Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

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Collection

Harlan Henthorne Hatcher Papers, 1837-1998 (majority within 1891-1986)

72 linear feet — 1 oversize folder — 1.1 GB (online)

Online
Harlan Henthorne Hatcher (1898-1998) was president of the University of Michigan from 1951 to 1967. The papers span the years 1837-1998 and document Dr. Hatcher's University of Michigan presidency, Ohio State University career, literary career, organizational involvement, personal life, and family history. Includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, manuscripts, speeches, yearly datebooks, oral history interview transcripts, magnetic audio tape recordings, an audiocassette recording, and photographs.

The Harlan Henthorne Hatcher Papers document his University of Michigan presidency, Ohio State University career, literary career, organizational involvement, personal life, and family history. The collection spans the years 1837-1998, with the bulk of the materials covering 1891-1986. It includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, manuscripts, speeches, yearly datebooks, oral history interview transcripts, magnetic audio tape recordings, an audiocassette recording, and photographs. The collection is strongest in its documentation of Dr. Hatcher's presidency at the University of Michigan, especially in correspondence and speeches. Documentation is weakest on the subjects of his Ohio State University career before 1944 and organizational involvement before 1967. The collection may be useful to researchers interested in the history of the University of Michigan from 1951-1967, the duties of university administrators and their spouses, authors of the 1920's to 1950's, and environmental activism in Michigan in the 1970's and 1980's.

The Harlan Hatcher collection has been divided into two subgroups of files: those which were created or accumulated from his tenure as president of the University of Michigan (1951-1967) and those materials (mainly personal) dated either prior to or subsequent to Hatcher's presidential years.

The library, as archives of the University of Michigan, is the repository for all of the files of its presidents. For historic reasons, all of the papers of presidents up to and including Harlan Hatcher have been treated as personal collections and cataloged under the name of the president. Beginning with Hatcher's successor - Robben Fleming - and continuing to the present, the files of individuals occupying the president's office have been considered both personal and institutional. Records created from an individual's responsibility as president, usually materials from the years when he was president, are treated as office files and have been cataloged as part of the University of Michigan President's Office record group. Materials from either before or after an individual's tenure as president have been treated separately and have been cataloged under that president's name.

Collection

Helen W. Berthelot papers, 1948-1996

35.2 linear feet

Campaign manager for G. Mennen Williams and official of the Communications Workers of America. Correspondence, schedules and publications concerning politics, election campaigns, 1954-1976, labor, communications satellites, the Democratic Party, and the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services.

The papers of Helen Berthelot have been arranged into seven series by date and topic. The files arranged primarily by date are largely unprocessed and relate to her activities in the Michigan Democratic Party and as a lobbyist for the Communications Workers of America. The strengths of the collection is the material relating to the various campaigns of G. Mennen Williams for governor, 1948 to 1958, the Presidential campaigns of 1960 and 1964, and Williams's campaign for the United States Senate in 1966. The collection also includes correspondence, photographs, and material related to the publication and reception of Win Some, Lose Some: G. Mennen Williams and the New Democrats.

Collection

James Karoub Papers, 1962-1994

1.5 linear feet — 0.5 GB (online)

Online
James Karoub was an Arab American lobbyist and legislator from Highland Park, Michigan. Most notably, he served in the Michigan House of Representatives and founded the successful Michigan lobbying firm, Karoub Associates. Karoub represented Wayne County's 15 District, 1963-1964 and 1965-1968 The Karoub papers consist of newspaper clippings and articles, correspondence, some campaign material, scrapbooks, photographs, and a sound recording.

The Karoub papers consist mainly of newspaper clippings and articles covering various aspects of Karoub's political career. Other papers include correspondence, some campaign material, documents from the Michigan Supreme Court case covering the mayoral controversy, and a few notes and speeches.

The collection also includes a scrapbook, photographs, and a sound recording. The photographs include portraits of Karoub, photographs of Karoub at different events, as well as photos of Karoub with various political figures, including G. Mennen Williams, George Romney, James J. Blanchard, and Hubert Humphrey. Karoub's farewell speech for mayor is also included in this collection.

Collection

John Panchuk papers, 1913-1981

3 linear feet — 1 oversize volume — 1 oversize folder

Battle Creek, Michigan, attorney. Oral history interview; materials relating to his involvement in Ukrainian-American organizations and activities.

The Panchuk includes an oral history interview and materials relating to his involvement in Ukrainian-American organizations and activities. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Biographical/Personal; Chronological Materials; Associations/Organizational Activities and Interests; Political Activities and Interests; Ukrainian related materials; Miscellaneous; and Photographs.

Collection

Media Resources Center (University of Michigan) films and videotapes, 1930s, 1948-1986

2500 films and videotapes (approximate)

Online
The television production studio and media services unit of the University of Michigan, commonly referred to as "Michigan Media." It was formed in 1978 through the merger of the university Television Center and the university Audio-Visual Education Center. The Television Center began producing educational programs for broadcast on commercial and public stations in 1950. The Audio-Visual Education Center produced films for the university and operated a film distribution library. The Media Resources Center closed in 1986. The collection consists of documentary type film and video and film and video of television programs produced by the Media Resources Center and its predecessors.

The University of Michigan Media Resources Center Films and Videotapes collection consists of "archives" film footage produced or collected by the Center and television programs and films produced by the Center. The "archives" films are divide into three series; Archives Film (Series AF), Film File (Series AF) and Audio-Visual Education Center Film File Series AVEC Film File. The television programs are organized based on the

Archives Films

The "archival films": consist of documentary style, 16mm film footage of a variety of University of Michigan events, buildings, and personalities. The series originated in 1959 when the Television Center began a project to create a "university film archives." Some of this footage was shot for the purpose of being incorporated into television programs, but much of the filming was done simply to create a film record of the university. Filming was done on a regular basis through about 1972. After that date the Michigan Media collection includes comparatively few "archival" films.

The subject matter of the archival films falls into several broad categories:

  1. Series AF -- Archives Films and Series FF -- Film File
    • Ceremonial - including footage of awards ceremonies, inaugurations, graduations, building groundbreakings and dedications
    • Campus scenes - buildings and construction sites, students on the Diag, and general activity on campus
    • Athletic events and marching band performances
    • Student activities -- including protests, fraternity/sorority activities, homecoming, course registration, and social events.
    • Faculty and administrator interviews
    • Visiting dignitaries and participants in special programs and conferences on campus.
    • Films collected by the Television Center - these include several films from the 1920s and 1930s
  2. Series AVEC Film File
    • Original footage shot for use in Audio-Visual Education Center films

Films in the three archival series range from a few minutes to more than an hour in length. The films may be negatives, original positives, or work prints. Some are identified as "trims," i.e. original footage edited out of finished productions. The work prints have often been cut and spliced and portions may be missing. Several titles were originally recorded on either two- or one-videotape reels or directly on 3/4-inch videotape cassette.

The early films, ca 1953-ca.1963, are generally black and white. After 1963 color film is more common. Many of the films, especially, from the early years, are silent. For some of these there are accompanying 16mm magnetic sound tracks or 1/4-inch reel-to-reel audio tapes.

The film description part of the finding aid is arranged by series film number or titles. Film numbers were assigned by the Television Center in an approximate chronological order. The description of individual films is based on a card File created by the Television Center and on a viewing of each film by Bentley staff.

The descriptive record for each film includes the film number; title; date; a brief summary of the content of the film; a listing of significant persons appearing in the film; and technical information on the color, sound, polarity, and length of the film.

The films are stored in canisters, usually on a core rather than a reel. A film number generally refers to an individual film title. There is sometimes more than one film number in a canister and occasionally more than one film number on a single reel or core. Alternate versions of a title are indicated by a lower case letter.

The Television Center gave the films titles which are more or less descriptive. These titles have been retained except for a few instances in which a more descriptive title was assigned or in which a uniform title was created for all parts of a multi-reel film. The individual reels of multi-part titles are designated by a lower case letter, e.g. 98a, 98b, 98c. For some titles the may be more than one film, possibly a negative, positive, work print, or other version. A few tittles have been digitized and are available on DVD and streaming files.

The listing for each film or program in includes a Title, date of production, and abstract/summary of the content of the film and ,when available, the names of persons or organizations featured in the film. University of Michigan faculty and staff are identified by departmental or administrative affiliation (e.g. Peter Gosling, UM-Geog. A list of abbreviations used is included in the Additional Descriptive Data Section of this finding aid.) Technical information for the films is provided in the format: Original: 16mm film, pos, b/w, sil, 343, 00:09:35. The order of the information is:

  1. Format -- film / videotape / magnetic sound track
  2. Polarity -- neg (negative) /. Pos (positive) / wp (work print)
  3. Color -- b/w or color
  4. Sound -- silent / sound / sof (sound on film)/ at (accompanying 1/4-inch audiotape)
  5. Length -- expressed in feet (footage value is sometimes an estimate)
  6. Running time -- in the form 01:33:25 (hours:minutes:seconds)
  7. (in cases where there are several versions of a title, there may be multiple values for each category)

Television Programs and AVEC Films

The Television Programs consist of 16mm kinescope films and two-inch and 1-inch videotapes of programs produced by the Center for distribution to commercial and educational television stations. The collection represents only a portion of the television programs produced by the Center. There were no extant copies of some programs when the library acquired the collection.

The films and videotapes in the Michigan Media collection were appraised and only a portion have been selected for permanent retention by the Bentley Historical Library. A number of appraisal criteria were used in determining which television programs and films were retained:

  1. subject matter relating to the University of Michigan;
  2. subject matter relating to the state of Michigan;
  3. subject matter of general, national interest;
  4. participation of prominent UM faculty or staff;
  5. participation of prominent Michigan personalities;
  6. participation of persons of national or international significance;
  7. programs marking significant technical or artistic developments at Michigan Media;
  8. award winning programs.

The television programs are organized by series created by the Center. The series for the most part reflect different type of programming the Center produced, from the earliest "telecourses" to the independent programs produced under the title "Understanding Our World". to the multi-part programs that were the core of the "University of Michigan Television Hour. See the History section for details on the different series.

The description for individual programs includes the title and date of the program, a unique id number, and an abstract of the content of the program with listing of the host and guests on the program. A program may exist in one or more formats: kinescope negative, kinescope positive and 1-inch or 2-inch videotape. Technical information for each program is recorded in the format16mm kinescope film, neg. #511, Pos. #665, 2-inch video #458. (the negative number was treated as a production and for some programs recorded originally on videotape a negative was not actually produced). The television programs were generally either twelve, fifteen or thirty minutes in length Most are black and white and all have sound.

In 2009 a selection of television programs and films and tapes were digitized. for each tape or film selected a preservation Beta SP tape was made as well as a DVD use copy and a streaming file (mpeg4 and Flash). For some films a high resolution digital copy was made as well (mpeg2). The finding aid lists the original format(s) and the derivative formats for the digitized items.

Collection

Media Resources Center (University of Michigan) records, 1948-1987, 1948-1987

35 linear feet — 2500 items

The television production studio and media services unit of the University of Michigan, commonly referred to as "Michigan Media." It was formed in 1978 through the merger of the university Television Center and the university Audio-Visual Education Center. The Television Center began producing educational programs for broadcast on commercial and public stations in 1950. The Audio-Visual Education Center produced films for the university and operated a film distribution library. The Media Resources Center closed in 1986. The record group consists of administrative records including Broadcasting Committee minutes, annual reports, unit review material, correspondence, and budget material; scripts for television programs and films; press releases; telecourse outlines and study guides; and brochures and catalogs; also photographs; and films.

The records of the University of Michigan Media Resources Center document the production of educational television programs and films at the University of Michigan, 1950-1988. The collection includes administrative records, scripts, press releases and program summaries, photographs, and films and videotapes. This finding aid describes in detail the paper and photograph portion of the collection and briefly describes the film and videotape. A companion finding aid entitled "University of Michigan. Michigan Media. Program Descriptions" provides detailed descriptions of the films and videotapes in the collection. The Program Description finding aid is stored at the reference desk in the reading room of the Bentley Historical Library.

Collection

Michigan Politicians Portraits collection, 1885-1982

0.4 linear feet

Collection of 26 portraits of Michigan governors, lieutenant governors and senators, scattered between 1885-1982. All portraits except two were autographed by politicians pictured to Charles A. Sink, Michigan Republican politician.

Portrait collection of Michigan politicians spanning the years 1885-1982, with most photos from the period 1927-1982. Collection consists of two folders: "Governors" which contains 19 photographs, and "Senators", which contains 7 photographs. All dates listed correspond to the terms served by each politician.

Collection

Neil Staebler papers, 1944-1992

319.5 linear feet — 2 oversize volumes — 12.4 GB (online)

Online
Ann Arbor, Michigan, businessman and attorney, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party State Central Committee, U. S. Congressman-at-large, 1963-1964, gubernatorial candidate in 1964, member of the U. S. Federal Election Commission, 1975-1978. Chronological, congressional and topical files relating to political and personal activities; include political files detailing state election campaigns 1948-1964, particularly the campaigns of G. Mennen Williams and John B. Swainson; also photographs and transcript of oral interview, 1979.

Neil Staebler first began donating his files to the Michigan Historical Collections of the University of Michigan in 1961 following his eleven year tenure as chairman of the Democratic Party State Central Committee. Periodically thereafter and continuing into the 1970s, Staebler continued to add to his collection with Congressional papers (1963-1964), campaign files when he ran for governor in 1964, topical records created from his years of service with the Democratic National Committee (see attached vita), and records from his term as commissioner on the Federal Election Commission (1975-1978).

This collection comprised of twelve series documents Staebler's career and the course of Democratic politics since World War II. Since Staebler was principally an organizer of campaigns, a behind-the-scenes manager who preferred to handle the details of an election rather than to step into the candidate's spotlight himself, the collection concerns all phases of a successful campaign not just the posturings of the party's candidates. There is, for example, much information relating to the day-to-day operations of the party, i.e. fund-raising activities, the annual Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner, the formulation of the party's platform and related resolutions at the Spring and Fall conventions, and the activities of party-related special interest organizations.

Collection

Otis M. Smith Papers, 1949-1993 (majority within 1957-1971)

3.5 linear feet

Attorney, Michigan state official, justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, 1961-1966, member of the University of Michigan Board of Regents, 1967-1971, general counsel and vice president of the General Motors Corporation. Series consist of Personal which includes biographical information and photographs; Speeches (1963-1992); Michigan Public Service Commission files (1957-1959); Auditor General files (1959-1961); General Motors Corporation files (1967-1969); University of Michigan Board of Regents files (1967-1971) which documents in part the Black Action Movement, the controversy over the role of R.O.T.C., and other issues involving the administration of the university; campaign files (1966-1968); and Michigan Supreme Court files (1961-1966).

The Otis M. Smith papers contains speeches, correspondence, examples of work produced in various offices, and photographs. This collection documents the career of a dedicated public servant and the many posts he held.

The Otis M. Smith papers are divided into eight series: Personal, Speeches, Michigan Public Service Commission Papers, Auditor General Papers, General Motors Papers, Regent Papers, Campaign Files and Supreme Court Papers.

Collection

Rebecca Shelley Papers, 1890-1984

21 linear feet — 1 oversize folder

Pacifist, participant in World War I peace movement and later peace activities, member of Fellowship of Reconciliation, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and Women Strike for Peace. Papers include Correspondence, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, periodicals, reports, photographs, and other materials relating to the International Congress of Women, 1915, the Ford Peace Ship, the American Neutral Conference Committee, the Emergency Peace Federation, and the People's Council of America.

The papers of Rebecca Shelley (1887-1984) were donated by Shelley in several accessions between 1964 and 1984. The papers make up twenty-one linear feet of materials and cover the years 1890-1984, though only a few photographs and printed items predate 1910. Her anti-war activism, legal battles, writing career, and courtships with Franz Willman and Felix Rathmer are all well-represented. In addition to her personal papers, there are groups of material belonging to Emily Balch, Richard Olsen, Felix Rathmer, Paul Shelly, and William A. Shelly.

Many peace organizations are also documented in these papers through flyers, pamphlets, periodicals, newsletters, and correspondence. These include the American Neutral Conference Committee, Emergency Peace Federation, People's Council of America, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Women Strike for Peace, and many others. As Shelley served as an officer in the Michigan Fellowship of Reconciliation (F.O.R.) through the 1950s and 1960s, many of the organization's official papers came to be in her possession. Therefore, an effort was made to remove most of these official papers to the separate Michigan F.O.R. collection.

The collection is arranged in eleven series: Biographical; Newspaper Clippings; Correspondence; Topical Papers; Miscellaneous Papers; Papers Of Other Individuals; Printed; Periodicals; Diaries And Notebooks; Photographs; and Writings.