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Collection

Albert Joseph Engel Papers, 1885-1960

10 linear feet

Prosecuting attorney for Missaukee County, Michigan, Republican State Senator, and U.S. Congressman from the 9th Michigan District from 1935 to 1951. Correspondence, reports and newspaper clippings concerning his activities on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Armed Services; material on the Manhattan Project and the testing of the atomic and hydrogen bombs; and photographs.

The Albert J. Engel papers primarily document his eight terms of service in United States House of Representatives, 1935-1951, though is some correspondence and other material dating back to 1911. The papers include correspondence, speeches, press releases, clippings scrapbooks and articles about Engel, files on various topics that came before Engel's House committees -- notably the Bikini Island A bomb and H bomb tests, and photographs

Collection

Arthur H. Vandenberg papers, 1884-1974 (majority within 1915-1951)

8 linear feet (on 11 microfilm rolls) — 25 volumes — 20 phonograph records — 1 film reel — 1 audiotape (reel-to-reel tapes)

Online
Republican U.S. Senator from Michigan; advocate of the United Nations and bipartisan foreign policy. Correspondence, scrapbooks, diaries, and visual materials.

The Arthur H. Vandenberg collection consists of 8 linear feet of materials (available on microfilm), 25 volumes of scrapbook/journals, and assorted audio and visual materials. The collection covers Vandenberg's entire career with a few folders of papers post-dating his death in 1951 relating to the dedication of memorial rooms in his honor in the 1970s. The collection is divided into four major series: Correspondence; Speeches; Campaign and Miscellaneous Topical; Clippings, Articles, and Scrapbooks; Miscellaneous and Personal; Visual Materials; and Sound Recordings.

Collection

Chase S. Osborn Papers, circa 1870-1949 (majority within 1889-1949)

149.9 linear feet ((in 152 boxes)) — 3 oversize volumes — 1 oversize folder

Governor of Michigan, writer, businessman; papers include correspondence, business records, speeches, writings, visual materials, diaries.

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.

Collection

Fred W. Green papers, 1881-1939

2.5 linear feet (in 3 boxes) — 4 oversize volumes — 1 oversize folder

Republican Governor of Michigan, 1927-1930, from Ionia. Correspondence and other papers, 1898-1936, concerning the Spanish-American War, Republican politics, and personal affairs; and scrapbooks, 1896-1929, covering his political career and election campaigns; and photographs.

The Fred W. Green collection is comprised of correspondence, scrapbooks, speeches, photographs, postcards, and miscellaneous other materials. Some of the correspondence covers the period when Green was at Santa Clara, Cuba in 1899, but the bulk of the letters fall within the period of his gubernatorial service.

Collection

G. Mennen Williams papers, 1883-1988 (majority within 1958-1980)

843 linear feet — 42 oversize volumes — 147 audiotapes (3 3/4 - 7 1/2 ips; 5-10 inches; reel-to-reel tapes) — 46 audiocassettes — 30 phonograph records — 42.1 GB (online)

Online
Governor of Michigan 1949 to 1960, under-secretary of state for African Affairs from 1961 to 1965, and Michigan Supreme Court justice from 1970 to 1986 and leader in state and national Democratic Party. Papers document his public career and aspects of his personal and family life and include correspondence, subject files, staff files, speeches, press releases and news clippings, photographs, sound recordings, films and videotapes.

The G. Mennen Williams Papers consist of official and personal files arranged into six subgroups: 1) Gubernatorial papers, 1949-1960 (681 linear ft.); 2) Non-gubernatorial papers, 1883-1948 and 1958-1988 (107 linear ft.); 3) Visual materials, ca. 1911-1988 (ca. 25 linear ft.); 4) sound recordings, 1950-ca. 1988 (5 linear ft.) Scrapbooks, 1948-1987 (43 vols.) and State Department Microfilm, 1961-1966 (23 reels).

As part of its own control system, the governor's office maintained a card index to the correspondents in many of the subgroups and series within the gubernatorial papers. This card file is located in the library's reading room. In addition, Nancy Williams and her staff compiled an extensive and detailed run of scrapbooks covering the Williams years. There is a separate inventory to these scrapbooks in a separately bound volume.

Strategy for Use of the Gubernatorial Papers: Although the Williams gubernatorial collection consists of hundreds of linear feet of material, the file arrangement created by the governor's staff is a fairly simple one to understand and to use.

The bulk of the collection falls within specific functional groupings, corresponding to the various activities and responsibilities that Williams performed as governor. Thus, if the researcher is uncertain of what portions of the collection might be relevant to his/her research, he/she is advised to think in terms of gubernatorial function. Does the proposed research concern the workings or area responsibility of a state board? If so, the Boards and Commissions series would be the most likely place in which to find material. The election of 1954? Then Democratic Party/Campaign Papers should be first choice. The passage of a specific piece of legislation? Here, Legislative Files is an obvious choice. The possible choices (called subgroups and series) that the researcher has are listed in the Organization of the Collection section. A description of the contents of each of these subgroups/series is provided below.

If, at first, unsuccessful in finding material on any given topic, the researcher might consider these additional strategies:

1. Refer to the Williams card index (located in the library's reading room). Sometimes, the name of an individual associated with a subject provides the easiest point of access into the collection. This file is arranged alphabetically and lists the dates of letters between an individual and the governor's office. This file only indexes the larger series and subgroups in the collection. It does not index the staff files, or parts of the Democratic Party/Campaign subgroup. Nevertheless it is an invaluable tool, and can uncover important material otherwise buried.

2. Refer to the various series of staff papers. Staff members were often closely involved in a specific subject areas (Jordan Popkin and aging, for example) and thus their files are frequently rich in source material.

3. If only partially successful in locating desired material, the researcher should think of an alternative subgroup or series. The governor's office, for a variety of reasons, often filed related material in different locations depending upon the source of a document. Thus, information relating to a strike might be filed both under the Labor Mediation Board in Boards and Commissions, and Strikes in General Subjects. Furthermore, if the strike influenced a specific piece of legislation, there could be material in the Legislative Files.

Collection

Henry Moore Bates papers, 1886-1950

5 linear feet

Professor of constitutional law at the University of Michigan. Papers include correspondence, reports, articles, speeches, photographs, and notebooks, relating to Bates' professional career, with material concerning activities of Ann Arbor National Defense Committee; life and career of Lawrence Maxwell, lawyer and U.S. Solicitor General in the Cleveland administration, funding and building the Michigan Union (1911-1918); Republican politics in the 1930's and 1940's; Franklin D. Roosevelt's attempt to reorganize the Supreme Court in 1937; and campus life at the University of Michigan during the first and second World Wars.

The Henry M. Bates papers include correspondence, reports, articles, speeches, photographs, and notebooks, relating to Bates' professional career, with material concerning activities of Ann Arbor National Defense Committee; life and career of Lawrence Maxwell, lawyer and U.S. Solicitor General in the Cleveland administration, funding and building the Michigan Union (1911-1918); Republican politics in the 1930's and 1940's; Franklin D. Roosevelt's attempt to reorganize the Supreme Court in 1937; and campus life at the University of Michigan during the first and second World Wars.

The papers are organized into Correspondence undated and 1886-1949, Michigan Union Building, 1911-1918; Committee of Nine on Mineral Law, 1927-1929; Miscellaneous Papers; and Photographs.

Collection

James Orin Murfin papers, 1896-1940

8 linear feet

Republican politician and regent of University of Michigan. Correspondence, 1901-1940, personal and professional materials, legal briefs and letters relating to William Cook estate and other University of Michigan affairs during his regency, 1918-1937; also correspondence while member of University's Board in Control of Athletics concerning University's departure from and return to Big Nine Conference and college athletics in general.

The Murfin papers relate mainly to JOM's activities as regent and as member of the University of Michigan's Board in Control of Athletics. The collection contains information concerning Michigan's departure from and return to the Big Nine Conference and the amateur-professional dilemma in college athletics. The regental material documents such problems as administrative oversight, particularly selection of the president and settlement of the William Cook estate. As member of the Law Club's governing body, Murfin helped to shape the university's case when Cook's bequest was contested by his wife. Although Murfin was influential in Michigan Republican party affairs, he filed his political papers separately and thus they are not included here.

The collection has been divided into two series: Correspondence, 1901-1940 and Topical Files which contain personal information and legal briefs concerning in part the Cook bequest

Collection

Roy Dikeman Chapin Papers, 1886-1945 (majority within 1910-1936)

32 linear feet (in 33 boxes) — 7 oversize volumes

Online
Lansing, Michigan businessman, founder of the Hudson Motor car Company, Secretary of Commerce in the Hoover Administration, leader of the "good roads movement" and the Lincoln Highway Association. Collection includes correspondence, speeches, business papers, clippings and scrapbooks and photographs.

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.

Collection

Wilber M. Brucker Papers, 1877-1968

54 linear feet — 2 oversize folders — 22 GB (online)

Online
Prosecuting attorney of Saginaw County, Michigan, attorney general of Michigan, 1929-1931, governor, 1931-1932, general counsel to the Department of Defense during the Army-McCarthy Hearing, 1954-1955, and Secretary of the Army, 1955-1961. Correspondence, speeches, tapes, appointment books, scrapbooks, photograph albums, newspaper clippings, and other materials concerning his political career.

The Wilber M. Brucker Collection consists of correspondence, subject files, scrapbooks, tape recordings, visual materials, political ephemera, and other materials from a lifelong career in public service. The collection provides significant, though not always extensive, material on his activities as state attorney general, governor, and secretary of the army. In addition, the papers include documentation from Brucker's private career: his law practice, his involvement in the preparation of a plan for the reapportionment of the Michigan Legislature, his devotion to Republican Party causes, his activities with the Knights Templar of Michigan, and as a member of the World War I Rainbow Division. With some exceptions, the early phases of Brucker's life are not as well represented as one might hope. There is really no body of Brucker gubernatorial materials extant. What remains are scattered items, largely concerning the election campaigns of 1930 and 1932.

The collection has been arranged into twelve series: Biographical; Correspondence; Family Papers; Subject Files; Knights Templar; Rainbow Division; Appointment Books; Speeches; Secretary of the Army; Newspaper Clippings; Personal: Albums, Scrapbooks, etc.; and Visual Materials.