Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Student papers, 1930-1987 prepared for classes in history at the University of Michigan (primarily Michigan history class taught by Lewis G. VanderVelde, but also including research papers for classes taught by Sidney Fine and others); topics concern Michigan social and political history; Michigan biography and bibliography; and local community history.

The student papers are organized alphabetically by author in two series, which are similar in date range and topics covered. Topics of papers concern Michigan social and political history; Michigan biography and bibliography; local community history and University of Michigan history. A topical index to the papers is available in the first box of the collection.

Member of the Michigan State Legislature. Personal papers include correspondence, speeches and writings, a scrapbook, and photographs.

The collection has been arranged into a single series of Personal papers. Included are correspondence; two volumes of speeches and other writings concerning prohibition, woman suffrage, and other political and patriotic subjects; scrapbook, family materials, and miscellanea. Within the correspondence, there are collected letters of Michigan Senator Charles E. Townsend, 1913-1914, and a letter from Benjamin R. Tillman concerning smoking in the U.S. Senate. Other correspondents include J. G. Cannon, Secretary of State William J. Bryan, Booker T. Washington, James B. Angell, Frank Knox, Harry B. Hutchins, Charles E. Townsend, and Earl C. Michener.

Flint, Michigan, attorney and Republican state representative. Correspondence concerning the automotive industry, particularly his firms dealing with the General Motors Corporation and other automobile companies; also papers concerning state politics, the Republican Party, and the Constitutional Convention of 1907-1908; also docket books, 1883-1921, with record of cases handled by Carton and his partners.

The collection has been divided into the following series: Correspondence, 1900-1920; Masonic Papers, 1909-1920; Railroad, 1919-1920; Law Materials.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, businessman, publisher of Ann Arbor Courier, Republican politician, and regent of University of Michigan. Correspondence, letter books, speeches, newspaper clippings, and photographs; papers (1909-1920) of Michigan Public Domain Commission, of which Beal was a member; papers (1877-1904) concerning Port Huron Gas Light Company; and printed material and miscellanea (1885-1905) concerning League of American Wheelmen and his interest in bicycling.

The Junius E. Beal papers include correspondence, papers accumulated from his various interests and organizational activities, subject files, speeches, newspaper clippings, and photographs. The series in the collection include: Correspondence, Michigan Public Domain Commission, Topical Files; and Other Materials. Most of the files in the collection relate in some way to Beal's life in Ann Arbor, either as a student, a businessman, a public figure, as someone who took civic responsibility seriously and was determined to serve his community and the university that he loved.

Norris family of Ypsilanti and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Papers of Mark Norris, Ypsilanti businessman and postmaster; papers of his wife, Roccena Vaill Norris, local teacher and woman's rights advocate; papers of their son, Lyman, attorney and regent of the University of Michigan, 1883-1884; papers of Lyman's son, Mark Norris, Grand Rapids attorney and Grand Master of the Knights Templar in the United States; papers of Lyman's daughter Maria Norris, Grand Rapids physician; papers of Mark's son, Abbott Norris; and related papers of other family members, notably the Whittelsey family of Connecticut.

The Norris family papers consists of three linear feet of correspondence, business papers, and scrapbooks. The bulk of the papers are letters among various family members which contain a wealth of information about 19th century daily life, social conditions, business affairs, and local and state politics. This collection is especially useful in researching: women's history; Norris family and kinship interrelationships; early area settlement and local history; university student life at the University of Michigan and elsewhere; 19th century economic conditions and political issues; and 20th century Freemasonry.

Publisher of the Adrian Telegram at Adrian, Michigan. Scrapbooks containing newspaper editorials primarily on political subjects; and miscellaneous correspondence and articles concerning his newspaper work; notes, 1899-1950, relating to his foreign travels, papers, 1935-1955, concerning his interest in meteorites; and photographs.

The collection has been arranged into the following series: Adrian Telegram, Correspondence, Speeches and Articles, Other activities and interests, Programs of meetings and annual dinners, Newspaper clippings, and Photographs.

Hillsdale, Michigan physician, regent of the University of Michigan. Correspondence, notes, reports, addresses, and other papers relating to board of regents activities and state medical issues.

The Sawyer papers contain a mixture of papers relating to his political and regental activities, and to his medical practice and association with professional medical groups. The collection has been arranged into three series: Correspondence and other papers (arranged chronologically); University of Michigan Board of Regents; and Addresses and Miscellaneous. Sawyer's regent's papers are significant for information on those individuals who were considered for the presidency of the University of Michigan in 1909, 1920, 1925, and 1930. As a heavily involved regent, Sawyer maintained communications with his fellow regents, with university presidents and other administrators. These letters and other documents will be found throughout the Correspondence series. These individuals include James B. Angell, Harry B. Hutchins, Marion L. Burton, Clarence C. Little, and Alexander Ruthven.