Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Lawyer, Member of Michigan Supreme Court, 1842-1846, Democratic Governor of Michigan, 1846-1847, and holder of numerous other public offices; papers include correspondence and other papers documenting his career in public service.

The Alpheus Felch papers details the active life of this nineteenth century Michigan public servant. Not only are public issues discussed in the correspondence files but the researcher will also gain an understanding of some of the personal problems associated with public service. The collection also includes several files of other family members.

The Alumni Association of the University of Michigan was established in 1897 following a consolidation of the Society of Alumni with the alumni societies of the professional schools. The Michigan Alumnus became the association's official organ. As the organization grew, local chapters were established and provided greater structure. The records include files pertaining to the Alumni Association's administrative office and various chapters and interests groups. This includes national and international U-M alumni and alumnae clubs, the Alumnae Council, the Society of Alumni, the University of Michigan Black Alumni (UMBA-formerly the African American Alumni Council (AAC)), and the Reunion of Black Graduates (RBG). The records include but are not limited to correspondence, minutes, reports, and survey responses, audiovisual materials, digital files, photographs, and publications.

The collection spans 1845-2001. The textual records of the Alumni Association (boxes 1-133) are largely unprocessed, and are described in only general terms in this finding aid. Exceptions include files maintained by Marjorie Williams who served as the vice chair and chair of the Alumnae Council from 1960 to 1962, Class Reunion files, and Topical Files.

Additions to the collection (boxes 168-171) incorporate records, audiovisual materials, photographs, and publications pertaining to the University of Michigan Black Alumni (UMBA). To note are materials specifically related to the African American Alumni Council (AAAC)-formerly the UMBA, and the Reunion of Black Graduates (RBG). This includes information about the Dr. Leonard F. Sain Award, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. scholarship and symposium, the Camp Michigania retreat, and annual reunion for black graduates photographs, planning materials, and souvenir books.

The records of the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan include council proceedings (1834-1919); assessment rolls (1830, 1839, and 1958-1959); scrapbooks relating to city government (1904-1951); and records and photographs detailing the city's waste management and recycling program beginning in the 1980s. Miscellaneous materials include plats of the wards, 1912; election returns, 1847-1852; records of the former city of East Ann Arbor and the Village of Ann Arbor (Lower Town); and minutes of the Ann Arbor Park Commission (1905-1956). Also of interest are files concerning the Ann Arbor Railroad and the city's street railway and interurban system.

The series in this record group include: Election returns; Bonds; Assessment Rolls; Miscellaneous; City of East Ann Arbor; Council proceedings; Scrapbooks; Ann Arbor Park Commission; Village of Ann Arbor (Lower Town); Photographs; Recycling and Environmental Issues; and Other City Records.

The records of the Ann Arbor Public Schools, cover the numerous districts and schools that developed and then gradually merged into an area school system.

The collection consists of nine series: Ann Arbor Board of Education; Ann Arbor Public Schools Historic Records; Historic School District Records; Pittsfield Township; Administration; Desegregation, Jones School; Scrapbooks; Miscellaneous other records; Directories.

Township record books, 1845-1902; registers of births, 1906-1943; registers of deaths, 1897-1912; poll books, tally sheets, and statement of votes from polls within township; records relating to surveys, repairs, etc. of township roads; reports and compiled statistics pertaining to township schools; property assessment roll books; and other miscellaneous records.

The records of Ann Arbor Township include township record books, 1845-1902; registers of births, 1906-1943; registers of deaths, 1897-1912; poll books, tally sheets, and statement of votes from polls within township; records relating to surveys, repairs, etc. of township roads; reports and compiled statistics pertaining to township schools; property assessment roll books; and other miscellaneous records. The records are organized into nine series:

1. Township Record Books, 1845-1902
2. Registers of Births, 1906-1943
3. Registers of Deaths, 1897-1912
4. Election records
5. Highway Records, 1820s-1920s
6. Treasurer's records, 1830s-1923
7. School Records, 1840s-1930s
8. Miscellaneous, 1827-1920s
9. Assessment Roll Books, 1872-1996

Western Michigan teacher, businessman and local historian. Correspondence, journal, speeches, notes and articles.

The collection is arranged into four series: Correspondence; Journals; Speeches, notes and articles; and Other materials. The collection documents his career as a teacher in Battle Creek, Kalamazoo and Galesburg, Michigan. Of interest are his experiences as a teacher in Mississippi before the Civil War. The correspondence and journals reveal his scholarly and political interests. The collection also includes minutes, 1861-1876, of the Galesburg Temperance Society.

U.S. District Court Judge, Eastern District of Michigan; Federal trial court case files, personal and professional correspondence, scrapbooks, University of Michigan student notebooks, and other materials concerning legal activities, Republican Party politics, prohibition, the election of 1924, Sigma Alpha Epsilon affairs; also family materials, including grandfather, John J. Tuttle, Leslie, Michigan, Ingham County official and businessman; and photographs.

The Arthur J. Tuttle Papers are arranged in 13 series: case files, opinions and jury instructions, topical office files, conciliation commissioners, criminal files, correspondence, letterbooks, scrapbooks, University of Michigan, financial matters, miscellaneous biographical materials, Tuttle family materials, and visual materials.

Ann Arbor, Mich., civil engineering, surveying, and planning firm. Cadastral maps, showing land ownership, of Washtenaw County and Ann Arbor, Mich.; also maps of mill sites on Huron River at Broadway in Ann Arbor. Many of the maps drawn by J. B. Davis.

The maps in this collection were not created by Atwell-Hicks, but were apparently acquired by the firm in the course of its business.

There are four groups of maps in the collection: Plat maps of Washtenaw County (20 maps), Plat maps of Ann Arbor (11 maps), Maps of mill sites along the Huron River at Broadway in Ann Arbor (7 maps), and Miscellaneous (1 map).

Plat maps of Washtenaw County include one map for each township, which show names of initial land purchasers and subsequent landowners through about the 1850s. Plat maps of Ann Arbor are cadastral maps (show property boundaries) and some show land ownership as well. Maps of mill sites along the Huron River at Broadway in Ann Arbor show in great detail the complex of mills, millraces, dams, and outbuildings in the Broadway area. Miscellaneous includes one map of a lake in Lenawee County.

Materials collected by Helen Blair Lamar and subsequently donated to the Blair Society for Genealogical Research and pertaining to the Austin Blair family of Michigan and related family lines, the Hanks family and the North family. The collection, arranged by family name and then by individual, includes original with some typed transcripts of family letters, diaries, legal documents, poetry, personal items, and visual materials.

Helen Blair Lamar kept the papers of the Blair, Hanks and North families for many years. After her death they were given to the Blair Society for Genealogical Research, which in turn donated them to the Bentley Historical Library. This collection exemplifies the slightly random character of family papers accumulated over several generations. There is a wide variety of material on a large number of individuals. In an attempt to keep things as clear as possible, the majority of the papers--manuscript, typescript and printed--have been arranged by FAMILY GROUPS which are subdivided by Personal Name and arranged by generation. This is followed by a small second series of miscellaneous PRINTED MATERIALS. A substantial third series of VISUAL MATERIALS includes Scrapbooks, Photographs, Daguerreotypes and Ambrotypes, Tintypes and Glass Plate Negatives.

Correspondence, 1861-1864, of family members who served in the Civil War, including brothers William Baird (Co. C, 6th Michigan Cavalry and later Co. K, 23rd U.S. Colored Infantry) and Henry C. Baird (Co. L, 7th Michigan Cavalry), cousins William E. Baird (Co. E, 22nd Michigan Infantry) and Frederick Diem (Co. C, 6th Michigan Cavalry); other family correspondence of the Civil War era, a reminiscence by William Baird of his family history and Civil War experiences, and miscellanea. William Baird's reminiscence includes an account of his parentage, life on a farm in St. Clair County, early schooling and teaching experiences, and his experiences in the Civil War. He enlisted in Company C, 6th Michigan Cavalry in 1862, and was in winter camp in Washington. The highlights of his journal are the battle of Gettysburg, where he was wounded; studying in a Philadelphia hospital to become a commissioned officer; the granting of his commission through the help of Representative Francis W. Kellogg, and his assignment as first lieutenant to Company K, 23rd U. S. Colored Infantry.