Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Alfred M. Beeton was a professor at the University of Michigan specializing in limnology, the study of the biology, chemistry, and physics of freshwater lakes. The papers reflect Beeton's primary interest in the limnology and preservation of the St. Lawrence Great Lakes, with an emphasis on factors affecting water quality and eutrophication, i.e. the lack of oxygen--and concomitant death of fish--in lakes due to over-enrichment. The papers also highlight Beeton's ongoing interests in the opossum shrimp, Mysis Relicta, and his extensive work as a consultant and administrator on projects relating to these topics.

The papers of Alfred Beeton--while covering his entire career from his days as a graduate-student teaching fellow to his Directorship of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory--are most comprehensive in their documentation of Beeton's activities from 1966 to 1976, during his tenure at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Nevertheless, the papers give insight into Beeton's long career, with its wide range of interests and numerous activities. The collection is organized into eight series: Correspondence, Professional Activities and Inquiries, Drafts of and Information on Talks and Manuscripts, Course Material, Army Corps of Engineers Dredging Studies, Toxic Substance Control Commission, Court Activities and Depositions, and Topical.

David J. Brophy was a University of Michigan professor of finance in the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. He was also director of the university's Center for Venture Capital and Private Equity Finance as well as founder and director of the Growth Capital Symposium, later known as the Michigan Growth Capital Symposium and the Midwest Growth Capital Symposium (both MGCS). This collection documents the various Growth Capital symposia and primarily consists of brochures, conference information books, correspondence, notes, pamphlets, and promotional materials. Also included are audiovisual materials that document the Growth Capital symposia, lectures, National Association of Small Business Investment Companies (NASBIC) events, and the University of Texas at Austin's Moot Corp Competition.

The David Brophy papers primarily document the various Growth Capital symposia (GCS) and consist largely of information books distributed to conference attendees, brochures, correspondence, notes, pamphlets, and promotional materials. The material is dated from 1984-2019, although materials related to the 1996, 2000, and 2001 conferences are absent.

Information books make up the bulk of this collection. Each book typically contains an agenda, a welcome letter, sponsor information and advertisements, speaker biographies, and profiles of companies—including university spinouts—seeking financial sponsorship from investors. The kind of information presented in each profile is varied, but often includes a description of the speaker and company, a brief description of key personnel, products or services, relevant market as well as competition information, financial highlights, and capital needs. Companies that are seeking investment include those relating to automotive technology; clean technology; information technology (IT), including healthcare IT; medical devices; and software. The collection also includes a small amount of material—primarily information books—related to the Florida Growth Capital Symposium, Iowa Growth Capital Symposium, and European Growth Capital Symposium. Unless otherwise explicitly noted in the finding aid, however, the bulk of the materials in this collection relate to the Growth Capital Symposium (GCS)—later known as the Michigan Growth Capital Symposium and the Midwest Growth Capital Symposium (both MGCS)—that was held in Michigan.

The collection also includes audiovisual materials that document the Growth Capital symposia, lectures delivered by speakers such as Dr. Brophy and former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, National Association of Small Business Investment Companies (NASBIC) events, and the University of Texas at Austin's Moot Corp Competition (now known as the Venture Labs Investment Competition).

The Department of American Culture was founded as Program in American Culture in 1952 through the efforts of Professor Joe Lee Davis to study American life. The program initially served as a hub for interdisciplinary courses. In the 1970s the program and coursework expanded to include the study of women and minority groups with an emphasis on Latino Studies as well as art and media studies. The Program became a Department in 2012. Records include administrative files, directors' correspondence, committee minutes, curriculum material, topical files, and material on faculty members and their activities.

The Department of American Culture (University of Michigan) records (5 linear feet, 12.36 GB and 1 archived website) contain administrative files, curriculum information, and faculty files. It also features materials documenting the interdisciplinary connections between the department and other schools, programs, and departments at the University of Michigan. The collection includes records from two of the Department of American Culture's ethnic studies programs, the Latino/a Studies Program and the Arab and Muslim American Studies Program.

The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology was founded in 2001 when the Department of Biology split into two separate departments, the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. The collection spans from 1998-2009 with the bulk of the material being from 2001-2009. The collection contains correspondence, administrative information, documents from the transitional team, and publications.

Administrative files (correspondence, records of various teams, etc.) and department publications.

Professor Emeritus of Chinese and former Chair of the University of Michigan's Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. Munro was part of an official United States delegation to China in 1973 whose purpose was to study the Chinese educational system. He also taught Chinese activist Chen Ziming when Ziming was a University of Michigan student. Includes notes documenting Munro's 1973 visit to the People's Republic of China, color photographs of views of different Chinese cities, and material related to the enrollment and education of Chen Ziming.

The Donald J. Munro papers (0.7 linear feet) include notes documenting Munro's 1973 visit to the People's Republic of China, color photographs of views of various Chinese cities (such as Guangzhou, Beijing, and Nanjing), and material related to the enrollment and education of Chen Ziming.

Douglas Kelbaugh is an architect and professor known for his work in passive solar energy and urban design. He has taught at multiple institutions including the University of Washington and the University of Michigan (U-M). Kelbaugh was instrumental in growing U-M's College of Architecture, has published six books and various other articles and chapters, and has served on a variety of university, state, and national boards. The majority of the materials in this collection are architectural drawings of various buildings designed by Kelbaugh. Other materials include photographs, charrettes from his work at the University of Washington's Department of Architecture, articles, and a talk given by Kelbaugh summarizing his career and detailing his work in urban design and planning.

The Douglas Kelbaugh papers are a selection of materials documenting the work of architect and professor of architecture Douglas Kelbaugh over the course of his career. The majority of the materials in this collection are architectural drawings of various buildings designed by Kelbaugh. Other materials include photographs, charrettes from his work at the University of Washington's Department of Architecture, articles, and a talk given by Kelbaugh summarizing his career and detailing his work in urban design and planning. The materials in this collection were part of an exhibition at U-M's A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning.

The Ecology Center of Ann Arbor and Teach-In on the Environment oral histories is a collection of recordings conducted by the University of Michigan students and faculty. The interviews primarily focus on Environmental Action (ENACT) and the Teach- In on the Environment in 1970, and the history of the first Earth Day that same year. In addition, past and present staff and collaborators of the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor discuss environmental activism in Michigan, with topics ranging from toxics disposal, recycling, waste disposal, and affordable energy. The oral history interviews were featured in-part and in-whole in digital exhibits hosted by the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Faculty member Matthew Lassiter was the advisor for these projects and was responsible for collecting all the related oral histories into a single collection for archival preservation.

This collection is comprised of interviews with members of Environmental Action for Survival (ENACT), the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor, and other environmental justice activists. Broadly, the interviews cover environmental justice in Michigan. In 2017, student interviewers spoke to members of ENACT who organized the 1970 Teach-In on the Environment, as well as activists who organized the first Earth Day. In the 2019-2021 partnership with the Ecology Center that followed, the Environmental Justice HistoryLab conducted interviews with current and former members and collaborators of the Ecology Center on all aspects of local environmental activism, including waste management, toxics disposal, energy programs, and environmental policy in the state.

The collection is organized into three series: Environmental Activism in Michigan, the Ecology Center, and Digital Exhibitions. These series are based on the project that the recorded interviews and clips were associated with, as well as which groups sponsored the interviews. Digital Exhibitions contains links to the final digital exhibits associated with each project, where available. While the interviews do not currently have transcripts, most of the recordings have an associated timestamped index.

Michigan-based architect, founder of Gunnar Birkerts and Associates, professor in the University of Michigan College of Architecture and Urban Planning. The collection is comprised of six series: Personal papers, Professional papers, Faculty papers, Project records, Personal Project Files and Personal Correspondence and Files. Personal papers includes biographical information, family photographs, early architectural drawings, and course notebooks and project drawings completed while a student at the Technische Hochschule Stuttgart. Professional papers includes transcripts and notes of speeches, lectures and seminars (many of these are also available on audiotapes; some are available on videocassettes). Also included are correspondence, awards, travel diaries with conceptual drawings, newspaper and journal articles and photographs. Faculty papers include course and other materials relating to his career as professor at the University of Michigan College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Project files contains textual files, photographs, and conceptual drawings associated with 122 of the buildings and projects designed by Birkerts. Scanned images of some conceptual drawings are available online.

The Gunnar Birkerts Collection offers researchers the opportunity to study the personal, professional and faculty papers and conceptual sketches of one of the masters of American modern architecture, whose career spans the second half of the twentieth century. The collection encompasses 15 linear feet of Birkerts' student work, notes and transcripts of speeches, lectures and interviews, video and audio tapes, writings, correspondence, awards, travel diaries, academic course materials, photographs and project records. Perhaps the greatest significance of this collection lies in its presentation of over 1900 drawings of 122 buildings and projects by the architect's own hand, many of which are valuable, early conceptual sketches.

In its pairing of narrative and visual documents, the Gunnar Birkerts Collection offers a rich perspective on the architect himself, illuminating his views on the creative process and the resulting conceptual designs which have defined his expressive architecture over his illustrious fifty-plus-year career. The Gunnar Birkerts Collection is the architect's deeply personal legacy. He recognizes that, while some of his buildings may be demolished over time, his original conceptual designs on paper are conserved here for future generations to study and enjoy. To this end, he has endowed the Gunnar Birkerts Collection to ensure that his drawings will be preserved and that his place in architectural history can be studied and understood.

The Gunnar Birkerts Collection is comprised of six series: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Faculty Papers, Project Records, Personal Project Files and Personal Correspondence and Files. The narrative and visual documents in these series illuminate the full breadth of the architect's life and work, from his early years as a student at the Technische Hochschule in Stuttgart, Germany in the 1940s to his career in Michigan as an internationally acclaimed architect, esteemed design professor and global lecturer from the early 1950s to the present.

Group of University of Michigan students, faculty, and staff studying how Islamophobia affects campus climate and working to create a safe and inclusive community for all community members impacted by Islamophobia. Reports, email correspondence, meeting agendas and minutes, student resources, photographs, project files, and an archived website.

The Islamophobia Working Group records (266.4 MB and 1 archived websites) contains progress reports, email correspondence, meeting agendas and minutes, photographs, student outreach resources, project files, and an archived website. The materials are organized into two series, the Islamophobia Working Group records series and the Islamophobia Working Group website series.

Dr. June Manning Thomas is a Black University of Michigan alum (Ph.D. 1977) and the Mary Frances Berry Distinguished University Professor Emerita of Urban Planning, and the Centennial Professor Emerita of Urban and Regional Planning. The collection includes biographical and teaching material, interview notes and related material, papers, presentations, publications, reports, and topical files.

The material in the June Manning Thomas papers is dated from 1951-2021 (bulk 1990-2010) and primarily documents Dr. Thomas's professional activities and research interests. The collection is organized into several file groups. The Biographical file includes clippings, photographs, correspondence, vitae, and related material about Thomas. The Collected Materials file contains miscellaneous publications, reports, and other material from Dr. Thomas's bookshelf that are not directly connected to her own work. The Research, Publications, and Related Material file includes interview material, papers and presentations, reports, topical files, and other material related to her professional efforts, research, and scholarship. The Teaching file group includes course material, syllabi, and topical files related to Thomas's teaching, primarily at the University of Michigan.