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Formerly the Anti-Saloon League of America. Correspondence, reports, minutes, legal files, speeches by temperance leaders, bills relating to the prohibition question; papers (1934-1956) concerning National Temperance and Prohibition Council; pamphlets relating to temperance; and photographs.

The records are primarily of the Office of General Counsel and Legislative Superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League of America (1883-1933). Additionally, there are later materials (1934-1969) of the organization following the repeal of the prohibition amendment. The record group consists of seven feet of correspondence, reports, speeches and legal files.

Adrian, Michigan attorney and Republican congressman, 1919-1933 and 1935-1951. Correspondence, 1898-1934, newspaper clippings, 1920-1950, including materials concerning veterans and other constituent affairs, political campaigns, the Republican Party, the influence of the Ku Klux Klan in the election of 1924, and personal affairs.

The Michener collection consists almost totally of correspondence accumulated while Michener served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Although the collection dates from 1898 to 1955, the great bulk of it dates from 1904 to 1934, years when Michener practiced law, served as a county prosecutor, then went off to Congress. The files relate exclusively to the politics of being a congressman, the job of staying in touch with constituents, responding to their concerns, thanking them when they offer support, etc. During each election year, Michener sent out hundreds of form letters. Such correspondence included notes enclosed with nominating petitions; brief notes which accompanied signed petitions; acknowledgments of the signed petitions; letters to newspapers asking them to print enclosed advertisements; letters enclosing campaign cards; form letters urging support at the primary; letters of congratulation; Michener's acknowledgment of congratulations; letters to people from various towns asking them to phone in the election returns; thank you notes to those who phoned in the returns; and so forth. Examples of each type of these form letters have been included in the collection though the bulk of materials has been reduced.

The collection is particularly valuable for material on grass-roots Republican politics, the methods and means by which an individual sought election to Congress and then maintained that position through several successive terms. Michener's correspondence is particularly heavy during election years. Some of the issues discussed by him relate to prohibition in Michigan, the influence of the Ku-Klux-Klan in the 1924 election, and the problems confronting veterans of the Spanish-American War and World War I. The collection is less valuable for the work that Michener did while in Congress. There are few files relating to legislative activities.

A leading figure of the Anti-Saloon movement, founder of the Ohio Anti-Saloon League, first general superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League of America and superintendent of the New York Anti-Saloon League. Papers include manuscript letters, speeches, diaries and miscellaneous material, and photographs. Letters include correspondence with many prominent prohibitionists and other social reformers.

The Howard Hyde Russell papers held by the Bentley Historical Library consist of three linear feet of manuscript letters, speeches, diaries and miscellaneous material, and photographs, 1849-1946. The Russell papers include professional correspondence and speeches relating to his work with the Anti-Saloon League, biographical and autobiographical writings, diary entries, notebooks and newspaper clippings and other miscellanea; family correspondence, including papers of his father, Joseph A. Russell, and his wife, and collected historical letters.

In 1977, the bulk of the Russell papers were microfilmed along with one linear foot of correspondence, financial records, and other documents held by the Ohio Historical Society on loan from the Westerville Public Library of Westerville, Ohio. This material when filmed was interfiled with the Bentley Historical Library folders, and includes correspondence dealing with personal, business and temperance matters, 1877-1911; notes for speeches and sermons, undated; congratulatory correspondence on the occasion of Russell's 65th birthday and 40th wedding anniversary, 1920; correspondence and other papers of James B. Merwin concerning Merwin's association with Abraham Lincoln and both Merwin's and Lincoln's connections with the temperance cause; a diary, 1891, of records, 1891-1896, including an account book, notes payable, and cancelled checks; an undated typescript Russell biography and an incomplete typescript autobiography of Russell's father, Joseph A. Russell, 1899. All Ohio Historical Society material are designated "OHS"; Michigan Historical Collections materials are designated "MHC."

State Representative from Lapeer, Michigan; U.S. Congressman, 1913-1931, and special attorney to the Secretary of the Interior, 1931-1932; correspondence, speeches, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, photographs, campaign materials, and other items relating to his advocacy of the national park system, the concept of historic preservation, fair employment practices legislation, increased support for Howard University and all other aspects of his career.

The Louis C. Cramton papers came to the Bentley Historical Library in three separate accessions (1948-1950; 1971; 1987). The collection has been arranged into six series: Correspondence, Miscellaneous Papers, Topical Files, Newspaper clippings/Scrapbooks, Photographs, and Louis Kay Cramton Papers.

Formerly the Anti-Saloon League of Ohio. Correspondence, newspaper clippings, financial reports, manuscripts of temperance plays, quiz book contest materials, and photographs.

The records of the Ohio Council on Alcohol Problems have been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Miscellaneous printed material, press releases, etc.; Financial and other materials; Newspaper clippings; Dramatic productions; Quiz Contest; Chronological files; Miscellaneous; and Photographs.

Temperance leader, assistant to the general superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League of America. Correspondence, scrapbooks, dramatic productions, photographs, and printed material concerning the enforcement and repeal of the 18th Amendment, the political activities of the Anti-Saloon League, particularly during the election of 1928, and the temperance activities of William Jennings Bryan, Morris Sheppard, Billy Sunday, and F. Scott McBride. Correspondents include: Patrick H. Callahan, James Cannon, Arthur Capper, Luren D. Dickinson, F. Scott McBride, Homer Rodeheaver, Howard H. Russell, Morris.

The Christgau Collection is comprised of correspondence, scrapbooks, topical files, printed matter, and photographs covering the period of roughly 1906 to 1971. The Correspondence deals largely with the mechanics of Christgau's work: the enlisting and scheduling of temperance speeches and productions, local arrangements for temperance conventions, and personal support for local option and other temperance-related issues. Though there is some overlap, the collection includes a separate series of correspondence and other materials relating specifically to his work as manager of the regional Southeastern Conference convention of the ASL which met each year in St. Petersburg, Florida. This sequence of correspondence covers the years 1928 to 1948.

The collection includes Christgau's autobiography, many of his speeches and notes for speeches, notes which he made on the conventions he managed and the speeches he heard, and copies of the addresses he made over the radio in the late Thirties and throughout the 1940's. Christgau also maintained separate files documenting his work with the national ASL and the ASL of Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota. In a series of topical files, Christgau included information, clippings, and printed materials on individuals associated with the temperance movement and with issues of concern to temperance groups.

The collection also contains files pertaining to the dramatic productions which Christgau presented under ASL auspices. These files have been arranged by the name of the production and include texts of the drama and promotional materials. The remainder of the collection consists of a section of temperance printed items, newspaper clippings, bound scrapbooks and photographs.