Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

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Collection

Woman’s Study Club of Ypsilanti records, 1897-1999

5 linear feet

Originally formed as auxiliary to Ladies Literary Club. Minutes, scrapbooks, program books, and other organizational materials.

The records of the Woman's Study Club of Ypsilanti include a history of the organization written in 1980, minute books of the organization, programs, membership materials, and scrapbooks of club activities.

Collection

Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Flint Federation records, 1874-1980

1.8 linear feet — 1 oversize volume

Flint, Michigan chapter of the national Woman's Christian Temperance Union, founded in 1874; includes minutes and other administrative records of Flint chapter and records of several subordinate unions.

The Flint WCTU collection comprises 1.8 linear feet and one oversize volume; it spans the years 1874 to 1975 and contains minutes, treasurers' books, correspondence, reports and scrapbooks. The collection includes records from the organization's most successful years, and also documents its diminishing numbers and political clout between the 1930s and 1970s. Of particular interest are minutes from the group's first meeting in 1874, which are located in the oversize volume.

Collection

Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, Battle Creek Chapter records, 1874-1986

2.5 linear feet

Minutes of meetings, records of the Board of Trustees, minutes of the Red Ribbon Temperance Union, 1880-1882, scrapbook and printed material relating to activities of the Union.

The record group documents the local activities of the W.C.T.U .includes minutes of regular meetings (1874-1986, with some gaps), minutes of the Board of Trustees (1907-1975, with some gaps), and minute book of the Red Ribbon Temperance Union, 1880-1882. Also included are record books of the treasurer, yearbooks with lists of officers, a scrapbook and assorted clippings, and reports of the chapter to the Michigan Department of the Treasury.

Collection

Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, Ann Arbor Chapter records, 1874, 1877-1979

2.5 linear feet

Ann Arbor chapter of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union; Minute books and treasurer’s books of Mary J. Taft Union; secretary’s book of Juvenile Temperance Union, 1877-1885; miscellaneous other records, and motion pictures.

The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, Ann Arbor Chapter records consist of minute books and treasurer’s books of Mary J. Taft Union; secretary’s book of Juvenile Temperance Union, 1877-1885; and miscellaneous other records. The records have been arranged into four series: Secretary's books; Treasurer's books; Other Records, and Motion Pictures. The Other Records series includes scattered, correspondence, a letter, June 1884, to the University of Michigan Board of Regents concerning regulation of student drinking, a scrapbook and clippings about the chapter's activities, and miscellaneous.

Collection

Wisconsin Land & Lumber Company records, 1871-1920

42 linear feet — 65 oversize volumes — 71 microfilms — 1.8 GB (online)

Online
Corporate records of C.J.L. Meyer of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and Hermansville, Michigan, manufacturer of doors, lumber for sashes, hardwood flooring, and related products; records of the William Mueller Company of Escanaba and LaBranche, Michigan, a firm taken over by Wisconsin Land and Lumber in 1909. Financial journals, ledgers, inventories, payroll ledgers; letterbooks of C.J.L. Meyer, Edwin P. Radford, company superintendent, and of other company officials; office correspondence files; and photographs.

This record group which came from the Wisconsin Land and Lumber Company in Hermansville, Michigan is in fact an accumulation of records from three distinct business enterprises. First, there are records of C.J.L. Meyer business enterprises in Chicago and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Next are records maintained in Hermansville with the establishment of the Wisconsin Land and Lumber Company in the 1870s. A third, smaller portion of the records are from the William Mueller Company, which WLL purchased in 1909.

When originally received in 1948, the records consisted of nearly 500 volumes of business journals and ledgers, time books, and letterpress books. During 1979-1981, the library began a program of microfilming to reduce the size of the record group. With the permission of the company, records that had been microfilmed were discarded. Also discarded were records duplicative in content of the records on microfilm. Other records were retained in the original without filming. The record group then consisted of 53 reels of microfilm representing approximately 112 volumes of business records, 65 oversized volumes, and 42 linear feet of boxed records (volumes, letterpress books, and correspondence files). In 2006, the library received additional microfilm (18 rolls) and digital materials containing scanned images of the photographs in the possession of the IXL Museum, which is the repository for the records of the company not received with the first accession. These records, which were retained, include personal correspondence of C.J.L. Meyer, some records of Meyer prior to the establishment of WLL, and records then considered current or of continuing value to the operation of the company.

The record group has been arranged as much as possible into series, but the researcher should note that identification of individuals volumes or files was not as certain as one would like. Thus, for example, there are various ledgers and journals, some with overlapping dates, but it was not always clear where these records were created or what function or division within the firm they documented. The fact that the company retained some of the earlier records accounts in part for what appear to be broken series. Further complicating the structure of the following finding aid is the interspersing of microfilmed materials and oversize volumes. Similar kinds of records (such as time books), for example, are thus found both in original and on microfilm.

As much as possible, like kinds of records have been kept to together (letterpress books, etc.). These are followed by records known to be created by a specific organization or maintained in a specific locale (e.g. Fond du Lac). The series in the record group are: Letterpress books (mainly business correspondence); Letterpress books (mainly business correspondence); Inventories, order books, etc.; C. J. L. Meyer Business Records; Wisconsin Land and Lumber Company; William Mueller Company; Photographs; and IXL Museum additions.

In 2007, the IXL Museum of Hermansville, Michigan, successor to the company and custodian of additional records of the Wisconsin Land and Lumber Company, entered into agreement with the Bentley Library to exchange microfilm of selected portions of the records housed in the other's repository. In addition, the two repositories agreed that the Bentley Library would place on indefinite loan to the IXL Museum the originals of WLL photographs in its possession, and that the IXL Museum would donated to the Bentley Library digital copies of all of the many hundreds of photographs in its collection.

Collection

Wilson Ornithological Society records, 1887-2003 (majority within 1960s-2002)

7 linear feet

Miscellaneous correspondence, membership material, constitution, agreement with the University of Michigan; also presidents' files, 1997-2002.

The record group consist of a scattering of early records from the 19th century, including some correspondence and a notebook from the Wilson Ornithological Club, Cambridge, Mass. The bulk of the records date from the 1960s and consist of files of various individuals holding office within the organization as president or in some other position.

Collection

Wilson I. Davenny papers, 1889-1917

3 linear feet — 1 oversize folder

Newspaperman, lobbyist for the National Rivers and Harbors Congress, and spokesman for the United Spanish War Veterans. Correspondence, scrapbooks, speeches, business papers and account books relating primarily to his work as a lobbyist.

The Davenny collection is comprised of the following series: Correspondence and other papers; United Spanish War Veterans Organization; National Rivers and Harbors Congress; and Other materials. The National Rivers and Harbors Congress series provides insight into the financing and operation of the lobby. Much of the correspondence in this series is with M.A. Thompson, secretary and treasurer of the organization.

Collection

Willis C. Patterson papers, 1896-2019

19.4 linear feet (in 24 boxes) — 2 oversize boxes (online) — 1 digital audio file

Online
Willis C. Patterson, the first African American professor at the University of Michigan's School of Music, was an active faculty member from 1968 to 1999. He was a professor of voice and associate dean for academic affairs. Patterson directed the Men's Glee Club from 1969 and 1975 and spent summers as a faculty member at the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan. While maintaining an active concert career and fulfilling teaching duties, Patterson organized a Black American Music Symposium and compiled several works on African American composers. Patterson played an active role in securing funding and mentorship for students of color and disadvantaged students both at Michigan and in the Ann Arbor community. The collection includes some biographical material, but focuses mainly on his professional career, musical career, and collection of works by African American composers. It includes correspondence, research, photographs, clippings, publications, and topical files.

The Willis C. Patterson papers include some biographical material, but focuses mainly on his professional career, musical career, and collection of works by African American composers. The collection includes correspondence, publications and research material, photographic material, posters, student records, clippings, and topical files.

Collection

William Wilson Cook photograph collection, circa 1880-1939 (scattered)

1 envelope

William Wilson Cook (1858-1930) was a University of Michigan alumnus and New York attorney, author, and philanthropist whose financial contributions to the University of Michigan funded the construction of the Martha Cook Building and Law Quadrangle. Consists of a portrait engraving of Cook and photographs of Cook's sculpture on display in the Martha Cook Building.

The collection consists of a portrait engraving of Cook and photographs of Cook's sculpture on display in the Martha Cook Building.

Collection

William Warner Bishop Papers, 1891-1955

25 linear feet — 1 oversize folder

Internationally recognized librarian; director of the University of Michigan Library. Correspondence and subject files relating to professional activities.

The Bishop papers consist of personal and professional files documenting William Warner Bishop's activities apart from his work as librarian at the University of Michigan. The librarian's files were separately received and continue to be maintained as part of the records of the University of Michigan Library.