Collections : [University of Michigan Special Collections Research Center]

This collection covers writing and correspondence from prominent journalist and screenwriter Ben Hecht, as well as materials related to his daughter, Jenny, and wife, Rose.

The Ben Hecht collection includes materials from the 1940s through 1963 and is divided into five series: Writing, Correspondence, Jenny Hecht, Rose Hecht, and Miscellaneous.

The Writing series, which comprises three-quarters of the collection, contains original manuscripts and notes authored by Hecht. The series is divided by genre into eight subseries: books, essays and articles, notes and treatments, poetry, published writing, scripts, short stories and miscellaneous. As most pieces are undated, materials within each subseries are arranged alphabetically by title as it appears on the piece. While the manuscripts included in the collection are generally for lesser-known or unpublished material, this collection provides a wealth of insight into Hecht's creative process. Particularly in the Scripts subseries, many works contain multiple drafts or include handwritten corrections.

The Books subseries contains a draft manuscript for Hecht's Perfidy (here titled Perfidy in Israel). Published in 1961, this controversial work reflected Hecht's growing anti-Zionism toward the end of his life, a stance that went against his earlier activism for Jewish causes. The Essays and Articles subseries holds five non-fiction pieces, including a letter criticizing the movie of The Diary of Anne Frank, for which Hecht's daughter Jenny was passed over for the title role.

Notes and Treatments includes a number of materials from Hecht's film and television work. Notable among these is a treatment for Miracle in the Rain, which was later produced as a film in 1956. Poetry consists of two poems that reflect some of Hecht's political views. Published Writing features an article Hecht wrote about Marilyn Monroe's death.

The largest collection of writing is contained in the Scripts subseries. It includes draft and final versions of nine separate projects, many with handwritten corrections. Not all were produced as films or plays, so these folders provide insight into some of Hecht's lesser-known work. Particularly interesting items in this subseries are the script for a musical version of Underworld, the screenplay for which Hecht won the first Academy Award for Best Original Story in 1927, and multiple drafts of Hecht's play Winkelberg, based on the life of his friend Maxwell Bodenheim.

Short Stories includes five examples of Hecht's fiction work, including handwritten pages for "Some Slightly Crazy People," which was published in the Saturday Evening Post in 1959. The final subseries in the Writings series , Miscellaneous, has untitled writings and jottings, including one written on a torn piece of cardboard and another on the back of an envelope.

The Correspondence series features materials reflecting Hecht's professional and personal life. Materials within the collection are divided in two subseries, Business Correspondence and Personal Correspondence, and arranged chronologically within each subseries. Spanning the years 1946 to 1963, with the bulk of material from 1958 to 1959, the relatively small Business Correspondence subseries contains a number of letters describing negotiations for projects involving people ranging from Orson Welles to Marilyn Monroe. Several are from Hecht's agent Albert Lewis. This series also includes a letter from the American Broadcasting System announcing the cancellation of Hecht's short-lived television talk show The Ben Hecht Show, which ran from September 1958 to February 1959.

Personal Correspondence spans 1946 to 1963 and is further divided into three subseries. The largest, Fan Letters, includes over 40 letters from fans written between 1956 and 1961. Most were written in support of Hecht's appearance on The Mike Wallace Show in February 1958. Two smaller subseries, Letters to Ben Hecht and Letters to Ben and Rose Hecht, include letters and telegrams from acquaintances, relatives, and family friends.

The Jenny Hecht series includes material related to Hecht's daughter's appearance in stagings of the theatrical version of The Diary of Anne Frank at the Palm Springs Playhouse and the Tappan Zee Playhouse in 1959. The folder includes Jenny Hecht's contracts for the appearances, programs for the productions, newspaper clippings, congratulatory telegrams from family friends, and a card which accompanied flowers from her father. The folder also includes photographs from the productions.

The Rose Hecht series features correspondence to and from Hecht's wife spanning from 1945 to 1959 and arranged chronologically. Several of the letters written by Rose indicate her involvement in her husband's business affairs, including a plea to a congressman petitioning for changes to the tax laws which "unfairly" burden artists.

The Miscellaneous series is comprised of two folders. The first folder contains a list of Hecht's visitors from 1950, featuring such Hollywood personalities such as Kirk Douglas, Otto Preminger, David O. Selznick, and Harpo Marx. The second folder includes publicity materials for several of Hecht's publications, a posthumously awarded certificate for induction to the Chicago Journalists Hall of Fame, two untitled hand-drawn floorplans, and a photograph of a children's band marked "Rhythm Band 1947."

Correspondence between the donor, Beni, and Franklin and Penelope Rosemont, who were surrealist artists, writers, activists, and publishers.

This small collection primarily consists of correspondence between Beni and Franklin Rosemont regarding the collecting of IWW and Surrealist publications. Beni was initially interested in receiving more of the Rosemonts' publications in Arsenal. As their correspondence became more robust, both men collaborated on a search for materials relating to various figures in the history of IWW publications. In the 2000s, their correspondence moved to e-mails that include a network of activists, librarians, and scholars invested in the discovery and preservation of labor history materials. After Franklin Rosemont's death in 2007, Beni continued to collaborate with the curator of the Labadie Collection to acquire rare materials related to the Rosemonts' own activities.

Files, notes, documents, and print material concerning all aspects of the women's movement of the 1970s. Creator was active in the movement, in Washington DC and NYC organizing demonstrations and workshops. She was also involved with the feminist publication Quest. Files are primarily from 1971-1979, although the collection spans from 1964-1985.

Materials consist of 17 mounted, black-and-white photographs of deportees during the 1917 Bisbee Deportation.

This collection consists of 17 mounted, black-and-white photographs of deportees during the 1917 Bisbee Deportation.

The Black Liberation Army (BLA) was an underground Black Nationalist organization largely comprised of former Black Panther Party members. The majority of the materials in the Black Liberation Army archive fall under the Thomas "Blood" McCreary series, a member of the BLA. The archive consists of seven series: Thomas "Blood" McCreary, Correspondence, 1976-1978, Legal, Topical, Newspaper Clippings, 1969-1978, Events, Publications and Black Panther Party. The documents range in date from 1963-1998.

Thomas "Blood" McCreary, a member of the BLA, is the largest series in the Black Liberation Army archive. The correspondence sub-series consist of letters written to or from McCreary ranging in date from 1963-1998. Letters referencing Tupac Shakur can also be found in the correspondence sub-series. Legal is the largest sub-series and is comprised of eight legal cases McCreary was involved in as well as legal documents regarding Tupac Shakur's estate. Legal documents include affidavits, appeals, correspondence with lawyers, statements from McCreary describing prison conditions and trial errors, and a character reference from Bell Gale Chevigny. McCreary's resume, contacts and newspaper clippings are also small sub-series'. The photography sub-series is comprised of three folders which include a photograph of McCreary's graduation from Adelphi University in 1986, the Panther 21 reunion and miscellaneous photographs.

Project Renewal is an organization in New York City with a goal of ending homelessness. McCreary served as a member of the Black History Month Committee for this organization. The Project Renewal sub-series contain documents regarding the planning of a black history month event. The next sub-series is the 25th anniversary of the New York Panther 21 acquittal. On April 2, 1969, 21 members of the Black Panther Party were arrested and charged with conspiracy to blow up the New York Botanical Gardens. McCreary served on the committee to plan the celebration of their acquittal 25 years later. This material includes speaker requests, invitation and flyers. The final sub-series is the 30th anniversary of the Black Panther Party, where McCreary served as a committee member. This material includes meeting minutes, speaker requests and publicity.

Correspondence, 1976-1978 is a series consisting of 5 folders of letters and notes from Black Liberation Army members and range in topic.

The Legal series is comprised of two legal cases. The first is Caban v. United States, dated February 7, 1984. This document is an appeal in a case that involves a man named Salvador Caban who was detained for six day by INS despite being a citizen of the United States. The second is Richard Moore v. FBI, et al.. The documents in this case include exhibit documents as well as a transcript taken during the deposition of Sekou Odinga, a BLA member.

Topical is a series which is separated into 3 sections. Resumes are the first section, which contains the resumes of four people. Next, the Counterintelligence Program section consists of a memorandum describing the background, development and potential offices of the Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO), an FBI program which conducted covert and sometimes illegal activities to neutralize numerous political organizations. The final sectuib in the Topical series is titled Reconsolidation and Infrastructure, dated 1996. This includes several documents regarding ways to reconsolidate the structure of the BLA.

Newspaper Clippings, 1969-1997 is a series that largely consists of newspaper clippings covering the arrests of BLA members as well as opinion pieces regarding the organization.

Events consist of seven sections: United African Movement Freedom Retreat, Protests, Fundraisers, Memorials, Campaigns, Lectures, and the 27th Annual African American Parade. The materials range in date from 1970-1995 and include publicity material, clippings and flyers.

The Publications series contains five sections. First, the Black Panther section include various articles from the Black Panther publication ranging from their beliefs to collages and poems. The New York Amsterdam News section is an ad in support of Assata Shakur. "Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996," Public Law 104-132 is dated April 24, 1996 and was signed into law after the Oklahoma City bombing. Newsletters is a section comprised of newsletters from various organizations. Finally, the New Afrikan Journal section consists of Volume 4, Number 1 edition of the journal.

Black Panther Party is the final series in the Black Liberation Army archive and consists of six sections: Articles, "The Black Panther Party Foundation" by Afeni Shakur, Panther film, Questionnaire, Photocopies of photographs and Black Panther Collective. The articles section ranges in topic and are all undated. "The Black Panther Party Foundation" was a brief report written by Afeni Shakur regarding the assembly of the east and west coast Black Panthers in order to preserve the history of the party and conduct formal remembrances of fallen members. Panther, film is a section regarding the 1995 film about the BPP directed by Mario Van Peebles and starring Kadeem Hardison, Courtney Vance and Bokeem Woodbine. The photocopies of photographs sub-series include photographs of BPP Minister of Defense Huey Newton as well as photographs of a "Free Huey" rally. There are also miscellaneous photographs which are undated. The Black Panther Collective was formed in 1994 with the mission to carry on the legacy of the BPP. This sub-series includes correspondence, flyers, rules and regulations and community police patrol documents.

Bread and Roses Productions was formed in 1978 as a way to combat what its members saw as negative and harmful portrayals of women on television. The group, formed by several volunteers at the Women's Crisis Center of Ann Arbor, filmed public service announcements, lectures, interviews, and other programs to draw attention to issues related to women's lives in the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti areas. The collection consists of sixteen magnetic tapes containing audiovisual recordings of programs, interviews, and events recorded by Bread and Roses Productions between 1978 and 1983.

The collection consists of twelve magnetic tapes containing audiovisual recordings of programs, interviews, and events recorded by Bread and Roses Productions between 1978 and 1983. Topics include interviews with Mollie Haskell, Lois Garmen, andBread and Roses co-founder Marge Greene; programs about women's equality, lesbian rights, and the Family Protection Act; interviews and programs related to relaxation and polarity therapy; a Holly Near concert; and a recording of a presentation by Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda.

Materials have been reformatted, and CD use copies have been created.

This collection was created by Margaret Kahn, a political science graduate student from the University of California, Berkeley. Kahn traveled to Great Britain to conduct research into coal miners' unions for her doctorate thesis on labor relations. While there, she witnessed and documented the coal miners' Great Strike of 1984/1985. The collection consists of Kahn's research notes and writings, along with books, papers, reports, pamphlets, and ephemera produced by unions, interest groups, companies, and government bodies. Subjects covered include the 1984/85 strike as well as broader contemporary conflicts over labor, energy, and governance in the UK.

The collection is sorted into eight series based largely on format.

The correspondence series consists of a handful of letters sent to Kahn directly, as well as a small collection of letters sent between other correspondents that Kahn collected as part of her research.

In the manuscripts series is the typescript for Kahn's unpublished biography of Arthur Scargill, the president of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) during the Great Strike.

The research notes series represents Kahn's original research. Kahn tended to create ordered compilations of annotated primary and secondary source documents interwoven with pages of her own handwritten notes. The interviews subseries features notes focused primarily on Kahn's interviews; however, additional interview notes are scattered throughout the other subseries. The alphabetical research notes are a portion of Kahn's research that she labeled by subject and alphabetized herself. At the end of the series are eight folders of unlabeled notes covering a variety of subjects.

The research documents series consists of mostly unpublished, unannotated papers that Kahn collected.

The subject files series are folders sorted alphabetically by Kahn's original titles and then grouped into broader subject categories. This series was left untouched during reprocessing due to uncertainty about the extent to which it represented Kahn's original order. Thus, there is some overlap between papers in this series and others, particularly the research documents series.

Publications are books, booklets, and other softbound publications Kahn accumulated. They have been grouped by their primary publisher, then sorted into subseries according to the sectors or interests they represent. While a good deal of materials concern the 1984 strike, they also cover related contemporary events in the UK, including the closure of collieries, the privatization of the energy sector, and the rise of Thatcherism.

Newspapers and clippings are newspapers, journals, and news clippings compilations (created by Kahn) that document the progress of the Strike, various strike topics, and issues regarding the British Press and the Strike.

Finally, the ephemera series consists of six folders of leaflets, brochures, flyers, order forms, and stickers related to coal mining, trade unionism, and political organizing.

The Broadside Press records include correspondence, typescripts, broadsides, books, financial records, audiovisual material, photographs, realia, and other printed material. These records document a portion of the history of the Detroit-based African-American-owned publisher of poetry broadside, anthologies and other works.

The Broadside Press records include correspondence, typescripts, broadsides, books, financial records, audiovisual material, photographs, realia, and other printed material. The ten linear feet span the years 1968 to 1998, with the bulk of materials falling between 1985 and 1996. Records are arranged in ten series: Correspondence (0.5 linear feet), Book Production Material (1 linear foot), Broadsides (0.25 linear feet), Programs and Events (0.5 linear feet), Business Records (1 linear foot), Financial Records (1 linear foot), Photographic Material (0.5 linear feet), Audiovisual Material (0.5 linear feet), Ephemera (1.5 linear feet), and Realia (.25 linear feet).

Founded by Hermann A. Brunn in Buffalo, New York, Brunn & Company were designers and builders of automotive bodies from the 1920s through the early 1940s, and are best known for the bodies constructed for the Lincoln Division of the Ford Motor Company. Brunn also built automobiles for private individuals, many of whom were well-known members of American business and society circles, including J.C. Penney and J.P. Morgan. Hermann C. Brunn, son of Hermann A., produced numerous designs for the company, and then continued his career at the Ford Motor Company following the closing of Brunn & Company in 1941. The collection documents the work of Brunn & Company, Hermann A. Brunn, and Hermann C. Brunn, through engineering drawings, photographs, paint and upholstery samples, customer order records, correspondence, and research materials.

The Brunn collection has been divided into four series: Correspondence, Design and Engineering, Images, and Sales and Marketing.

The Correspondence series is arranged alphabetically by correspondent and then chronologically within each file. The letters are primarily from customers to Hermann A. Brunn expressing appreciation for the work done on their vehicles. Letters that are circa 1970 includes material written by and sent to Hermann C. Brunn during his employment at Ford Motor Company, and in regards to modern restorations of Brunn vehicles. In cases where a specific vehicle can be identified, the correspondence has been filed with the photographic images of that particular vehicle. Some of the letters were part of a scrapbook and many letters are glued to the same page, as a result at the end of correspondence there are several letters listed together which indicates they are glued together and in the same folder.

The Design and Engineering series is divided into three subseries: Brunn & Company Drawings, Other Drawings, and Hermann C. Brunn. The material in the series consists primarily of drawings produced by Brunn & Company illustrating the various body designs produced by the firm, which are, for the most part, reproductions, or blueprints. The drawings show the left (driver) side elevation of the vehicle and, in some cases, include a plan view of the interior layout. Dimensions, if shown, detail the passenger interior space. The name, or initials, of the designer, customer name, and notes detailing specific vehicle configuration and trim can be found on many of the drawings. The drawings have been arranged alphabetically by make of chassis, then chronologically by date drawn and design number. Data for body style, model, chassis wheelbase in inches, engine configuration, order number, and customer name has also been included in the file title, where known. The Other Drawings subseries consist of a smaller number of drawings that originate from other manufacturers, including General Motors and the Ford Motor Company. The Hermann C. Brunn subseries consists of materials created by Hermann C. Brunn in the period after the closing of Brunn & Company, and includes a manuscript for an article describing the history of the brougham body style.

The Images series is divided into five subseries: Negatives; Vehicles, Brunn & Company; Vehicles Other, Non-vehicle, Brunn & Company; and Non-vehicle, Other. Image formats include black and white, and color, photographic prints and negatives. The bulk of the subjects are Brunn & Company vehicles, with images illustrating the exterior of completed automobiles. In many cases the prints and negatives are marked with the vehicle order number and many images are loose pages from a scrapbook. Images of body construction, interior, and body detail are captured for some vehicles. Non-vehicle subjects include the [1929] Paris, France, Auto Salon. Non-Brunn & Company subjects include several of images of the Aqua Cheetah, an amphibious vehicle built for the United States Army by the Amphibian Car Corporation. Another group of photographs are labeled “Best of Brunn” I and II which are an assortment of photos from various car models.

The Sales and Marketing series consists of brochures, print advertisements, owner lists, price lists, and a number of large-format upholstery and paint samples. The series also includes a Customer Order Book for 1935-1937. This journal records all vehicles built by Brunn & Company during that time period, with entries for order number, order date, body style, model number, customer name, body number, trim and paint specification, intermediate construction dates, and vehicle completion dates.

The Bunyan Bryant Papers hold documents related to anti-discrimination activities in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area, as well as national efforts through the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), from 1961-1965. Efforts in Ann Arbor center on housing at Pittsfield Village, Arbordale Manor, and include documentation on city-wide fair housing efforts and policies.

The Bunyan Bryant Papers hold documents related to anti-discrimination activities in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area, as well as national efforts through the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), from 1961-1965. Efforts in Ann Arbor center on housing at Pittsfield Village, Arbordale Manor, and include documentation on city-wide fair housing efforts and policies. Also present are materials related to racial discrimination at commercial entities such as Seyfried Bridal, Students Friend Discount Barber, and Thompson's restaurant. The documentation holds information about activities that includes correspondence, legal efforts, sit-ins, marches, and picketing.

The Fair Housing series contains documents related to city-wide anti-discrimination planning and policy. AAAFHA Pittsfield Village (Ann Arbor Area Fair Housing Association) is a series that holds materials related to fighting racial discrimination in housing. The AAAFHA-CORE (Ann Arbor Area Fair Housing Association - Congress of Racial Equality) includes information about the Ann Arbor, Michigan chapter of CORE and their activities fighting racial discrimination in housing, education, and commerce. Of note are materials related to a sit-in at City Hall, and documents related to Seyfried Bridal. The Arbordale Manor Housing Discrimination folder holds documentation about discriminatory housing practices when Bunyan Bryant was denied housing based on his race. It includes formal complaints, legal documentation, and correspondence, as well as documents calling for demonstrations. The CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) series contains materials related to the national CORE organization, its relationship with local chapters, policies, and the 1964 and 1965 national conventions. The Jones School Closure (Ann Arbor, Michigan) series includes newspaper clippings of articles related to education and segregation. The Miscellaneous series holds materials not related specifically to the other series that are relevant to racial equality efforts.