Harlow Olin Whittemore papers, 1905-1986
5.5 linear feet (in 7 boxes)
The papers of Harlow O. Whittemore have been divided into the following series: Projects; Topical Files; Family Papers; and Photographs.
5.5 linear feet (in 7 boxes)
The papers of Harlow O. Whittemore have been divided into the following series: Projects; Topical Files; Family Papers; and Photographs.
3.3 linear feet (in 4 boxes) — 1 oversize folder
The Weissert collection includes correspondence, 1893-1947, including letters from Joseph Bailly, Clarence M. Burton, Gurdon S. Hubbard, Chase S. Osborn, Albert E. Sleeper, and George Van Pelt. There are also speeches, and writings mostly on Michigan history topics, including Indian history and the history of Kalamazoo and Barry County. The series of research notes illustrates the variety of Weissert's interests: historical personalities, forts, Michigan cities, and early state history. The photographs and snapshots pertain to Weissert's interest in Michigan history, especially homes, churches, mills, hotels, businesses, and other sites primarily in western Michigan, but also including Sault Ste. Marie and Mackinac Island. There are also photographs of Michigan pioneers, particularly from the Hastings, Michigan area.
28 linear feet (in 30 boxes) — 15 oversize volumes — 15 oversize folders
The William C. Weber papers cover 28 linear feet (30 boxes), outsize folders, and 15 outsize volumes. Besides information on timber and mineral lands in Michigan, the important aspects of the Weber papers include information on the development of the Cultural Center of Detroit and Weber's very controversial role in it, items on the Detroit-Windsor bridge and tunnel and the development of the Border Cities, and the papers of his two sons, especially the letters they wrote as students at the University of Michigan and their class notes and examinations.
There is one foot of materials related to the Cultural Center (Box 19 and outsize folders) and another of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and Ambassador Bridge (Box 20 and outsize folders).
Architectural site plans and property maps of the Detroit Cultural Center are also found in the outsize unbound material.
The collection includes maps relating to Weber's his land holdings in northern Michigan and Windsor, Ontario, including maps of land survey, of timber estimates, and tax and title status for Michigan lands, maps of Windsor subdivisions, maps of coal mining region around Caryville, Tennessee and property maps of the Detroit Cultural Center.
7 linear feet (263 papers)
The student papers are organized alphabetically by author in two series, which are similar in date range and topics covered. Topics of papers concern Michigan social and political history; Michigan biography and bibliography; local community history and University of Michigan history. A topical index to the papers is available in the first box of the collection.
3.4 linear feet — 1 oversize volume
The Todd Family Papers consist of three series: Personal, Savings and Loan Institutions, and Photographs.
15 linear feet (including 280 glass plate negatives and 2 videotapes)
The Andrew Tanner Photograph Collection includes glass plate negatives from his travels across the United State and in Mexico in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Images in the collection demonstrate in a vivid way life in the United States, the natural environment, and the photographic processes of the time. The plates are in excellent condition and images are of very good quality. Tanner's original plate numbers are indicated on the slides, and where known, are indicated on the sleeves containing the plates; some plates were also assigned numbers by their intermediate owner, Jack Kausch, and, where known, these are also indicated on the envelopes. The images in the collection (14 boxes) date from 1894 to 1909, and are organized into three series: 5x7 Plates, 1894-1909 (13 boxes), 8x10 Plates, ca. 1900 (1 linear foot), and Miscellaneous (1 linear foot).
3 linear feet
The Emerson R. Smith papers mostly consist of correspondence and reference materials pertaining to the history of the Straits area of Michigan (St. Ignace, Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island).
2 items (in oversize folder)
This collection is comprised of contracts, dated 1799 and 1801, signed by Henry Dearborn and James McHenry, U.S. Secretary of War, for distributing food rations to various army posts, including Detroit and Michilimackinac.
1 linear foot
The collection includes correspondence and legal documents of David Rinsey, his son George, and of George's wife, Ina Alexander Rinsey. There are also photographs and photograph albums of the Rinsey family's home and place of business in Ann Arbor. The photographs consists of both formal and informal portraits; interior and exterior photos of their homes on North Division St., Ann Arbor, Michigan; interior and exterior photos of Rinsey & Seabolt grocery on E. Washington St.; and photographs of family events and activities.
1 linear foot
The S. Alicia Poole collection is largely made up of photographic prints and negatives relating to Mackinac Island, its residents, buildings, and history. In addition, there is material relating to the Poole family and research notes and other accumulated information about Mackinac Island history.
7.4 linear feet (in 10 boxes; over 5000 postcards)
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.
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.
13 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The Frederick G. Novy collection documents the career and research interests of this noted bacteriologist, including information from the period of time when he was a member of the San Francisco Plague Commission (1901).
The collection has been divided into the following series:
2.6 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The collection consists primarily of photographs and negative taken by Richard Nims with some mixed material such as diaries, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and ephemera. The collection contains the following series: Photographs/Negatives, Other Papers, and Motion Pictures.
1 linear foot (in 2 boxes)
The McIntire collection consists largely of photographs, slides, postcards, and prints of views of Mackinac Island and the straits of Mackinac. Many of the images are of Great Lakes ships and Straits of Mackinac ferries. As some of these images are labeled "Poole" and because S. Alicia Poole owned the Iroquois before McIntire, it is probable that some of these images at one time belonged to Poole. The researcher should note that the library has a separate S. Alicia Poole collection and should consult both collections for information about Mackinac Island.
A small part of the collection (approximately 1.5 linear inches) consists of manuscript materials detailing McIntire's career. Of interest are correspondence and reports illustrative of some of the problems that a Mackinac Island mayor confronted.
14 linear feet (in 22 boxes) — 3 oversize volumes — 1 oversize folder
The Edward Martin collection consists of papers and photographs, accumulated from various sources, relate to Detroit organizations and individuals. Except for a small series of Detroit Board of Water Commissioners documents, the collection concerns Michigan's Polish-American community and the activities of Polish-American organization, including the Polish Army Veterans Association and the Polish Sea League. Much of the collection consists of photographic portraits from studios catering to the Polish-American community in Detroit and Hamtramck.
The collection consists of seven series: Detroit Board of Water Commissioners, Polish Army Veterans Association, Polish Sea League, Printed Polish Materials, Waclaw S. Jakubowski papers, Miscellaneous, and Photographs.
18 linear feet — 14 oversize folders
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.
1 linear foot
Representing but a tiny fraction of Korab's oeuvre, the collection held at the Bentley Library will nevertheless appeal to a broad range of researchers. Especially in a collective sense, Korab photographs are not only about architecture and architectural photography, but also about art, technology, modernism, photography's history, the environment, urbanism, ruralism, and the creative process itself. They also document one individual's spirited commitment to a life's work -- work expressed both analytically and emotionally.
The essence of the collection is a Korab portfolio entitled Man's Presence, a study of Michigan's man-made environment that drew him to dozens of towns, cities and rural areas in the upper and lower peninsulas. Photographs capture the quiet magnificence of silos and barns, the elegance of 19th century mansions, the utilitarian architecture of iron foundries and grain elevators. There are also pictures depicting ways man has wasted resources (an abandoned lumber mill, a barren tract of bulldozed land. A superb example of Korab's lifelong fascination with vernacular architecture, Man's Presence is a deliberate effort to capture on film Michigan worlds that otherwise might go unnoticed or become lost to future generations.
The collection is comprised of three series: Biographical Materials; Man's Presence Contact Sheets; and Man's Presence Copy Prints and Copy Negatives.
6 linear feet (in 7 boxes) — 14 oversize volumes
The papers, 1928-1968, of G. Donald Kennedy document his career in civil engineering, his participation in professional organizations, his activities as a state official, and as a supporter of the Michigan Democratic Party. The collection Includes correspondence, speeches, minutes, reports, articles, clippings, and photographs. The files relate to his work as municipal engineer in Pontiac, Michigan, with the Mackinac Straits Bridge Authority, the American Association of State Highway Officials, the Automotive Safety Foundation, and the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority. The collection also includes papers relating to highway and airport construction, to economic mobilization during World War II, the Willow Run Bomber Plant, state Democratic Party matters, particularly the campaign visits of President Roosevelt to Michigan in 1936.
0.5 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
Correspondence, contractual agreements, financial analyses detailing operation of the North American Cable Company; miscellaneous materials relating to the Allmand Development Corporation and the purchase of the Mackinac College facilities; a compact disc of recording made at the 40th anniversary of radio station WAAM.
Photos of Mackinac Island views, including construction of Mackinac College facilities; also photos of passenger vessels at Mackinac Island dock; photo of Johnston interviewing football coach Chalmers "Bump" Elliott for his radio program; and DVD copy of 1965 television program with Coach Elliott discussing the previous week's game.
1 envelope
The J. A. Jenney stereograph collection is comprised of scenes of camp life and activities at the L. B. Curtis and Company Lumber Camp in Midland County, Michigan, as well as views of Mackinac Island, Michigan.
0.75 linear feet (in 2 boxes) — 1 oversize folder
The collection consists primarily of Hubbard's pocket-size field notebooks. The notebooks are arranged, for the most part, chronologically for the period 1837 to 1893. Several notebooks that do not fit the chronological sequence are placed at the end of the series of notebooks. The notebooks for the years 1837 to 1840 have been bound, probably by Hubbard, into larger volumes. For convenience the later notebooks have been grouped into "volumes" by the library. Each "volume" is in a separate case. The notebooks contain personal journals, geological notes, and meteorological registers, along with sketches of landforms, scenery, and people, geological sections, and maps.
A few loose papers are found at the end of the collection.
The most extensive notebooks are those written between 1837 and 1840, when Hubbard was working for the Michigan Geological Survey, and in 1845 and 1846, when he was conducting the combined land and geological survey of the Upper Peninsula. In addition to the main sequence of notebooks for those years (volumes 1-8 and 10-12), that period is represented by separate meteorological registers (volumes 18 and 22), separate geological field notes for the 1840 expedition to the Lake Superior region (volume 21), and three reports on Hubbard's 1846 surveys (volumes 23-24 and loose papers).
This finding aid contains two appendixes. The first, compiled by the initial cataloger of the collection in 1958, specifies where many of the topics indexed in the card catalog for this collection can be found in the series of notebooks. The second contains an inventory of the maps found in the collection.
Several portions of the collection have been published.
The notebooks for May 23-August 8, 1840 (volumes 7-9 and parts of 21) have been published as Lake Superior Journal: Bela Hubbard's Account of the 1840 Houghton Expedition}, edited by Bernard C. Peters. Marquette, Mich.: Northern Michigan University Press, 1983. [MHC call number EA/91/H875/L192]
The "Catalogue of the Geological Specimens, Hubbard & Ives Survey, 1846" (volume 23), the "Report on the Geology &c. of District Surveyed by Messrs. Higgins & Hubbard, 1846, Lake Superior, with Catalogue of Minerals, Sections, etc." (volume 24), and the "Report upon the Geology & Topography of the District on L. Superior Subdivided in 1846 by Hubbard & Ives" (loose material) have been published in Report on the Geological and Mineralogical Survey of the Mineral Lands of the United States in the State of Michigan .., by Charles T. Jackson. Washington, D.C.: Printed for the House of Representatives, 1849. (31st Congress, 1st Session, House Executive Document 5, Part 3) [MHC call number EA/153/U58/M583]
The reports of Hubbard's surveys for the Michigan Geological Survey, based on his notes have been published in Geological Reports of Douglass Houghton: First State Geologist of Michigan, 1837-1845. Lansing, Mich.: Michigan Historical Commission, 1928. [MHC call number EA/153/MG345/G345]
Hubbard's autobiography has been published as Memorials of a Half-Century. New York: Putnam's, 1887. [MHC call number EA/60/H875/M533]
Other Bela Hubbard papers are found at the Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library.
7 linear feet (in 8 boxes)
The Emerson Frank Greenman Papers are comprised of six series: Correspondence, Camp Killarney, Research and Miscellaneous Files, Photographs, Scrapbooks, and Canadian Site Files.
2.5 linear feet (in 3 boxes) — 4 oversize volumes — 1 oversize folder
The Fred W. Green collection is comprised of correspondence, scrapbooks, speeches, photographs, postcards, and miscellaneous other materials. Some of the correspondence covers the period when Green was at Santa Clara, Cuba in 1899, but the bulk of the letters fall within the period of his gubernatorial service.
1 envelope
The P. B. Greene photograph collection contains the photographic series "Views of the National Park: Mackinac Island, Michigan", containing "promenade" views of Mackinac Island.
12.5 linear feet — 1 oversize folder — 2 oversize volumes — 6 film reels — 2 digital audio files
The Harold Gray papers have been divided into seven series: Correspondence; World War I era activities; Personal and Miscellaneous; Printed, clippings, and miscellanea; Family and genealogical; Saline Valley Farms; and Visual Materials (photographs and motion pictures). The great strength of the collection are correspondence, administrative files, diaries, and visual materials documenting the operation of the Saline Valley Farms. There is significant, though smaller quantities of papers detailing Gray's opposition to serving in the military during World War I and his career as a teacher in China in the 1920s.
27.5 linear feet (in 29 boxes) — 2 oversize folders — 94.4 GB (online)
The Grand Hotel records are arranged in six series: Printed Material, Miscellaneous, Press Clippings and Publications, Photographic Material, Audio Material, and Videographic Material.
2 linear feet — 1 oversize folder — 2 film reels — 2 optical discs (DVDs)
The Gillespie papers consist of clippings and miscellaneous items relating to his legal career and articles on his death, photographs, judicial opinions and films.
The Photographs consist of portraits and s composite photos of Oakland County Bench and Bar, 1924 and 1950, and a folder of copy prints of photos from the two albums. The albums contain numerous images of hunting and fishing scenes, many from Houghton Lake and the Au Sable River, oil rigs in Genesee county, the Detroit Ski Club ski jump in Rochester, Michigan, photos of the First and Second Michigan Air Tours, 1929 and 1931, view of Mackinaw City, Mich storefronts, 1917, Ranger, Texas, street views and oil rigs, 1919, vacation at Isle Royale, Mich., 1935, and a trip to the Soo Locks and Tahquamenon Falls.
The Judicial Opinions Series includes all of he opinions Gillespie wrote as a member of the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court of Michigan, 1921-1934
The Motion Pictures series consists of two 16mm films documenting portions of the First and Second Michigan Air Tours, 1929-1930, including footage of airplanes and aerial views of Michigan scenes; includes views of Governor Fred Green, the airship Graf Zeppelin, and Mackinac Island The films were digitized in 2011 and are now available on DVD or as streaming files (on request).
1 envelope
The collection consists of photographic views of Mackinac Island, Michigan.
2 microfilms (0.8 linear feet and 1 oversize folder)
The Ferry family collection consists of letters and typescripts of letters from William Montague Ferry and his wife Amanda White Ferry describing their trip from Ashfield, Massachusetts, to Mackinac Island and their missionary work among the Indians; letters, 1862-1901, of Colonel William M. Ferry, University of Michigan regent, particularly to his wife and other relatives while serving in the Fourteenth Michigan Infantry during the Civil War; speeches and letters from contemporary politicians to Thomas White Ferry, lumberman and U.S. Senator; and two scrapbooks of newspaper clippings on the Ferry family. Correspondents in the collection include: Susan B. Anthony, Henry P. Baldwin, Zachariah Chandler, Schuyler Colfax, William M. Evarts, Hamilton Fish, Rutherford B. Haye, Whitelaw Reid, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
0.8 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The Ferry family collection consists of letters and typescripts of letters from William Montague Ferry and his wife Amanda White Ferry describing their trip from Ashfield, Massachusetts, to Mackinac Island and their missionary work among the Indians; letters, 1862-1901, of Colonel William M. Ferry, University of Michigan regent, particularly to his wife and other relatives while serving in the Fourteenth Michigan Infantry during the Civil War; speeches and letters from contemporary politicians to Thomas White Ferry, lumberman and U.S. Senator; and two scrapbooks of newspaper clippings on the Ferry family. Correspondents in the collection include: Susan B. Anthony, Henry P. Baldwin, Zachariah Chandler, Schuyler Colfax, William M. Evarts, Hamilton Fish, Rutherford B. Haye, Whitelaw Reid, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
66.5 linear feet — 12 oversize volumes — 3 oversize folders
The records of the diocese of Michigan have been arranged into the following series: Bishops' files, Executive and administrative bodies, Diocesan organizations, Diocesan programs, Diocesan staff, Parishes and missions, Clergy, Audio and visual material, and Miscellaneous.
The record group is most valuable for its documentation of the history of the diocese and the individual churches within its administration, with a lesser amount of material pertaining to religious functions performed and to the operation of diocesan administrative groups and departments. For a number of reasons, there is scant material pertaining to the administration of the diocesan office or to the special programs that have been initiated by it over the years. Some of this material may be found in the papers of individual bishops whose papers have also come to the library and are separately cataloged. These include Samuel McCoskry, Samuel Smith Harris, Charles D. Williams, Herman Page, and Richard Emrich.
0.3 linear feet
The Dreier collection consists of photographs and negatives largely of Upper Peninsula views, primarily of the Pictured Rocks near Munising, of Grand Island, Marquette, Tahquamenon Falls, and the Keweenaw Peninsula. Included are photographs of car ferries and ferry docks at Mackinaw City and Saint Ignace.
16 linear feet
The Gordon Charles papers contain his journals, copies and clippings of his articles, his books, subject files, slides, photographs, and correspondence related to his work as travel and outdoor activities writer for local Michigan newspapers. The papers are divided up into three series: Personal, Articles, and Subject Files.
28 linear feet (in 29 boxes) — 2 oversize folders — 12 microfilms
The Prentiss M. Brown Collection is rich and full and offers researchers materials on a variety of local and national topics reflecting the diversity of the man's private and public life. The earliest item in the collection is a letter book dated 1902-04 of James J. Brown, like his son a prominent St. Ignace attorney. The collection then picks up Prentiss M. Brown's entrance to the legal profession in 1917, traces his rise to public office, his work in Congress and with the O.P.A., and then concludes with his later business interests and his crusade upon behalf of the Mackinac Bridge.
The Brown Collection comprises approximately twenty-eight feet of correspondence, letterbooks, scrapbooks, diaries, speeches, topical and legislative files, photographs and phonograph records, and legal case files and business records. Covering the period 1917 to 1973, the papers concentrate most heavily in the years 1932-1942 when Brown was in the U.S. Congress. The greatest gap in the collection is in the period of the 1920s when Brown was making his first bids for political office. Also missing are any extensive files for the time of Brown's O.P.A. directorship. What the collection has on the O.P.A. are largely speeches, scrapbooks, and congratulatory letters.
23 archived websites (online; multiple captures)
The Web Archive of Michigan's Commerce and Industry collection contains archived websites created by various businesses and industry driven organizations of the State of Michigan. The websites have been archived by the Bentley Historical Library, using the California Digital Library Web Archiving Service crawler from 2010-2015 and the Archive-It web archiving service beginning in 2015. Access to all websites archived by the Bentley Historical Library is available at: https://archive-it.org/organizations/934.
Web Archives include websites of corporations, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations who call the state of Michigan home. The collection is especially strong in documenting economic development efforts in Detroit and all of Michigan, historic businesses and industries, and distinguished individuals who belong to these communities.
The year that appears next to the website title in the contents list indicates the date that the website was first archived. Archived versions of the site from later dates may also be available.
14.4 linear feet (in 15 boxes) — 1 oversize folder
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.
2.5 linear feet (in 5 boxes)
The Ed Beach collection consists of photographic negatives (with some prints) and albums with prints of historic plaques and markers, statues of famous statesmen and their gravesites, early school buildings, historic houses, gristmills, sawmills, and county courthouses. Other subjects include tourist sites in Michigan (such as Greenfield Village or Mackinac Island) and state parks, especially those in the Upper Peninsula. His hometown of Howell, Michigan is also heavily documented.
The Beach collection is arranged into three series. In the Kodak series the negatives measure 2 3/4 by 4 1/2 inches in size and cover the years 1931 to 1948. The Leica series consists of 35-millimeter strips and were taken between the years 1936 and 1938. The third series consists of seven albums of carefully identified photographs.
An item-level listing of the contents of the Kodak and Leica series is available at the library. To aid researchers a geographic and subject index has been created and is attached to this finding aid. These indices provide the best introduction to the collection.
Beach created the photograph albums around broad topics, and each has a title. The albums include: "Michigan Historic Places," "Around Lake Erie in Ontario. Trip to Chicago Century of Progress," "Michigan Courthouses," "Michigan Ships, Monuments, Historic Places, Buildings, Creek Scenes," "Indian and Trail Markers," "Around Michigan: Historic Places, Buildings, Mills, Dams, Bridges, Masonic Buildings," and "Michigan Governors' Homes, Michigan Trees, Old Buildings of Michigan." The photos in the albums include Beach's negative number.
19 microfilms
The strength of the Sault Ste. Marie collection is the records of the American Fur Company at Port Mackinac. These records date as early as 1802 and include shipping documents from the Sault Ste. Marie area and nearby ports from 1802 to 1884. Among these documents are shipping manifests, clearance documents, bills of sale, enrolment bonds, Treasury Department circulars to custom collectors at the Port of Sault Ste. Marie and nearby ports, and personal and business correspondence.
Other portions of the collection are files maintained by Myron W. Scranton. Scranton was a son-law and business partner of Peter B. Barbeau.
8 microfilms
This collection of eight microfilm rolls divides into two series: Correspondence and business papers, and Maritime papers. Although titled the Peter Barbeau collection, the papers are of Barbeau and others Northern Michigan businessmen. The papers detail business activities, particularly in Sault Ste. Marie area and concern mining, fishing, shipping, fur trading, lumbering, and other businesses. Also included are maritime papers consisting of customs papers and ships manifest from Michilimackinac and Sault Ste. Marie. Found within the collection as well are miscellaneous American Fur Company papers, papers on lighthouse administration, the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, and some Republican politics.
14.8 linear feet (in 16 boxes) — 24 oversize volumes
The record group consists primarily of early financial records, dating back to 1850, before the company was founded. Other records document the various property interests of the Arnold Transit Company (ATC), and the estates of the Arnold family. The vessels themselves are represented through various certificates, manifests, and logs. Historical advertisements of Arnold Transit have been preserved, as well as promotions of the straits of Mackinac and surrounding area in general. Architectural plans, documents of area organizations, information on competing lines, and a fair number of photographs round out the collection.
The record group is comprised of seven series: Administration, Union Terminal Piers, Topical Files, Area Organizations, People, Visual Materials, and Vessels.