Search

Charles ("Charlie") Rasch was a professional pianist, talented photographer, and graduate of the University of Michigan. The collection contains scrapbooks, photographs, and negatives documenting his life in Michigan. The majority of photographs and negatives are labeled with the date and location.

The Charles Rasch Collection (23 oversize volumes and 5 linear feet) is primarily composed of photographs and negatives documenting Michigan scenery. There is particularly strong coverage of Birmingham, MI, Harsen's Island, MI, the Island Lake Recreation Area in Brighton, MI, and the Bald Mountain Recreation Area in Oakland, MI. Many of these photographs, especially his early black and white work, display his artistic training and sensibilities. Rasch's scrapbooks also offer a rich representation of the ragtime music scene in Michigan and the Ann Arbor area. This collection is also notable for the care Rasch took to annotate his photographs. Many negatives and prints are individually labeled, and all include some information relating to the date and location.

The collection has been arranged in the following series: Scrapbooks and Albums, Papers, Individual Photographs, Photographs, and Photographic Negatives.

Dexter, Michigan, collector of materials relating to the history of railroading in Michigan. Correspondence, subject files, printed matter and photographs; contain material concerning the Ann Arbor Railroad, the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, the Manistee and Northeastern Railway Company, the Michigan Central Railroad, the Pere Marquette Railroad, and Ephraim Shay.

The Stoner collection contains about 3,600 photographs and negatives collected by Stoner, relating primarily to Michigan railroads. The collection also contains related manuscript materials.

Stoner's major collecting interests were in the Ann Arbor, Grand Trunk Western, and Pere Marquette Railroads and their predecessors, and in logging railroads, especially Ephraim Shay's railroad and others using Shay locomotives. Along with these lines, the collection contains photos of dozens of other railroads, not all in Michigan.

The photographs most commonly depict locomotives, often with their crews posed beside. Other common subjects are railroad stations (exteriors only), train wrecks, trains in motion, logging operations, carferries, railroad bridges, the Detroit-Windsor railroad tunnel, and street railroads.

Dozens of Michigan cities and towns and a number of places in other states are represented in the collection. Places depicted most often in the photos include Ann Arbor, Cadillac, Detroit, Durand, Frankfort, Harbor Springs, and Howell, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario.

The collection is organized into seven series: Classified photos, Unclassified photos, Albums, Unclassified negatives, Papers, Classified negatives, and Duplicate material.

Appended to this finding aid are two indexes, one for railroads and company names, the other for subjects. The indexes contain references to all items in the Classified photos, Unclassified photos, Albums, and Unclassified negatives series.

The index to railroads and company names indexes logging and industrial companies that operated railroads, as well as railroad lines themselves. It does not index locomotive manufacturers, nor does it index the names of railroad museums where some of the photos were taken.

The index to subjects indexes place names and topical subjects. It does not index the term "locomotives" since the majority of the photos in the collection would be indexed under that heading. Place names are indexed if the photo includes a view of some part of the place or of some event at the place. Close-up views of locomotives that do not show any background are not indexed by place, even if the description of the photo identifies where it was taken.

Bishops files, records of executive and administrative bodies and of diocesan organizations, staff files, parishes and mission's materials, and visual materials and sound recordings.

The records of the diocese of Michigan have been arranged into the following series: Bishops' files, Executive and administrative bodies, Diocesan organizations, Diocesan programs, Diocesan staff, Parishes and missions, Clergy, Audio and visual material, and Miscellaneous.

The record group is most valuable for its documentation of the history of the diocese and the individual churches within its administration, with a lesser amount of material pertaining to religious functions performed and to the operation of diocesan administrative groups and departments. For a number of reasons, there is scant material pertaining to the administration of the diocesan office or to the special programs that have been initiated by it over the years. Some of this material may be found in the papers of individual bishops whose papers have also come to the library and are separately cataloged. These include Samuel McCoskry, Samuel Smith Harris, Charles D. Williams, Herman Page, and Richard Emrich. Records of parishes that remain open are under the jurisdiction of the relevant parish, and records of other institutions that remain open, such as missions, are under the jurisdiction of their deanery or parent parish. Local-level records held by the diocesan archives largely concern parishes, missions, etc. that have closed.

Ann Arbor, Michigan based hydraulic engineer known for his multiple arch dams, hydroelectric plants, and for developing the Hazen-Williams hydraulic tables, designed and consulted on numerous water power and dam projects. Papers include biographical files, material relating to construction of dams and power plants on the Huron River and elsewhere, and papers relating to Michigan Engineering Society.

The papers of Gardner Williams, 1900-1931, include biographical material; papers relating to the history of Michigan Engineering Society; project files detailing construction of Huron River power plants and dams at Argo, Barton, Geddes, Superior, and French Landing; other Michigan project files for dams and plants in Sault Ste. Marie and elsewhere; Detroit Edison consultation materials; engineering reports by, or including comments of, Williams; and photographs.

The Williams papers came from the offices of Ayres, Lewis, Norris and May, Ann Arbor engineering firm. Obviously a fragment, they cover only the period of 1900 to 1931, with photographs spanning the dates 1900 to 1945.

The collection begins with a folder of biographical material and a folder regarding the history of the Michigan Engineering Society. Except for these, the collection divides into four series: Power Plants and Dams, the Detroit Edison Company, Engineering Reports, and Photographs.

Congregationalist missionary to Angola, and other members of the Miller family. Family letters, missionary newsletter, personal diaries concerning life in Hancock and Detroit, Michigan; Miller family materials; and photographs.

The collection consists of personal papers of Janette Miller and other members of the Miller family. The collection includes family letters, missionary newsletter, personal diaries concerning life in Hancock and Detroit, Michigan, photographs, and Miller family materials.

Papers of Michigan architect John Ward Jickling. The collection mainly consists of Jickling's architectural projects, including correspondence and blueprints. The bulk of the collection contains papers from Jickling's involvement with the Oakland Land Conservancy and committees. In addition, the collection contains papers of his father, Clare Jickling, and his wife's father, James Fairman. It also contains a large amount of genealogy research that Jickling and his family conducted. There are photographs in the collection ranging from the mid-19th century to the early 2000s.

The collection mainly consists of Jickling's architectural projects, including correspondence and blueprints. The bulk of the collection contains papers from Jickling's involvement with the Oakland Land Conservancy and committees. In addition, the collection contains papers of his father, Clare Jickling, and his wife's father, James Fairman. It also contains a large amount of genealogy research that Jickling and his family conducted. There are photographs in the collection ranging from the mid-19th century to the early 2000s. The collection consists of three series: Professional (2 linear feet and 2 outsize folders), Personal (1.5 linear feet and a tube), and Photographs (1 linear foot).

Local historical society for Washtenaw County, Michigan Organizational records and collected historical materials.

The Washtenaw County Historical Society records include collected historical documents and photographs relating to the people, events, and history of the county, its cities and townships. There are also administrative records of the organization, including minutes of meetings, subjects relating to Society programs and projects, and financial miscellanea.