Collections

Masonic lodge founded in 1869 in Ann Arbor, Michigan; minutes, membership records, and other administrative materials.

The records of the Fraternity Lodge, No. 262 cover the period between 1869 and 2003. The record group consists primarily of minutes, correspondence, financial records, rulebooks, membership records, petitions, and questionnaires. The records are arranged into three series: Meeting Minutes, Administrative, and Membership.

The records of the Golden Rule Lodge No. 159, Ann Arbor, Michigan include minutes of the special and regular meetings of the lodge, membership materials, by-laws, and some financial records. Included is a volume of memorial programs for past state grand masters.

Ann Arbor, Michigan attorney, counsel to U.S. Congressional committees, and Republican Congressman, 1951-1965. Correspondence files concerning work with the Senate Committee Investigating the National Defense Program after World War II, and Congressional files, especially concerning his work with the House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Government Operations; also photographs and motion picture films.

The George Meader papers primarily document his Congressional service from 1951 to 1964. There are some materials documenting his personal and professional life aside from his work in Congress. The papers relating to Congressional service include correspondence, speeches, campaign literature, texts of radio broadcasts, press releases and newsletters, photographs, and sound recordings. The other materials include memoirs, diaries, correspondence and memoranda, case files, photographs and film, scrapbooks, and correspondence regarding organizations to which Meader belonged and relating to the opening of his Ann Arbor law practice in 1939. Also included in the Meader papers are the diaries, notebooks, and student papers of his daughter, Barbara.

The collection has been divided into five series: the National Defense Investigating Committee, Congressional Files, Personal, Professional, and Visual Materials. The first two series cover Meader's professional activities in Washington, D. C., including what he saw as crucial work on the Truman committee. The original order of material in these series has been pretty much maintained. The next two series, Personal and Professional, reflect the artifice of the archivist as the original order of materials in the groups was significantly altered in the course of processing.

University of Michigan staff photographer, 1913-1947 and commercial photographer in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Collection includes some manuscript material but is primarily photographic prints and negatives made by Swain. Photo subjects include university buildings, faculty, and student activities, archeological expeditions to the Near East and, Ann Arbor scenes and landscapes form his travels in the western United States and Canada.

The papers and photographs of George R. Swain mainly document Swain's accomplishments as university photographer at the University of Michigan from 1913 to 1947. Researchers should note, however, that this is only a sampling of the photographer's work during these years. The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan has an extensive collection of Swain's archaeological negatives and prints, and researchers interested in his full career will want to also look at the Kelsey collection. The Bentley Library material, while including several folders of fine photographs Swain made on his travels with Professor Frances Kelsey, for the most part documents Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan.

The collection at the Bentley Library consists of three series: Miscellaneous Papers; Photographers Log; and Photographs (prints; negatives; and lantern slides. Since the bulk of the collection is comprised of early twentieth century images of Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan, the materials will be of most interest to researchers searching for visual documentation of this part of the state in that time period. There are very few materials beyond the visual, although the lengthy captions attached to many overseas images and the essays, diaries, and letters, are extremely interesting and offer insight into how Swain approached his craft, both as a professional photographer and in his personal work.

Veteran of World War II, later commander of Erwin Prieskorn Post No. 46 of the American Legion, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Subject files relating to veterans activities and his involvement in issues of concern to veterans; minutes of meetings of Ann Arbor, Michigan, post of the American Legion; and scrapbook of American Legion Post No. 46 containing letters from servicemen in Vietnam and photographs of post activities; also other photographs and videotapes.

The George W. Harms collection has been arranged into four series: Biographical; Topical Files; American Legion Post No. 46; and Visual Materials. Most of the collection relates to his activities with the Ann Arbor American Legion post and with veterans affairs in general. Post No. 46 materials includes minutes, correspondence, a scrapbook, and some newspaper clippings dating from 1968 to 1988. The issues of concern to veterans and to Harms included government policies and procedures concerning soldiers listed as missing in action and relationships with their families, Veterans Administration policies toward disabled soldiers, veterans' benefits for survivors of soldiers killed in action, and anti-war protests in Ann Arbor in the 1960s.

Ann Arbor, Michigan independent non-denominational church; annual reports, constitution, doctrinal statements, minutes, bulletins, newsletters, and miscellaneous.

The records include administrative files, topical files, women's groups, publication, and other materials. The administrative records series includes annual reports, minutes of the executive committee, and of congregational meetings.

Landscape architect, professor of landscape architecture at the University of Michigan. Files relating to various Michigan projects, notably in Ann Arbor, Hartland, Hillsdale, and Highland Park; subject files on professional activities; and photographs.

The papers of Harlow O. Whittemore have been divided into the following series: Projects; Topical Files; Family Papers; and Photographs.

The Collection includes miscellaneous manuscript material, postcards, posters, and photographs. Subjects include Michigan railroads, the University of Michigan, Michigan history.

The collection includes materials related to Michigan street railroads and the Ann Arbor Train and Trolley Watchers; letter of Ernest Wilby, 1935, describing his career as an architect and his association with Albert Kahn; records of Ann Arbor Pediatric Associates, 1972-1986; and photographs.

Copy prints of photographs relating to the interurban line between Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti and other Michigan street railroads; photos of the electric cars, the power plant and office, and related pictures; collection of turn-of-the-century photographs, perhaps of the Staebler family of Ann Arbor, Michigan; outdoor group activities, circus parade, and exterior views of Staebler business establishments; also collection of glass negatives including photos of potato farming and St. Clair Flats. Postcards include images of the University of Michigan Ann Arbor campus, as well as locations throughout the state.

The last will and testament of Horace H. Rackham provided for the establishment of a trust fund to provide for the health and welfare of individuals, particularly the sick, aged, the young, the poor, and other underprivileged. Much of the trust money went to the University of Michigan to be used for a building for the graduate school and an endowment to be used for different kinds of research. The Fund also awarded grants to agencies involved in child welfare, community culture, education, health, philanthropy, and science. The Fund distributed money from 1934 until about 1941. The series in this record group consist of administrative and executive files, and project applications and grant files.

The records of the Horace H. Rackham and Mary A. Rackham Fund document the continuing generosity of Horace Rackham and Mary Rackham to numerous charitable, educational, and scientific organizations and causes. The records contain the files of the Fund's trustees and directors and provide insight and information about such topics as the administration of a philanthropic fund-giving organization during the mid-1930s, the kinds of gifts made, the relationship among the Fund's trustees and officers, and the relationship between the Fund and the grant recipients. Because of the size of the gift, most of the documentation within the record group details the close ties between the Fund and the University of Michigan. These files concern not only the establishment of the Rackham endowment to the University, but also the different scientific and educational grants made. Additionally, these files detail the construction of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies building in Ann Arbor and the Rackham Educational Memorial building in Detroit.

The records of the Fund cover the period of 1929-1950 though they bulk largest for the period of the Fund's greatest activity, 1934-1940. The record group has been separated into two series: Combined Administrative and Executive Office Files and Project applications/grants.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, family. Family photographs (portraits and groupings); studio photographs (portraits and groupings) by firms in Ann Arbor, Jackson, and Ypsilanti, Mich.

This collection is made up of 0.8 linear feet of photographs and 0.1 linear feet of other related material. It contains three series: Family Photographs, Studio Photographs, and Other Material. Both the dated and undated photographs cover the period from 1900 to 1930 but most of them are undated.