Collections

Other Projects and Scripts (6 linear feet) consists of material sent to Robert Altman for consideration as potential film projects. Frequently, Wren Arthur, Altman's assistant, would read and critique these materials, and serve as the contact person for the individual submissions. The material is generally from 1989 to 2003, and arranged by author's last name. Where possible, a submission date is noted.

Other Projects and Scripts (6 linear feet) consists of materail sent to Robert Altman for consideration as potential film projects. Notably, the series includes scripts by Elmore Leonard, Kurt Vonnegut, Tim Burton, Donald Freed, and Anne Rapp. Frequently, Wren Arthur, Altman's assistant, would read and critique these materials, and serve as the contact person for the individual submissions. The material is generally from 1989 to 2003, and arranged by author's last name. Where possible, date is noted. Occasionally, a cover letter was included with script submissions. Many of these projects were never produced, by Altman or any other filmmaker.

In addition, the series includes correspondence, treatments, and other documents from various scripts and projects that were sent to Robert Altman and rejected as potential projects. Much of the material consists of script cover letters sent to Altman with the accompanying return correspondence written by one of Altman's staff. These "passed projects" are arranged alphabetically by the script writer's last name where possible. Among them include script submissions from Carrie Fisher, Billy Baldwin, Paul Newman, Joan Tewkesbury, Linda Yellen, and Stanley Tucci. In addition, Altman was asked to consider such projects as Thank You for Smoking, Benjamin Button, Michael, and The Killer Inside Me.

Also included are various script treatments organized alphabetically by script writer. These treatments, or script coverages, were generally written by one of Altman's employees and included a summary of the script as well as a recommendation to pass or consider the project. The materials under the "possible projects" heading contain those projects that were considered by Altman in some capacity and often contain extended correspondence.

The materials contained under the description "Open-Directing Projects" are printouts sent to Altman by Addis Weschler & Associates describing films in various stages of production that are in need of a director.

The Robert Baird papers consist of 8 letters Baird wrote to his aunt and uncle, Kit and Bill Munro of Harvey, Illinois, while he served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. He discussed his life in Massachusetts while awaiting the completion of construction on his assigned ship, and later wrote of his activities while on leave in London.

The Robert Baird papers consist of 8 letters Baird wrote to his aunt and uncle, Kit and Bill Munro of Harvey, Illinois, while he served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Baird composed the first five letters in Hingham and South Boston, Massachusetts, while awaiting the completion of construction on the HMS Bentinck. He described his experiences on shore, which included complex signal training and maintaining correspondence with several other relatives. After the Bentinck's commission in May 1943, Baird wrote from London, England, and discussed his leave and leisure activities, which included visits to family and friends. Though Baird served with the Royal Navy, he wrote several of the letters on United States Navy stationary.

This collection contains four letters written by Robert Baynham, United States Merchant Marine, to his wife during the early months of 1945, when he served in the Pacific Theater.

This collection contains four letters written by Robert Baynham, United States Merchant Marine, to his wife during the early months of 1945, when he served in the Pacific theater. Each of the four letters was written over several days, providing running commentaries that he mailed when his ship reached port. He wrote primarily about everyday life at sea, and discussed his work duties, the weather, and fellow sailors, though censorship prevented him from describing more specific military movements. Throughout his letters, he told his wife of his eagerness to return to the United States, and he looked forward to the end of the war: "When will this be over? Our enemies just seem to hang on though they are losing ground day by day…" (February 13, 1945). He reported receiving care packages from his wife's family, and on several occasions, wrote his wife about their garden and chickens.

Papers include biographical information, personal correspondence, photographs, clippings, writings about Japan and some in Japanese, and World War II memorabilia. One notebook is written in German, 1884, with later cake recipes written in English in the back.

The Robert Knott Papers consist of biographical information, high school related records, personal correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, individual writings and World War II memorabilia. The topically grouped material is arranged alphabetically. Photographs include the Knott family, the Knott family farm, and Robert Knott’s military service. Personal writings cover Knott’s childhood, teaching in Japan and working on the family farm. Correspondence includes letters and postcards to Robert Knott from family and acquaintances. This collection contains a World War II Victory Pack. This collection also includes Robert Knott’s dog tags, World War II pins, and a World War II honor medal. A special note is given to a notebook dated 1884 written in German, which contains notes and comments on books, the 23 Psalm, poems, authors, and English recipes. One oversize folder contains a large picture of Robert Knott, materials related to Carson City High School, and baggage paperwork from his travels to Japan by ship.

Processing Note: Several hundred slides of Japan in the collection were transferred to the University of Michigan’s Center for Japanese Studies. Eight LP records and a laminated butterfly display were transferred to Central Michigan University’s Museum.

The Robert Dayton Williams journal recounts the author's voyage to Europe on the steamer Australia in September 1870. Williams described stormy weather, seasickness, daily activities, and navigation errors during the ship's passage from New York to Glasgow. The journal entries are accompanied by ink drawings.

The R. Dayton Williams journal (21 pages), entitled "Yankee Vandals Abroad, or Our Trip to Europe," is an account of the author's voyage from Albany, New York, to Glasgow, Scotland, from September 15, 1870-October 1, 1870.

The journal begins with a 2-page preface in which Williams pays tribute to the advances in nautical travel between the 1770s and 1870s and explains his reasons for visiting the British Isles. The account opens with the Williams' trip from Albany to New York, accompanied by family members, and their search for Anna's trunk on the day they were to set sail; a humorous poem recounts the latter episode. The preface and opening remarks are followed by daily entries dated September 17, 1870-October 1, 1870, during the Australia's time at sea. The opening lines of many entries, including the preface, are colored or otherwise illustrated. Illustrations (see list below) accompany most of the entries.

During the transatlantic journey, Williams commented on the food, the scenery, and his pastimes, which included games of quoits and backgammon with the captain and other passengers. Early in the voyage, the ship encountered stormy seas, which resulted in flooded passenger cabins, injuries to members of the ship's crew, and prolonged seasickness. Williams described cod fishermen along the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and compared the Anchor Line's ships with the faster vessels of the Cunard Line. Entries often report the distance the Australia had traveled and the remaining distance to Derry, Ireland, the ship's first destination. On September 29, Williams mentioned the captain's recent navigational error, which led to confusion about the ship's current position and course; the mishap resulted in a slight delay, though the course was later corrected. In his entry of September 30, Williams recalled the Hibernia, an Anchor Line steamer that had remained missing for four weeks after being blown to sea in a gale off the coasts of Ireland and Scotland. The same day, the Australia reached Derry and soon left for Glasgow, where Williams and his wife disembarked on October 1. A printed drawing of the Australia and a newspaper clipping about the Williams' journey are pasted into the first page of regular entries, and the entry of September 30 contains a table of observed latitude and longitude for September 19, [1870]-September 28, [1870].

• Two men searching for Anna Williams's trunk at the Wescott's Express freight office (page 7)
• A man and a woman on the deck of the Australia (page 7)
• Log floating at sea (page 8)
• Australia and other ships engulfed by stormy seas (page 9)
• The Williams' stateroom on the Australia (page 10)
• A man "Before and After Sea Sickness" (page 11)
• Codfish (page 11)
• Rings and target from game of quoits (page 12)
• "Cod Fishing on the New Foundland Banks" [sic] (page 13)
• Driftwood board (page 13)
• "Mr Brown's Circus Blanket," a colorful coat (page 14)
• "Forecastle Passengers" (page 17)
• Sounding line (page 19)
• Map of British Isles and coast of Holland, Belgium, and France, showing the Australia's erroneous and corrected courses (page 20)

Collection of auction catalogs and books, some of which are self-published, catalogs, bibliographies, facsimiles including reprints, a photograph album, and a scrapbook of clippings, all on the topic of angling.

Collection of auction catalogs and books, some of which are self-published, catalogs, bibliographies, facsimiles including reprints, a photograph album, and a scrapbook of clippings, all on the topic of angling. Materials are from or focused on Michigan as well as national and international angling. Authors include individuals, organizations, and government units. Original inventories compiled by Kohrman and inventories annotated by processing students are in the first folder of Box 1. Materials not in the boxes or not in the inventory that were found in the boxes were noted by the processing students. All catalog publishers are listed in the subject headings. These published materials are part of the Robert E Kohrman Angling Collection, but did not have an OCLC record at the time of processing in 2024, and thus were processed together as a manuscript collection to speed accessibility by researchers. For more detail please see the finding aid and inventories. The catalogs are organized in original order. The remainder of the collection is in alphabetical order by author or creator’s name. Some of the materials are still under copyright.

The Herbert H. Dow collection, 1900, 2013, consists mostly of copies of materials gathered by Kohrman for an exhibit in the Clarke Historical Library and a PowerPoint presentation he did on Brine in Mount Pleasant.

The Herbert H. Dow collection, 1900, 2013, consists mostly of copies of newspaper clippings, publications, patents, images, maps, scrapbooks, correspondence, major correspondence is with geologist Raymond G. Vugrinovich and British artist Arthur Henry Knighton-Hammond, taxes, obituaries, indexes and finding aids. Some original notes and publications are also included. The collection was gathered by Kohrman for an exhibit in the Clarke Historical Library and a PowerPoint presentation he did on Brine in Mount Pleasant. The collection is in original order as organized by Kohrman, with his index in the front of Box 1.

Additional collections by/about Kohrman are housed at the Clarke, while the ACS. Midland Chapter records are on loan to the Clarke.

Processing Note: Duplicates were returned to the donor. A number of the copies were made of originals in the Clarke. Five items were separately cataloged.

In 1820, Robert Galbreath created this cypher book, sold by Bennet & Walton of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It includes rules, examples, and exercises for vulgar fractions, raising of powers, square and cube roots, measurements, gravity, and applied mathematics for walling, masonry, paving, shingling, plastering, and digging. The volume has several pen-and-ink drawings of geometrical objects related to math problems.

In 1820, Robert Galbreath created this cypher book, sold by Bennet & Walton of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It includes rules, examples, and exercises for vulgar fractions, raising of powers, square and cube roots, measurements, gravity, and applied mathematics for walling, masonry, paving, shingling, plastering, and digging. The volume has several pen-and-ink drawings of geometrical objects related to math problems.

Collection of documents and photographs relating to Ypsilanti, Mich. African American community.

Charter of Touissant Lodge no. 21, Knights of Pythias, Ypsilanti, Michigan, 1923; charter of Eden Council no. 408, Ancient United Knights and Daughters of Africa, 1926; charter of Huron Lodge no. 695, Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World, 1926; miscellaneous and printed material relating to Ypsilanti African American chapters of fraternal and service organizations; and photographs.

Photographs, dated 1940s-1990s (scattered dates), include group photos of Ypsilanti African American chapters of American Legion and Freemasons; photos of Ypsilanti community leader John Burton; snapshots from Million Man March.

This is a collection of pamphlets and reprints drawn from different sources and arranged alphabetically.