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Foreign correspondent for Stars and Stripes and Reuters stationed in Germany after World War II, speech-writer for New York mayor Robert F. Wagner and for executives of the Ford Motor Company, member of the Public Affairs staff of the New Detroit Committee; articles and speeches written, various topical files from his work with Ford and New Detroit; and miscellaneous news articles from his years as correspondent for Reuters.

The Allan Dreyfuss collection has been arranged into the following series: Career (prior to 1963); Articles / Speeches written; New Detroit Committee; Ford Motor Company; and Political. Although there is some documentation of Dreyfuss's career as a foreign correspondent stationed mainly in Germany following World War II and as a publicity director for 20th Century-Fox, the bulk of the papers relate to his work after 1963 when he came to work with the Ford Motor Company as a speech writer for the company's top executives: Henry Ford II, Alex Trotman, Donald Petersen, H. A. Poling among others. These men trusted Dreyfuss with the Ford message, especially when they traveled abroad and the notes and comments he received about the speeches reflect that trust. No doubt for this reason, Henry Ford II allowed Dreyfuss to work with New Detroit as historian and note-taker at the meetings of the organization's executive committee.

Detroit, Michigan, attorney and judge, Democratic candidate for governor in 1934. Correspondence, legal case files, family materials, speeches, essays, diary notes, financial materials, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, photographs, and transcript of oral interview.

The Arthur J. Lacy collection consists of correspondence and other papers documenting his political activities within the Democratic party and career as a Detroit attorney. The collection has been divided into the following series: Biographical information; Personal letters; Professional correspondence and related papers; Lacy Family papers; Speeches; Early personal materials; Writings, essays, etc.; Financial files; Miscellaneous; Newspapers clippings; Photographs; and Legal files.

The Lacy Collection documents particularly well Lacy's major legal cases (Wilson vs. White, the Ford Stock Tax Case, Mary A. Rackham Estate) and his transition from conservative Democrat to conservative Republican. His letters home from Valparaiso, Indiana and Ann Arbor and his letters to his future wife Beth Garwick give a detailed picture of college life in the 1890's. Major subjects covered in the public papers are the Detroit Domestic Relations Court, problems of taxation and banking in the depression, Lacy's friendship with James Couzens, and the campaigns of 1932 and 1934. A series of notes Lacy wrote to himself from 1915-1928 and 1946-1956 reveal his political ideals, personal morality, and his relationship to his family.

Within the Professional Correspondence and related papers series, the researcher will find correspondence with many notable political and business figures. These include John W. Anderson, William R. Angell, Art Baker, Arthur A. Ballantine, C.C. Bradner, John V. Brennan, Thomas E. Brennan, Prentiss M. Brown, Wilber M. Brucker, George E. Bushnell, Daniel T. Campau, Harvey J. Campbell, John J. Carson, E.R. Chapin, John S. Coleman, William A. Comstock, Calvin Coolidge, Grace G. Coolidge, Frank Couzens, James J. Couzens, John D. Dingell, Patrick J. Doyle, William J. Durant, Henry T. Ewald, Mordecai J.B. Ezechiel, James A. Farley, Homer Ferguson, Woodbridge N. Ferris, Clara J.B. Ford, Edsel B. Ford, Joseph Foss, Fred W. Green, Alexander J. Groesbeck, Edgar A. Guest, James M. Hare, Herbert C. Hoover, J. Edgar Hoover, Kaufman T. Keller, Stanley S. Kresge, David Lawrence, Arthur F. Lederle, John C. Lehr, Fulton Lewis, Percy Loud, William G. McAdoo, William McKinley, George A. Marston, Eliza M. Mosher, Frank Murphy, George Murphy, William J. Norton, George D. O'Brien, Elmer B. O'Hara, Hazen S. Pingree, Mary A. H. Rackham, Horace H. Rackham, Clarence A. Reid, George W. Romney, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Alexander G. Ruthven, W.M. Skillman, Albert E. Sleeper, Edward D. Stair, Arthur E. Summerfield, William H. Taft, Joseph P. Tumulty, Arthur H. Vandenberg, A. VanderZee, Murray D. Van Wagoner, Henry F. Vaughan, Carl Vinson, Matilda R.D. Wilson, Clarence E. Wilcox, and R.A.C. Wollenberg.

The Lacy Family papers are rich in detail about life in Michigan in the nineteenth and early twentieth century; the surviving letters document family crises and Lacy's role in them as the oldest and most successful child and later, as family leader. Lacy was the family genealogist and he collected and preserved the family correspondence of his uncles and aunt, some of which date back to the 1850's.

Artificial collection of miscellaneous materials related to Michigan automobiles, car companies, trucks, racing, racecars, motorcycles, advertising, etc.

The collection includes miscellaneous materials from vertical files, advertising materials, black and white photographs, catalogs, manuals, newspaper clippings (copies), and other materials documenting car companies, trucks, racing, racecars, motorcycles, and the general history of automobiles.

Ypsilanti, Michigan automobile salesman, antique collector for Greenfield Village, and real estate agent for the Ford Motor Company. Correspondence, newspaper clippings, and pamphlet material concerning his work for Ford Motor Company, and his interest in William H. McGuffey and Stephen Foster; and photographs.

The collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Newspaper clippings; Printed Material; Greenfield Village acquisitions; Real estate acquisitions; and Photographs.

Republican congressman from Michigan's 4th Congressional District, 1934-1962, served on the Education and Labor Committee and the Government Operations Committee, known for his fiscal conservatism and opposition to much of the New Deal legislation, he was particularly concerned with the growing power of labor unions and worked to amend the Wagner Act, eventually becoming a key player in passage of the Taft-Hartley Act. As chair of special subcommittees, Hoffman conducted several investigations into labor racketeering, particularly by the Teamsters Union. Collection includes committee files, some constituent correspondence, topical files, investigation files, press releases, scrapbooks and a limited number of sound recordings and photographs.

The Clare E. Hoffman Papers consist of Congressional files detailing his work on the House Committee on Education and Labor, the House Committee on Government Operations, and various subcommittees, including investigating labor racketeering; files concern in part his sponsorship of labor-related legislation, bills unifying the armed services, and bills authorizing reorganization of the executive branch; and photographs.

The Hoffman collection of congressional papers covers the years 1934-1962. Unfortunately the first few terms of his service are not as adequately documented as might be hoped, as in 1942 Hoffman directed his staff to discard retired files. As a result, except for a few political files and subject files, the Hoffman collection bulks largest for the years 1943-1962.

Despite the fragmentary character of the documentation on Hoffman's early years in Congress, the collection provides a detailed view of the activities of a conservative congressman from western Michigan for a twenty-year period. In recent American history, the years 1943-1962 were important both for wartime politics and for the myriad problems that came after victory: the cooling of relations with the Soviet Union, the integration of returning veterans into the economy, shortages in housing and consumer goods, a renewed militancy among the nation's labor unions, the continuation of the struggle for civil rights for blacks, the fear of internal subversive activities; in short, problems of great importance and complexity, issues for which there were no easy answers.

Hoffman was eyewitness and participant to the politics of these issues. As a representative of increasing seniority, he was a powerful conservative voice within the Congress. Because of his position on the Education and Labor committee, he helped shape the bulk of legislation passed in the postwar period, notably the Taft-Hartley Act. And because of his position on the Expenditures Committee, Hoffman was instrumental in passage of the National Security Act of 1947 that unified the administration of the armed services and enlarge their responsibilities.

Apart from these major pieces of legislation, the Hoffman collection documents the service of a congressman who was attuned to the concerns and politics of his largely rural and small-town district, with constituents economically conservative and ever distrustful of federal encroachments upon their lives. Of special interest are various files of correspondence with the businessmen and small manufacturers of his district. As a good politician, Hoffman was especially mindful of maintaining good relations with these people, and helping them when he could with their labor-related problems.

Like many congressional collections, the Hoffman papers consist in large part of communications with constituents and out-of-district citizens. But because of his power within the Congress, Hoffman's files (letters received and sent) are often substantive in content and a valuable complement to the work of the House, as published in the Congressional Record and other printed sources.

The Detroit News was a prominent daily newspaper founded by James Edmund Scripps in 1873. The success and expansion of the paper is largely attributed to Scripps' son-in-law, George Gough Booth. The collection contains photographic materials including glass plate negatives, film negatives, and photographic prints of various sizes as well as scrapbooks of newspaper clippings from the Detroit News.

The Detroit News records, 1856-1991 (164.5 linear feet) consist of photographic materials including glass plate negatives, film negatives, and photographic prints of various sizes as well as scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings from the Detroit News. The arrangement of the collection is alphabetical and maintains original order as far as could be discerned. In instances where multiple formats were stored together, they have been rehoused separately for preservation purposes. Researchers are encouraged to review the entire container list of this finding aid to identify corresponding materials of different formats within the collection, which have been indicated.

The researcher will find that a significant portion of the photographic materials depict interior and exterior views of the Detroit News building designed by Albert Kahn and erected in 1917. Additional topics of photographic materials include the radio station, WWJ and various events hosted by the News. Images of the Scripps and Booth families as well as employees of the Detroit News are also present among the collection. The scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, which present a broad range of subject matter as covered by a daily metropolitan newspaper. All of the glass plate negatives and a selection of film negatives have been digitized and can be viewed by following the links in the container list of this finding aid.

Collection includes clippings, photographs, brochures, information about famous pilots, planes, flights, plane manufacturers, airlines, general aviation history, Grand Rapids Art Fair and airport information, Heagle's pilot log book and lessons from the Furniture Capital Air School of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The collection includes clippings from newspapers and magazines, photographs, brochures, and other memorabilia on Dr. Hugo, Eckener, Charles Lindberg and his flight to Paris, Admiral Byrd’s flight to the South Pole, women pilots, zeppelins, plane crashes, various companies that manufactured planes or plane parts, including Buhl Aircraft Company, Forker (GM.), Ford Motor Company, Kohler Corporation, and airlines including Detroit–Grand Rapids Airline, Furniture Capital Air Service, and Stout Air Service, Inc., and materials related to the Grand Rapids Air Fair, 1927, and airport, as well as the history of aviation, in general.

Also included are Heagle’s pilot log book, 1927-1931, and lessons from the Furniture Capital Air School, undated.

Michigan State Police officer, 1923-1941, Michigan Civil Defense Director during World War II, State Police Commissioner, 1947-1951, Republican candidate for governor, 1954, served on Michigan Liquor Commissioner and as Detroit Recorders Court judge. Papers include extensive documentation of his service as Director of Civil Defense and State Police Commissioner and his political activities.

The Donald S. Leonard collection is a valuable resource to researchers studying topics of law enforcement and civil defense and Michigan state politics and government. The Donald S. Leonard collection has been arranged into seven series: Personal and Correspondence, 1925-1966; Civil Defense; World War II Era, 1941-1946; Michigan State Police, 1929-1952; Detroit Police Department, 1952-1954; Political Files, 1950-1956; Organization and Activities Files; Audio-Visual Materials; Committee on Equal Educational Opportunities. Leonard also taught law course at the State Police Recruit School and Metropolitan Police Academy of Michigan.

University of Michigan Engineering School graduate (1937-1941); aeronautical engineer (1941-1945) at Ford Motor Company's Willow Run Bomber Plant; aeronautical engineer (1945-1946) North American Aviation, Inglewood, California; research engineer (1946-1980); Ford Motor Company's Research and Engineering Center, Dearborn, Michigan.

World War II from the Willow Run Bomber Plant, Selective Service, wartime Office of Price Administration (rationing) during his work as an aeronautical engineer in the aircraft industry. The papers also consist of technical papers, photos, and public relations brochures related to his career at the Ford Motor Company's Research & Engineering Center including a collaborative research project with the late Prof. Harm Buning in 1966 with the University of Michigan wind tunnel on North Campus.

The papers show glimpses of a University of Michigan Engineering School graduate in aeronautical engineering starting his career in a defense plant during World War II, entering the private aircraft industry in California, after the war's end, then returning to the Detroit area to work for a Big Three automobile manufacturer--the Ford Motor Company. The value of the engineering school training can be seen in the accomplishments of Francis N. Beauvais who applied his skills as an aeronautical engineer to development of aerodynamic testing of Ford automobiles and also collaboration as an alumnus with the University of Michigan's Engineering School in 1966 in solving a problem. Included are some war time ephemera and later brochures from Ford Motor Company. A special set of 12 black and white photos was taken in 1941 showing test apparatus inside the original University of Michigan wind tunnel in the East Engineering building. There are also some color slides showing various university buildings, the Indiana v. Michigan homecoming football game of 1946, the arboretum, and some scenes around Ann Arbor.

Naturalist and historian at the Nankin Mills Nature Center near Westland, Michigan. Nankin Mills was also used by Henry Ford in the manufacture of automobile parts. Nankin Mills files including notebook with research notes and jottings about the Nankin Mills area, newspaper clippings, and deeds; collected historical material including child's diary, 1902-1903, and Pontiac, Michigan family papers containing essay about women's suffrage, 1881; photographs of the Nankin Mills and related areas in western Wayne County, Michigan; copy prints of Pike's Peak, Colorado, 1887.

The Mary Ellsworth papers consist of two types of materials: 1) papers which relate specifically to Nankin Mills and to her work as naturalist, and 2) historical materials collected or received by Mary Ellsworth.