from 1945 to 1959. The series include Correspondence; Scrapbooks and clippings; Organizational interests; and Political files.

The great bulk of the collection consists of correspondence dated from 1945 to 1959 and documenting his work as Republican State chairman (1949-1953), his tenure as Michigan secretary of state (1953-1954), and his various other civic, political, and business involvements. There is included with this finding aid a selective index to Cleary's correspondents.

Office files including district executive committee minutes, financial reports, newsletters, and correspondence relating in part to the factional dispute between district chairman, Richard Durant, and George Romney and the state Republican Party; chronological files largely concerning party conventions and political campaigns; and collected materials relating to political conservatism, notably to the John Birch Society and to anti-woman's rights organizations.

The records of the 14th district reflect the embattled atmosphere that surrounded Durant and his supporters. Divided into three series, office files, chronological files, and miscellaneous files, each reflects the district's conservatism and its struggle against the state Republican party.

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.