Collections : [University of Michigan Special Collections Research Center]

Anarchist, social worker, friend of J. A. Labadie, and first curator of the Labadie Collection. Comprise administrative files of the Labadie Collection which she combined and intermingled with personal correspondence, memoirs, and research notes.

The Agnes Inglis Papers are comprised of a variety of materials including her correspondence, research notes, writings, scrapbooks, and her work at the Labadie Collection. The bulk of these papers range from 1924 to 1952, the years during which she served as curator of the Labadie Collection.

These papers hold significance in several respects. First, Agnes Inglis held an important place within the radical movement (anarchism, communism, socialism, etc.) in Southeastern Michigan during the first half of the 20th century, and was particularly active in the anti-conscription campaigns and the subsequent deportation of radicals surrounding the first World War. Her connections within this movement were extensive, and her papers reflect insider knowledge of the events, activities and especially of the individuals of the Left during her lifetime. Also, these papers essentially document the Labadie Collection itself. Because she was the initial and sole curator for the Collection for its first three decades in the University of Michigan libraries, her papers hold extensive information on the Collection's history. Finally, Inglis was an extremely historically minded individual and saw great value in documenting the facts and her impressions of the many people, organizations and events she came to know.

The Agnes Inglis Papers are separated into three series: Corresponsence, with Individual and Corporate subseries; Writings, with Autobiographical, Creative and Theoretical and Notes and Research subseries; and Scrapbooks.

It should also be noted here that during her time as curator of the Labadie Collection, Inglis constructed a card catalog filled with references and biographical and historical notes on the individuals, groups and events of the radical movement. Labadie staff should be consulted if one wishes to view this catalog.

Anarchist, social worker, friend of J. A. Labadie, and first curator of the Labadie Collection. Comprise administrative files of the Labadie Collection which she combined and intermingled with personal correspondence, memoirs, and research notes.

The Agnes Inglis Papers are comprised of a variety of materials including her correspondence, research notes, writings, scrapbooks, and her work at the Labadie Collection. The bulk of these papers range from 1924 to 1952, the years during which she served as curator of the Labadie Collection.

These papers hold significance in several respects. First, Agnes Inglis held an important place within the radical movement (anarchism, communism, socialism, etc.) in Southeastern Michigan during the first half of the 20th century, and was particularly active in the anti-conscription campaigns and the subsequent deportation of radicals surrounding the first World War. Her connections within this movement were extensive, and her papers reflect insider knowledge of the events, activities and especially of the individuals of the Left during her lifetime. Also, these papers essentially document the Labadie Collection itself. Because she was the initial and sole curator for the Collection for its first three decades in the University of Michigan libraries, her papers hold extensive information on the Collection's history. Finally, Inglis was an extremely historically minded individual and saw great value in documenting the facts and her impressions of the many people, organizations and events she came to know.

The Agnes Inglis Papers are separated into three series: Corresponsence, with Individual and Corporate subseries; Writings, with Autobiographical, Creative and Theoretical and Notes and Research subseries; and Scrapbooks.

It should also be noted here that during her time as curator of the Labadie Collection, Inglis constructed a card catalog filled with references and biographical and historical notes on the individuals, groups and events of the radical movement. Labadie staff should be consulted if one wishes to view this catalog.

The Aubrey Haan Papers consist of three series, and include correspondence, research materials, and two book manuscripts for Haan's work on a biography of Joe Hill, neither of which was ever published. Hill was a cartoonist and song writer for the Industrial Workers of the World union, and was executed for murder in 1915, following a controversial trial. Materials range from 1909-1951, and primarily cover Haan's research on Hill and the trial. Included is a transcript of the Hill trial, as well as several newspaper articles and other trial materials. The collection consists of three series: Correspondence; Research Materials; and Manuscripts.

Papers accumulated by Aubrey Haan regarding the life and execution of Joe Hill, a folk-singer and labor union representative who was killed in Utah in 1915. Materials include correspondence, book manuscripts, and trial materials from Hill's trial.

The Correspondence Series spans 1940-1951, and much of Haan's general correspondence is with his wife, as well as with publishers regarding Haan's attempts to publish his Joe Hill manuscripts. Other correspondents include Constantine and Virginia Filigno, with whom Haan spoke regarding Hill's trial and execution. Constantine was a leader of the Industrial Workers of the World during the 1940s, while Virginia was a strong advocate for Hill's innocence. Also included are several letters with Agnes Inglis of the University of Michigan Labadie Collection.

The Research Materials Series includes materials used by Haan for his biography on Hill. Included are copies of news articles about Hill and his execution, obituaries, and trial proceeding documents, including a trial transcript.

The Manuscripts Series contains two book manuscripts one for Haan's "Pie in the Sky," and another untitled. The "Pie in the Sky" manuscript includes handwritten notes and edits.

Carl Nold was a German-born anarchist who was involved in the Homestead Strike (1892) and served prison time for being involved in the plot to assasinate Henry Clay Frick. This collection is comprised of his correspondence, some photos, news clippings, articles about or by Nold, and court documents.

Papers of this German immigrant anarchist include correspondence, an essay entitled "Six Pathfinders," and court documents for indictments of Henry Bauer and Carl Nold by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the 1892 cases resulting from the attempted assassination of Henry C. Frick by Alexander Berkman. Among the correspondents are Hippolyte Havel, A. Isaac, Harry M. Kelly, Kate Rotchek, as well as Lucy Parsons, whose letters concern anarchists, the International Labor Defense, and criticism of Emma Goldman's autobiography. Also included are poems and an essay by Robert Reitzel, a photo, and a scrapbook about Reitzel's death. The papers are in English and German.

Finding aid for the Cigar Makers' International Union Collection which includes corrrespondence, internal records, and publicity materials relating to the Cadillac Michigan Local 393 chapter of the Cigar Makers' Internation Union dating from 1896 to 1910.

The Cigar Makers' International Union Collection (1896-1910) contains 0.5 linear feet of the organizations internal documents, correspondence, a ledger of membership dues, union application forms in German, and a variety of printed items relating to public promotion of the union. Among the correspondence are numerous appeals requesting support for ongoing strikes to various affiliates, including but not limited to: the Lithographers' Union, the Stove Mounters' and Steel Ranger Workers' Union, the United Garment Workers of America, the Pie Bakers' Union and more. A notable letter includes a union statement signed by P.J. McArdle, activist and president of the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers.

The membership and dues ledger from the Local 393 Cigar Makers' International Union (Cadillac, MI) has entries beginning in 1896 through early 1901. Additionally, among the publicity materials are two posters on linen fabric promoting union made cigars to the general public.

This collection documenting the history of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and of labor organizing in North America was assembled by Don Stewart, owner of the Vancouver bookstore MacLeod's Books since 1973. The collection is arranged into five series. Organizational Records comprise records of the central IWW administration, such as general convention minutes (1913-1969 with gaps), general executive boards letters and minutes (1959-1964), financial statements (1918-1944 with gaps), membership cards, and documents from the general defense committee relating to IWW prisoners during World War I. Reflecting the IWW's internal structure, Constituent Unions Records are organized by industrial trade numbers and include administrative documents and organizing literature. Constituent Unions Records also include a few folders relating to the Western Federation of Miners, which pre-dates IWW's founding in 1905 The Colorado Coal Strike Archive is a set of letters, telegrams between labor organizers, bulletins to workers, and other documents relating to the Columbine Mine Massacre of 1927. Topical Literature contains general ephemera by the IWW and literature related to the IWW and labor unions, including a transcript of the play "The Wobblies" by Ronald Weihs and a memorial booklet for Carlo Tresca. Finally, International Material contains foreign print materials about IWW or labor more generally. It also contains records and letters from the Canadian division of IWW in the Vancouver area, including letters from Fred Thompson and Pete Seeger.

Don Werkheiser was a teacher, writer, and philosopher-reformer active in the last half of the 20th century. He is best described as an individualist anarchist and libertarian. Most of his writings center on the philosophy of Mutual Option Relationship, which he developed and promoted throughout his life. It is multidisciplinary in its nature but based mainly on principles of equal rights and freedom of the individual. The eight linear feet of papers consist primarily of Werkheiser's writings (in the form of notes, drafts, and finished typescripts), correspondence with friends and colleagues, and related ephemera. A small number of photographs, materials documenting Werkheiser's interests and activities, and works by associates of Werkheiser are also present.

Don Werkheiser, like many of his peers, received little recognition for his ideas and efforts during his lifetime, even among the relatively small circle of individualist anarchists within which he interacted. The papers consist mainly of various iterations of his Mutual Option Relationship philosophy and methodologies for realizing it, as well as his thoughts on the numerous social, economic, and political problems that he saw in contemporary American society. There is also correspondence with friends and associates in his intellectual and ideological sphere. The ephemera in the collection--consisting of newspaper clippings; pamphlets; and extracts from periodicals, books, and monographs, are significant because of their subject area (mainly freedom of speech), their relative obscurity, and also Werkheiser's extensive annotations. These materials are supplemented by a very small number of photographs.

The Don Werkheiser Papers (8 linear feet) have been divided into six series: Writings, Correspondence, Other Activities, Works by Others, Photographs, and Ephemera. Originally included with the Don Werkheiser Papers was a large collection of books and pamphlets by Theodore Schroeder, an important influence on Werkheiser, as well as published works by other authors. These have been removed and cataloged separately.

There is a significant amount of material in the Don Werkheiser Papers having to do with Theodore Schroeder. In addition to championing free speech causes, Schroeder developed a system of psychological thought which he named "evolutionary psychology." He was also interested in erotogenic interpretations of religious practices, and his writings on this topic generated much controversy in his day. Werkheiser was profoundly influenced by evolutionary psychology and other areas of Schroeder's thought, especially his advocacy of free speech. This is indicated not only in Werkheiser's own writings, but also in his substantial files of material by and about Schroeder and in a small amount of correspondence between the two, and between Schroeder and others. (As a point of clarification, Schroeder's evolutionary psychology appears to be entirely unrelated to the discipline of the same name established by Leda Cosmides and John Tooby in the 1990s.)

There is also a substantial amount of material related to the School of Living (mainly the one in Brookville, Ohio) and the ideas associated with it: decentralism, cooperative living, monetary and tax reform, alternative education, permaculture, wilderness and farmland preservation, and the environment. Its founders, Ralph Borsodi and Mildred Loomis, are also well-represented in the collection--particularly Loomis, who was a close friend of Werkheiser's. (As another point of clarification, the School of Living's journal-newsletter, Green Revolution, is unaffiliated with--and even in direct ideological opposition to--the Green Revolution in agriculture begun in the mid-1940s that encouraged large-scale chemical applications as a means to boost agricultural productivity.)

Other important influences on or associates of Werkheiser represented in the collection are Georgism and Henry George (on which Werkheiser wrote extensively), Laurance Labadie, Ralph Templin, and Arnold Maddaloni. There is also some material by the science fiction writer Robert Anton Wilson.

This collection documents the activities of Esther Newton (1940-), a professor, cultural anthropologist, and author who is a founder and prominent scholar of LGBTQ studies. The collection contains correspondence; research files; drafts and manuscripts of Newton's published and unpublished writings; coursework, notes, course syllabi, exams, and bibliographies from Newton's time as both a student and professor; presentations, speeches, lecture notes, and programs from conferences and public appearances; newsletters and meeting minutes from professional organizations; genealogical research and photographs of Newton's relatives; and photographs documenting Newton's life and research.

This collection documents the activities of Esther Newton, a professor, cultural anthropologist, and author who is a founder and prominent scholar of LGBTQ studies. The collection contains both personal and professional correspondence; research notes and files; drafts and manuscripts of Newton's published and unpublished writings including essays, books, articles, and journal entries; contracts, reprint permissions, reader's reports, reviews, and correspondence with literary agents and editors; coursework and notes from Newton's undergraduate and graduate student career; course syllabi, quizzes and exams, and bibliographies from Newton's career as a professor; lectures and speeches, paper presentations and proposals, and event programs from academic and professional organization conferences and other public appearances; newsletters and meeting minutes from professional organizations, recommendation letters, proposal reviews, and exhibition planning materials; and personal materials such as summer camp publications, academic transcripts, real estate records, publicity, and interviews.

The collection also contains genealogical materials including family trees and charts; photographs of Newton's family members dating back to the late-1800s; correspondence belonging to Newton's mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother; scrapbooks and photograph albums depicting the Bash family, Newton's mother and maternal grandparents; newspaper articles written in the late-1800s by Newton's maternal great-grandmother Lucia Gilbert Runkle; and research and correspondence relating to Newton's father, Saul Newton.

The collection contains photographs depicting the life of Esther Newton, including photographs of Newton's childhood, friends, romantic partners, and events such as birthdays and vacations. Other photographs depict places, events, and people related to Newton's research, particularly Cherry Grove, New York and drag queen performers in the 1960s. Titles denoted in quotes in the finding aid are transcribed from Newton's original titles of folders and envelopes.

Series 2, Research, contains files of Newton's research relating to her studies, career, and writing. The folders contain scholarly articles, journals, newspaper and magazine articles, book chapters, and written and typescript notes. The files are arranged alphabetically by the author's last name, and by topic if publications are mixed.

Series 3, Writings, contains drafts, manuscripts, and research material relating to the books and articles Cherry Grove, Fire Island; The Future of Gender; A Hard Left Fist; Margaret Mead Made Me Gay; Mother Camp; My Butch Career; The Mythic Mannish Lesbian; Sex and Sensibility; Too Queer for College; Womenfriends; and the unpublished Alice-Hunting; as well as various other essays and articles.

Consists of 7 outgoing and 344 incoming letters, largely from 1896-1903. Chiefly concerns Bool's financial support of anarchists and their publications, especially Benjamin R. Tucker and Liberty, and Moses Harman and Lucifer, the light-bearer, distribution of literature, particularly Bool's pamphlet Liberty luminants, the philosophy and activities of anarchist friends and acquaintances, notably John W. Lloyd, as well as personal and business affairs.

The Correspondence series includes several outgoing letters from Bool, but mostly consists of incoming letters. These primarily address Bool's financial support of anarchists and their publications, especially Benjamin Tucker and Liberty, and Lillian and Moses Harman and Lucifer, The Light-Bearer. Portions of the correspondence are concerned business matters as well as with anarchist philosophy and publishing, particularly the distribution of literature such as Bool's pamphlet Liberty Luminants. Anarchist and Labadie Collection founder Jo Labadie is well-represented.

The Archival series consists of one folder containing notes, typed and handwritten, concerning Bool's donation, via Jo Labadie, of pamphlets and booklets. Also included is a short memoir written in 1932 by Agnes Inglis, the original curator of the Labadie Collection, remembering Jo and "Mama" Labadie, Judson and Margaret Grenell, and Henry Bool.

The Hobohemia Collection contains materials from 1905-1997. The materials are original correspondence and manuscripts, photographs, serials, pamphlets, ephemera, clippings, and realia. The collection centers around soap box culture, radical thought, and open forums for free speech in Chicago that were popular from mid-1910’s to the early sixties. Jack Sheridan and to a much greater degree, Slim Brundage and The College of Complexes, are the main focus of this collection.

The Hobohemia Collection is composed of personal and business correspondence, manuscripts, business records, serials, ephemera, photographs, and clippings. It revolves around Jack Sheridan, an active Dil Pickler, and Slim Brundage, founder of the College of Complexes, as well the business workings of the College. The Jack Sheridan series (.5 linear feet), includes correspondence with professional peers and friends, family letters and correspondence, several of his manuscripts, personal records, and related news clippings. Correspondence includes Jack Conroy, liberal labor writer and activist, and John Quinn Brisbon who was an activist and in later years ran for VP and President representing the Socialist Party USA. Notes and plans for a "handwriting" TV series in which Jack would analyze viewers’ handwriting and response from the showing of one segment are included also. Family correspondence includes exchanges with Jimmy Sheridan, Jack’s twin brother and hobo, letters from James Sheridan, Jack’s father, to his family, dated 1917 and 1943, and documents from a federal INS investigation.

Manuscripts include a dedication to the reopening of the Dil Pickle Club in 1944 and a tribute to author and fellow Dil Pickler Max Bodenheim who was murdered. Poems to Jack Sheridan by Max Bodenheim and J. Q. Brisbon and poems by Jack Sheridan for Ben Reitman and in tribute to Hobo College are also part of this series. Personal records include school and service records, a letter of reference, parental certificates, and a copy of a US Treasury document denying Jack Sheridan as a merchant seaman.

The Slim Brundage series (11.66 linear feet), is comprised of personal and business correspondence, and material relating to family, Slim’s manuscripts, and material about the College of Complexes. Correspondence is listed by name and also chronologically. Personal correspondence includes that with writer Carl Sandburg (1937), an important Pickler, Thornton Wilder (1937), and hobo poet Axel Dragstedt.

Business correspondence relates to Slim’s workmen’s compensation regarding a fall he took as a painter and problems obtaining social security benefits. There are also letters to editors regarding submission of manuscripts and some subsequent responses.

Manuscripts comprise 3.5 cubic feet of this series. They include poetry, plays, articles, speeches, radio shows, and books. Most are undated and unsigned but the style consistent. Many of his short essays, or Ravings, are included here. The layout for his only book publication, Ravings of a Manic Depressive, is included. This book was a disappointment for Slim because of its hurried and sloppy assembly. Some manuscripts exist under differing titles; Slim also writes under the pseudonyms Malarkey McCarthy, Manuel Labor, and Casa Pintura.

Family material holds correspondence from Slim to his brother and children, his colorful autobiography which claims his place of birth as an insane asylum and a scrapbook compiled by his daughter, Anna Brundage, which coincides with the establishment of College of Complexes. The scrapbook also contains photographs of the family.

Materials on Margaret Brundage, who married Slim in 1927, include papers on her divorce from Slim in 1933 (official 1939) and custody of their only child, Kerlyn. There is a letter from Margaret to her lawyer explaining how Slim fit into Kerlyn’s life. Personal records and memberships include Slim’s union membership cards and certifications.

Materials under Kay Brundage, to whom Slim was married in 1940, includes correspondence with Slim regarding his painting accident in New York and recuperation, letters from her mother which shed light on Kay and Slim’s financial situation, flooding in Missouri, and the Truman administration. Other material relates mainly to her involvement, and to a lesser degree, Slim’s involvement, in the administration and activities of the Chicago Repertory Theatre and Child Guidance Center.

The College of Complexes subseries includes Business Records. These are marketing promotions such as the Miss Beatnik Contest, extensive business records which include donations to various pro labor and community organizations, mailing lists, IWW support, potential openings of College of Complexes locations in New York and San Francisco, and a large assortment of check stubs, ledgers, daily records, gate receipts, and steno pads recording College of Complexes daily monetary transactions.

Business Records also include correspondence and documents from the US Internal Revenue Service, the Illinois Internal Revenue Service, various vendors to whom Slim owes money, and lawyers regarding the dissolution of Slim’s business partnership with Margaret due to their divorce. There is a letter from Ann Landers and a letter to Hugh Hefner.

The Curriculum files contain typed monthly schedules of speakers enlisted for the College of Complexes. It was traditional to include essays by Slim known as Ravings into each Curriculum. Ephemera contains humorous items such as the Schizo Certificate, Slim’s business card from Mexico, a "pickup" card, play money, and certificates issued to speakers. There are newspaper articles that cover the Beats and the Miss Beatnik contest.

The Other Forums/Events/Organizations series (.75 linear feet), briefly addresses other open forums of the period. Slim and Kay Brundage were longtime Wobblies in the Council for Union Democracy. There are several essays that were written by Slim while committed to this organization as well as general member correspondence and business materials. Materials on the Dil Pickle Club include ephemera such as Volume 1, Number 1 of the Dil Pickler, a pamphlet of writings with the Dil Pickler Lending Library, as well as a small pamphlet with lecture schedule. Druid Society materials include a certificate establishing Jack Sheridan as a witness to the appointed trustees of the Druid Society.

The Writings by Others series (.5 linear feet), contains typed and some handwritten manuscripts by people active in Slim’s circle and the College of Complexes. The Anthology of Love is a collection of poetry written by others that Slim hoped to have published. Almost every poem has an attached typed commentary by Slim. There are handwritten poems by Max Bodenheim on truth and beauty and a guestbook for the Guild of Young Writers, 1932. There are writings by Kay Wood, who married Slim in 1940, John Krzton, "World’s Foremost Authority on Garbage" who reviews Slim’s Ravings, and Malarkey McCarthy, pseudonym for Slim Brundage.

The Serials series (.5 linear feet), contains literary publications from as early as 1905, The Crank, to 1960, The Tab. Amazing Stories and the Washington Square News contain articles by Jack Sheridan. The Tab contains photos and an article about the Miss Beatnik contest held at the College of Complexes in New York.

The Pamphlets series (.25 linear foot), contains materials that may have been used for reference by Jack Sheridan or Slim Brundage. Roger Payne’s The Hobo Philosopher, priced at 10 cents, explains how he can "maintain himself, working as a hobo, in about one day a week, instead of the usual six." The Isle of Mona is a Druidic fantasy written by Francis Lambert McCrudden, who corresponds with Jack Sheridan.

The Photographs series (.125 linear foot), contains many photographs that relate to the collection. Interior photographs of the College of Complexes, circa 1950’s, as well as photographs of Meta Toeber and Franklin and Penelope Rosemont at the 1997 COC Reunion. There are photos of Margaret and Slim Brundage, Slim’s son, Kerlyn, Slim in the hospital, and Slim’s well recognized portrait as housepainter. Photographs of The Place (San Francisco), its manager, Jack Langan, and photographs of Jack Sheridan’s family are among others. Several are unidentified.

The Newsclippings series (.125 linear foot), is arranged primarily by decade and relates to social protest, the free press, labor, unions, Cuba, and the Socialist Party.

The Ephemera series (.5 linear foot), is arranged by decade, subject, and title. There are flyers and bulletins on labor, Cuba, Vietnam, civil rights, post war housing, IWW, the March on Hunger to City Hall, and an Irwin Corey for President button. This material may have been used as reference by Slim for his writings and education. There is also a folder that contains many actual copies of The Curriculum, 1953-1990.