Collections

Career army officer, speechwriter for military and political figures on army-related topics. Speeches, diaries, 1971 and 1973, copy of his mystery novel, and photographs.

The papers of Marvin M. Meerse consist of one linear foot of material and cover the years 1943-1978. Though the collection includes both professional and personal papers, the vast majority of the papers are professional, mostly texts of speeches written by Meerse from 1955 to 1968.

As these speeches are often discussions of freedom, containment, and the threat of communism, they provide insight into the soldier's perspective on these topics. Included in the collection are speeches written by Meerse for generals: A.C. McAuliffe, Bruce C. Clarke, Paul Freeman, Dwight Beach, C.H. Bonisteel, Creighton W. Abrams, Jr., George T. Duncan, Louis W. Truman, and W.C. Garrison. There is also a speech written by Meerse and delivered by President John Kennedy and speeches by Attorney General Robert Kennedy and Secretary of the Army Wilber Brucker, presumably also written by Meerse.

Battle Creek attorney, justice, later chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court. Correspondence, clippings, speeches, and topical files relating primarily to the ceremonial, out-of-court, responsibilities of a supreme court justice, and to her election campaigns in 1971 and 1980; also files concerning her interest in juvenile justice and the reapportionment of the Michigan Legislature and miscellaneous photographs.

The Mary S. Coleman Collection is arranged by series or topic: Biographical/Personal; Correspondence; Miscellaneous Topical File; Speeches; Supreme Court Topical Files; Miscellaneous; and Visual Materials. While a portion of the collection contains pre-1972 material, the bulk concerns the 1972-1982 period during which Judge Coleman served on the Michigan Supreme Court.

The M. W. I. European Tour photograph albums contain commercial prints and lithographs from the compiler's trip to several European countries in the summer and fall of 1871. The photographs show landscapes and scenery, secular and religious buildings, European royals and nobility, and statues and paintings.

The two M. W. I. European Tour photograph albums contain commercial prints and lithographs from the compiler's trip to several European countries in the summer and fall of 1871. Each of the 28cm x 22cm volumes has a red pebbled cover with the title "M. W. I. 1871" stamped in gold on the front. Volume 1 contains around 175 items, including three loose albumen prints, and Volume 2 contains around 140 items. Smaller photographs and lithographs are mounted as many as five to a page and larger items are only slightly smaller than the albums' pages.

The first book primarily contains pictures from England, Scotland, and France, and the second has images from France, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany. Many of the pictures from England and Scotland show royal residences, cathedrals, and other landmarks, such as the houses of Parliament and the Crystal Palace. Natural scenes from Lochs Lomond and Katrine are also present, as are views of Edinburgh and Holywood Palace. Photographs from Continental Europe show similar scenes of religious buildings, monuments, and landscapes, particularly in the Alps. A few lithographs from Versailles pertain to the execution of Georges Darboy in May 1871, and others from Strasbourg show destruction after the Franco-Prussian War. Each album has portraits of royal families and prominent individuals from countries such as England, France, Germany, and Spain. Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper is shown in one item, and the second album has several lithographs of religious and secular paintings by Raphael and other artists, as well as photographs of artistic statues. Included is a ticket for a passion play performed in Oberammergau, Germany.

Papers of Morton Isadore and Katherine Smit Netzorg; their son Morton Jacob Netzorg and his wife Petra Fuld Netzorg; Petra Netzorg's mother Charlotte Fuld, and Petra's younger sister Bracha Fuld. The collection chronicles the history of the Philippine Islands in the 20th century, specifically during the Second World War; life of German Jewry on the eve of World War II; Zionist Insurgency in the British Mandate Palestine; developments in the scholarly field of South East Asian Studies and international publishing and book trade industries related to the region. The collection is a rich source of bibliographic material related to the Pacific Islands, primarily the Philippines, as well as the entire South East Asian region.

Family and business correspondence, including internment camp communications of Morton I. and Katherine; journals and diaries; published works and manuscripts of Morton J.; material related to Bracha Fuld's death; photographs; the Cellar Book Shop card catalog; also World War II-period artifacts, and Bracha's military ribbon.

Photographs and slides depicting Fuld and Netzorg families and their friends, Netzorgs' house in Detroit, Detroit street scenes, and the Cellar Book Shop. Of special interest are the World War II period photographs in the Morton I. and Katherine S. Netzorg part of the series depicting the conditions in liberated Philippines in 1945, military action and military life, and Jewish life in the U.S. military. Also of interest are the Fuld family photographs depicting Jewish life in Germany from the late 1800s to late 1930s. Slides with images taken during 1970s trips to the Philippines featuring Banaue, Cebu, Jolo, and Zamboanga, locations in the Southeast Asia, and Europe.

Recorded reminiscences of Morton J. Netzorg and Petra Fuld Netzorg.

Teacher, member of Women's Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II, later teacher in school for children of military personnel in Germany, 1946-1949, and Japan, 1954-1955. Letters describing her life and activities in Germany and Japan; letters from friend Fred Reynolds; and scrapbooks-photograph albums from stays in Europe and Japan.

The collection consists of correspondence, scrapbooks, and photograph albums. The collection is of primary value for its documentation, both printed and visual, of Philomena Falls service with the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and for her extended stays in Germany and Japan as a teacher.

Battle Creek, Michigan and Washington, D.C. family including C.W. (Charles William) Post, cereal manufacturer, and anti-union activist and founder of Post City, Texas; and his daughter Marjorie Merriweather Post, executive of General Foods Co., wife of U. S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, art collector, philanthropist, socialite, and Washington D.C. hostess. C.W. Post papers, largely concern labor-management relations, unionism, the Postum Company, currency reform, advertising, and matters of food and hygiene; Marjorie Merriweather Post papers document her social activities and travel, philanthropies art collections, and the maintenance and preservation of her homes and other possessions.

The Post family collection includes papers of businessman and food processor, C. W. Post, largely relating to labor-management relations, unionism, the Post Company, currency reform, advertising, and matters of food and hygiene; and papers, photographs, and sound recordings of his daughter, Marjorie Merriweather Post, General Foods executive and philanthropist, relating to social activities and engagements, philanthropies, and the maintenance and preservation of her homes and other possessions.

The C.W. Post papers consist of manuscript items and printed works created by C.W. Post and retained by his daughter, Marjorie Merriweather Post. The papers are arranged alphabetically by subject.

Physicist, University of Michigan professor, dean of the graduate school; correspondence, writings, speeches, organizational files, audio-visual materials.

Although the Ralph A. Sawyer collection includes materials relating to all phases of his career, beginning with his studies at the University of Chicago in 1918-1919, the strength of the files are for those activities outside of the University of Michigan, notably his work with the U.S. Navy laboratories, Joint Task Force One, the American Institute of Physics, and the Optical Society of America. Files dealing with his University of Michigan activities are less complete as these materials will be found with the records of those units which Sawyer headed.

This collection consists of letters that Lieutenant Randal H. Crouse wrote to his mother, Lillie M. Crouse, while serving with the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. Crouse described his experiences at Camp Hancock, Georgia, and in France, where he often commented on life near the front. The collection also has postcards, documents, photographs, and newspaper clippings.

This collection contains 85 letters that Lieutenant Randal H. Crouse wrote to his mother, Lillie M. Crouse, while serving with the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. The collection also has 4 letters by other writers, 9 postcards, 4 documents, 15 photographs, and 29 newspaper clippings (including 7 duplicates) related to Crouse's time in the military.

The Correspondence series (89 items) comprises the bulk of the collection and consists mostly of the letters that Randal Crouse sent to his divorced mother, Lillie M. Crouse, from Camp Hancock, Georgia, and France between September 1917 and April 1919. At Camp Hancock, he discussed the reorganization of his Pennsylvania National Guard unit into the 112th Infantry Regiment and mentioned several specific training exercises, including some involving gas masks (January 27, 1918). He described other aspects of camp and military life and, upon his arrival in France around May 1918, provided his impressions of the scenery and people, as well as descriptions of his experiences at the front. Soon after his arrival, he reported hearing nearby artillery fire and shared his awe at the multicultural makeup of the allied forces, which included soldiers from a number of foreign countries (May 27, 1918). Though he remained optimistic about the war's imminent end, Crouse mentioned his participation in some difficult fighting, credited the Germans with putting up a strong resistance, and described airplane crashes he had witnessed (August 17, 1918). By October 30, 1918, he expressed his relief at being transferred to a safer area following weeks of hard fighting, and on November 3, 1918, he described a one-day visit to Paris.

Following the signing of the Armistice, Crouse revealed more details about military actions he had participated in, including movements near Metz, and expressed his surprise upon hearing of the large scale of the influenza epidemic, from which the war had distracted him. In his letter of December 4, 1918, he copied several pages from a captured German diary that described the advance on Paris in September 1914; the letter also encloses a printed map of a portion of the Western Front near the end of the war. Throughout the spring of 1919, Crouse continued to discuss his travels through France and his anticipation of a return to the United States.

The series has 4 letters by other correspondents, including 3 by Lillie M. Crouse, who wrote a letter to her son while he attended a summer camp (July 13, 1908), prematurely reported Germany's surrender (November 7, 1918), and expressed her wish for military volunteers to displace active service veterans (March 31, 1919). Jordy L. Stafer, a soldier, also wrote a letter to Lillie M. Crouse, whom he knew from York (October 9, 1918).

The Postcards and Greeting Card series (7 items) contains mail that Randal Crouse sent to his mother during the war. The postcards show scenery in Germany and in Glasgow, Scotland, and one is a photographic postcard of Crouse in uniform. The Christmas card has a drawing of an American soldier reading with a young girl.

Documents (4 items) include a memorandum by W. H. Hay commending the service of the 28th Division of the United States Army, as well as 2 items related to the allotment of Randal Crouse's pay to his mother. Also present is a photographic card identifying Crouse as a member of the American Expeditionary Forces.

The Photographs series (15 items) has 6 snapshots of soldiers, including 2 taken in front of a cannon; 2 larger formal portraits of Randal H. Crouse; and 7 small snapshots of a soldier smoking a cigar and an old European building.

Newspaper clippings (29 items) primarily concern the actions of the 28th Division of the United States Army, including several reprinted letters that Randal Crouse sent to his mother while serving overseas, taken from the Gazette and Daily (York, Pa.) and other papers. Seven of the items are duplicates.

Journalist, foreign correspondent; correspondence, material accumulated as a journalist, articles, clippings, and other writings; and photographs.

The Stanley Swinton papers include correspondence; dispatch files; notebooks relating to the death of Mussolini, the Malayan insurgency in the late 1940s, and the Indonesian revolutions; notes of interviews with Seni Premot of Thailand, Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia, Ho Chi-Minh of Vietnam, Konrad Adenauer of West Germany, Joao Goulart of Brazil, Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, and Kim Jong Pil of South Korea. The bulk of Swinton's writings will be found in the collection, either in draft or in clippings of his articles. The series in the collection are Correspondence; Newspaper career; Writings, speeches, etc.; Personal and miscellaneous; Photographs; and Printed Material.

This collection contains 24 letters, 18 postcards, and 1 greeting card that Private First Class Thomas Knowles of New Bedford, Massachusetts, sent to Ruth Blaisdell of Waltham, Massachusetts, while he served with the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe during and just after World War I. Knowles described his experiences while serving at the front with the 101st Engineer Regiment, while recuperating from an injury, and while traveling in France, Luxembourg, and Germany with a military unit attached to a press corps.

This collection contains 24 letters, 18 postcards, and 1 greeting card that Private First Class Thomas Knowles of New Bedford, Massachusetts, sent to Ruth Blaisdell of Waltham, Massachusetts, while he served with the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe during and just after World War I. Knowles described his experiences while serving at the front with the 101st Engineer Regiment, while recuperating from an injury, and while traveling in France, Luxembourg, and Germany after the war with a military unit attached to a press corps.

Knowles wrote one letter to Blaisdell from Boston, Massachusetts, in September 1917, while awaiting his deployment overseas; an undated letter recounts his journey from England to France. He sent his first letter from France on October 25, 1917. He discussed his quarters and the food in France, and described his experiences, including active combat, while serving with Company C of the 101st Engineer Regiment. Knowles commented on his difficulty sleeping during his time in the trenches, and described the events that had led to his hospitalization; he received treatment for a leg wound and gas exposure (June 5, 1918). After spending time at a hospital and a recuperation camp, where he commented on the good treatment that he received, Knowles was assigned to an army unit that accompanied newspaper correspondents.

In his later letters, most of which date after the armistice, Knowles wrote about his travels in France, Luxembourg, and Germany with press corps "section G 2-D." The collection also includes 18 postcards depicting cathedrals, streets, and other scenes from his post-armistice experiences, occasionally with his brief comments or personal notes, as well as 1 German-language New Year's greeting card.