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The Paul A. Meunier photograph albums consist of three large volumes documenting the experiences of the U.S. Army 941st Engineering Aviation Topographical Battalion during World War II including basic training in the United States in 1942, assignments in Tunisia and Italy, and the journey home via the Pacific following the conclusion of the war.

The Paul A. Meunier photograph albums consist of three large volumes documenting the experiences of the U.S. Army 941st Engineering Aviation Topographical Battalion during World War II including basic training in the United States in 1942, assignments in Tunisia and Italy, and the journey home via the Pacific following the conclusion of the war.

All three albums in the collection are 46 x 57 cm in size and have black covers and black paper pages. Each album contains approximately 1,000 photographs. Being a professional artist, Meunier’s attention to detail and exactness is evidenced by the presence of faint framing lines an inch from page margins, with photos carefully arranged within the frames. Numerous captions are present in white ink and neatly printed in appropriate size. Since the three albums present in this collection are titled “Volume 3,” “Volume 4,” and “Volume 5,” it is presumed that Meunier likely produced at least five albums total. Both official photographs as well as personal snapshots taken by Meunier himself are included.

Album A ("Volume 3"): This album documents Meunier’s military service starting from June 1942 when he departed Cleveland for basic training, initial U.S. deployments, his assignment to Tunisia, and his unit’s journey across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy in December 1943. Many snapshot views of street scenes in Tunis and other places in North African Meunier explored while on leave as well as copies of official U.S. Army photographs recording visits to Tunis in 1943 by high-ranking U.S. officials (including Secretary of War Henry Stimson and Generals Eisenhower and Spaatz) are present.

Album B ("Volume 4"): This album documents the transfer of Meunier’s unit to San Severo, Italy. Images of particular interest show the unit working on the production of large-scale lithographically produced bird’s-eye view maps with designated bombing targets charted out. Visits while on leave to Naples, Capri, and Amalfi are also thoroughly represented. Also present is a hand-drawn map of the streets of San Severo and an annotated aerial view of Capri.

Album C ("Volume 5"): This album includes official photos of airborne fighter planes and bombers, aerial views of target sites, and artwork by a fellow soldier. Meunier’s snapshots show soldiers at work as well as on tourist visits to famous Italian sites such as Rome, Florence, Pisa, and Pompeii. Although materials are not arranged in strict chronological order, this volume covers a period of time from when Meunier’s company was headquartered in Bari in mid-1944 to his journey home by ship through the Panama Canal in mid-1945. Also present are a handful of views of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 1944.

Harlan Henthorne Hatcher (1898-1998) was president of the University of Michigan from 1951 to 1967. The papers span the years 1837-1998 and document Dr. Hatcher's University of Michigan presidency, Ohio State University career, literary career, organizational involvement, personal life, and family history. Includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, manuscripts, speeches, yearly datebooks, oral history interview transcripts, magnetic audio tape recordings, an audiocassette recording, and photographs.

The Harlan Henthorne Hatcher Papers document his University of Michigan presidency, Ohio State University career, literary career, organizational involvement, personal life, and family history. The collection spans the years 1837-1998, with the bulk of the materials covering 1891-1986. It includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, manuscripts, speeches, yearly datebooks, oral history interview transcripts, magnetic audio tape recordings, an audiocassette recording, and photographs. The collection is strongest in its documentation of Dr. Hatcher's presidency at the University of Michigan, especially in correspondence and speeches. Documentation is weakest on the subjects of his Ohio State University career before 1944 and organizational involvement before 1967. The collection may be useful to researchers interested in the history of the University of Michigan from 1951-1967, the duties of university administrators and their spouses, authors of the 1920's to 1950's, and environmental activism in Michigan in the 1970's and 1980's.

The Harlan Hatcher collection has been divided into two subgroups of files: those which were created or accumulated from his tenure as president of the University of Michigan (1951-1967) and those materials (mainly personal) dated either prior to or subsequent to Hatcher's presidential years.

The library, as archives of the University of Michigan, is the repository for all of the files of its presidents. For historic reasons, all of the papers of presidents up to and including Harlan Hatcher have been treated as personal collections and cataloged under the name of the president. Beginning with Hatcher's successor - Robben Fleming - and continuing to the present, the files of individuals occupying the president's office have been considered both personal and institutional. Records created from an individual's responsibility as president, usually materials from the years when he was president, are treated as office files and have been cataloged as part of the University of Michigan President's Office record group. Materials from either before or after an individual's tenure as president have been treated separately and have been cataloged under that president's name.