Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

The Citizens for Traditional Values record group documents four separate but interrelated organizations having many of the same members and sharing a strategy aimed at uniting conservative Christians on behalf of similarly-minded candidates for office. These organizations were The Freedom Council (1985-1987), the Michigan Committee for Freedom (1986-1992), the MCFF offshoot organization Celebrate Life (1989-1992), and the Citizens for Traditional Values (1991-present). The record group contains a variety of documentary materials such as office files, correspondence, budgets, reports, fundraising information, draft materials, and news clippings.

The record group contains materials from The Michigan Freedom Council (MFC -1985-1987), the Michigan Committee for Freedom (MCFF -- 1986-1992), the MCFF offshoot organization Celebrate Life (1989-1992), and the Council for Traditional Values (1991-present), conservative Christian political activist groups working in Michigan. The records contains a variety of documentary materials such as office files, correspondence, budgets, reports, fundraising information, draft materials, and news clippings to give a well-rounded view of the conservative Christian political scene in Michigan.

The Daniel L. DeGrow collection documents his activities as Republican member of the Michigan legislature from 1981 to 2002. The collection includes hardbound volumes of press releases issued by DeGrow and colleagues, columns written by DeGrow for various publications, and press clips from publications across the state.

Records in this collection document Dan DeGrow's tenure in the Michigan legislature, spanning from 1981 to 2002. The collection consists of four series of hardbound volumes: Press Releases, Columns, Press Clips, and Miscellaneous.

Files of state chairs, Neil Staebler, John J. Collins, Zolton Ferency, Sander Levin, James McNeely, Morley Winograd, Olivia Maynard, Richard Wiener, F. Thomas LeWand, and Gary Corbin; files of deputy state chair, Billie S. Farnum, vice chairs Adelaide Hart and Olivia Maynard, and vice chair Robert Mitchell; files relating to state constitutional convention, and to state and national political campaigns, since 1950; sound recordings and visual materials.

The records of the Democratic Party of Michigan have come to the library in several accessions beginning in 1967 and periodically thereafter. The record group is comprised of files mainly from the Lansing office of the Democratic Party of Michigan. The files are of the officers of the party: state chair, vice chair, deputy chair, and secretary among others. As might be expected, the records relate to the day-to-day operation of the party, the management of political campaigns (i.e. selecting candidates, defining issues, raising funds, getting out the vote, etc.). In addition, much of the records concern the state organization's relationship with the National Democratic Party and its participation in the national convention to select a presidential nominee. Because of inconsistencies in how files were maintained and used, the files of one party officer might also include materials of his / her predecessor. Thus the researcher should be examine the entire finding aid for material on any given topic or time period.

The records of the Democratic Party of Michigan has been arranged into the following series: (1) Earlier records, prior to 1965; (2) State Chair, Democratic State Central Committee files; (3) Other Party Officers; (4) Headquarters files; (5) Detroit Office Files; (6) Topical Files; (7) State Central Committee Meeting Minutes; (8) State and National Convention files; (9) Appeals Committee; (10) Publications and miscellaneous; (11) Visual Materials; (12) Sound Recordings.

The Dick Posthumus papers (1972-2002) consist of materials related to his political career as state senator, Senate Majority Leader, and Lieutenant Governor and his campaign for governor. The collection includes correspondence, campaign literature, media advisories, newspaper clippings, speeches, radio and television appearances and photographs.

The Dick Posthumus papers (1972-2002) consist of materials related to his political career as state senator, Senate Majority Leader, and Lieutenant Governor and his campaign for governor. The collection includes correspondence, campaign literature, media advisories, newspaper clippings, speeches, radio and television appearances and photographs. The papers are organized into eight series: materials related to his political career as a state senator, Senate Majority Leader, and Lieutenant Governor and his campaign for governor: Campaigns, Correspondence, Media Advisories, News clips, Speeches, Topical Files, Other Media, and Photographs.

Binkowski was a district judge from Warren, Michigan who collected extensively about Democratic politics and the Polish American community in Michigan. The collection includes materials collected by Binkowski on Democratic politics, the Polish community in Michigan, the cities of Detroit, Warren, and Hamtramck, Michigan, and collected letters, postage covers, and stamps.

The collection includes materials collected by Binkowski on Democratic politics, the Polish community in Michigan, the cities of Detroit, Warren, and Hamtramck, Michigan history in general, and collected letters, postage covers, and stamps. Digital materials include video files and an archived website. Photographs include images of strike violence, 1934-1938, at various Michigan firms; photos of Polish American public figures and organizations, also photos of political meetings and elected officials. Audio cassettes mostly contain recorded interviews with Polish American political figures.

District judge from Warren, Michigan. Correspondence, campaign materials, and other papers concerning his work as delegate to Michigan Constitutional Convention, 1961-1962, as Warren city councilman, and as attorney and judge; papers concerning local and state Democratic politics, and his activities with Polish-American organizations and his interest in Polish American history and personages. Also includes digital images.

The Don Binkowski collection consists of correspondence, campaign materials, and other papers concerning his work as a delegate to the Michigan Constitutional Convention, 1961-1962, as Warren city councilman, and as attorney and judge; also papers concerning local and state Democratic politics, and his activities with Polish-American organizations.

Douglas Ross (1942- ) is a Michigan political figure. He has been active in many political organizations and the Democratic party and served as Michigan Director of Commerce and United States Assistant Secretary of Labor. He also ran, unsuccessfully, for governor of Michigan in 1998. Ross' main concerns are economic policy and education. He currently runs a charter school in Detroit, Michigan. The papers cover most of his career, especially as Michigan Senator and at the Department of Labor, and include his notes and articles, correspondence, publications, and videotapes.

Member of the Michigan State Senate, House of Representatives, Ann Arbor City Council, and Mayor of Ann Arbor; records include handwritten notes on policy issues, collected research materials, and news clippings related to Brater’s service as a member of the Michigan State Senate and House of Representatives.

The Brater collection consists of eight series: Environment and Natural Resources, Mental Health, Judiciary, Other Policy Files, Legislative Files, Subject Files, News Clippings, and Other Office Files. The collection's strength lies in its documentation of Brater's activities in the areas of environmental issues and mental illness treatment programs as a member of the Michigan Senate and House of Representatives.

Granholm was the Democratic governor of Michigan from 2003 to 2010. Records are primarily arranged by office of origin and staff member and document Granholm's service as governor. The series in the collection are: Transition 2002, Legal Division, Policy Division, Executive Office, Communications Division, Economic Recovery Office, Northern Michigan Office, Other Executive Divisions, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Office of the First Gentleman, Archived Websites, and Memorabilia. The collection includes paper, digital materials, and audio-visual materials. Extensively documented topics include economic diversification, renewable energy, environmental issues, education, Michigan's response to the 2008 financial crisis, the Governor's Hearing on the Removal of Kwame Kilpatrick from the office of Mayor of Detroit, and Michigan soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Jennifer Granholm papers document the activities, policies, and accomplishments of the executive branch of Michigan's state government from 2003 to 2010. The collection consists of twelve series and is primarily arranged according to office of origin. The series are: Transition 2002, Legal Division, Policy Division, Executive Office, Communications Division, Economic Recovery Office, Northern Michigan Office, Other Executive Divisions, Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Office of the First Gentleman, Archived Websites, and Memorabilia. While the collection documents the full range of Governor Granholm's activities, it is especially strong in documenting the governor's efforts in the areas of economic diversification, renewable energy, education, and Michigan's response to the 2008 financial crisis. Also of note are the documents pertaining to the Governor's Hearing on the Removal of Kwame Kilpatrick from the office of Mayor of Detroit, the Legal Division files on the state's interactions with Michigan's Native American tribes, the administration's work on behalf of the University of Michigan in the Gratz and Grutter affirmative action lawsuits, the administration's response to Proposal 2, and dossiers kept on each Michigan soldier killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Republican member of the Michigan state legislature (House and Senate, 1971-1990); governor of Michigan (1991-2003); active member of the Republican Governors' Association and the National Governors' Association. The Engler collection consists primarily of materials created and maintained by Governor Engler and his staff during the period when he was governor, 1991-2003. Other records include papers from his several terms in the Michigan House and the Michigan Senate. The collection includes papers files, photographs, sound recordings, videotapes, memorabilia, and some electronic files. The gubernatorial files are arranged mainly by unit or functional responsibility within the governor's office. These series are Executive Office, Communications Division, Legal Division, State Government Affairs, Legislative Affairs Division, Operations Division, External Affairs, Scheduling, Washington DC Office, and Office of the First Lady. Topics extensively documented include state welfare and school funding reform, reorganization of state boards and commissions, notably the restructuring of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and Republican party politics.

The John Engler papers are the most important source available for the study of Michigan's state government from 1991 to 2002. The collection is particularly strong on the topics of welfare and school funding reform, state government reorganization and the rising impact of the National Governors' Association in state and national politics. Engler's efforts to attract commerce to Michigan are also well-documented. The materials are arranged into two main subgroups: Pre-gubernatorial Papers and Gubernatorial Papers. The bulk of the material relates to Engler's gubernatorial career, therefore, the analysis that follows focuses primarily on this subgroup.

The materials in the "Gubernatorial Papers" subgroup are arranged according to the offices and subdivisions of the governor's office that created them. This means that the governor's speeches and press releases, for example, may be found within a grouping or "series" called "Communications Division," within the "Gubernatorial" subgroup, while legislative histories for various public acts may be found within the "Legislative Affairs" series.

While some kinds of documents were produced uniquely by one division, other kinds were produced in several divisions of the governor's office. The governor's correspondence, for example, was drafted and approved by several different staff members. Letters to important business and political leaders may be found within the "Executive Office" series, the "State Government Affairs" series, and the "Washington DC Office" series in particular. There no comprehensive chronological correspondence file.

In using the collection, the researcher should think functionally and ask who would have created the information sought. For example, the policy advisors in the State Government Affairs Division created individual topical files which gathered together correspondence and research materials to support briefing memoranda which they presented to the governor, while the speechwriters in the Communications Division often gathered different types of materials to help them shape the presentation of the same policies to the public.

Republican state senator from Battle Creek, Michigan, 1987-2002; legislative files documenting issues of higher education appropriations, state health concerns, and expenditure of monies received from lawsuit against the tobacco companies.

The papers represent a fragment of this state senator's career as much material had been discarded prior to the library's contact with the Schwarz office. Although some of the materials (mainly clippings) date to the period when he first came to Lansing in the mid-1980s, the great bulk of the collection dates from Schwarz's last term in office, 1999-2002. As might be expected, the files pertain to Schwarz's activities in the state senate, especially on issues of appropriations to the state's colleges and universities. There is also substantial information relating to current state health issues. Not present in these papers are materials relating to his activities outside the senate, campaigns for office, or his candidacy for governor in 2002. There are also no photographs or other visual materials in the collection.

The papers have been brought together in the following series: Higher Education; Health Issues; Other Issues; and Miscellaneous.

Press official for Michigan House of Representatives Republican Policy Committee; reports of Committee Task Forces, press clippings, research materials, internal memorandum, and documents related to the career of Speaker Paul Hillegonds.

The documents contained in this collection focus primarily on the setting of policy agendas by the Michigan Republican Party in the State House of Representatives in the 1980s, 90s and 2000s. The record group has been divided into four series: House Republican Policy Committee Task Forces, Materials Compiled as Communications Specialist of the House Republican Communications Section, Materials Compiled as Director House Republican Communications Services and Miscellaneous.

Lana Pollack served as state senator for Michigan's Eighteenth District from 1982 to 1994. The collection documents her legislative and political activities and include subject files, campaign materials, and audio-visual materials.

The Lana Pollack collection documents diverse aspects of Pollack's legislative and political activities. The papers have been divided into seven series: Ann Arbor Board of Education; Michigan Senate; Campaigns; Photographs; Audiotapes; Videotapes; and Other Projects.

LeRoy Cappaert was a teacher and Democratic city councilman from Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1964-1970, delegate to the 1968 Democratic National Convention, and member of the Coalition for Peace in Central America, and organization established to provide assistance to Ann Arbor's sister city, Juigalpa, Nicaragua. Lael Cappaert was a librarian, also active in political and community causes. Papers and notebooks concerning LeRoy's election campaigns for the city council, his council activities, his work as delegate at the Democratic National Conventions of 1964 and 1968, and the 1968 Presidential campaign of Senator Eugene McCarthy, his work with the Coalition for Peace in Central America; memoirs of his wife Lael Cappaert, pictorial history of their daughter Andrea Lael Cappaert; audio-visual material; and scrapbooks.

LeRoy and Lael Cappaert's papers are divided into the following series: Democratic Party politics; Ann Arbor City Council; Personal/Biographical; Family; Coalition for Peace in Central America; Visual Materials; Sound Recordings; and Scrapbooks. Most of the files relate to LeRoy Cappaert's career.

Records of the Michigan Interfaith Council on Alcohol Problems and affiliated organizations. MICAP is a Lansing based organization dedicated to “solving the alcohol problem.” The series in the record group are: the Executive Director’s Files, Topical Files related to alcohol and gambling, Audits and Financial Information, Publications, and Board meetings.

The MICAP record group contains material dating from as early as 1933, but the bulk of the collection is comprised of records from Rev. Allen B. Rice’s Executive Directorship 1972-1999. The collection has been divided into five series: Executive Director’s Files 1972-2005; Audits and Financial Information 1933-2000; Publications 1973-1999; Topical Files 1983-1991, and Board Meetings, 1974-1995.

The collection consists of digital materials for 28 oral history interviews with state political figures, most of them active in the period of 1950 to 2000. The interviews are conducted by individuals knowledgeable about state political history. The content of the interviews are both about the individual's career and about the issues and personalities of the time. These interviews are with political and labor leaders, past members of the state legislature, a Detroit mayor, and a member of the state constitutional convention of 1961-1962.

Professor of English at the University of Michigan, trustee of Washtenaw Community College, and Democratic Party worker. Correspondence, newsletters, leaflets and reports concerning Democratic politics at the state and local levels, platform hearings for the 1976 National Democratic platform; also papers relating to his activities with St. Clare of Assisi Episcopal Church, and Genesis of Ann Arbor.

The Richard W. Bailey Papers consist of four series: Democratic Party Politics, Episcopal Church Activities, Course Materials, and Miscellaneous.

Professor of political science at the University of Michigan and Democratic mayor of Ann Arbor, Michigan for one term, 1957-1959. The collection consists primarily of Eldersveld's mayoralty subject files. There are also some of his writings, as well as notes, course materials, correspondence, departmental memos, reports, biographical material, and recordings of interviews.

The Samuel J. Eldersveld Papers document Eldersveld's academic career, his mayoralty, and personal background. The collection consists primarily of Eldersveld's writings, notes, course materials, correspondence, departmental memos, reports, oral history project, biographical material and mayoralty subject files. The collection contains the following series: Mayoralty Files, 1957-1959, Ann Arbor City Council, Personal/Biographical, Academic Career and Sound Recordings.

Papers of Thomas M. Farrell, Michigan political journalist, editor, and State public information officer. Farrell started his career as a correspondent for the United Press International, was Congressman John C. Mackie Administrative Assistant (1965-1966), and at different times served as Public Information Officer for the Michigan State Highway Department (1959-1965) and for the Michigan Supreme Court (1985-1993), Public Information Director for the Michigan Department of Transportation (1966-1968) and Department Commerce (1969-1972), Assistant Superintendent for Public Affairs for the Michigan Department of Education (1972-1985), and as Director of Communications for Michigan Catholic Conference (1968-1969). Collection includes correspondence, research material and articles by and about Farrell, as well as material collected by Farrell on subjects of professional and personal interests, mostly related to Michigan politics, government, and political figures; also photographs and VHS videotapes.

The collection is organized into four series: Personal files, Professional files, Subject files, and Audio-Visual material.

Legal advisor to the Michigan A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the Democratic State Central Committee; vice chairman of the Michigan Constitutional Convention, 1961-1962; and member of the Michigan Employment Security Commission, 1949-1965. Correspondence, minutes, reports and newspaper clippings concerning the administrations of Michigan governors G. Mennen Williams and John B. Swainson, the problems of employment and unemployment, and the recount of the 1962 gubernatorial election in Minnesota won by Karl Rolvaag.

The Tom Downs collection includes correspondence, minutes, reports and newspaper clippings concerning the administrations of Michigan governors G. Mennen Williams and John B. Swainson, the problems of employment and unemployment, and the recount of the 1962 gubernatorial election in Minnesota won by Karl Rolvaag. The collection is organized in the following series: Political and other activities, 1949-1965; Michigan Employment Security Commission; Michigan Constitutional Convention and related; Miscellaneous; Sound Recordings; Visual Materials; Oral history project, 1995; and Writings, research, and later activities.

501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization formed in February 2005 to open dialogue and increase citizen participation in the debate surrounding Proposal 2, the ballot initiative that ended affirmative action programs in Michigan and was passed in November 2006; records include correspondence, press coverage, organizational files, and materials relating to public events.

The Toward A Fair Michigan records reflect that organization's efforts to promote dialogue on the controversial ballot initiative Proposal 2 (the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative) and encourage public participation in the political process. In addition to illustrating essential steps in the formation and management of 501©(3) nonprofit groups, the records will be especially valuable to those interested in the public debate surrounding Proposal 2 and the issue of affirmative action in the United States in the early 21st century. The collection is comprised of three series: Administrative Files, Program Director's Files, and Organizational Activities.

Michigan Republican State Senator; the collection relates primarily to proposed legislation, other files document issues of concern to the Hispanic community of Michigan; also issues relating to Michigan veterans.

The Papers of Valde Garcia contains documents that span his entire career as a Michigan State Senator from 2001 to 2010. A small number of records date from Garcia's time as a Michigan State Representative before entering the senate. The collection is arranged into three series: Bills and Legislation, Hispanic Issues, and Personal Records.

Public opinion research pollster, aide to Michigan governor George Romney. Polling materials prepared for various Republican campaigns, notably the gubernatorial campaigns of George Romney in 1962 and 1966, Romney's campaign for president, 1967-1968, and the gubernatorial campaign of William Milliken, 1970; and polls conducted on state issues including detailed demographic information on the views of ethnic, religious, and racial minorities; also survey done for Senator Robert Griffin in 1971, and on attitude of state voters towards abortion in 1972. A small collection of material donated in 2013 is related to George Romney's son and the 2012 Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney.

The papers of Walter De Vries reflect primarily his work for Romney and Milliken from 1962 until 1970. The papers are divided into two series, De Vries office files and polling data.