Chase S. Osborn Papers, circa 1870-1949 (majority within 1889-1949)
149.9 linear feet ((in 152 boxes)) — 3 oversize volumes — 1 oversize folder
149.9 linear feet ((in 152 boxes)) — 3 oversize volumes — 1 oversize folder
The Osborn collection consists of correspondence, diaries, business papers, scrapbooks, photographs, and other materials accumulated during his life. Materials prior to 1889 are scarce possibly because of a fire which destroyed Osborn's home; thereafter and up to the time of his death in 1949, the Osborn papers are voluminous, documenting each of this man's varied activities. Although his career as elected public official was limited to one term as governor, the collection reflects the importance of his life in areas beyond politics alone. His voice was heard, in letters and speeches and monographs, speaking out on the issues of the day - prohibition, conservation, the New Deal, and of course his life-long interest in the development of Michigan's Upper Peninsula economy and natural resources.
149.9 linear feet ((in 152 boxes)) — 3 oversize volumes — 1 oversize folder
14 linear feet
The C.C. Little papers document a wide range to topics, events, administrative actions, policy developments during Little's tenure as president of the University of Michigan. The collection contains mainly reports and replies to letters but very little incoming correspondence. However, the researcher may use these replies as clues to other collections in the library which contain the individual correspondent's papers.
The chronological ordering of the papers makes subject access somewhat difficult. To selective indexes of correspondents and subjects found in the papers provide some assistance in using the Little papers. The following discussion of the papers follows the structure of the subject index.
The growth of the university which had begun at the close of World War I continued to be felt during President Little's tenure. New buildings completed earlier were handling classroom and laboratory needs, so attention now turned to living accommodations and the athletic department's needs (Sec. II). The period of the 1920s was one of increased interest in theories of progressive education. President's Little's primary interest was in educational policy arising from such theories. Thus, academic and departmental proposals and reorganizations (Sec. III of the subject index) form a major part of his papers. He made fewer administrative changes (Sec. I of the subject index). The twenties are also remembered as a time of social ferment in the country and this was reflected in campus life, with more attention being paid to regulating student social mores and the use of alcohol and cars (see Secs. I and IV of the subject index).
Although President Little oversaw the reorganization of some administrative offices, his attention was mainly focused on educational policy, his primary interest. This is reflected in materials on admissions policy, freshman orientation, continuing education of alumni, and the re-organization of the university into two separate units.
A few months after President Little took office, the "Day Report", so named because Edmund Day, Dean of the School of Business Administration chaired the committee which drew it up, was completed. It was the result of an exhaustive study of athletics, physical education and recreation in the university and led to changes in the Board in Control of Athletics, development of women's and intramural athletics, and gave impetus to the financing and building of the stadium (opened in 1927).
President Little's concern with developing students of good moral character resulted in regulation of the use of cars and alcohol, thought to be related twin evils, and the initiation of planning for dormitories, where all students would live under university supervision.
The major building projects that came to fruition during the Little Administration were the Stadium and the Women's League Building. Construction work at the Law School and the School of Education represented on-going projects begun in earlier administrations, while plans for a natural science museum were just beginning to take shape.
During President Little's tenure, schools and departments established earlier continued to grow, while some projects, such as the Creative Arts Fellowship, were brought to a close. The financing and governance of the Lawyers' Club presented on-going difficulties. Compensation for and the role of "outside work" in Medicine, Engineering, and Education required continued attention. The university contributed to scientific research through the Hobbs Expedition to Greenland which also showed the value of the university's fledgling radio program in maintaining communication with such distant projects.
With the appointment of Samuel Trask Dana as Dean, the School of Forestry was established in the spring of 1927. At that time the state was faced with the problems of cutover lands and the collapse of the lumbering industry. In 1927 the School of Forestry provided leadership in dealing with these problems by sponsoring two conferences which brought together owners and operators in the lumbering industry, state officials, and forestry experts to consider solutions.
The School of Education continued its growth with the addition of an elementary school building. The completion of that building in 1929 enabled the School to provide K-12 education under the supervision of its faculty. Some attention was given also to providing pre-primary education, but nothing came of this during Little's tenure.
The university and its academic life did not escape the impact of the societal upheavals of the "roaring twenties". Perhaps more so at the University of Michigan because of President Little's active role in several of those issues, as is reflected in his correspondence. He was an officer in the American Eugenics Society, a vocal proponent of both population control and the "betterment of the human race", and also served as chairman of the Michigan chapter of the League of Nations Non-partisan Association.
3 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The Fred Newton Scott collection includes correspondence, drafts of articles and reviews, diaries, daybooks, some personal materials, and photographs.
The correspondence is the core of the collection, consisting mainly of incoming letters to Scott from friends, colleagues, students, publishers, editors, authors, and learned societies. The letters deal mainly with literary and language questions and with Scott's lecture engagements, book reviewing, and other writings. The correspondence, arranged chronologically, is between Scott and four categories of individuals: Students; Journalists and publishers; Professional associates; and University colleagues and other.
I. Students
The wide-ranging influence of Scott's philosophy and teaching is amply illustrated through letters from his former students. They kept him informed of how they were putting his principles into practice as journalists or in academic teaching, and sought his advice on further developments in their work. The accomplishments of women students who had studied with him are particularly noteworthy. Gertrude Buck, whose dissertation on metaphor was considered a definitive study at the time, became a professor at Vassar College. In 1898, she had received the first Ph.D. in Rhetoric awarded by the University of Michigan. Other women students who went on to distinguished careers included Marjorie Nicolson, English professor and dean of Smith College; Helen Mahin, professor of journalism, University of Kansas; Ada Snell, Wellesley College; and Phyllis Povah Drayton, actress. Georgia Jackson was one of the first women to serve on the editorial staff of The American Boy magazine and later became editor of the Literary Digest. Other students of Scott were Frank Mitchell, Katherine Reed, Alice D. Snyder, Katherine Taylor, and Joseph M. Thomas.
Perhaps the most locally prominent among men graduates was Lee A. White who became editor of The Detroit News. Scott also numbered among his accomplished students, Avery Hopwood, playwright and donor of the Hopwood prizes; Wilfred B. Shaw, author and editor, and Director of Alumni Relations at the University of Michigan; Paul Osborn, playwright; Edgar A. and Paul Scott Mowrer, journalists; Joseph Thomas, Dean of the Senior College, University of Minnesota; James O. Bennett, journalist, The Chicago Tribune and Walter A. Donnelly, editor and Director of the University of Michigan Press.
II. Journalists and Publishers
As Scott developed courses in journalism he called on editors and publishers, some of whom had been his students, to lecture on the practical side of newspaper work. Much of this correspondence concerns arrangements for, and contents and evaluations of, these lectures. Since he was also concerned with improving journalistic writing, some letters deal with projects he undertook in cooperation with editors to raise the standards and styles of reportorial work. These professionals included James O. Bennett, Edmund Booth, George Booth, Frank Cobb, J.W. Cunliffe, Willard B. Gore, W.W. Harris, Roy Howard, Frank G. Kane, James M. Lee, Louis Ling, Milton A. McRae, C.M. Marstow, Robert Mountsier, Edgar Ansel Mowrer, Paul Scott Mowrer, Chases S. Osborn, E.G. Pipp, Arthur C. Pound, James Schermerhorn, James E. Scripps, Edwin E. Slosson, and Lee A. White.
III. Professional associates
Many of the letters in F. N. Scott's papers deal with his work on the National Council of Teachers of English and other professional organizations in which he played an active role. These are scattered throughout the collection but are not listed here. The largest amount of correspondence is that related to his interest in setting up an academy for the improvement of the English language. A British organization, the Society for Pure English, had been founded in 1913. In early 1922, a committee was organized, with Scott as chairman, to work with a British committee consisting of Robert Bridges, Henry Newbolt, and J. Dover Wilson, to form an international academy of English. The members of the American committee were: Henry Seidel Canby, Charles M. Gayley, Charles H. Grandgent, John L. Lowes, and John M. Manley. Other correspondents within organizations with whom Scott corresponded included John W. Bright, C.G. Hoag, F.P. Keppel, and Louise Pound. There also letters exchanged with Henry Ford.
IV. University colleagues and others
Included here are letters of Professor Thomas E. Rankin dealing with departmental affairs when he was acting chairman of the department in Scott's absence, and also his reactions to the later merging of the department with the Department of English. Aside from departmental and university concerns, the collection includes extensive correspondence with Jean Paul Slusser who became director of the Museum of Art following a long career teaching design and painting at the university. There is also correspondence with Regent Lucius Hubbard who shared Scott's interest in good English usage and in rare books. In addition, Scott was attracted to the health teachings of John Harvey Kellogg, stayed at his sanitarium in Battle Creek, and exchanged letters with him regarding his health regimen. Other correspondents include John Effinger, Peter Monro Jack, Clarence Cook Little, and Charles E. Whitman.
14 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The Reeves papers largely concern JSR's activities as professor (also chairman) of the University of Michigan Department of Political Science from his appointment in 1910 until his retirement in 1937. The great bulk of the collection consists of Reeves' correspondence. With this is a smaller series of such other materials as lectures, research materials, professional organizational materials. As an aid to accessing the correspondence, a selective index of correspondents and subjects has been prepared and is appended to the following containing listing.
14 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
22.3 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The collection, although defined as personal papers of Marion Burton, is in fact the correspondence files of the office of president of the University of Michigan (1920-1925). Complementing these files are scattered personal items from the period prior to Burton's coming to Michigan. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence Files (President's Office); Miscellaneous President's Office Files; Personal Materials; Speeches and Articles; Scrapbooks/Newspaper clippings; University of Minnesota Topical Files; and Photographs.
32 linear feet (in 33 boxes) — 7 oversize volumes
The Roy D. Chapin papers include correspondence, speeches, articles, interviews, business papers, receipts, scrapbooks, photographs, and miscellaneous notes and files of Chapin's wife, and his biographer, John C. Long, concerning family matters, highway transportation, the automobile industry, general economic conditions, foreign trade, World War I, national defense, state and national politics, the Republican Party, and the University of Michigan. The collection also contains extensive papers concerning the Hudson Motor Car Company, including information on management policies, production, and labor organizing.
32 linear feet (in 33 boxes) — 7 oversize volumes
Current results range from 1853 to 1949