Collections

This collection contains 8 letters written to Marcia Coffing Holley and her husband, Alexander Hamilton Holley, by Maria Coffing, Marcia's sister, as well as 1 from Marcia to her brother, Joshua B. Coffing. Most of the letters relate to women's education in the mid-1830s. The collection includes a description of Maria Coffing's experiences at Grove Hall School in New Haven, Connecticut.

This collection contains 8 letters written to Marcia Coffing Holley and her husband, Alexander Hamilton Holley, by Maria Coffing, Marcia's sister, as well as 1 from Marcia to her brother, Joshua B. Coffing. Marcia wrote to her brother from Grove Hall School on February 25, 1834, while he was at Yale, and shared her vision of him poring over his coursework, armed with a copy of Webster's Dictionary and the speeches of Daniel Webster. Maria Coffing wrote the remaining 8 letters, including 6 to her sister and 2 to her brother-in-law, the future governor of Connecticut, and filled them with news of her life at Grove Hall School in New Haven, Connecticut. Maria attended school throughout the summer and fall of 1836, and shared details of her coursework and instructors; she enjoyed her time there and hoped to attend college lectures in the future.

The Cognitive Science and Machine Intelligence Laboratory (CSMIL) was established in 1985 as a joint venture with the School of Business, College of Engineering, and College of Literature, Science and the Arts. Gary Olson served as director from 1985 to 1994. Records detail the establishment of the laboratory and include committee minutes, financial records, announcements, and material on the colloquium series and various distinguished scientists invited to speak on artificial intelligence, spatial reasoning, and visualization of information.

The records consist of Topical Files, alphabetically arranged, which document various aspects of the Cognitive Science and Machine Intelligence Laboratory's administrative activities and research endeavors.

Within this series, Cognitive Science Course contains records pertaining courses which offered students a multidisciplinary approach to the study of cognition. These courses were proposed and offered between 1986 and 1988. Files contain correspondence, proposals, and course descriptions.

Colloquium Series contains programs, correspondence, and bulletins from colloquia sponsored and organized by the Cognitive Science and Machine Intelligence Laboratory.

The Newsletters series contains the CSMIL Bulletin, the main publication of the Cognitive Science and Machine Intelligence Laboratory, published biweekly. It provided a calendar of relevant events, colloquia, and workshops, as well as other announcements. Towards the late 1980s, the bulletin contained lengthier articles. This series also contains two editions of Express, a publication that updated the broader scientific community on the accomplishments of the EXPRES project, an electronic communication initiative.

Open Houses contains administrative documents, such as hand outs, to-do lists, and screen-shot print outs, relating to the CSMIL open houses.

Sloan Foundation contains records of the grant received to establish a program in Cognitive Science. The files include the final report to the Sloan Foundation on the project's development and activities.

Technical Reports include six spiral-bound versions of published reports co-authored by members of the Cognitive Science and Machine Intelligence Laboratory. The reports appeared in various journals, including Journal of Experimental Psychology, and the Journal on Expert Systems.

This collection is made up of correspondence, legal documents, financial records, maps, and ephemera related to the descendants and extended family of Dr. Joseph Cole of Sharon, Connecticut; Auburn, New York; and Albion, New York. Among many represented subjects are the educational and social lives of women in New York during the early 1800s, legal aspects of land ownership and estate administration, and land along Long Pond in Rome, Maine.

This collection is made up of correspondence, legal documents, financial records, maps, and ephemera related to the descendants and extended family of Dr. Joseph Cole of Sharon, Connecticut; Auburn, New York; and Albion, New York.

The collection's correspondence includes letters from the children and other descendants of Dr. Joseph Cole of Sharon, Connecticut, and Auburn, New York, between 1817 and 1942. Most of the early letters in the collection are addressed to sisters Laura Altie and Mary Parsons Cole from female friends in New York. Several correspondents, including Mary Ann Kellogg and Chloe Hyde, were students at Troy Female Seminary in Troy, New York, in the 1820s and 1830s. Kellogg provided a detailed description of the school before its main building was constructed (June 24, 1821), and Chloe Hyde later shared information about her coursework and the lives of fellow students. Other acquaintances told the sisters of their religious and social lives in different areas of New York, including Lanesborough, Buffalo, and Albany.

Almeron and Dan Cole received letters from friends, family, and business acquaintances, including their brother-in-law, Hiram Foote Mather. These include 7 letters by Frances M. Elliott, who wrote Dan, her future husband, in 1835 and 1836 about her life in Scottsville, New York, and her anticipation of their upcoming marriage. Letters from the 1840s to mid-1860s are most frequently addressed to the Cole brothers and to their brother-in-law, Hiram Foote Mather, about business affairs. Many regard legal matters in Niles and Grand Rapids, Michigan.

After the mid-1860s, much of the correspondence is composed of personal and business letters between David Hyde Mather, his brother-in-law George McClure Welles, and his brothers Joseph and John Mather, who moved out West in the late 1800s. Mather also received many personal letters from his niece, Harriet Prentiss Welles, during her time as postmistress of Great Bend, Kansas, who discussed her personal finances and loans. The papers also contain some of Daniel H. Cole's business correspondence. Other correspondence from this period includes letters between George McClure Welles and Lewis Hunt about Harriet Prentiss Welles's share of Almeron Cole's estate, and personal correspondence addressed to Mary Jane Cole of Albion, New York. She received letters from many female acquaintances and a series from her cousin, D. Williams Patterson, tracing the genealogy of the Hyde family to the mid-18th century.

A selection of letters from the 20th century relate to Marston Taylor Bogert, Morrison McMath, and Lizette Harrison. Between 1912 and the 1920s, Bogert corresponded with several people in Maine, regarding property along Long Pond near Rome, Maine. Other letters relate to the family of Morrison H. McMath, a lawyer from Rochester, New York. A late series of letters by Elizabeth ("Lizette") P. Harrison of Portland, Oregon, to Ada Howe Kent of California, reflects her financial troubles and emotional state during the early years of the Great Depression.

Legal documents include papers relating to the Newton and North Hempstead Plank Road Company; New York Supreme Court Cases heard between 1848 and 1894; estate administration papers; and financial documents and records. The Cole family papers contain documents concerning taxes paid on land holdings in Rome, Maine, in the early 20th century, including property held by Edward F. Bragg in Belgrade, Maine.

Materials relating to education include six checks from the 1860s made out to Phipps' U. Seminary, a 1906 report card for a student at the United States Naval Academy, and an undated "Report Book" containing two essays. An assortment of ephemeral items and manuscript maps of Marston T. Bogert's property along Long Pond in Rome, Maine, also appear in the collection.

The Cole family papers also contain essays, notes, and poetry. Items of note include an 1850s manuscript response of the County of Orleans, New York, to recent actions of slaveholding states, calling for attendance at a Republican Party convention in Syracuse; a 1925 essay entitled "The Beginnings of Modern Spiritualism in and Near Rochester," by Adelbert Cronised; a lengthy typed travelogue of India; and an essay on the history of the Isthmus of Panama and the Panama Canal.

During the mid-19th century, A. A. Coleman was a judge and well-respected planter in the black belt of west-central Alabama. W. S. Stuart, possibly a son-in-law to Coleman, was a physician, planter, and slave holder living in Monticello, Miss., southeast of Vicksburg. After the Civil War, both he and Coleman returned to farming, and Coleman may have engaged in a mercantile partnership. The Coleman-Stuart Papers consists of twenty-nine items, mostly bits of correspondence and other manuscripts of A.A. Coleman and W.S. Stuart.

The Coleman-Stuart Papers consists of twenty-nine items, mostly bits of correspondence and other manuscripts of A.A. Coleman and W.S. Stuart. The public addresses in the collection, probably written by Coleman, reflect the local prominence of the speaker, as does his Colonel's commission in the 40th Alabama Infantry.

The items in the collection span half a century, and although there is little continuity in the correspondence, many individual items are of interest. Stuart discusses crop values, arrangements for selling slaves, and the Locofocos (#2), and in the post-war period, he discusses the difficulties of adjusting to free labor in Louisiana (#23). Coleman's correspondence includes a letter written by Eli Shorter, brother of the Alabama governor, discussing state politics in 1861 (#11) and another letter asking Coleman to discharge a young soldier (#12). A letter written by E. Simpson provides a lengthy and imaginative attack on the "Black Republicans" (#7), and there are important resolutions of support for the Nashville Convention favoring the extension of slavery into the territories (#6) and what appears to be a Democratic Party address lambasting abolitionism, while supporting the Union (#8).

His papers include biographical material on the Howes and Holmes families and on Ithaca Civil War veteran Myron R. Holmes, and Ithaca and Gratiot County, Michigan, history.

The collection provides genealogical information on the Holmes family, especially Civil War veterans, and general information, mostly through photographs of the Gratiot County Herald newspaper, documenting families and life in Gratiot County in the early 1900s.

His papers consist of biographical material on and correspondence of the Church family, especially Ithaca, Michigan, Civil War heroes Nathan and LaFayette Church.

The collection consists mostly of correspondence of the Church family, particularly the men who were Civil War veterans. Miscellaneous accounts, a poem, and correspondence from friends are also included. The 2002 addition to the collection includes typed transcriptions of letters written by Nathan and Lafayette Church on paper and on CD, with a family tree.

The collection documents some of the history, people, businesses, and events of Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

This artificial collection documents some of the history, people, and events of Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

The collection consists of material collected and written by Virginia Kjolhede's mother, Marion Kraft Larson, about her school mate Ernest Hemingway and the Hemingway family, and the papers and photographs of Virginia's husband, Ted Kjolhede, respected athlete, alumni, coach, and athletic director of Central Michigan University.

The collection is divided into two series, each in its own box: first the materials of Ted Kjolhede, and second, the materials of Marion Kraft Larson. Materials in each box are in alphabetical and chronological order. Acidic clippings were photocopied and the originals were withdrawn from the collection.

Series (Box) 1 consists of materials documenting the life of Ted Kjolhede, including biographical materials, photographs of his athletic career and teams, articles and letters to the editors he wrote, many of which were published in his role as guest columnist of the local Mount Pleasant newspaper, the Morning Sun, and various materials related to CMU athletics, CMU World War II graduates, and his career at CMU.

Series (Box) 2 consists mostly of newspaper and magazine articles (copies) collected or created by Marion Kraft Larson about Ernest Hemingway. Also included are a few biographical materials about Marion. Of particular interest, is her Memory Book of Oak Park and River Forest Township High School, 1917, signed by Ernest and Marcelline Hemingway, among others, and her 1972 paper about her memories of Ernest and other Hemingways, entitled “Yes, I Knew Ernest Hemingway.” There is one undated, color photograph of Marion, and a photograph album, 1912-1913, probably of her primary school mates. Also included is one oversized photograph of the Oak Park and River Forest Township High School graduation class, 1917.

The collection consists mostly of letters from Post to/from his family and friends during World War II, photographs, and biographical materials.

The collection is organized alphabetically by topic: Biographical Materials, Letters (in chronological order), Miscellaneous, and Photographs.

The collection consists mainly of letters. There are 68 letters handwritten by Albert Post to his children, wife, in-laws, and other relatives, dating from April 1944 through March 1945. Four of his letters, dated June 24, August 29, and September 5 and 11, 1944, were censored by officials. Most of them were written on onion skin paper. Another nine letters from family members and friends are also included, as is Albert’s telegram to Leila of June 15, 1944. All of the letters are in excellent physical condition. After the Box and Folder Listing, researchers will find a detailed Collection Inventory detailing the contents of each letter, as well as the author, addressee, dates, etc. to facilitate use of the collection. The letters are organized in chronological order.

The rest of the collection consists of one folder each of Biographical Materials (Albert’s birth certificate, business card, the letter Leila received from the Secretary of the U.S. Navy declaring Albert officially dead in 1946, information about the U.S.S. Halligan and its crew, and other materials,), 1916-2005 (Scattered). Photographs in the collection are of Albert Post either alone or with his immediate family. There is also a photograph of Albert and Leila with her parents, Maria and Milton Williams, and a formal studio group portrait of Leila and the children. All of the photographs are dated or from 1944 to 1945. A few Miscellaneous Materials in the collection, a newspaper clipping, undated, of Art Jackson, a famous hunter, which Albert carried in his pocket until he went to war, and Albert’s train ticket stub to California [1944].

Albert’s letters were saved by Leila. In the 1960s, she distributed some of the letters to her children, notably those letters written just to Darrel to him and letters with interesting parts about Sharron Lei to her. When Leila’s house burned in 1981, the family thought all the letters still in the home had been destroyed. However, after Leila died in 1999, Sharron Lei found a cache of letters in a two-pound chocolate box in the garage, with the pearl ring Albert bought for his wife, as described in his letter of August 21, 1944.

Sharron Lei was so young when Albert died that she has no memory of him. She only knows him from stories family members told and his letters. Her research at the National Archives concerning Albert and the history of the U.S.S. Halligan, provided her family with Albert’s official death date for the first time.

Sharron Lei and Darrel donated letters in their possession, which are extremely precious to them, as well as some of their family photographs and biographical materials to the Clarke in December 2005. This is all that they have of their Father. Additional materials from the National Archives were provided by Sharron Lei and their Father’s favorite newspaper clipping on Art Jackson by Darrel.

Many of Albert’s letters survived time, moves to various homes, and a fire. Those that survived are in excellent physical condition and provide an in-depth, personal biography of their author. Albert was an articulate writer and wrote in a legible, cursive hand, occasionally being creative in his spelling. His letters are highly emotional, sad, lonely, and full of loving concern for his family. It is obvious that he adored his family. His loneliness and despair when mail was not delivered for sometimes up to two months at a time, is palpable and painful to the reader.

Today, World War II veteran are viewed as the greatest of the great, as super heroes, and perhaps at times the younger generations may think they were devoid of human frailties. These letters plainly document Albert’s very human pain and, indeed, agony he endured when physically separated from his family. He missed watching his children grow up, and his longed both physically and emotionally, for his beloved wife. Albert’s letters are also full of his hopes, dreams, future plans, and concerns for his wife and children, particularly Darrel, and his in-laws. Albert repeatedly wrote how he cried when he read and received letters and sometimes got so emotional he had to stop reading and go for a walk or into an empty part of the ship to compose himself. He also wrote that other proud shipmates got together after receiving letters to brag about their children and show off pictures of their beloved wives and children. Albert wrote mostly about his family, but there are many references to life in Gladwin, farming, hunting, fishing, relatives, and neighbors. He missed home cooking, particularly pies and cakes, hated naval chow beans, and longed for mail and photographs from his family, whom he thought about constantly, even in his sleep.

Besides his duties aboard ship and writing letters, Albert spent time developing his artistic side. He wrote a poem “Phantasma, found between two letters dated August 29, 1944, to his wife about his physical and emotional longing of a man for his wife when separated by war, clearly based on his feelings for Leila. He also sketched quite a bit from magazines. At the top of his letter dated March 1, 1945, Albert sketched an outline of a mother holding a baby from a magazine, and filled it in with his interpretation of how he thought Leila looked holding Sharron Lei.

This collection is wonderful for documenting the individual in war, a Michigan man who served in World War II while he loved and missed his family. It is also excellent for documenting the sometimes difficult and lonely lives that women and families endured while the men went to war and the necessary role that letters and photographs played in helping soldiers and sailors endure the stresses and strains of war.

The collection includes minutes of related organizations, reports, correspondence, directories, floor plans, newspaper clippings (copies), photographs, and statistical information.

The Instructional Materials Center Papers consists of meeting minutes of the Association of Instructional Resource Centers of Higher Education, Instructional Materials Center Advisory Board, and the Mid-Michigan Society for Instructional Technology Members. Also included are annual statistical reports, correspondence of the IMC, directories, IMC floor plans, newspaper clippings (copies), photographs and statistical information.

Also included in the collection are slides of the IMC during the 1970s. A special note should also be given to the CMU Related Slides incorporated within this collection, which are copies of destroyed glass plates of CMU images.