Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Gerontologist, faculty member at the University of Michigan, first with the Bureau of Psychological Services, later with the Institute for Human Adjustment, and as co-director of its successor unit, the Institute of Gerontology. Files detailing her participation at various meetings and conferences, her other professional activities and affiliations, research projects files, University of Michigan administrative and teaching materials, and videotapes of presentations at 1979 conference, "White House Conferences as Agents of Social Change", also photographs.

The Wilma T. Donahue papers document her career as a teacher, researcher, and administrator at the University of Michigan. The papers span the years 1945-1990 with the bulk of the material falling within the two decades bound by 1949-1969. The Donahue papers are a subset of the Michigan Historical Collections/Institute of Gerontology Joint Archives in Gerontology and can best be understood as an integral element of that larger set.

The Donahue papers provide a clear insight to the development of the field of gerontology as an academic discipline and as an area of concern for policy makers and the general public. The earliest files reflect Donahue's training as a psychologist as it relates to her research on testing, returning veterans, and the blind. In the late 1940s Donahue and Clark Tibbitts began to research and publish articles on the aging population in America. Donahue's papers reflect this new interest as the focus of her writings now turns to issues of aging: housing, mental and physical health, adult education, and the economics of retirement. These issues dominated Donahue's research for twenty years and her papers document her increasing stature as an influential figure in gerontology at the state and national levels, especially her involvement with the University of Michigan Annual Conferences on Gerontology, the Michigan Commission on Aging, and her "cutting edge" research on housing the aging.

The collection came to the library in different accessions and from different sources. Although there is some overlap, the files as received represent distinct series. These series are Articles, Conferences, Addresses and Meetings, 1949-1970; Professional Activities and Affiliations, 1953-1970; Research Projects, 1955-1971; University of Michigan: Administration and Teaching, 1946-1968; Videotapes: White House Conferences as Agents of Social Change, 1979; International Center for Social Gerontology; and Miscellaneous.

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.

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.

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.

Semi-autonomous institute concerned with graduate, postgraduate, and extension programs of the University of Michigan School of Dentistry; course outlines and enrollment lists, instrument lists, and topical files concerning conferences, workshops, and reunions.

The record group has been arranged into the following series: Course Outlines and Enrollment Lists; and Topical Files.

University of Michigan physicist whose work concentrated in atomic physics, notably hydrogen parity experiments; also participated in astrophysics research with Arthur Rich, dean for research at the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science and the Arts, 1985-1986. Grant proposal materials, correspondence, notes from experiments and research, course materials, papers pertaining to Williams' research at the University of Michigan.

The papers of William L. Williams are contained in four series: Biographical Information, Research Interests, Course Materials, and a Topical File.

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.

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.

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.

Local branch of organization established to foster closer ties between city and country women and to stimulate interest in gardening and horticultural pursuits. Membership rosters, organizational files, historical information, files relating to fundraising and civic events, notably the Greens Market sale and the Garden Walk tour of local gardens; also photographs.

The records of the Woman's National Farm and Garden Association, Ann Arbor Branch, document all of the group's various organizational and community service activities. They reflect the organization's dedication to community service through scholarships, charitable gifts, and service activities. The records have been divided into five series: History, Yearbooks, Organizational, Photographs, and Activities. A sixth series has been added to account for 2014-2015 Accessions.