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Academics for Affirmative Action and Social Justice (AAASJ), a multi-racial coalition of University of Michigan students, faculty and staff, was established in response to the lawsuits filed in 1997 challenging the university's admissions practices. AAASJ supported affirmative action and protested inequality through education, debates and rallies. The record group contains correspondence, newsletters, and essays.

The records of Academics for Affirmative Action and Social Justice (AAASJ) cover the period 1997-2000, and contain administrative information about the organization such as correspondence, records of events, newsletters, and statements.

The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence (including printouts of email) between the founders of AAASJ, Nadia Kim and Tom Guglielmo, and members of the organization. Most of the correspondence contains details regarding meetings, events and news related to affirmative action. The record group also contains information regarding events sponsored by AAASJ like debates and rallies.

AAASJ published a newsletter titled Veritas, with information about affirmative action and the organization's position on the University of Michigan's admissions policies. The record group contains newsletters covering the period 1998-1999. A VHS videotape of the panel session It's All About Mike is also include in this collection. The session, which took place on January 27, 2000, was a debate about affirmative action between members of AAASJ and the Michigan Review.

This record group pertains to the University of Michigan Department of Afroamerican and African Studies and to campus, regional, and national organizations devoted to political and civil rights causes from the 1960s to the 1990s. The collection includes print documents, photographs, and audio-visual material that document racial harassment incidents, political protests, scholarly conferences and symposia, MLK Day celebrations and black student life on the U-M campus. There are also materials about the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the anti-apartheid and divestment movements of the 1980s. Originally a Center, the unit was formally recognized as a department of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts in 2011.

The records of the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS; formerly known as the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies, or CAAS) include correspondence, syllabi, clippings, publicity materials, photographs and audio and video recordings of campus speakers. The record group includes archival material that was originally collected and made available in DAAS's library relating to black activism and to organizations of interest to black students, faculty and staff, as well as DAAS's own organizational archives. Because these materials have been consulted and cited by researchers prior to their transfer to the Bentley in 2011, their original arrangement has been preserved so far as possible.

Paper and photographic records consist of three major series: Black student activism, 1969-2001 (5.5 linear feet), Blacks at U-M, 1969-2007 (4.5 linear feet) and Organizational archives of CAAS, 1962-2010 (17 linear feet) (formerly designated simply "Archives.") There is some overlap of subject matter. These categories reflect the organization of the materials imposed by CAAS librarians and archivists prior to transfer to the Bentley in 2011.

The following list identifies the greatest concentration of material relevant to some of the notable subjects in the collection:

1. The Black Action Movements (Boxes 1-2 and 55)
2. Incidents of on-campus harassment and responses (Boxes 1, 2, 4)
3. South Africa, apartheid, and divestment -- (Boxes 2, 3, 5)
4. Free South Africa Coordinating Committee (Box 3)
5. Washtenaw County Coalition Against Apartheid (Box 5)
6. United Coalition Against Racism and the Baker-Mandela Center (Boxes 1, 4, 5)
7. The Michigamua controversy (Box 3)
8. The Nelson Mandela Honorary Degree Petition (Boxes 3, 11)
9. Gulf War activism (Boxes 3, 4)

This record group also includes a large number of audio and video recordings of presentations, interviews, documentaries, and cultural performances from the 1970s to the 1990s. The recordings include several notable faculty members, visiting scholars, and activists, including Harold Cruse, Cornell West, Rita Dove, Jesse Jackson, Angela Davis, Marian Wright Edelman and Rosa Parks.

The audio-visual material in the collection is organized is organized in to six series by format: Audio recordings on cassettes, 1975-2001 (486 cassettes, 9 linear feet), U-Matic videotapes, 1971-1989 (91 videotapes, 9.1 linear ft.) VHS videotapes, 1971-2004 (131 videotapes, 7 linear feet), Open reel videotapes, 1971-1980 (12 videotapes, 1 linear feet), Reel-to-reel audiotape, 1971, 1980 and undated (4 audiotapes, 0.3 linear feet) and Mini DVDs, 1999-2000 and undated (24 Mini-DVDs, 0.2 linear feet).

Research papers on topics relating to Michigan history and the history of the University of Michigan written by students in the History Department Undergraduate Honors Program.

Harry B. Benford was professor and chair of the department of naval architecture and marine engineering at the University of Michigan. The Benford collection includes professional correspondence and topical files relating to his work, teaching, and research.

The Harry B. Benford Papers consists of correspondence and topical files relating to his work, teaching, and research.

James Edward Davis is a teacher who has worked within the Dearborn Public School District, Michigan since he graduated from the University of Michigan. He has been active politically, especially in regards to teacher's rights, and within Michigan churches. The collection contains series of personal biographical papers, family papers, as well as his collected materials from local churches and schools.

Materials include Davis family history, his father's reminiscences of life in Clinton, Michigan, and relating to the United Church of Christ of Clinton, and some personal and biographical papers; pamphlets and flyers relating to student political activities at the University of Michigan; collected materials about local Michigan churches, many of them in Dexter, Mich.; collected materials about Dearborn Public Schools system and schools in Michigan.

John and Leni Sinclair were leaders of the counterculture movement in Michigan, organizers of radical social, political, and cultural endeavors primarily in the areas of music, poetry, graphic design, and community welfare projects. Papers and photographs (1957-1979) relating to all phases of their careers, including participation in the Artists' Workshop in Detroit, the Rainbow Multi-Media Corporation, the White Panther Party and its offshoot, the Rainbow Peoples Party; also materials concerning the legalization of marijuana, radical politics, and prison reform. Also material, 1979-2000, relating to John Sinclair's work as a writer, performer, radio show host and music promoter.

The John Sinclair papers came to the library in 1979. Jointly donated by John and Leni Sinclair, this initial accession, covering the period 1957-1979, included textual material, sound recordings, and photographs relating to all phases of their careers, including participation in the Artists' Workshop in Detroit, the Rainbow Multi-Media Corporation, the White Panther Party and its offshoot, the Rainbow Peoples Party; also materials concerning the legalization of marijuana, radical politics, prison reform, and rock and jazz music.

The Sinclair papers provide a rich and unique source for the study of America's radical movement in the nineteen sixties and seventies. Beginning with a remarkable series of correspondence that includes letters from Abbie Hoffman, Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, and Jerry Rubin, and continuing on through extensive subject files, the collection details the cultural, political and business activities of a man whose energy and charisma made him a local and national leader of the counterculture. In addition, the collection documents the support and creativity of his wife and partner, who as writer, photographer and publicist helped to showcase the lifestyle which he symbolized.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, John Sinclair added to his papers with materials relating to his career as a writer and performer. In the winter of 2000, he donated a second large accession relating mainly to the period since leaving Detroit for New Orleans.

The Sinclair collection has been divided into four subgroups: Textual Files, Printed Material, Sound Recordings, and Visual Material.

University of Michigan student newspaper. Records include biographical information about University of Michigan faculty, staff, and administrators, including news clippings, news releases, and curriculum vitae; and negatives and contact prints of images of University buildings, student and staff activities, athletic events, and life in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and portraits of faculty, staff, and administrators.

This record group consists primarily of visual materials created by the photographic staff of The Michigan Daily. The photographs cover the full spectrum of activities on campus -- classroom scenes, staff and faculty portraits, academic ceremonies, student protests, athletics, student life, speakers and musical performers, as well as some Ann Arbor scenes and events and occasional events of state and national significance. To date, no administrative records have been donated to the Bentley Historical Library. The records were received in several accessions. The organization of the records in part reflects these multiple accessions with several distinct runs of negatives and prints (though there may be some overlap in years.

The first classes in art at the University of Michigan were offered in 1906 by the Department of Architecture. In 1926, a program in decorative arts was housed in the College of Engineering and Architecture. Art evolved as a discipline, moving through the colleges of engineering and architecture to become the School of Art, an autonomous institution, in 1974. It became the School of Art & Design in 1996. The records focus on the evaluation and review of the program in the 1970s and early 1980s during the budget crisis faced by the university. The records also contain minutes of the Executive Committee and the Faculty Committee, from the mid-1970s to 1999.

The School of Art & Design records are composed of six series: Topical Files, 1970-1987; Committees; Correspondence; Topical Files, 1980-2000; Visual Materials; and Website. There is a separate collection of printed material. The majority of the records document the years from 1975 to 1999, a crucial period in the school's history as it was formally established as a school in its own right and later experienced serious budget reductions.

The Office of the President records group includes the records of University of Michigan Presidents Robben Fleming, 1968-1978 and 1988 (interim); Allan Smith, 1979 (interim); Harold T. Shapiro, 1980-1987; James J. Duderstadt, 1988-1996; Homer Neal, 1996-1997 (interim); Lee C. Bollinger, 1997-2001; B. Joseph White, 2002 (interim); Mary Sue Coleman (2002-2014); and Mark Schlissel (2014-present). The record group includes annual files from the Office of the President, which include topical files and schools and colleges files. Other series in the record group include supplemental files for each president, search files, committee appointment files, audio and visual materials, development files, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) files, and ephemera.

The records of the University of Michigan President contain the central files created and collected by the President and members of the President's staff. There is some content inherited from earlier presidents, but the record group effectively begins in 1967 with the administration of Robben W. Fleming and continues through successive administrations. (Records of Presidents prior to Fleming are cataloged under the name of the individual office holder).

The University of Michigan President's records are organized into the following series: Topical Files; Schools and Colleges Files; Supplemental Files; Search Files; Committee Appointment Files; Development; Facilities; Freedom of Information Act; Audio-Visual Material Files; Ephemera; Archived Website. Three first three series are major recurring series (Topical, Schools and Colleges, and Supplemental Files). The additional series (Committee Appointment; Searches; Development; Facilities; Freedom of Information Act; Audio-Visual Material Files; Ephemera; Archived Website) are not consistently created or predictably transferred.

Although the series are collectively described, the actual ordering of the boxes in the contents listing are not necessarily consecutive given the timing and sequence of transfers. For a summary bringing all boxes together under a particular series, see the Summary Contents list for a collective representation of boxes.

Central academic administrative unit of the University of Michigan which functions as chief executive assistant to the president, responsible for appointments and promotions with oversight for schools, colleges, educational units and programs; including budget planning, legislative relations, institutional research, and affirmative action policies. Central Files subgroup includes correspondence files of vice-presidents, associate and assistant vice-presidents, and other staff members within the vice-president's office.

The records of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs date from 1947 to 1997 and total more than 675 linear feet. The records are a rich source of information on the University of Michigan from the 1960s to the present. They contain a wide variety of material documenting the concerns of the administration and, to a lesser extent, the faculty and students regarding academic programs, student and faculty activities, and the administrative operations of the University of Michigan.

The records, which include the provost's files as well as the files of associate and assistant vice presidents, are arranged in three subgroups: Central Files, Staff Files, and Supplemental Files. The Central Files subgroup consists of the records maintained by the provost's office and is discussed in greater detail below. The Staff Files subgroup includes the records of assistant and associate vice presidents and of the assistants to the provost. The Supplemental Files subgroup contains material on specific topics to which a number of academic affairs staff contributed their efforts, including retreats, unit reviews, and searches. Each of the subgroups is fully described in a separate finding aid.

It should be noted that some of the records in the record group predate the founding of the Office of Academic Affairs. Such records were generally brought by vice presidents or staff members from previous positions or inherited from persons who formerly performed their duties.

The Central Files subgroup consists of 605 linear feet dating from the creation of the Office of Academic Affairs in the academic year 1961/1962 to 2012/2013. The records consist primarily of correspondence, minutes and other committee files, reports, and budget materials, reflecting the broad range of responsibilities and functions of the provost. Whereas the records of the Staff Files subgroup tend to document the process of policy formation and decision-making functions, the Central Files records more often contain finished products, such as reports and policy statements. For the researcher interested in the provost's views on a particular topic or issue, or the Office of Academic Affairs involvement in the academic and financial life of various schools and colleges, the Central Files subgroup is the single best starting point.

The records of the Central Files subgroup are broken into series by academic year, and each series consists of one or more of the following subseries: Alphabetical Files, Schools and Colleges Files, and Chronological Files. From 1961/1962 through 1973/1974 the series each consist of one subseries of Alphabetical Files. The Alphabetical Files are arranged alphabetically and include topical files as well as files regarding university academic, research, and service units.

From 1974/1975 to 1983/1984 the series are split into two subseries, Alphabetical Files and Schools and Colleges Files. The Alphabetical Files remain similar in content to previous years with the exception that files relating to academic units, namely schools, colleges, and their departments, now comprise the subseries Schools and Colleges Files. Records concerning centers, special libraries, museums, institutes, and interdisciplinary programs are filed in the Alphabetical Files subseries. The Schools and Colleges Files are arranged alphabetically by academic unit and contain materials relating to the annual budget requests, promotion and tenure decisions, internal and external reviews, dean evaluations, and changes in academic programs.

For the years 1974/1975 to 1981/1982, with the exception of 1976/1977, there is an "Index to Correspondence" located at the end of the Alphabetical Files which lists in chronological order the letters written by the vice president, the name of the recipient, the subject of the letter, and the heading under which it is filed.

From 1984/1985 to 1993/1994, 1998/1999-2008/2009 and 2010/2011-2011/2012 the series consist of three subseries: Alphabetical Files, Schools and Colleges Files, and Chronological Files. The Alphabetical Files and the Schools and Colleges Files, while becoming more voluminous over the years, remain similar in nature. The Chronological Files consist of all outgoing correspondence from the vice president and are arranged by month. The Chronological Files are useful if the researcher knows the date the vice president might have corresponded on a particular topic but is unsure of the heading used for filing in the Alphabetical Files.

The Alphabetical Files, as mentioned above, are a strong source of information on a variety of topics relating to the administration of a large university, including the university's relationship with state and federal governments, issues confronting institutions of higher education at various points in time (student unrest and affirmative action, for example), collaborative efforts with other Big Ten and area colleges and universities, and the creation and revision of university policies. The minutes of the Academic Affairs Advisory Council (AAAC) are an especially good source of information on the activities of the Office of Academic Affairs. The AAAC, composed of the deans of the schools and colleges, directors of institutes, centers, and special libraries, and the staff of the Office of Academic Affairs, was established to hold monthly meetings to discuss educational policy, planning for growth, and special studies.

Because folder titles on a particular subject may vary from year to year, researchers are advised to be imaginative in searching for information in the topical files. It should also be noted that information on any given subject can probably be found in various places in the collection.

The 2010 and 2011 series feature the addition of the Archived Website subseries. These were created to preserve the office's public website over time. The subseries document the mission, activities, policies, and individuals involved in the operation of the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs as they are presented on its public website. Content includes important news and announcements, publications (such as reports and administrative documents), and information about committees, initiatives, and events. This archived website will be captured on a regular, ongoing basis as part of the University of Michigan Web Archives, hosted at https://archive-it.org/organizations/934.