Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Zoologist, college professor, president of University of Michigan, 1929-1951. Professional files relating to his career with the University Museum and as a professor of zoology, and presidential files containing correspondence, reports, speeches, and other University materials, including budget and legislative files, material relating to changes in University administration, his relationship with faculty, students and alumni, and photographs.

The Alexander Ruthven papers consists of two series of records. The first is the papers of Ruthven as president of the University of Michigan, 1929 to 1951. The second, and smaller, series is the files maintained by Ruthven as a zoologist with the University Museum and as professor of zoology. This latter series dates largely from 1908 to 1929 but also includes collected earlier files from the 1870s.

The University of Michigan Alumnae Council was founded in 1917 as a group to support women at the University of Michigan. They are active fund-raisers, and use the money to sponsor women's housing, scholarships, and organizations at the University. The records consist of photographs and meeting minutes.

The records of the University of Michigan Alumnae Council are divided into two series: Photographs and Meeting Minutes.

Battle Creek, Mich. historian and collector of rare books and manuscripts. Much of Lowe's research was devoted to the life and career of Black abolitionist Sojourner Truth. The collection contains material related to Sojourner Truth and includes biographies and bibliographies, book reviews, clippings, songs, images and photographs, etc. Other materials in the collection include letters of John G. Whittier, George W. Cable, correspondence of Lowe with writer Gerald Carson, diaries of Lowe's 1963 trip to Europe, as well as miscellanea and photographs.

The collection is arranged into two series. The Sojourner Truth (collected material) series includes biographies and compiled biographical information about Truth, bibliographies and book reviews, obituaries, tributes, newspaper articles, images of portraits, photographs, songs, and other information relating to the life of Sojourner Truth. Of special interest is a scrapbook that was kept by Frances Titus, Sojourner Truth's assistant.

Most of the Sojourner Truth files have been microfilmed except for a folder of material which came to the library after the 1965 filming. A few photographs that were microfilmed in 1965 were reported missing. These images are only available on the microfilm.

The Other Materials series contains items concerning Lowe's various activities and interests, including Battle Creek history and personalities, her travel diaries, and materials related to her friendship with writer Gerald Carson. Also included collected autographs and papers of individuals, including authors John Greenleaf Whittier and George Washington Cable. Also of note are letters of D. J. Van Schnell who wrote to members of the Oldfield family that contain watercolor drawings indicative of English life in the late 1930s and the early years of the World War II.

Student papers written for courses in architectural history research, mainly about Michigan architects, buildings and communities.

The records consist of student papers prepared for courses in the University of Michigan College of Architecture and Design (later Architecture and Urban Planning), primarily for classes in architectural history research; topics concern the architecture of specific Michigan communities, the architecture of historical buildings and homes, and studies of types of structures in Michigan; papers include historical description and appended visual material. Many of the papers include photos, postcards, and other illustrations relating to the architecture of specific Michigan communities, prominent historical buildings and houses in the state, and types of structures

Dorothy Roth Wilson was a student at the University of Michigan during the 1930s. She was the daughter of University of Michigan Alumni and pharmacology faculty member George B. Wilson and Dorthea Ruth Payne. After she married James C. Wilson in 1936. Wilson and worked as an attorney in Washington D.C. The collection includes a scrapbook of programs, photos, and memorabilia from her activities as a student at the University of Michigan; photos and other biographical materials of her father George B. Roth and her mother Dorthea Ruth Payne.

The Dorothy Ruth Wilson papers contains material from Wilson’s time as a student at the University of Michigan, as well as material related to her parents. A scrapbook within the collection holds programs, photos, and memorabilia from her activities as a student from 1932-1936. Three folders of photographs of Dorothy, her father George Byron Roth, as well as her mother, Dorthea Ruth Payne are included. A small amount of material in the collection contains biographical material about her parents, such as correspondence, curricula vitae, and biographies.

Professor of architecture at the University of Michigan; includes correspondence, professional organizational activities files, documentation, photographs, and architectural drawings accumulated during his work with the Michigan Historic Buildings Survey

The Emil Lorch papers are valuable for their documentation of the career of this important architectural educator and for that material about Michigan architecture and historic structures that Lorch accumulated in the course of his professional study and organizational involvement. The collection includes extensive correspondence with many of the country's leading architects, most notably members of the "Chicago School," and architectural educators, and manuscript and photographic documentation resulting from Lorch's involvement with the Michigan Historic Buildings Survey and various restoration projects, including Mackinac Island.

Central administrative office responsible for financial management of the University of Michigan and fiscal policy with oversight for the general fund and trust budget. Unit has undergone several name changes: Vice President in Charge of Business and Finance (1935-1966); Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (1966-1993); Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (1993- ). Includes administrative records reflecting oversight of the university's financial assets, preparation of annual budgets, fiscal policy, investments and expenditures, and various financial issues. Documentation includes topical files, university budgets, and trust fund records. Includes files of office holders Shirley Wheeler Smith, Robert P. Briggs, Wilbur K. Pierpont, James Brinkerhoff, and Farris Womack, Chandler Matthews, Robert Kasdin, and Timothy Slottow.

Measuring 227 linear feet, 1 oversize folder, 51 oversize volumes, and 283 GB (online), the records of the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer document the fiscal history of the university beginning from 1909. At least since the 1950s, the vice president has taken responsibility for the creation of university policy in areas requiring special fiscal knowledge as well as for the preparation of the university's general fund and trust budgets. Other activities, such as policing actual expenditures or the day to day operations of specific service units within the university reporting to the vice president, have been delegated to subordinate offices.

Reflecting this division of responsibility, the records of the vice president document major fiscal issues facing the university and the preparation of the university's annual budgets. Some of the records are office files. However, the office also retained many key bound financial documents including an official set of the university's annual budgets.

The records are organized into six series: Central Topical Files; Supplemental Files; Assistant to the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Associate Vice President for Finance; University Budgets, Accounts and Reports; and Photographs. Most series are further divided into several subseries, reflecting different accessions. There is considerable overlap in date span of the topical files of the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Files created by one Vice President were sometimes retained for use by his successor(s) and transferred at a much later date than the bulk of his records.

Records generated by administrators and offices charged with the financial activities of the University, including Secretary and Vice-President Shirley W. Smith and Controller and Assistant Secretary John C. Christensen; include general University financial records; records of land; trust fund records; proposed development and construction projects; operating records of buildings, divisions and other units.

The records of Financial Operations date from 1837 to 1982, primarily after 1910. The 27 linear feet of manuscript material, 52 oversized volumes and one reel of microfilm reflect not only the financial records normally associated with an accounting office, but also the broad range of subjects which became a concern under the leadership of Shirley Smith. What would eventually become Financial Operations may have served as a records storage office for many of the other units under Smith's control. In any event, Financial Operations became the guardian of a wide variety of records, documenting the University in a number of ways not normally expected of an accounting service.

Of particular note, the collection contains a variety of different record formats. Bound materials, in the form of books, are included in the boxes and when numbering more than one, are listed in the finding aid as multiple volumes. The collection also contains oversized volumes, in the form of large accounting books. These oversized volumes are numbered and stored separately. They are listed in the finding aid where intellectually appropriate, and designated by volume number. Enclosed in this finding aid is an index of the oversized volumes, organized by number, and their contents.

The collection is divided into six series: General University Financial Records; Trust Fund Records; Records of Land, Proposed Development and Construction; Operating Records of Buildings, Divisions and other Units; Miscellaneous Reports, Studies and Volumes; and Accounting Office Records.

University of Michigan staff photographer, 1913-1947 and commercial photographer in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Collection includes some manuscript material but is primarily photographic prints and negatives made by Swain. Photo subjects include university buildings, faculty, and student activities, archeological expeditions to the Near East and, Ann Arbor scenes and landscapes form his travels in the western United States and Canada.

The papers and photographs of George R. Swain mainly document Swain's accomplishments as university photographer at the University of Michigan from 1913 to 1947. Researchers should note, however, that this is only a sampling of the photographer's work during these years. The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology at the University of Michigan has an extensive collection of Swain's archaeological negatives and prints, and researchers interested in his full career will want to also look at the Kelsey collection. The Bentley Library material, while including several folders of fine photographs Swain made on his travels with Professor Frances Kelsey, for the most part documents Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan.

The collection at the Bentley Library consists of three series: Miscellaneous Papers; Photographers Log; and Photographs (prints; negatives; and lantern slides. Since the bulk of the collection is comprised of early twentieth century images of Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan, the materials will be of most interest to researchers searching for visual documentation of this part of the state in that time period. There are very few materials beyond the visual, although the lengthy captions attached to many overseas images and the essays, diaries, and letters, are extremely interesting and offer insight into how Swain approached his craft, both as a professional photographer and in his personal work.

The collection the Helen Newberry Residence contains administrative files and information relating to the history of the Helen Handy Newberry Residence at the University of Michigan.

This small 0.5 linear feet collection contains administrative records from the early years of Newberry Hall, 1915-1947. The first folder contains the minutes of the Board of Governors for the years, 1915 to 1925. The board was made up of five women. These women included the Dean of Women and at least two women who were University of Michigan graduates or who had been students. This board was appointed by the regents from those nominated by the Board of Trustees of the Students Christian Association. The second folder includes brief historical and financial records. These records give a brief financial history of the opening of the residence hall. This includes an interesting discussion of the separate roles of the university and the Student Christian Association in the upkeep of the building. There is a folder of budget summaries and a folder containing audits performed between 1927 and 1931. The Food Services records include the number of meals served and an example of the cost for guest meals. The last folder is the architectural contract from Kahn and Wilby for alterations to Newberry Hall