Collections : [University of Michigan Special Collections Research Center]

Correspondence, manuscripts, A/V materials, journals, artwork, and realia from the life and works of Postbeat poet Jim Cohn.

The correspondence series is made up of letters Cohn sent and received throughout his career. Cohn sorted the correspondence according to the person he was corresponding with, making special room for his two primary correspondents, fellow poets David Cope and Randy Roark.

The ASL Poetry and Poetics, Beat and Postbeat Studies, and Disability series contain records of Cohn's research, writings, and work related to each subject. Similarly, the Research Notebooks contain materials related to Cohn's archival research about poets Paul Blackburn and Ezra Pound.

The Audio Files and Books in Print files series are papers relating to Cohn's recordings and publications, respectively. Related A/V materials were placed in the A/V series, while published books were separated for cataloging.

The Education, Juvenilia, and Photographs series contain papers, photography, and artifacts from Cohn's personal life from childhood through the 2000s.

The Editor/Co-editor and Publisher series consist of magazines that Cohn helped edit or publish, as well as files related to the same.

The Manuscripts series contains Cohn's manuscripts, organized by genre.

Fine Arts includes two of Cohn's art projects, making paper and printing poetry on Tibetan prayer flags.

The Promotional Materials series includes papers relating to Cohn's public career and self-promotion, as well as performance reviews from a former job. The Interviews series contains both interviews of Cohn and interviews with other poets conducted by Cohn.

The Teaching Guides series are papers related to poetry workshops Cohn has taught.

The Museum of American Poetics series consists of printouts of various sections and updates to the website over the years.

Finally, the A/V materials series largely consists of CD and tape recordings of Cohn's spoken word music poetry. Also included are CD backups of the MAP website, recordings of Allen Ginsberg, and Ann Waldman's 2003 film, "Makeup on Empty Space." Please reach out to the Special Collections Research Center for information about accessing these materials.

The Allan L. Rock papers consist primarily of materials from the various court cases in which Rock was involved in the 1970's. The collection includes transcripts of hearings, submissions to various courts, and correspondence regarding the cases. Also included are transcripts and correspondence from several cases similar to Rock's, some of which directly benefited from the 1976 Rock decision. This collection presents some early and significant decisions about gay rights and is valuable in research about gay rights, especially surrounding issues of national security. The collection is divided into five main series: Correspondence, Intelligence Files, Litigation, Press and Topical Files.

The Correspondence series includes one folder of personal correspondence, which is primarily letters written to a 1968 love interest. The Press folder contains various letters and responses--from the obscene to the mundane -- to articles written about Rock. The primary portion of the Correspondence series is made up of letters separated from the litigation files which recount decisions and court actions. These are divide into two sub-series: non- Rock related cases and Rock. The non-Rock cases include all correspondence which came into Rock's possession from the cases of Dubbs, Fultun, Gayer, Kovalich, Preston, and Tabler. The Rock correspondence consists of 5 folders of material, is organized chronologically, and includes all correspondence between Rock and those involved in his litigation process. The Correspondence series provides a thorough chronological account of all legal actions and documents Rock's reactions to each of the cases.

The Intelligence Files series contains all files provided to Rock from the Air Force, Army, Defense Industrial Security Clearance Office (DISCO), FBI, Industrial Security Clearance Review Offices (ISCRO), Navy and the U.S. Civil Service Commission. The files date from 1960 through the 1970s. Rock's original organization of this material was largely preserved, since the materials often contain multiple dates (of the request and of the original investigation).

The Litigation series contains all briefs, filings and other legal documentation of cases, all of which involve questions of the rights of homosexual individuals to hold security clearance. The series begins with the sub-series of Non-Rock Related Cases. These include cases brought by Julie Dubbs, John Napier Eaves, Roy Lee Fultun, Richard Gayer, Jean Kovalich, Elisha Stroud Marsh, Warren Gene Preston, Jack Schwarz, Oliver W. Sipple, the Society for Individual Rights, Otis Francis Tabler and Bennington Wentworth. The largest amount of material is available from the Kovalich case, which includes all legal documents and several depositions. Her case is perhaps the most interesting because of her standing as a supervisor within the Department of Defense itself. When she admitted her homosexuality, she was demoted. Eventually, she won her case. The Wentworth and Tabler cases also contain large amounts of material.

The Rock sub-series of the Litigation files consists of 1 linear foot of material. It is organized primarily by case and by chronology within each case. The folders of legal documents and briefs are supplemented by nine bound transcripts and testimonies, all labeled and dated. This sub-series consists of all legal documents for each of the cases in which Rock was involved: Rock v. CIA, Rock v. Department of Defense, and Rock v. State of California.

The Press series is organized into clippings and articles, and press releases. Both of these sub-series contain non-Rock and Rock related divisions, and all material is organized chronologically. The Non- Rock related press clippings and articles are especially interesting for the context they provide, documenting one view of homosexuality in America in the 1970s. These folders contain information about various state decisions on the legalization of homosexual activity, as well as information about the 1973 decision by the American Psychiatric Association which declared that homosexuality was no longer considered a mental disorder.

The Topical Files include an unpublished book manuscript written by Rock in 1978 called In the National Interest. This manuscript details Rock's experiences in the court system and provides his perspective on the actions and decisions of the Department of Defense. This honest account is well researched and provides more than just a re-telling of the events already detailed in the correspondence and litigation files. It includes background information about homosexuality in general, and history about homosexuals' treatment by the Department of Defense.

The Jonathan Demme Papers consist of materials related to Demme's extensive filmography from 1970-2008, including "The Silence of the Lambs". Materials are arranged chronologically by project, and cover most aspects of pre- and post-production, as well as publicity and related awards. As of November 2023, only the "Silence of the Lambs" series has been processed and made available. Additional series will be completed at a later date.

The Jonathan Demme Papers consists of approximately 150 linear feet of materials from 1970-2000. Materials include correspondence, legal and business documents, and photographs, as well as extensive documentation of film production, including pre- and post-production phases. In some cases, awards and publicity materials are also included.

The "Silence of the Lambs" series consists of approximately 13 linear feet. The material follows the project through the phases of production, and includes many drafts of the final script and novel adaptation, as well as extensive pre-production and location scouting information.

As of November 2023, only the "Silence of the Lambs" series has been processed and made available to researchers.

This collection contains correspondence, news clippings, writings, manuscripts, and ephemera related to Barbara Murphy's involvement in student protest movements at the University of Michigan in the 1960s. Also included are reports, manuscripts, administrative materials, and correspondence generated during her subsequent career at the University of Michigan, primarily concerning her work to advance women's rights at the university.

This collection contains correspondence, news clippings, writings, manuscripts, and ephemera related to Barbara Murphy's involvement in student protest movements at the University of Michigan in the 1960s. Also included are reports, manuscripts, administrative materials, and correspondence generated during her subsequent career at the University of Michigan, primarily concerning her work to advance women's rights at the university.

The correspondence largely consists of mailings sent to Murphy from former SDS members coordinating reunions, particularly the 1977 reunion. It also includes mail sent between other SDS members (not Murphy herself), including Alan Haber, the organization's first president. Notable is the correspondence concerning the 1965 anti-Vietnam War Teach-In, the first of a number of such events across the country in which professors cancelled classes and gave antiwar seminars for 12 hours. Additionally, there is a small number of interdepartmental letters from Murphy's career at the University, as well as information and appeals concerning various social causes.

Before her passing, Murphy had begun to organize her files herself. The files she pulled together have been maintained in their original order with their original titles transcribed. Most of these folders concern Murphy's professional career.

The Administrative records subseries is grouped by relevant organization or institution. Materials within folders are organized chronologically. Papers include organizational agendas and minutes, funding proposals, reunion planning, and policy guidelines. Most are related to Murphy's career at the University.

The Printed Materials series is grouped by type of printed material. Materials within folders are organized chronologically. The journals, newsletters, manuscripts and essays largely consist of writings by SDS members or other members of the New Left. Ephemera comprises a variety of pamphlets, broadsides, flyers, and stickers distributed by student activist organizations. Most relate to antiwar and anti-draft activism, particularly the 1965 teach-in. The majority of research reports and surveys were generated by researchers at the University of Michigan and concern gender equality on campus. The news clippings concern both SDS and academic women's issues.

Finally, the SDS files folder contains a handful of SDS papers that did not easily fit into other folders, including a booklet of protest songs, a biographical booklet about former SDS president Paul Potter, and a copy of an FBI memorandum regarding surveillance of the New Left in Ann Arbor.

Correspondence, manuscripts, publications, and ephemera from award-winning novelist, journalist, and anarchist Cara Hoffman.

The correspondence series contains digital correspondence between Hoffman and colleagues, as well as letters sent to Hoffman. The creator separated digital correspondence from Goddard College, Jon Frankel, and Rachel Pollack from other letters. These correspondents' folders are arranged alphabetically. Their back-and-forth with Hoffman largely consists of discussions about craft or admissions to Goddard College. Additional correspondence is ordered chronologically. Many letters date from the 80s and 90s and concern the personal lives of Hoffman's correspondents.

The Works series consists of notes, manuscripts, proofs, and publications of Hoffman's novels, short stories, and articles. Materials are grouped by work. The bulk of materials relate to Hoffman's most recent novel, Running, which is based loosely on her early travels in Greece in the 1980s and 1990s.

The collection also includes 5 of Hoffman's personal journals, dating from 2000 to roughly 2018. These journals include notes and writings related to Hoffman's writing process and her work on her MFA. Following the journals are Hoffman's Goddard diploma and handful of ephemera from Hoffman's travels.

David Cope is a poet in the Objectivist tradition and the founder of Nada Press, a small press which publishes the literary magazine and other poetry. Cope, a University of Michigan graduate and lifelong Michigan resident, taught literature and writing at Grand Rapids Community College and Western Michigan University. The collection documents Cope's writing, editing, and to some extent teaching and other spheres of Cope's life, through correspondence, manuscripts, notes, printed material, photographs, and videotapes.

David Cope made his first donation of papers to the Special Collections Research Center in 1987. Since then he has continued to make frequent contributions. The David Cope Papers cover Cope's writing and correspondence from the 1970s to the present, as well as his editing and teaching activities. In addition to offering insight into Cope's work, the collection details some of the activities and thoughts of friends and fellow writers and poets; in particular, Allen Ginsberg, Jim Cohn, Antler, and Jeff Poniewaz. Not currently well-documented are the more personal aspects of Cope's life--especially his family life--except for those details made available through his writings and correspondence.

The David Cope Papers are divided into eight series: Correspondence and Name Files, Writings, Editing Materials, Teaching and Education Materials, Publicity Materials, Personal, Photographs, and Audio/Visual. A small selection of books from Cope's library have been removed from the collection and have been cataloged individually. They are shelved by call number in Special Collections and can be requested through the Library's 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.

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 Leo and Mary Sarkisian Collection consists of recordings of the Music Time in Africa radio program (1966-2021), the contents of the Leo Sarkisian VOA Music Library, and related contextual documents and artifacts, including the personal papers of its creator Leo Sarkisian and his wife Mary Sarkisian. The bulk of the collection is source material for the production and broadcast of Music Time in Africa, including copies of the radio broadcasts and scripts, recordings of African music compiled for use in the show, and original field recordings made by Leo Sarkisian between approximately 1959 and 1975. Other recordings include commercially produced content in LP, 45 rpm and cassette tape formats. The collection documents the public diplomacy exercised by the United States through Voice of America programming in Africa and the wide variety of musical styles of newly independent African nations.

The Leo and Mary Sarkisian collection (220 linear feet) consists of recordings of the Voice of America's Music Time in Africa radio program (1965–2021), the contents of the Leo Sarkisian VOA Music Library, and related contextual documents, personal papers, artifacts, and musical instruments. The University of Michigan Library established the Leo and Mary Sarkisian Collection in 2018 by consolidating previous gifts and donations from the Sarkisians, long-term loans of archival materials from the Voice of America, and digital reproductions created by the University of Michigan. In 2004, Leo Sarkisian formally donated musical instruments from his personal collection to the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments. He followed up in 2012 and 2015 with donations of personal papers and artifacts collected during travels in Africa, documented by a signed deed of gift. In 2008, the University of Michigan negotiated a Memo of Understanding with the Voice of America to digitize and make available for teaching and research 360 rare and unique audio recordings made by Leo Sarkisian in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2015, the Voice of America transferred the entire contents of the Leo Sarkisian Music Library to the University of Michigan for purposes of research and teaching. An extended Memo of Understanding between UM and VOA governs the archival processing of the loaned materials as well as permissions to digitize materials and make them available for teaching and research.

The bulk of the collection is source material for the production and broadcast of Music Time in Africa, including copies of the radio broadcasts and scripts, recordings of African music compiled for use in the show. Because Sarkisian had no mandate from VOA to create and retain an archival copy of every broadcast show, the completeness of the surviving MTIA radio shows varies. The most complete representation includes the audio recording of the full broadcast and the full script. Some instances of the show include only the musical inserts (without the host's voice) and the script. A number of complete show audio recordings lack associated scripts. Some individual scripts are not matched with surviving radio show recordings.

Among the VOA Music Library materials are recordings from Sarkisian's prior work with Tempo records, where he trained as a recording engineer. This small group of materials dates back as early as 1949, when Sarkisian began traveling in Asia (Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) making field recordings for the Hollywood-based label. In 1958, Irving "Colonel" Fogel, the president of Tempo sent Sarkisian to Ghana, where he made over 100 recordings and donated the tapes to Radio Ghana. He and Mary established a Tempo office in Conakry, Guinea. There in 1962, Leo met Edward R. Murrow, who was then head of the United States Information Agency. Murrow invited Sarkisian to join the Voice of America (VOA) as Music Director of VOA's Africa Program Center in Monrovia, Liberia.

Leo and Mary traveled extensively to make field recordings and launch a new radio show focused on traditional African music. Leo recounted that the Music Time in Africa radio show first broadcast in May1965; the earliest recorded broadcast of MTIA in the collection is from May 22, 1966. The geographical coverage of the collection includes 46 African countries, the US, and other locations where Sarkisian worked. The African countries represented in the collection are: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic, Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, The Gambia, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, United States, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The collection contains evidence of Sarkisian's work through VOA's Program Center in Monrovia, Liberia, to train recording technicians and program directors at radio stations in several African countries. Notable among these were Radio Tanzania, Radio Comores, Radiodiffusion Nationale Tchadienne (Chad), Radio Dahomey, Radio Rurale (Burkina Faso), Radio Burundi, and Radio Douala (Cameroon). The VOA Music Library Tape Recordings series includes tapes sent to the VOA from these stations.

The collection documents the production of Music Time in Africa as a pre-recorded analog program. Leo Sarkisian worked primarily with quarter-inch open reel magnetic audio tape. He assembled the musical selections for each Music Time in Africa program, and composed and typed the scripts for the host to read, almost verbatim. A recording engineer interspersed the musical selections on cue and simultaneously created a full recording of the 30-minute show. The show typically followed a format that book-ended field recordings of traditional music with several commercially recorded popular songs. Traditional musical content was drawn from Leo's field recordings and other sources.

The show's theme music was composed and performed by Geraldo Pino and the Heartbeats of Sierra Leone from an original recording that Leo made of the band. The shows are remarkable for the breadth of genres represented in the programming selections and the geographical coverage of the collection. Sarkisian collaborated with composers and scholars including J.H. Kwabena Nkeita, Duro Ladipo, Bai T. Moore, and representatives of the radio stations where he trained engineers and program directors. The Voice of America broadcast Sarkisian's pre-recorded shows on Sundays at 18:30 GMT across the African continent, via shortwave radio relays. Originally the VOA was broadcast only outside the United States. Legislation signed in 2013 made the broadcasts accessible to US audiences. Today the MTIA show is one hour long and encompasses a variety of social media content including blogs and videos of interviews with guest artists.

Four hosts gave voice to Music Time in Africa during the four decades that Leo Sarkisian produced the show. Bryn Poole, the spouse of a VOA station officer in Monrovia, Liberia, hosted the program between 1965 and 1967. Miatta Fahnbulleh, a Liberian musician, served as interim host in 1968 while the VOA broadcast facilities in Monrovia relocated permanently to Washington, DC. In 1968 VOA staff broadcaster Susan Moran assumed hosting responsibilities in Washington, DC and served continuously in this role until April 1978. Leo Sarkisian recruited experienced radio announcer Rita Rochelle in 1978 to be the host and public face of Music Time in Africa, a role she filled until April 2004. Occasionally, Leo Sarkisian, dubbed the Music Man in Africa, joined the formal host in the studio to narrate the context of particular musical selections or to regale the audience with stories of his recording trips to the African continent.

In addition to announcing the songs, the scripts provide contextual information. The hosts often explain the song lyrics and describe the places, peoples, and styles (e.g. dance, lullaby, or ceremonial), or musical instruments. The scripts also include announcements of birthdays, requests, and other responses to fan mail, especially during the height of the broadcast years coinciding with Rita Rochelle's tenure as host. The MTIA shows include occasional interviews with guest performers. Under the general direction of Leo Sarkisian, ethnomusicologist Matthew Lavoie assumed responsibility in April 2004 for producing and hosting Music Time in Africa. Recast as an hour-long program broadcast from Washington, DC to the African continent via shortwave and FM signals, Lavoie's MTIA also utilized digital recording technologies to assemble the audio portions of the program from the extensive analog resources in the Leo Sarkisian Music Library at VOA.

To supplement his hosting responsibilities, Lavoie wrote a blog, "African Music Treasures," for the VOA website. The 52 currently existing blog posts compare and contrast music from across the African continent, provide biographical background on musicians, describe musical genres and instruments, and highlight aspects of Leo Sarkisian's original field recordings. The blog posts also engage other contemporaneous bloggers from Europe and the US (e.g., Likembe, Awesome Tapes from Africa, Benn Loxo du Taccu, Worldservice) in a growing discussion on the topic of African musical recordings. The blogs represent Lavoie's areas of special interest. Matthew Lavoie's blog posts remain available through the VOA website and are preserved as fixed PDF files as part of this series. The Internet Archive preserves a small selection of Matthew Lavoie MTIA shows that were uploaded by an anonymous third-party user not affiliated with VOA.

In 2012, Heather Maxwell, an ethnomusicologist with a Ph.D. from Indiana University specializing in African music, took over producing and hosting the Music Time in Africa radio show. She continues to the present day. She has maintained the MTIA-VOA blog and expanded the format of the show to include video interviews (available on YouTube). Maxwell's shows (audio or audio/video only) since 2014 to the present and her blog posts are accessible through the VOA website.

Archival processing established thirteen archival series groupings on what was a richly organic working music library of audio recordings, program documentation, and personal artifacts. The organization of the collection reflects the processes that went into producing the Music Time in Africa radio show, the administrative functions and history of Leo Sarkisian's career, and the structure of the reference library that he built and maintained at the Voice of America's headquarters in Washington, DC.

The majority of the collection consists of audio recordings in analog and digital formats. Audio recordings include complete and incomplete copies of extant Music Time in Africa broadcasts, along with the audio source materials that Leo Sarkisian used to construct the radio broadcasts. The extant MTIA radio shows are compound objects of audio recordings and typed scripts, often existing in multiple copies and multiple versions. Source media range from a preponderance of open-reel quarter-inch magnetic tapes (acetate or polyester base) to LP and 45 rpm records, cassette tapes, digital minidiscs, and CD's. Complementing the extensive audio materials are small collections of supporting documents, personal papers, artifacts, and musical instruments.

The National Endowment for the Humanities supported the digitization of the most complete versions of Leo Sarkisian's MTIA broadcasts. MTIA broadcasts produced and hosted by Matthew Lavoie and Heather Maxwell are in born digital formats as separate parts of the collection. The University of Michigan digitized a selection of unique field recordings created by Leo Sarkisian during his travels in Africa, along with distinctive portions of the source materials that Sarkisian utilized in the MTIA shows. The Internet Archives contains a small portion of Matthew Lavoie's MTIA radio shows. Heather Maxwell's radio shows (also born-digital) broadcast since 2016 are available through the VOA News website. Blog posts on Music Time in Africa and its African musical heritage created by Matthew Lavoie and Heather Maxwell are available on the VOA website.

Edward C. Weber (1922-2006) was long-time curator of the University of Michigan Special Collection's Joseph A. Labadie Collection of radical history. Under his stewardship, the Labadie Collection grew into one of the premier and most forward-thinking holdings of materials relating to radical and protest groups from the United States and around the world. The Edward C. Weber Papers are made up of the subject's correspondence and biographical materials, written from 1949 to 2006. The bulk of the collection, the correspondence is mostly comprised of Weber's letters soliciting materials on behalf of the Labadie Collection or fielding reference questions from researchers, as well as personal correspondence from the his family and friends. The collection's materials are comprised of letters (typed and handwritten), printed out emails, postcards, greeting cards, news clippings, photographs, printed biographical materials, framed commendations, and other miscellaneous paper materials.

The Edward C. Weber Papers consists of Weber's correspondence with organizations, publishers, researchers, associates, family, and friends, along with biographical materials created for his retirement and memorial services. The collection provides a snapshot of the Joseph A. Labadie Collection and his work there for a 40 year period (1960-2000), as well as a portrait of his personal relationships with friends and family from 1949 to 2005.

The Biographical Materials series contains materials from Weber's retirement celebration and memorial service. The first folder contains past articles and correspondence on paper stock, reprinted for Weber's memorial service in 2006. The second set of items relate to Weber's retirement in 2000. This includes a flyer for his retirement celebration, articles about his retirement, and copied certificates of commendation. In addition, two framed items of commendation are housed in an oversized box.

The Correspondence series makes up the majority of the collection and is comprised of 27 linear feet of paper material housed in 54 manuscript boxes, foldered alphabetically by correspondent or corresponding organization. Individual letters, cards, photographs and other types of written communication are arranged chronologically within each subject's folder(s). The majority of folders are dedicated to outreach by Weber to various radical groups and individuals soliciting material donations to contribute to the Labadie Collection. His written responses to reference inquiries for items within the Labadie Collection make up another significant segment of the series. Most of these materials are typewritten letters officially sent on behalf of the Labadie Collection and University of Michigan Special Collections. Some later letters were written by Labadie Collection assistants during Weber's time there and with his knowledge. Since Weber never used email, his letters sent on behalf of the Labadie Collection were typed on a manual or electric typewriter. There are occasional handwritten notations on some of these letters and a few emails printed out so he could read them. Other folders in the series contain personal correspondence from friends, family, and other associates. These items are made up mostly of handwritten notes, postcards, greeting cards, newspaper clippings, printouts of emails, occasional photographs, and other miscellaneous items. Many of the folders were removed from the general Labadie correspondence files in 2008 and a listing was made of them at that time. The rest of the series is made up of personal correspondence Weber stored in his home.

Within the series are several notable, lengthy correspondence partners including Theodore Adams (1950-2004, 21 folders), James Q. Belden (1952-2000, 11 folders), George Nick (1949-1991, 12 folders), Curtis and Clarice Rodgers (1961-2005, 18 folders), and Henry Van Dyke (1950-2004, 12 folders). The series also includes correspondence from notable individuals such as civil rights activist Malcolm X, graphic novelist Harvey Pekar, former Secretary of State Eliot Abrams, the White Panther Party, among many others.

Abbreviations:

LC=Labadie Collection ECW=Edward C. Weber