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Collection

Marshall L. Cook and William R. Cook papers, 1880-1945

6 linear feet

Editor and publisher, with his brother, William Randolph Cook, of the Hastings Banner in Hastings, Michigan. Correspondence, 1893-1941, relating to operations of their paper and other business enterprises, including material concerning Republican politics, the temperance movement, their activities and interest in the Rotary Club, the Salvation Army, and the Young Men's Christian Association.

The collection has been arranged into three series: Correspondence; Hasting Rotary Club; and Miscellaneous. The correspondence has been arranged chronologically with separate folders when needed for specific kinds of activities of the two brothers: political, business, church activities, and other professional responsibilities.

Collection

Michigan Politicians Portraits collection, 1885-1982

0.4 linear feet

Collection of 26 portraits of Michigan governors, lieutenant governors and senators, scattered between 1885-1982. All portraits except two were autographed by politicians pictured to Charles A. Sink, Michigan Republican politician.

Portrait collection of Michigan politicians spanning the years 1885-1982, with most photos from the period 1927-1982. Collection consists of two folders: "Governors" which contains 19 photographs, and "Senators", which contains 7 photographs. All dates listed correspond to the terms served by each politician.

Collection

Norris Family Papers, 1815-1960

3 linear feet — 1 oversize folder

Norris family of Ypsilanti and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Papers of Mark Norris, Ypsilanti businessman and postmaster; papers of his wife, Roccena Vaill Norris, local teacher and woman's rights advocate; papers of their son, Lyman, attorney and regent of the University of Michigan, 1883-1884; papers of Lyman's son, Mark Norris, Grand Rapids attorney and Grand Master of the Knights Templar in the United States; papers of Lyman's daughter Maria Norris, Grand Rapids physician; papers of Mark's son, Abbott Norris; and related papers of other family members, notably the Whittelsey family of Connecticut.

The Norris family papers consists of three linear feet of correspondence, business papers, and scrapbooks. The bulk of the papers are letters among various family members which contain a wealth of information about 19th century daily life, social conditions, business affairs, and local and state politics. This collection is especially useful in researching: women's history; Norris family and kinship interrelationships; early area settlement and local history; university student life at the University of Michigan and elsewhere; 19th century economic conditions and political issues; and 20th century Freemasonry.

Collection

Prentiss Marsh Brown Papers, 1902-1973

28 linear feet (in 29 boxes) — 2 oversize folders — 12 microfilms

Michigan congressman and senator, head of the U.S. Office of Price Administration; papers include correspondence, legislative files, speeches, political files, business and legal records, diaries and scrapbooks, visual materials, and sound recordings.

The Prentiss M. Brown Collection is rich and full and offers researchers materials on a variety of local and national topics reflecting the diversity of the man's private and public life. The earliest item in the collection is a letter book dated 1902-04 of James J. Brown, like his son a prominent St. Ignace attorney. The collection then picks up Prentiss M. Brown's entrance to the legal profession in 1917, traces his rise to public office, his work in Congress and with the O.P.A., and then concludes with his later business interests and his crusade upon behalf of the Mackinac Bridge.

The Brown Collection comprises approximately twenty-eight feet of correspondence, letterbooks, scrapbooks, diaries, speeches, topical and legislative files, photographs and phonograph records, and legal case files and business records. Covering the period 1917 to 1973, the papers concentrate most heavily in the years 1932-1942 when Brown was in the U.S. Congress. The greatest gap in the collection is in the period of the 1920s when Brown was making his first bids for political office. Also missing are any extensive files for the time of Brown's O.P.A. directorship. What the collection has on the O.P.A. are largely speeches, scrapbooks, and congratulatory letters.

Collection

Ralph Stone papers, 1882-1956

4 linear feet — 3 oversize volumes

Detroit banker, alumnus and regent of the University of Michigan; contain correspondence and other papers largely concerning University affairs, including athletics, the Development Council, alumni activities, regental affairs; also papers concerning Detroit city government, Detroit Street Railways, affairs of the Alien Property Custodian in World War I, recollections of University life in 1890's,articles on Hazen S. Pingree and Chase S. Osborn; also scrapbooks, speeches, manuscripts, and genealogical material.

The Stone collection is arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Speeches and Articles; Subject Files; and Clipping and Scrapbooks.

Collection

Roy C. Vandercook papers, 1900-1957

0.3 linear feet — 1 oversize volume

Michigan State Police Commissioner, National Guard Commander and businessman; correspondence, clippings, diary, photographs, and other materials relating to his career.

The collection consists of a scattering of correspondence, photographs, and biographical material. Much of the collection is clippings and ephemera. There is, however, a diary for 1920 which includes Vandercook's notes on "red" raids of the 1920's and comment on Governor Alexander J. Groesbeck. Also of interest are some payrolls for Battery A of the First Field Artillery, also an Order Book.

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

Shirley Wheeler Smith Papers, 1881-1959

15 linear feet — 1 oversize folder

Vice-president and secretary of the University of Michigan; correspondence; research materials for his biographies of university presidents; files relating to activities on the Ann Arbor City Council; course notes from classes at the University of Michigan; and photographs.

The Shirley Wheeler Smith papers include a combination of personal and professional materials. Much of Smith's career with the U-M is documented in the official records of the University, most notably in the records of the Secretary's Office and the papers of the presidents under whom he served (Angell, Hutchins, Burton, Little, and Ruthven). Even so, these papers contain much material relating to the business affairs of the U-M. The extensive correspondence files (with partial index) demonstrate wide influence in all phases of University operations as he corresponded with presidents, faculty, members of the board of regents, and other university personnel. Also documented in the collection is Smith's activities with the city of Ann Arbor and with other community organizations.

The collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence; Research for writings; Topical files; Ann Arbor City Council; Papers (by date); Personal and miscellaneous; and Photographs.

Collection

Sligh Family Papers, 1842-2012

36 linear feet (in 41 boxes) — 31 oversize volumes — 1 oversize folder

Online
Grand Rapids, Michigan family, involved in furniture making and other businesses, also active in local state and Republican Party politics and businessmen's associations. Papers include family papers and correspondence, business records, scrapbooks and visual materials.

The Sligh family collection consists of the personal and business papers of the four generations of Slighs mentioned in the biographical introduction: James W. Sligh, Charles R. Sligh, Charles R. Sligh, Jr., and Robert L. Sligh. Although there is some overlap, the files have been arranged into seven series, one for each of these three Slighs, one for the Sligh Furniture Company and related family businesses, and one each for Newspaper clippings and Scrapbooks, and Visual Materials.

Collection

Thomas Harrison Reed Papers, 1902-1971

8 linear feet

Consultant in municipal government, professor of political science at the University of California and the University of Michigan. Correspondence and other papers concerning his work with the National Municipal League, as municipal consultant, and as director of studies of the Republican Program Committee.

The Thomas Harrison Reed Collection is the papers of a man who was an active and important figure in the field of municipal government during much of the first half of this century. The Reed papers consist of eight feet of manuscript material, including correspondence, memos, newspaper clippings, and printed material. Over half of the collection deals primarily with Reed's work as a municipal consultant. The collection also contains a substantial amount of material which pertains to Reed's activities in connection with the American Political Science Association as well as material which relates to his academic career and correspondence with Michigan citizens and legislators and Michigan's Congressional representatives. In addition, the collection includes material on Belgium, Reed's work as city manager of San Jose, and his work with the Republican Program Committee.

The Thomas Harrison Reed Collection provides useful material for research on the history of the activities of the National Municipal League and on trends and issues in municipal government during the first half of the twentieth century in the United States. The collection is also useful to anyone interested in the issues which were involved in the revision of city charters in many American cities during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. The collection contains, in particular, substantial material on reform in Atlanta during the 1930s.

Although this collection contains material on Reed's association with The University of Michigan and some material which deals with government in Michigan, it would be of little use for research on any aspect of Michigan history. During his twelve-year residence in Michigan, Reed did little work which related specifically to municipal government in this state. He did publish Oakland County: a survey of county and township administration and finance in 1932, but the collection contains nothing of substance relating to this work. With this exception, and aside from some correspondence and a few speeches to such groups as the League of Women Voters, there is no material in this collection which would be of more than passing interest to one engaged in historical research relating to Michigan.