Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Artificially constructed collection of University of Michigan publications received from a variety of sources. The publications have been sorted by the name of the creating unit, office or organization. Publications within the units or organizations have not been arranged.

The Publications in this artificially constructed collection of drop boxes include annual reports, brochures, bulletins, catalogs, directories, ephemera including flyers, invitations, posters, and programs, histories, manuals, newsletters, proceedings of conferences, reports, and topical publications.

A small number of publications for which no creating organization is discernible are listed at the end of this finding aid by title. These publications include a number of student newsletters and campus guides. Major continuing units are represented as well as smaller and defunct units.

Some university publications have been individually cataloged and exist in their own record groups. As this collection serves as an unprocessed drop box for university publications, not all units will be represented. Most of the units represented consist of a few folders of material, unless otherwise indicated in the finding aid. Consult MIRLYN for individually cataloged items as well as other related items.

The Martha Cook Building (MCB) opened in the fall of 1915 as the second all-women's dormitory on the University of Michigan campus. It was a gift of Mr. William Wilson Cook, a lawyer-philanthropist from New York City who was born and raised in Hillsdale, Michigan. The Martha Cook Building records are dated from circa 1913-2016 and include blueprints; chronological files; clippings; correspondence; financial records; minutes, particularly of both the MCB's Board of Governors and House Board; publications; reports; scrapbooks; subject files; and visual materials, such as negatives, photographs, and photograph albums.

The Martha Cook Building records (circa 1913-2016) document the activities of those involved with the Martha Cook Building and include blueprints; chronological files; clippings; correspondence; financial records; minutes; reports; scrapbooks; subject files; and visual materials, such as negatives, photographs, and photograph albums.

Significant people and groups featured in this collection include William. W. Cook; various House Directors, such as Sarah Rowe, G.J. Diekema, Olive Chernow, Josette Allen, and Rosalie Moore; the building's Board of Governors and House Board; and Martha Cook Building students and alumnae. Other notable topics include the construction, furnishing and remodeling of the Martha Cook Building; various scholarships; and activities, such as various anniversary events and the Messiah Dinner.

The Roberta Holland Smith collection includes personal and autobiographical material, collected genealogical information about the Schmid, Holland and Kingsbury families. Portraits of family members are scattered throughout the collection.

The Chrystal G. Tibbs Papers comprise over a half-century of documents pertaining to Tibbs's membership in various chapters of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and to the history of the sorority at large. Founded at Howard University in 1908, A.K.A. was the first sorority established by African-American women and currently has approximately 250,000 members. The collection's four series contain papers pertaining to Tibbs's personal participation in sorority activities (including those related to her tenure in various administrative posts), materials from several Michigan chapters, sorority publications, and audiovisual materials. In addition, the collection contains work done by Tibbs and family members to document the Powell, Webster, and Winchester family history.

The Chrystal G. Tibbs Papers comprise materials accumulated through Tibbs's participation in Alpha Kappa Alpha conferences, chapter meetings, and special interest groups at the local, state, regional, and national level over a span of fifty years. The activities of Michigan-based chapters are particularly well represented. Materials also include personal and professional documentation directly related to Tibbs and her immediate family. The collection is divided into four series: Personal Papers, Professional Career, Powell Family Papers, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Files on individual University of Michigan varsity athletes, coaches and staff compiled by the Media Relations staff and its predecessors. Files may include biographical information, statistics, clippings and photographs. Files for an individual may range from a single item to several folders. Not all U-M athletes are represented in the records.

The Athletic Department Individual Files consist of three series: Coaches and Staff, Athletes -- Men, and Athletes -- Women. The files in each series contain background information, news articles, and photographs of individual University of Michigan Varsity athletes, coaches, and staff members from the University's athletic department. It should be noted that some files do not contain photographs. Also, some files contain compact discs (CD's) containing digital images. The bulk of the files date from around 1960 to 2002, but included are files from as early as the mid to late 19th century, to as recent as 2005. The files do not include members of the club sports teams. The number and extent of files varies by sport and over time, in part reflects varying degrees of effort by the Media Relations staff. Sometimes referred to by Media Relations staff as the "star files", the Individual Files are most extensive for football and basketball, but all varsity sports are represented. Beginning in the 1970 coverage all sports becomes more extensive. After 1982 when women's sports began competing in the Big Ten and management of publicity efforts became more fully integrated in the Media Relations office, the coverage of women's sports becomes more extensive.

The files in each series are arranged alphabetically. (Files have ben received at various times ad are physically arranged in several alphabetical run, but are listed in a single alphabetical run for coaches/administrators, men, and women athletes.) Each of the athlete entries is followed by a code for the sport(s) in which they participated.

Men's Sports	Women's Sports
bb – baseball	bk – basketball
bk—basketball	cc – cross country
cc -- cross country	fho – field hockey
fb – football	go – golf
go – golf	gy – gymnastics
gy – gymnastics	row – rowing
iho –ice hockey	soc – soccer
soc – soccer	sb– softball
sw - swimming-diving	sw – swimming-diving
te – tennis	sy – synchronized swimming
tr – track	te – tennis
wr -- wrestling	tr – track
	vo – volleyball
	wp – water polo

The Grand Hotel records comprise documents, photographs, audio and videographic material collected about the hotel by its management. The strength of the collection is in its documentation of the guest experience at the hotel, and the evolution of amenities offered by the hotel during the mid-to-late 20th century. A small number of items also provide a glimpse of the hotel's earliest days as a summer resort.

The Grand Hotel records are arranged in six series: Printed Material, Miscellaneous, Press Clippings and Publications, Photographic Material, Audio Material, and Videographic Material.

The Blanchard family papers document the lives and careers of several members of the Blanchard, Cobb, and Proctor families from the mid-nineteenth century through the late twentieth century. Includes visual materials, publications, personal writings, and extensive correspondence files.

The Blanchard Family Papers document the professional achievements and personal lives of several generations of a scientifically minded and artistically gifted family. The papers focus heavily upon the eminent plant pathologist and nematologist Nathan A. Cobb, his wife Alice Vara Cobb, their daughter, biologist Frieda Cobb Blanchard, and her husband, herpetologist Frank Nelson Blanchard (the latter two of whom were professors at the University of Michigan). In addition to the photographs, drawings, correspondence, journals, and writings of these four individuals, the collection is rich in family correspondence, diaries, and personal papers from other members of the Cobb and Blanchard families (and their forebears and branches, including the Bigelow, Proctor, Ross, White, and Randall families). The Blanchard Family Papers will be of value to researchers interested in a variety of topics: scientific endeavors and methodologies (and in particular those related to agronomy, nematology, botany, and herpetology); the visual arts and the development of photography in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; colonial and provincial life in Australia and Hawaii (respectively); and the daily affairs of American (and Michigan) families throughout the twentieth century. The Blanchard Family Papers consist of seven series: Nathan A. Cobb, Alice Vara Cobb, Frieda Cobb Blanchard, Frank Nelson Blanchard, Blanchard and Cobb Family Letters, Other Family Members, and Isaac G. Blanchard.

Founded in Fall 2016, the Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (ODEI) is a University of Michigan unit that oversees and evaluates the implementation of the university's five-year strategic plan for diversity, equity, and inclusion. ODEI is led by the Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer and houses several other offices and programs, including the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives (OAMI), Wolverine Pathways, and the Center for Educational Outreach. The collection consists of annual progress reports.

The Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (University of Michigan) records consists of progress reports for the second and third year of the University of Michigan's DEI strategic plan.

University of Michigan student organization that advocates on issues relating to food security, health, housing, and workers' rights. Consists of two versions of the crowdsourced publication, "Being Not-Rich at UM: A Guide" as well as a related "Chronicle of Higher Education" article about the guide.

The Michigan Affordability and Advocacy Coalition (University of Michigan) records includes two versions of the publication, "Being Not-Rich at UM: A Guide." Both versions—which are dated to April 2018 and October 2018—provide information on a range of topics, including employment, housing, food, on-campus resources, and finances. Also included is a related "Chronicle of Higher Education" article on the guide.

The Ecology Center of Ann Arbor and Teach-In on the Environment oral histories is a collection of recordings conducted by the University of Michigan students and faculty. The interviews primarily focus on Environmental Action (ENACT) and the Teach- In on the Environment in 1970, and the history of the first Earth Day that same year. In addition, past and present staff and collaborators of the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor discuss environmental activism in Michigan, with topics ranging from toxics disposal, recycling, waste disposal, and affordable energy. The oral history interviews were featured in-part and in-whole in digital exhibits hosted by the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. Faculty member Matthew Lassiter was the advisor for these projects and was responsible for collecting all the related oral histories into a single collection for archival preservation.

This collection is comprised of interviews with members of Environmental Action for Survival (ENACT), the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor, and other environmental justice activists. Broadly, the interviews cover environmental justice in Michigan. In 2017, student interviewers spoke to members of ENACT who organized the 1970 Teach-In on the Environment, as well as activists who organized the first Earth Day. In the 2019-2021 partnership with the Ecology Center that followed, the Environmental Justice HistoryLab conducted interviews with current and former members and collaborators of the Ecology Center on all aspects of local environmental activism, including waste management, toxics disposal, energy programs, and environmental policy in the state.

The collection is organized into three series: Environmental Activism in Michigan, the Ecology Center, and Digital Exhibitions. These series are based on the project that the recorded interviews and clips were associated with, as well as which groups sponsored the interviews. Digital Exhibitions contains links to the final digital exhibits associated with each project, where available. While the interviews do not currently have transcripts, most of the recordings have an associated timestamped index.