Collections

Berkley, Michigan insurance executive, poet and composer, and active alumnus of the University of Michigan; contain papers relating to activities of the class of 1911, to his involvement in the University of Michigan Club of Detroit, and to his interest in Michigan football, especially the career of coach Fielding H. Yost; also scrapbooks, and manuscripts of poetry and song lyrics.

The papers of J. Fred Lawton contain material relating to activities of the class of 1911, to his involvement in the University of Michigan Club of Detroit, and to his interest in Michigan football, especially the career of coach Fielding H. Yost; also scrapbooks, and manuscripts of poetry and song lyrics. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Poetry, musical compositions, and other writings; University of Michigan Class of 1911; University of Michigan Club of Detroit; Topical files; Photographs; Scrapbooks; and Sound Recordings.

Scrapbooks of John Spencer Curtis, University of Michigan footall player 1903-1906 and track athlete 1905-1906, include clippings, photographs of football players and games and other sports, dance cards, programs and other material for musical and theattical performances, fraternity events and other campus activities, also includes material related to Marthae "Mattie' Gibson, Curtis' future wife, from Pueblo Coloroado high school and University of Colorado; also includes miscellaneous papers related to Curtis' later business career and work with the University of Michigan Alumni Association.

The John Spencer Curtis papers include X folders of manuscripts and photographs and two scrapbooks, plus Curtis' football cap with a stylized UM FBT decal.

Volume 1 of the scrapbooks includes clippings on Curtis and Michigan football from The Michigan Daily, as well as Detroit, Chicago, and other newspapers; photographs of Michigan football and track and field, of Phi Delta Theta and other fraternity houses, campus social activities and student organization, as well as more personal photos of Curtis and his friends and classmates. It also dance cards, concert and theatrical programs; pins, and other memorabilia of student life.

Volume 2, which may have been compiled by Mattie Gibson, includes material on Curtis as well as a section on Gibson with items from her time as a student at Centennial High School and University of Colorado.

Volume 1 includes several blackface images related to a U-M campus production of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and the "County Fair" parade of 1905. Volume 2 includes a photo of men in apparent 'yellowface" costume in the Mattie Gibson section.

The manuscripts include a booklet from a 1959 Kansas City Alumni Association chapter banquet honoring Curtis, miscellaneous articles by or about Curtis and material related to his participation in the University's $55 Million fundraising campaign in conjunction the 1967 sesquicentennial celebration. There is also a folder of portraits and other photographs.

Ann Arbor, Michigan photographic studio. Collection includes selected copy prints, and glass and film negatives relating to University of Michigan athletics, both photos of individual athletes and of team groupings; also photos of various faculty and University administrators and log books of photos.

The Rentschler Studios collection is made up of nearly 625 negatives and 275 copy prints. It comprises five linear feet and is stored in seven boxes, four large and three small. The collection also includes the studio's log books of photos. The photographs span the years from 1889 to 1969. Although the Rentschlers operated a private studio, over two-thirds of the portraits are of persons directly affiliated with the University of Michigan. The two largest categories of portraits are: 1) faculty and administrators and 2) athletes, teams, and coaches. There are also portraits of students, clergy, businessmen, city officials, and others.

The collection is divided into three series, Negatives, Prints, and Log Books. Glass and film negatives comprise the vast majority of the collection and are arranged into four subseries: Numerical; Team Portraits; Miscellaneous; and Football Team Portraits, 1896-1942. The smaller series - Prints - is located in Box 4 and is arranged into two subseries: Athletics and Portraits.

Records, 1905-1962, of the Women's Athletic Association of the University of Michigan. Include constitution, minutes, reports, and other materials; also record books detailing administration of Michigras and Spring Weekend, social and fund-raising activities jointly sponsored with the Michigan Union.

The records contain the original constitution and those of 1953 and 1959, officers reports (1955-1961), executive committee record books (1905-1929), record books (1917-1960), lists of officers, and annual reports of activities. Newsletters, scrapbooks, and photograph detail the activities of the W.A.A., including those of the Michigras Committee and the Spring Weekend Committee.

Researchers interested in the Women's Athletic Association should also consult the records of the Department of Physical Education for Women, which include a history of the Women's Athletic Association.