Collections

The Human Rights Party Papers consist of correspondence, writings, administrative materials, teaching materials, notes, reports, and photos regarding the life and works of Benita and Gabe Kaimowitz and Edward and Victoria Vandenberg, all of whom were active members of the Human Rights Party in Ann Arbor in the 1970s.

The correspondence series largely consists of correspondence to and occasionally from Ed and Victoria concerning their personal and professional lives. Items groupings correspond to the creators' original order.

The campaign materials series comprises legal documents, ad copy, expenses, ephemera, and photos related to Benita Kaimowitz's 1973 bid for Ann Arbor mayor and Ed Vandenberg's 1986 candidacy for probate judge.

The teaching materials series includes lesson plans, assignments, student work, student evaluations, reading lists, and correspondence relating to Victoria and Ed Vandenberg's and Benita Kaimowitz's work as teachers. Both Benita and Ed taught courses at Community High School, a public alternative school founded in 1972 in response to the popularity of the Youth Liberation movement in Ann Arbor.

The Ed Vandenberg legal work series contains materials related to Ed's career as an attorney and ombudsman.

In the Office of Ethics and Religion series are administrative materials, correspondence, notes, ephemera, and proposals created by or submitted to the eponymous office. Ed Vandenberg served for a time as president of the Office of Ethics and Religion, and participated in many of the office's forums, conferences, and iniatives. Many of the materials in this series pertain to the University Values Program and the debates it facilitated concerning research into recombinant DNA technology.

The conferences series primarily consists of documents related to the 1977 "Narcissism in Modern Society" conference held at the University of Michigan and hosted in part by the Office of Religion and Ethics. It also includes statements and notes about attendees from the 1965 International Conference on Alternative Perspectives on Vietnam, which was co-sponsored by the predecessor to the Office of Ethics and Religion. Lastly, the series contains of a handful of documents related to various teach-ins in the 60s and 70s.

The topical files series is composed of groupings of files, largely collected by Ed Vandenberg, related to political and philosophical topics that did not fit neatly elsewhere in the collection. Files contain a variety of items, including essays, articles, newsletters, and ephemera.

The last item in the collection is a spiral-bound notebook used as a communication log for the Kaimowitzes' communal home.

Writings, publications, and clippings collected by activist and SDS founder Tom Hayden. The majority of the materials relate to the Civil Rights movement in the early 1960s, particularly the activities of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Materials are arranged in three series: 1. Writings, 2. Organization records, and 3. Newspaper clippings.

The Writings Series consists of Hayden's essays and notes about student activism, democracy, and the civil rights movement.

The Organizational Records Series is composed of materials related to organizations Hayden participated in or associated with in the early 1960s. A good deal of the materials document SNCC's activities in Americus, Georgia.

The Newspaper Clippings Series dates from 1961 to 1963 and covers civil rights demonstrations in the South. Someone, likely Hayden, annotated some of the clippings with timelines and commentary.

Research materials created and collected by the political scientist David Porter during the course of his doctoral research in Algeria.

The bulk of the papers is Porter's own handwritten notes, but also includes materials he saved from other sources (such as local newspapers) and typewritten proposals presented by Porter to his dissertation committee. The papers remain in Porter's original order. Porter's research focused on socialist and anarchist forces in Algeria immediately following independence. Materials are in both French and English.

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.

This collection consists of Hungarian-language newspapers related to the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, spanning the year of 1956, with most of the newspapers published between October 28 and Novemer 4 of that year.

This collection consists of newspapers related to the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, all published in Hungarian during the year of 1956. Newspapers are separated into folders based on title and organized chronologically.

Writings, clippings, and ephemera relating to the life and works of Pat Halley, a Detroit cab driver, writer, and anarchist.

The correspondence file contains two outgoing letters from Halley: a brief (possibly unsent) letter to writer/publisher Ken Wachsberger and a handwritten letter to two friends asking for their support after Halley was accused of sexual misconduct involving a child.

The largest file in this collection consists of scripts for plays Halley wrote or co-wrote in approximately the 1970s, which include Tales of the Sea, The National Desire, The Werewolf of Grosse Point, The Curse of Belle Isle, Cheap Shots, and A Grave Matter. The theatre flyers and playbills folder holds ephemera associated with these and other performances.

The clippings consist of a 1994 article Halley wrote about his experiences as a cab driver, a 1986 article by Jim Gustafson about the MC5, and Halley's 2007 obituary. Finally, the collection includes a 45 RPM vinyl recording of songs written by Pat Halley and a J. Sase.

William Reuben is an investigative reporter and author who wrote, most notably, about the Rosenberg espionage case and the Alger Hiss-Whitaker Chambers libel and perjury trials. The Collection includes correspondence, research and interview notes, drafts of books and articles, published and unpublished, on the trials of the "Trenton Six," Morton Sobell and Robert Soblen, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and Alger Hiss, with much research on Whittaker Chambers.

In general, most of the series consist of similar kinds of material: Reuben's research notes, drafts of his writings, correspondence, clippings, and reviews of other writings about the case or individual. Some of the series have further value because they include Reuben's collection of printed material about the case. For example, Reuben was particularly active in the Committee to Secure Justice in the Rosenberg Case, and the Rosenberg series includes some of the printed matter put out by this organization. Reuben also collected correspondence of the Civil Rights Congress, a major organization lobbying on behalf of the Trenton Six.

In many ways, the Reuben papers are an assemblage of secondary material. Reuben had little first-hand dealings with either the Rosenbergs or the Trenton Six. Nevertheless, the files have value for their documentation of the manner in which this one investigative reporter worked. Reuben was a meticulous and persistent researcher, who tracked down a variety of leads in a story, first analyzing the available court transcripts and other official records, then corresponding as much as he was able with the people involved in the case (including other writers like himself), and finally monitoring the amount and kind of press coverage given to the case. Unfortunately, Reuben did not gain as much first-hand contact with the principals in his investigations as he would have liked, and thus the collection is not as substantive as the researcher might like. Reuben 's correspondence, furthermore, is often superficial and anecdotal in character. Another disappointment of the collection are Reuben 's notes and drafts, which because they are fragmentary or unidentified, are difficult to use and of questionable research value.

The Michigan Central Railroad Police Department Mugshot Photographs Collection contains 112 mugshots and accompanying police intake records for suspected members of the Communist Party USA.

The Michigan Central Railroad Police Department Mugshot collection contains 112 mugshots and accompanying police intake records for suspected members of the Communist Party USA. A number of these photographs come from the 1932 Ford Hunger March, with others coming from the GM Fisher Body plant strike in Flint in July 1930. Other individuals were arrested by the Flint Police department throughout the 1930s, and several were affiliated with specific investigations, as noted on the intake forms.

Of particular note is the arrest record of William Z. Foster in New York in 1930. Foster served as the secretary of the Communist Party, campaigned for Governor of New York in 1930, and ran for President of the United States in 1924, 1928, and 1932. Other notable members include Joe Sgovio who was deported to Russia, where he died; and Will Geer, who played the grandfather on 1970's television program The Waltons. While most of the mugshots are of men, two depict women (Marion Simon and Stella Marie Harrison).

Also included in the collection is a folder of historical information on the photographs, collected by the donor and housed with the collection.

This collection consists of correspondence, photographs, ephemera, publications, and A/V materials created or collected by Ms. Bob Davis, a transgender rights activist and professor of music at City College of San Francisco.

This collection consists of correspondence, photographs, ephemera, publications, and A/V materials created or collected by Ms. Bob Davis, a professor of music at City College of San Francisco.

The correspondence dates from the mid-2000s and centers around Ms. Bob and her students' efforts to convince CCSF to keep the position of Transgender Outreach and Advocacy Coordinator.

The photographs are 1970s press photos from a touring production of La Cage aux Folles. Ephemera relate to trans activism at CCSF. The publications folder includes "Inside Out," an interdisciplinary collaboration from CCSF that documents that experiences of trans individuals in the Bay Area. The news clippings cover transgender activism in the Bay Area and at CCSF. Contained in the oversize box is also a signed, wrapped clipping of an interview with Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a survivor of the Stonewall Riots. Finally, the A/V folder contains a Lasses Record Company 45 vinyl single featuring music from Miss Rae Bourbon.

Scripts, newspaper articles and research, CDs, DVDs, and ephemera pertaining to Glenda Dickerson's project for "Transforming thru Performing: re/placing Black womanly images." The original goal of The Project was to enter the Black woman's performing voice into the scholarly discourse surrounding gendered identity. Out of it was created a series of performance dialogues called Kitchen Prayers. After 9/11, Kitchen Prayers revolved around stories which spoke to the impact of war and terror on women around the world.

Scripts, newspaper articles and research, CDs, DVDs, and ephemera pertaining to Glenda Dickerson's project for "Transforming thru Performing: re/placing Black womanly images." "…the original goal of The Project was to enter the Black woman's performing voice into the scholarly discourse surrounding gendered identity. Towards that end, we began a series of performance dialogues called "Kitchen Prayers". After 9/11, "Kitchen Prayers" revolved around stories which spoke to the impact of war and terror on women around the world…" (from the exhibit listing in Deep Blue)