Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Ann Arbor, Michigan architect, Modern architecture, architectural drawings, presentation boards, photographs, journal articles, award submission notebooks, publicity material, and brief project summaries

The David W. Osler Papers document the professional career of this distinguished Ann Arbor architect, between the years 1956 and 2008. The collection provides researchers with a rich body of textual and visual materials, which illuminate the design excellence for which he is well known. Encompassing architectural drawings for 90 projects and photographs of 54 buildings, these papers offer a broad documentation of Osler's distinctive work in designing residences, libraries, churches, corporate and academic buildings, and condominiums. The collection contains the following series: Professional Papers, Photographs and Architectural Drawings.

The Penrod/Hiawatha Company collection is mainly comprised of postcards, although some supplemental photographic items directed toward tourists is also included. The postcards, numbering more than 5,000, primarily are of the Michigan landscape and its towns and cities, covering every region of the state. Typical postcard themes dominate, particularly natural scenery, outdoor recreation, and shopping districts. The postcards date from the 1950s through the opening decades of the twenty-first century, although very few display copyright dates. The collection is divided into the following series.

1. Non-Postcard Items (calendars, brochures, booklets): Box 1
2. Non-Penrod/Hiawatha Postcards: Box 2
3. Penrod/Hiawatha Postcards, 1970s-1990s: Boxes 2-5
4. Penrod/Hiawatha Postcards, mid- to late 1990s: Boxes 5-6
5. Penrod/Hiawatha Postcards, late 1990s-2000): Boxes 6-7
6. Penrod/Hiawatha Postcards, 2001-2004: Box 8
7. Penrod/Hiawatha Postcards, 2005-2014: Box 9
8. Oversize and miscellaneous: Box 10

As batches of postcards are received every years, it was decided to arrange the items in blocks of time according to the date of their accession. Thus for the researcher interested in a specific city, it will be necessary to examine the listing for each of the series.