Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

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Collection

Daughters of the American Revolution of Michigan records, 1893-2014

45.5 linear feet — 24 oversize volumes

Michigan Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution; minutes of the state executive board, proceedings of the Michigan state conferences, publications, reports, and scrapbooks; also papers concerning their genealogical work, record of activities during World War I and II; historical files for individual chapters of the Michigan DAR; and photographs.

The records of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Michigan document its organization, history, and activities. As the state society of the DAR, the organization also collected material on the activities of the various local chapters. The records have been arranged into the following series: State Executive Board Minutes; State Conference Proceedings (original and published); Reports; Various Records of DAR State Historian; Miscellaneous; Chapter Records (original materials, collected material, and membership yearbooks); Publications; Scrapbooks; Topical files; and Photographs.

Collection

Emil Lorch Papers, 1891-2004 (majority within 1891-1963)

18 linear feet — 14 oversize folders

Professor of architecture at the University of Michigan; includes correspondence, professional organizational activities files, documentation, photographs, and architectural drawings accumulated during his work with the Michigan Historic Buildings Survey

The Emil Lorch papers are valuable for their documentation of the career of this important architectural educator and for that material about Michigan architecture and historic structures that Lorch accumulated in the course of his professional study and organizational involvement. The collection includes extensive correspondence with many of the country's leading architects, most notably members of the "Chicago School," and architectural educators, and manuscript and photographic documentation resulting from Lorch's involvement with the Michigan Historic Buildings Survey and various restoration projects, including Mackinac Island.

Collection

Grand Rapids Kindergarten Training School records, 1891-1919

6 linear feet

Articles of incorporation and minutes; student registers and alumni rosters; performance records of students; student and teacher's notebooks, mostly those of Clara Wheeler; patterns and other teaching devices; and financial records.

The record group is organized into three series: Organizational Records; Scrapbooks and other informational material; and School Records. Included are articles of incorporation and minutes; student registers and alumni rosters; performance records of students; student and teacher's notebooks, mostly those of Clara Wheeler; patterns and other teaching devices; financial records, and scrapbooks containing photographs of teachers, students, and facilities.

Collection

Postcard Collection, 1890s-[ongoing]

14.4 linear feet (in 15 boxes) — 1 oversize folder

Postcard views of Michigan cities and the University of Michigan.

The Michigan Historical Collections postcard collection contains picture postcards of Michigan scenes. The collection was brought together by MHC staff. The postcards depict a large number of Michigan communities, with the largest number of cards relating to Ann Arbor, the University of Michigan, and Detroit.

The postcards are arranged by the name of the town shown in the picture. In cases where names have changed, or for rural places that might be identified with several surrounding towns, the postcards are filed according to the name used on the card. For instance, postcards of the Irish Hills region can be found under that name as well as under the nearby towns of Brooklyn and Onsted.

Outsize postcards are located in Box 12, and a few postcards too large for that box are located with the medium sized photographs in UCCm.

Collection

Albertine Loomis photograph collection, 1890s

1 envelope

Grand Rapids, Mich. native, University of Michigan graduate (Class of 1917), Detroit public schools teacher, and author. Photographs of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The Albertine Loomis photograph collection is comprised of photographs relating to Grand Rapids, Michigan. These include the exterior of Western Union Telegraph Office, a photo of a telephone switchboard, and a photo of parade in downtown Grand Rapids during the Spanish-American War.

Collection

Frank Manny papers, 1890-1955

6 linear feet

Progressive educator, student of Thomas Dewey at the University of Chicago, served as head of the state Normal School at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, superintendent of the Felix Adler School of Ethical Culture in New York City and as head of teacher education in the city of Baltimore. The papers include extensive personal correspondence, scrapbooks, journals, writings and other materials concerning his professional interests. Correspondence includes letters from distinguished authors and educators.

The papers consist of extensive personal correspondence, scrapbooks, journals, writings and other materials concerning his professional interests. Included are, letters from distinguished authors and educators. Much of the collection relates to the progressive education movement and to Manny's career as an educator in Grand Rapids, Chicago, and Boxford, Massachusetts.

Collection

Cordelia Creswell papers, 1886-1935, 1950

1.5 linear feet

Special education coordinator in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Budgets, payrolls, annual and individual reports on students, program, delinquency, and education for individual with mental disabilities.

The Cordelia Creswell collection includes correspondence, budgets, payrolls, annual and individual reports on students, program, delinquency, and education for the retarded.

Collection

Arthur H. Vandenberg papers, 1884-1974 (majority within 1915-1951)

8 linear feet (on 11 microfilm rolls) — 25 volumes — 20 phonograph records — 1 film reel — 1 audiotape (reel-to-reel tapes)

Online
Republican U.S. Senator from Michigan; advocate of the United Nations and bipartisan foreign policy. Correspondence, scrapbooks, diaries, and visual materials.

The Arthur H. Vandenberg collection consists of 8 linear feet of materials (available on microfilm), 25 volumes of scrapbook/journals, and assorted audio and visual materials. The collection covers Vandenberg's entire career with a few folders of papers post-dating his death in 1951 relating to the dedication of memorial rooms in his honor in the 1970s. The collection is divided into four major series: Correspondence; Speeches; Campaign and Miscellaneous Topical; Clippings, Articles, and Scrapbooks; Miscellaneous and Personal; Visual Materials; and Sound Recordings.

Collection

Michigan Woman's Christian Temperance Union records, 1874-2006

16 linear feet (in 17 boxes) — 3 oversize volumes

State chapter of national temperance organization founded in 1874; records include correspondence of early W.C.T.U. workers, Alice E. H. Peters and Ella Eaton Kellogg; also minutes, scrapbooks, and other records of individual Michigan W.C.T.U. districts and chapters.

The Michigan Woman's Temperance Union records divide into seven series: Correspondence; Miscellaneous and Publicity; Printed Materials; District Records; County Union Records; Local Union Records; and Photographs. The records document the period of the Michigan WCTU's greatest influence, the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as the organization's gradual declining influence following the repeal of the prohibition amendment.

Collection

Clara Marian Wheeler papers, 1874-1948

6 linear feet — 1 oversize folder

Grand Rapids, Michigan educator, principal of the Grand Rapids Kindergarten Training School, and advocate of kindergarten education. Correspondence, lecture and class notes, programs, photographs, and miscellaneous scrapbooks, ledgers, and account books.

The collection is comprised of correspondence and other papers largely concerning kindergarten education and her involvement in a parent and teacher organization. The series in the collection are Biographical / Personal materials, Correspondence; Kindergarten education; National Congress of Parents and Teachers; and Miscellaneous.

Collection

Bryant Walker papers, 1873-1931

10 linear feet

Detroit, Michigan attorney, shell collector and student of conchology. Correspondence, notebooks, and lists relating primarily to his interest in mollusca and shell collecting; also copies of family letters, 1830-1841, written from Buffalo, New York, Grand Rapids and Detroit, Michigan; a University of Michigan student notebook from a course in physics, 1874.

The Bryant Walker collection consists largely of correspondence from throughout the world with conchologists. There are, in addition, his manuscripts of his writings, various lists, charts, and inventories, and miscellaneous family materials and a University of Michigan student notebook of a class on physics.

Collection

Blodgett Family papers, 1872-1953 (majority within 1884-1934)

33 linear feet — 43 oversize volumes — 12 oversize folders

Family of Delos A. Blodgett, his son John W. Blodgett, and his grandson John W. Blodgett, Jr., residents of Grand Rapids, Michigan and owners of a series of logging companies active in Michigan, Mississippi, California, Oregon, and Vancouver Island. Correspondence, journals, cash books, ledgers, and maps of family businesses, including the Blodgett Company, Wright-Blodgett Company, Michigan-California Lumber Company, Michigan Timber Company, Hill-Davis Company, and Tidewater Timber Company; also personal correspondence and photographs.

The collection, although still largely unprocessed, has been grouped into different kinds of records. These include correspondence, business records, maps, and photographs.

Collection

Claude Thomas Stoner Photographs and Papers, 1870s-1977

9 linear feet (in 13 boxes)

Dexter, Michigan, collector of materials relating to the history of railroading in Michigan. Correspondence, subject files, printed matter and photographs; contain material concerning the Ann Arbor Railroad, the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, the Manistee and Northeastern Railway Company, the Michigan Central Railroad, the Pere Marquette Railroad, and Ephraim Shay.

The Stoner collection contains about 3,600 photographs and negatives collected by Stoner, relating primarily to Michigan railroads. The collection also contains related manuscript materials.

Stoner's major collecting interests were in the Ann Arbor, Grand Trunk Western, and Pere Marquette Railroads and their predecessors, and in logging railroads, especially Ephraim Shay's railroad and others using Shay locomotives. Along with these lines, the collection contains photos of dozens of other railroads, not all in Michigan.

The photographs most commonly depict locomotives, often with their crews posed beside. Other common subjects are railroad stations (exteriors only), train wrecks, trains in motion, logging operations, carferries, railroad bridges, the Detroit-Windsor railroad tunnel, and street railroads.

Dozens of Michigan cities and towns and a number of places in other states are represented in the collection. Places depicted most often in the photos include Ann Arbor, Cadillac, Detroit, Durand, Frankfort, Harbor Springs, and Howell, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario.

The collection is organized into seven series: Classified photos, Unclassified photos, Albums, Unclassified negatives, Papers, Classified negatives, and Duplicate material.

Appended to this finding aid are two indexes, one for railroads and company names, the other for subjects. The indexes contain references to all items in the Classified photos, Unclassified photos, Albums, and Unclassified negatives series.

The index to railroads and company names indexes logging and industrial companies that operated railroads, as well as railroad lines themselves. It does not index locomotive manufacturers, nor does it index the names of railroad museums where some of the photos were taken.

The index to subjects indexes place names and topical subjects. It does not index the term "locomotives" since the majority of the photos in the collection would be indexed under that heading. Place names are indexed if the photo includes a view of some part of the place or of some event at the place. Close-up views of locomotives that do not show any background are not indexed by place, even if the description of the photo identifies where it was taken.

Collection

Emigrantinstitutet (Växjö, Sweden) letters, 1869-1932

0.5 linear feet

Copies of letters from Swedish immigrants to Michigan to family and friends in Sweden.

This is a collection of copied letters from the holdings of the Emigrantinstitutet in Växjö, Sweden. The letters are from Swedish immigrants in Michigan and Indiana to their friends and families in Sweden. The letters are from various Michigan communities, including Benton Harbor, Calumet, Chippewa Lake, Custer, Elk Rapids, Escanaba, Grand Rapids, Hancock, Iron Mountain, Ironwood, Kalkaska, L'Anse, Ludington, Manistee, Marquette, Menominee, Michigamme, Montague, Muskegon, Rapid River, Tustin, and Vulcan. One of the letters is from Johan G. R. Baner of Ironwood, Michigan. In addition, there is daybook maintained by an immigrant recounting travels in America in 1890.

Collection

Frederick N. Field papers, 1862-1865

23 items — 1 oversize folder

Online

The collection consists of correspondence, miscellaneous bank notes and printed material (including documents related to the government of the Confederate States of America), and a photographic portrait. There are six letters (1862-1865) written to his brother in which Field describes Camp Palmer; gives a graphic account of a march in pouring rain and the night spent sitting on shocks of wheat; tells of the capture of their picket line through the use of a countersign countersign; and discusses the soldiers' vote and the practice of enlisting men from the South as substitutes for northern draftees. Field also gives details of the battle in which he was wounded and criticizes officers in command. The collection includes one letter (Sept. 4, 1863) from Capt. George W. Lee relating to transportation charges for Field.

Collection

Tom Van Zoeren oral history collection, 1860s-2011 (majority within 2000-2010)

1.5 linear feet — 70.1 GB (online)

Online
Tom Van Zoeren was a park ranger at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. His collection contains oral history interviews relating to the history of the Sleeping Bear Dunes region and other Michigan localities.

The Van Zoeren collection contains oral history interviews conducted between 1979 and 2010, and includes copies of scanned photos and supporting documents. The interviews are available variously on audio cassette tapes and online. Transcripts or summaries are found in the collection for many of the interviews. The Van Zoeren collection is organized in two sections by format.

The first section contains analog files and audio cassette tapes. This section is arranged in series by family interview: Basch/Lanham/Van Zoeren oral history interviews, 1993-2000; George Burfiend oral history interviews, photo collection, and farm tour, 2005-2008; DeKorne family oral history and photographs, 2006; Doan family oral history interview, 2006; Dottie (Ashmore) Lanham oral history and photograph collection, 2003-2008; Alfred and Loraine (Olsen) Mason oral history interview and photo collection, 2001-2004; Leonard Thoreson oral history interview and photos, 2005-2006; and Frederick and Margretha Werner Farm oral history interview and photo collection, 2006-2007. These series contain information related to the families and interviews in the form of text, scanned and printed images, and audio and video recordings.

Information about selected interviews:
  1. Basch, Laura (Oleson), of the Port Oneida, Michigan, area (audio cassettes and online)
  2. Burfiend, George, relating to Burfiend farm and Port Oneida (online)
  3. DeKorne, Jack relating to the family of Boudewyn and Kate DeKorne of Grand Rapids and Glen Lake, Michigan (online)
  4. Fargo, Judy Carole and Ruth Ann Doan Jones, relating to the Frank and Alma Doan family of Croswell, Michigan ( online, filed under Doan family)
  5. Lanham, Dottie, relating to her life and to Burdickville and surrounding area (online)
  6. Lanham, John, of Burdickville, Michigan (audio cassettes and online)
  7. Mason, Alfred and Lorraine [referred to as 'Loraine' in some collection materials] (Olsen), relating to their families, the family farms and the Port Oneida community (online)
  8. Miller, Charles, relating to the Frederick and Margretha Werner farm in Port Oneida (online, filed under Werner)
  9. Stuber, Mary Lou, relating to the Frederick and Margretha Werner farm in Port Oneida (online, filed under Werner)
  10. Thoresen, Leonard, relating to his family, the family farm and the Port Oneida community (online)
  11. Thoreson, Leonard, relating to the Frederick and Margretha Werner farm in Port Oneida (online, filed under Werner)
  12. Van Noord, Trudy, relating to the family of Boudewyn and Kate DeKorne of Grand Rapids and Glen Lake, Michigan (online, filed under DeKorne family)
  13. Van Zoeren, Jay, of Vriesland, Michigan, 1948 graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School (audio cassettes and online)

Additional files relating to these and other persons are available online.

The second section consists of one series of digitized material, oral histories, photos, and other historic materials from the Sleeping Bear Dunes region. The digital files were created or assembled by Van Zoeren and were received on an external hard drive. This series is further divided into subseries by type of material: Information on Farms, Families, etc.; Oral History Audio Files; Historic Images; Video Recordings; Genealogies; Census and Cemetery Records; Historic Maps; and Other Resources. Some of the content may be digitized versions of items in the analog portion of the collection.

Collection

Raymond Wesley Starr papers, 1860s-1968 (majority within 1936-1947)

11 linear feet — 1 folder

Grand Rapids, Michigan attorney, state attorney general, 1937-1938, associate justice and chief justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Michigan. Correspondence, newspaper clippings, and business and professional papers, including material, 1950-1968, relating to his interest in Ferris State College, Big Rapids, Michigan; and photographs.

The Starr collection consists primarily of correspondence from 1936 to 1947. These correspondence files are arranged alphabetically with the bulk of them dated 1946 to 1947, the period when Starr was first appointed U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Michigan. A smaller portion of the collection relates to Starr's association with Ferris State College, to his various other organization interests, and to his real estate and business activities.

Collection

Isaac M. Weston Papers, 1859-1899

6 linear feet — 3 oversize volumes

Grand Rapids Michigan businessman and politician, active in lumbering and banking in Wisconsin and Michigan, Democratic party official, head of Board of World's Fair Managers for Michigan, overseeing state's exhibits at 1893 Columbian Exposition. Collection primarily documents business activities with some material on World's Columbian Exposition, as well as personal and family material.

The Weston collection primarily documents the career of Isaac M. Weston. Included are smaller series of papers of his brother and father. The collection includes correspondence, topical files, business and legal papers, and photographs. Of note are materials concerning Michigan's exhibit at the World Fair in 1893 and papers concerning lumbering and land interests in Michigan and Wisconsin.