Blanche LeStrange Family Papers, 1884, 1985, and undated
.5 cubic feet (in 1 box)
The collection includes biographical materials, miscellaneous, photographs, postcards, and an autograph album. An inventory is available to assist researchers.
.5 cubic feet (in 1 box)
The collection includes biographical materials, miscellaneous, photographs, postcards, and an autograph album. An inventory is available to assist researchers.
7.5 cubic feet (in 8 boxes)
The collection consists of love letters, postcards, notes, and telegrams sent between Kenneth and Marie during their four year courtship, 1922-1927. Materials are organized chronologically, with a typed transcript of the correspondence on the front and the original materials (often a letter and envelope) on the back of a polyester page. The pages are organized chronologically into binders. One folder of press releases about the collection is included in the front of Box #1.
The letters provide a view of courtship, life, one-room schoolhouses, teaching, the daily struggles of a working man, and love in the 1920s. Kenneth was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. His letters notes his attitudes about and various social activities of the Ku Klux Klan in Michigan in the 1920s. He wanted to be married in a Ku Klux Klan ceremony, but Marie declined this idea.
1.5 cubic feet (in 3 boxes, 1 Oversized folder)
The collection consists of correspondence, financial and membership reports, and meeting minutes relating to Summer Trails Council, Saginaw Bay Area Council, and Lake Huron Area Council. Much of the correspondence and related materials concerns issues related to the merger of Summer Trails and Valley Councils in 1961 and the consequent transfer of ownership of Bear Lake Scout Camp. Also included are copies of newspaper clippings regarding scouting activities, 1936-1976 (scattered) and a nearly complete run of Saginaw Bay Area Council Scouter (later Lake Huron Area Council Scouter) (newsletter), 1961-1972. The Articles of Incorporation for both Bay City (Summer Trails) and Valley Trails Councils are also included. There is also an entire box containing photographs of camp activities and buildings as well as of general Scouting events. Oversized photographs, which are glued onto cardboard for an exhibit, document the organizational meeting of the council on June 29, 1971 at Delta College.
Part of the pre-merger troops are documented in the records of the BSA. Paul Bunyan Council No. 259 (Midland, Mich.), which is also in the Clarke.
1 cubic foot (in 1 box, 2 Oversized folders)
The collection mainly consists of photographs, artifacts, some of the Council’s publications, and newspaper clippings (copies). The oversized materials consist mostly of merit badges glued onto cardboard, probably for an exhibit display, information about the history of the badges, and a retirement plaque presented to Arthur E. Henry in 1974. Most of the collection documents the dedication and early use of the P. B. S. R., 1959-1971 and undated.
Several artifacts and other materials of peripheral value to the collection, i.e. generic Scout items, were withdrawn during processing. Relevant Jamboree books were added to the Clarke’s book collection.
1.5 cubic ft. (in 2 boxes)
The collection includes personal papers and business papers of various members of the Isaac Bronson Family, including: Ann Bronson (1810-1840), Isaac’s daughter; Anna Eliza (Bailey) Bronson (dates unknown), Arthur’s wife; Anna (Olcott) Bronson (d.1850), Isaac’s wife; Charlotte (Brinckerhoff) Bronson (1818-1861), Frederic’s wife; Harriet Bronson (1798-1835), Isaac’s daughter; Laban Bronson (dates unknown); and Oliver Bronson (1799-?), Isaac’s son.
Also included are six volumes, letter books, and scrapbooks of Frederic Bronson (1850-1900), son of Frederic Bronson (1802-1868), while he lived at Verna Farms. The volumes deal with horse and stock breeding.
For additional information, see the Isaac, Arthur, and Frederic Bronson Papers, and the Troup and Brinckerhoff Family Papers.
Bronson Family Papers, 1760-1865, housed in other institutions are available on 30 positive reels of microfilm. (Micro Mss F-40).
Additional reels concerning Isaac, Arthur, and Frederic are noted in their finding aids.
1 cubic ft. (in 2 boxes)
The collection consists mostly of account books, staff payrolls, inventories, reports of patients admitted, discharged and expired, guest books, and a visitors register.
.25 cubic feet (in 1 box)
The photographs document CMU students engaging in political protests over various issues including rape, fracking, pipelines, gender equality, the use of fossil fuels, and the use of water bottles versus tap water. Most of the protests were held in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, but the Student Environmental Alliance, 2011, occurred in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Webpage information about the RSOs copied from their Facebook pages in 2015 for SAGE (Students Advocating Gender Equality), Student Environmental Alliance and Take Back The Tap (TBTT) is included in the first folder in the box.
Approximately 5 cubic feet (in 3 boxes, 23 volumes, 1 Oversized folder, 1 Oversized rolled item)
The collection originally was in small packets of related materials which accounts for overlapping chronological sequences. It is organized by format, location, and date into Correspondence, some with Track Blueprints, Movements of Trains, Track Schedules, and various Financial Account Books, 1846-1960.
9.5 cubic feet (in 14 boxes)
This collection consists of Schock’s recording business correspondence, documenting arrangements and ideas for recorded interviews, commercials, dance recitals, and musical recordings, mostly of Mount Pleasant people, businesses, schools, and organizations, and Central Michigan University faculty and students musical productions, 1991-1997, and undated. Included are paper business correspondence, notes, drafts of scripts, as well as informational materials about the businesses and organizations (1 cubic ft.), and the master and draft cassette recordings (in 6 cassette storage boxes). The Mary McGuire School cassettes document activities school teachers and students pursued after receiving a unique state grant. Hash marks in folder descriptions indicate illegible words written on the cassettes.
The David Schock 2021 addition, 1989, 2021, and undated, consists of various videos Schock contributed to with and without the help of Central Michigan University (CMU). Box 8 contains all health-related videos with majority focusing on HIV/AIDS awareness and a few focusing on various systems of the body. Box 9 includes education-related videos, such as a series titled Problem Solving Students, a series from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education videos, and other educational resources. Boxes 10 and 11 house videos filmed in collaboration with the Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP) that feature multiple public service announcements (PSAs) and Roll Call videos. Box 12 features raw footage of Schock’s documentary Road to Andersonville. Included with this are interviews for the documentary. Box 13 contains miscellaneous film that do not fit into a clear category. Some examples of this are VHS tapes about quail egg hatching, sculptures, and music.
Box 14 contains materials related to Justice Elizabeth Weaver. Schock helped write Justice Weaver’s book, a copy of which is separately cataloged in the Clarke. Also included are correspondence and interview release forms and Thelma South Schaibly’s 1994 publication of short stories to teach children morals and the meaning of life.
A few folder titles require further description, which we received from the Donor in April 2021. NGS is the abbreviation for the National Geographic Society. Schock created a video for them about geographic education with Mike Libbee of the CMU Geography Department. PDS is likely in collaboration with OHSP. The Hospice Experience documented hospice in Mount Pleasant. The Audition Crashes were stock footage of crashes for the OHSP projects, for example Life’s a Wreck, a film about physics concepts.
The addition is organized by topic, format, and chronological order.
Boxes 8-13 are each 1 cubic foot boxes and Box 14 is .5 cubic foot.
Researchers may also be interested in his personal papers collection, other recordings, and the papers of Elizabeth A. Weaver, which are separately housed and cataloged in the Clarke.
Copyright Note: Copyright is complicated for this collection. CMU holds the copyright for materials used in programs for the CMU Education Materials Center, including interviews from the early 1990s with young people infected with AIDS. The copyright for the Interfaith Ministries immigrant labor tapes, used for final appeals, is held by the Interfaith Ministries, Schock holds the copyright for the Road to Andersonville documentary material, regarding ceremonies held for Michigan Native Americans buried at Andersonville Prison in Andersonville, Georgia.
Permission/Release forms: The only interview permission/release form in the collection is for an interview with one of Elizabeth A. Weaver’s relatives (see Box 14).
6 cubic feet (in 3 boxes, 13 card boxes)
The papers consists mostly of demographics and articles about the Michigan Klan, including chapters for Cal’s intended book; newspaper articles copied from microfilm and lists of the articles from Michigan and Klan newspapers; and membership information cards. The cards are disorganized and may contain census or local election information, marital status, type of employment, children, and address information. There is a nice variety of black and white and colored photographs and slides of Michigan Klan parades, meetings, a funeral, and the Chicora KKK quilt with members names embroidered on it. Also included are a sheeted figurine and Klan publications, including songbooks and copied articles about the Klan in Indiana and the U.S.
Most of the collection has been photocopied onto acid-free paper.
The collection is unique and valuable for the research of white supremacists in Michigan. It is particularly valuable for the study of average Michiganders, including men and women who joined the Klan up to 1924. There is substantial documentation of the activities of local Klans.
The problems leading to the failures of the 1924 attempt to elect a Detroit mayor and ban private schools are well documented, as are the financial problems and the high profile murders committed by Klan officials.
More Lewis D. Capen material may be found in the Ku Klux Klan (Mecosta County, Mich.) collection and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Millbrook Level Lodge No. 219 (Millbrook, Mich.) organizational records.