Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

BMC Media Services (formerly Biomedical Communications) is an in-house graphics and marketing production service for the University of Michigan. The collection is comprised of visual materials, including photographic prints, negatives, slides, and contact sheets, as well as videotapes, a few films, and digital files. The records reflect BMC's biomedical origins and document the history of the medical school, health science, hospitals, and related departments at the University of Michigan.

The records of BMC Media Services (formerly Biomedical Communications) measure 31.65 linear feet of visual material in a variety of formats. The records consist of seven series, largely different photographic categories: Faculty and Staff Portraits, Group Portraits, Class Photographs, Building Photographs, Topical Photographs, Films, and Videotapes.

The University of Michigan's highest governing body is the Board of Regents. The Regents deal with virtually every aspect of university policy and campus life. The records of the Regents reflect this broad range of interests and authority. This record group contains exhibits from meetings beginning in 1899. These exhibits are the most complete record of the actions of the Regents, supplementing and detailing the published minutes Proceedings of the Board of Regents. Additional documentation in this record group includes manuscript minutes, 1837-1870, correspondence, material by and about the Regents, photographs, audio recordings of meetings, 1977-2011, and material on recent presidential searches.

As the official governing body of the university, the Regents deal with virtually every aspect of university policy and life. The records of the Regents--which includes exhibits of Regents' meetings, topical files, correspondence files, audio and visual material, and archived web content--reflect this broad range of interests and authority. But while the documentation is wide-ranging, it is not continuous. Certain types of records are continually before the Regents, particularly information regarding salaries, leaves of absence, appointments to faculty positions, and formal approval of degrees conferred upon students. More often, however, the Regents are presented with a specific problem and asked to resolve it through the creation of policy. After the creation and successful implementation of a policy, the situation which caused the issue to arise is usually no longer a matter of Regental concern. The Regents' records reflect this pattern of action. Issues arise, are resolved, and then are supplanted by new concerns.

William H. Boyd family of Monroe, Michigan. Correspondence, diaries, addresses, photograph, and miscellaneous papers concerning family and business affairs, temperance, slavery and the First Presbyterian Church of Monroe, Michigan. Correspondents include: Isaac P. Christiancy and Alpheus Felch.

The Boyd family collection includes correspondence, diaries of family members, addresses, photographs, and miscellaneous papers concerning family and business affairs, temperance, slavery and the First Presbyterian Church of Monroe, Michigan. Correspondents include: Isaac P. Christiancy and Alpheus Felch.

Marshall, Michigan, general store, founded by Chauncy M. Brewer and Charles T. Gorham in 1836. Daybooks, blotters, sales books, and other materials relating to the operation of the store; also records of Fink and Butler Store.

The records of the Brewer store are very full. Most significant are the firm's daybooks, which are virtually complete for the entire period of the Brewer's operation of the store. Such gaps as exist are adequately documented through secondary record groups, such as blotters and salesbooks. In addition to this complete documentation of the goods sold each day, their price and purchaser, there are several inventories, a few timebooks, and a small body of correspondence related to the store.

The Brewer family was also involved in local real estate speculation and agricultural production, and a few records documenting these interests were retained with the store's records. Most complete is the hay scale register, covering the years 1839 to 1879. There are also records of land purchases, both in rural areas and in Marshall's "Eagle Block" which the family owned; land rental agreements; and timebooks apparently for laborers who worked the family's farmland.

Finally, the collection contains a few records generated by firms not owned by the Brewer's themselves. Most interesting are those of the Ceresco Mill, Ceresco Distillery, and the Fink & Butler store in Marshall. These records, however, are very incomplete.

The majority of the Brewer records retained at the Michigan Historical Collections are available on microfilm only. Filming was selective and information that was redundant or of minimal value was not placed on film. All original material not retained by the Michigan Historical Collections, whether filmed or not, has been placed on permanent loan with the Marshall Historical Society.

Correspondence and miscellaneous business papers including Civil War letters exchanged between John C. Buchanan and his wife, Sophia Bingham Buchanan, while he was serving as first lieutenant in Co. D. of the 8th Michigan Infantry. Many of the letters are almost sermons and philosophical essays about his home and family, religion, his country and the war and its leaders. Others are detailed descriptions of camps and camp life, such as Seabrook plantation in South Carolina and its Negroes, James Island and its reptiles; his quarters and food; sea transports; marches, skirmishes and battles with the Army of the Potomac in the Maryland campaign and around Fredericksburg. The collection also includes letters from Claude Buchanan while he was a student at the University of Michigan; letters (1847-1858) of J. Irwin Beaumont of Mississippi and Minnesota to Angie Bingham (Gilbert); notebooks, speeches, business papers, and a diary of a trip to the South in 1884 made by Claude Buchanan.

Civil War and Spanish-American War letters, family photographs, and other materials relating to the Buckbee and Church families from Illinois and Michigan.

The Buckbee Family Papers includes a variety of material but is most significant for its documentation of the Civil War service of Julian E. Buckbee and for the many letters exchanged with his sons Henry Cheever and Julian Edward, Jr., who served in the military during the Spanish-American War. These later letters provide a unique look into daily life during the war and at home in Illinois at the turn of the century. The letters contain both original and photocopied letters, along with transcriptions, to and from Julian Edward Jr. and Henry Cheever Buckbee during their service from April to September 1898. The photocopies all have matching original letters except for letter dated August 21, 1898, and those that were small notes probably sent with packages.

Other files in the collection include newspaper articles, genealogical information, and other various materials related to the Buckbee family from 1859 to 1999; photographs (duplicates and originals) of family members, scenes from the Spanish-American War, and of the family-owned Winnetka Inn located in Winnetka, Illinois; various letters to and from Julian Edward Buckbee Sr., military documents, and other materials relating to E.J. Buckbee's service in the Civil War; and later family papers which include reminiscences of Julian Buckbee Sr., and letters from Cheever D. Buckbee during his military service in 1942. There are also letters of William L. Church written during the Civil War and relating to his visits to various Illinois regiments. Of special note is a letter he received from Colonel William Gamble describing the operation of Illinois troops at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Settlers in Englishville, Michigan. Family correspondence, diaries, legal papers, newspaper clippings and other materials relating to farm life, personal affairs, and the Civil War.

The Buck family collection includes correspondence, diaries, legal papers, newspaper clippings, and other materials relating to farm life, personal affairs, and the Civil War. Included are letters of Curtis Buck and Andrew Buck relating to the Civil War. Also of interest is a letter of John Bettis, June 10, 1864, regarding his running a saw and grist mill in Chattanooga during the war. Other family members represented in the collection are Charles W. Buck and Myron and Susan Field Buck.

Burrows-Avery-Smith families of New York, Connecticut, and Michigan. Correspondence and business papers of Lorenzo Burrows, New York Congressman, 1849-1853; George L. Burrows, Saginaw, Michigan, banker and speculator; material concerning the Whig Party and New York state politics, 1848-1860. Correspondents include: Millard Fillmore, Washington Hunt, and John Young.

The Burrows / Avery / Smith collection was brought together and preserved by Emeline Burrows (daughter of Lorenzo Burrows) and Julia Smith (granddaughter of the elder Roswell Burrows).

The collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence and other papers of family members (arranged chronologically); Family records; Topical files; Visual Materials; and Financial materials.

Professor of German at the University of Michigan and Columbia; mostly correspondence of Thomas with his family, professional colleagues, publisher, etc.; also some correspondence of his wife after his death; speeches, lecture notes, biographical sketches; papers include material on language studies at Michigan and Columbia, attitudes of academia toward Germans in World War I, accounts of European travels in 1877, 1896, and 1900; Civil War letter of Steven Thomas, Calvin's father.

The collection has been arranged into the following series: Biographical/personal material; Correspondence; Lectures and addresses; Journals/diary; Scrapbooks; Other family members papers; and Publications.

Camilla and Ethel Green were mother and daughter who resided in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area from the late 1800s through their deaths in 1955 and 1988, respectively. Both women corresponded prolifically with their family, friends and former students. This collection consists primarily of their letters, which are largely organized chronologically if not already grouped by correspondent.

This collection reflects the papers amassed by Camilla and Ethel Green over nearly a century. It is divided into four series: Family Background and Documents, University of Michigan, Correspondence, Photographs. The bulk of the collection occurs from 1910 to 1955 and features correspondence with various friends and family members; a large portion of the letters has been organized by correspondent and/or the correspondent's family, and the remainder is sorted chronologically.