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The papers include photographic materials, and papers about Norm Lyon's personal and family life, his work as an oil field reporter and photographer for the MIchigan Oil and Gas News (MOGN), and his work as a photographer for the Mount Pleasant Daily Times News.

The collection consists of two main types of formats, photographic materials and papers. The photographic materials include: film negatives, strip negatives (multiple images on 35 mm film negatives), single image negatives, photographs, photograph and negative albums, transparencies, and paste-ups (for MOGN publications). The papers include: correspondence, reports, articles, newspaper clippings, obituaries, maps, and other materials.

The collection has materials from 1929-1930, 1933-1956, 1959-1977, 1979-1985, 1987-1989, 1991, and undated materials of this time period. Many undated negatives can be dated to the 1930s by the size and format of the negative material. Other papers in the collection that predate 1929 are in reality either later (ca.1960s) copies of pre-1929 materials or later (ca. 1950-1960s) notes about times prior to 1929.

The smallest part of the collection documents Norm Lyon’s family, mostly in negatives. Documented here are his wife, Phyllis, children, JoAnn and Dick, their pet dog, “Rip”, relatives, friends, and home life. The children are well documented as infants, at Christmas, 1937, 1940-1941, in Halloween costumes, on family vacations, particularly to Niagara Falls, 1941, and Leonidas (Mich.), while camping, playing with little friends and Rip, in the snow, or with their favorite toys. Phyllis is documented with the children, particularly when they were babies and toddlers, with lady friends working on craft projects, on vacation, and in general sitting and knitting. Norm is rarely photographed except for when he broke his leg and a few portrait shots, all undated The whole family is documented on vacations, camping or at Leonidas (Mich.), at Christmas, playing cards, and while visiting with friends and relatives. Most of the images are negatives and date from approximately 1935 to 1945. A few photographs, probably of the Lyon family or their friends and relatives also are included in the collection, notably in weddings, graduations, or anniversary photographs. None of these photographs are identified.

Civic and other organizations in which Norm was active, particularly the Mount Pleasant Kiwanis Club and the Pere Marquette Club, are documented in both negatives and photographs.

Norm’s work with the Mount Pleasant Daily Times recorded life in Mount Pleasant and the surrounding central Michigan area. Most of the images are negatives and include downtown Mount Pleasant parades, Christmas and Halloween decorations, downtown events and sales, politics, juries, veterans, meetings of various boards, the Indian Hall Dedication of July 7, 1940, Isabella County Fairs, 1947-1948 and 1956, the dedication of the new airport, the opening of Island Park swimming pool, paving streets, city offices, police (both state and local), accidents, fires, various clubs and civic groups particularly the Boy and Girl Scouts, American Legion, Archery Club, Elks Club, 4-H and FFA, Jaycees, Kiwanis, and Lions Club, as well as the local schools and sports teams, and the widening of US-127.

Other Michigan localities documented in negatives include the Pre-Edenville Dam, 1941, Reed City, 1940 (?), Ithaca, 1935, 1937, the Arenac Salt Plant, 1940, and Barrier Salt (Armada), 1966.

Central Michigan University (CMU) is documented as well. Negatives of the Cornerstone Ceremony at Rachel Tate Hall, 1956, the Construction of the Arts and Crafts Building, 1947, are included. Other images of note include the College Hop, 1936, Doc. Sweeney’s Gym[nastics] Troupe, 1942, the Football Team, 1934 and ca.1930s, Homecoming, including football players and a parade, 1935, as well as practice session negatives of both men’s baseball and women’s basketball, and the team image of the Men’s Basketball Team, 1942 are included. Photographs of CMU document most notably the Central State Training College Training School Fire of January. 8, 1933, general building images, and people, including the men’s baseball team, undated

Other unidentified negatives, probably documenting Mount Pleasant and the related area, include: suicides, squatters, farmers, agricultural scenes and products, and farm animals, hot air balloons, vehicles, trains, voting polls, buildings (interior and exterior shots), fires in general, and the Wolscheid Fire, 1948, in particular. Related photographs also mostly of the Mount Pleasant area, document children, buildings, the Kiwanis Club, street paving, snow storms, city vehicles, and the Chippewa Centennial Queen and Runner-up, 1967.

The largest group of negatives, as well as some of the photographs, documents oil exploration and production businesses in Michigan, 1930s-1980s.

Within the oil topics, a large number of negatives and photographs, 1930s-1970s, document men, most of whom are in groups wearing suits, usually holding drinks and cigarettes. While most of these men are unidentified, some are partially identified and other photographs or negatives are dated. It is highly likely that they all are attending Association meetings. One particular set of negatives shows men at the Mount Pleasant Country Club, watching a couple of go-go dancers, 1966.

Other negatives show groups of men who were probably connected with the oil industry relaxing, at meetings, playing cards, fishing, golfing, or hunting. A funny negative shows a group of men dressed up as women golfers. Numerous other images show men in groups either working in or visiting oil fields. The negatives of men in groups span 1935 through 1975, and undated. The photographs of men in groups span the 1960s.

There are also a smaller number of negatives of men who are working in fields unrelated to the oil business, such as in general stores.

Lastly, there are a number of negatives, 1930s-1970s, and some photographs, 1960s, of individual men in the Men-Portraits folders, some of which are identified either by surname or date. While a number of the men may be well known in the oil industry, the most famous central Michigan names associated with the Purple Gang are Isaiah Leebove, circa 1937, and Jack Livingston, undated, circa 1930s, both documented in photographs. Another famous Michigander is Spikehorn [John E.] Meyer (d. 1956) of Harrison, Michigan, 1940s, undated (photographed with his pet deer and bear, and people, including children). Spikehorn is documented in negatives and a few photographs.

A few Michigan politicians are also found in the collection, probably while campaigning, and include governors Soapy [G. Mennen] Williams and Kim Sigler (in negatives) and George Romney (in photographs).

The largest and arguably the most important part of the collection documents the oil exploration and production business throughout the state of Michigan, 1930s-1970s. A few images of the oil business in Texas, Florida, Ohio, and Illinois are also included.

The collection documents in detail the entirety of the oil business, from maps, drilling, core samples, construction of rigs, storage tanks, shipping oil, fires and other disaster, to seismology. Changes and developments in field equipment are recorded, from horse-drawn vehicles, wooden derricks, and using tractor-powered vehicles to sink well pipes to diesel-powered equipment and full-scale production refineries.

Major topics related to the oil exploration and production business in Michigan are well documented by negatives in the collection. These topics include the Association meetings, parties, and other outings, usually baseball or golf, 1940-1974, undated, and Buildings and Plants, most of which are identified, including non-Michigan locations. Plants with a large number of images include: Gaylord, 1967-1971; Gulf-Bateson, 1935, 1940-1942, undated, Gulf-Bay City, 1939-1941, undated and Gulf-General, 1941; Hilliard’s in Roscommon County and Vogel Centre, 1941, 1967; Kalkaska, including Shell Oil Co., 1969-1972, 1974; McClure (various locations), 1966, 1969-1971 and 1975; Porter fields, 1933, 1936, 1939-1940, undated; Pure Oil Co., 1930s, 1936, 1939-1940, undated; Reed City (MI), 1941, Roosevelt Refinery, Mount Pleasant, 1940, 1943, 1947, undated; Saginaw, 1937, 1941, 1975, undated; Shell Oil Co., 1970-1974; Sun Oil Co., 1940-1941, 1965-1966; Tekonsha, Michigan,1966-1967, 1969; and Wise Township (Isabella County), 1940-1941, undated.

Other oil business subjects well documented by negatives include Derricks, both identified and dated, 1930s-1970s, and those neither identified nor dated, including rigs blown down, destroyed, off-shore, and tilting. Fires are also well documented, particularly the Roosevelt fire, 1933, Six Lakes fire, 1974, Struble Well fire, 1934, and the Woods Well fire, circa 1930s. Gas and Gas Plants, Gushers, and Land Leases, Sales, and Landsmen are fairly well documented. The Oil Expos[itions] of 1935-1937 are well documented, showing various exhibiters, their equipment, signs, salesmen, and attendees. Oil Scouts, Pipes, Pumps, and Storage Tanks are also documented. Negatives of refineries, mostly undated, which are well documented included McClanahan Refinery, Toledo Pipe Refinery (Ohio), 1935-1936, and Total Refinery (probably located in Alma. Well sites are well documented in Buckeye, 1936-1938, Durbin, 1935, and Sherman Rocks, 1937.

Brine and gas exploration, laying of lines or pipes, plants and gas stations are also documented, mostly by negatives.

The oil business is also documented in photographs, which mostly dated from the 1960s. Buildings and Plants documented here include Bay Refining Co., and Belle River Gas, 1967, Simrall Pipeline Corp., and Durbin Station. Other topics covered include: Core Samples; Derricks, including Hilliard and McCloud for 1961; Fires, 1961-1963, Florida (Orange County), 1965; Gushers; McClure Drilling Co., Equipment on a Ferryboat, 1961, Pumps; Sinkholes, Storage Tanks; and Wells Sites, including Off-Shore sites.

The Transparencies also document the oil business in Michigan. The Slides nearly all document the oil business in the early 1970s, including the Crawford Well Fire, 1976; Derricks; Kalkaska; seismology, rigs, equipment, fires, core samples, pumps, storage tanks, various people, McClure, equipment, etc.

The partial reels of 35 mm film all are labeled in some form. One partial reel found in Box 11 appears to be personal. Otherwise, all the partial reels in Box 12 document an oil hearing, 1971-1973, McClure, Natural Resource Commission, etc.

The Oversized Folders include photographs (2 folders) and paste-ups (1 folder), all related to Norm’s publishing work with the oil industry.

The Papers are a small part of the collection. Found here are articles and reprints of articles about the Michigan oil business; an oil drilling notebook reports, maps, and other oil related materials. Pigeon River, and the blowout at Williamsburg, 1973-1974 are specifically documented here. The rest of the Papers documents Norm Lyons in biographical information, including correspondence, obituaries notices (of Norm and Phyllis), newspaper clippings, notes, and speeches, and information about the Mount Pleasant Kiwanis Club, particularly their 50th Anniversary in 1983. Other people, probably his friends or oil associates are documented briefly in correspondence and newspaper clippings.

Processing Note: This was a challenging collection to process for several reasons. First, it arrived in a state of complete disorder. Many of the images, negatives and positives, were without any form of identification. Secondly, a number of negatives were often in one wax-paper sleeve with either little or no identifying information or a lot of information that did not always seem to apply to the contents. For example one sleeve might have 15 negatives of different men and the names of only two men on it. Norm’s writing was often difficult to read, particularly when he used his own style of abbreviations. Students and Marian tried mightily to identify and read his notations. Also, some of the photographs were identified by Norm as belonging to various years. As we could, we maintained that grouping. That is why there are photographs in a folder 1965-1967 (we do not know which individual photographs date from which year) and other photographs in a folder strictly labeled 1967 only. Simply sleeving the collection took nearly three months while sorting it took longer. Some items were identifiable only using a lightbox and loupe.

The collection, 2019, 5 cubic feet (in 10 boxes), was collected by Quita V. Shier to research her subsequent book on the topic, and includes research copies of military service records of the men in Company K from the National Archives and information from online censuses and newspapers documenting the First Michigan Sharpshooter Regiment, Company K.

The collection, 2019, 5 cubic feet (in 10 boxes), was collected by Quita V. Shier to research her subsequent book on the topic, and includes research copies of military service records of the men in Company K from the National Archives and information from online censuses and newspapers documenting the First Michigan Sharpshooter Regiment, Company K. The military service records document enlistment, pay, invalid status, death or discharge, and/or pension records in military forms and correspondence. Only a few images are included of tombstones or portraits of soldiers in obituaries. A few tax or land records are also included. The collection documents the lives and significance of the Company K soldiers during the Civil War era. This collection is organized alphabetically by the name of the soldier’s surnames. The originals are housed in the National Archives.

Collection includes genealogical information on the Courser, Richardson, and Kuiphof families.

This is a dense genealogy collection mostly about the Courser family, with some information on the Kuiphof and Richardson families. A number of older photographic images are scans. Two photographs and the large ancestry chart are laminated. Three oversized items are acidic and two are framed with glass.

Researchers may also be interested in the Elaine Coraleen Smith Courser Papers, [circa 1981], which is also housed in the Clarke Historical Library.

This collection contains papers, publications, and information concerning the Harris family and Milling Company.

This collection contains papers, publications, and information concerning the Harris family and Milling Company. Boxes 1-2 include legal-size materials and Box 3 includes letter-size materials. There are three series in this collection; Harris business, personal, and Minnie Vroman Papers. Most of the materials were produced or collected by Richard O. Harris. The materials include adverting materials, inventories, price lists, product information, company publications, photographic materials, insurance and stock information, board of directors meeting minutes, correspondence, and company records and ledgers. The collection is organized by size, alphabetically and chronologically. Both boxes are legal-size.

Of special note are the Articles of Merger and Merger Agreement detailing how the Harris Milling Company was subsumed by the Nebraska Consolidated Mills Company, a badly damaged daguerreotype of an unknown white woman with a broach, who may be Jane Daniel Fulbright (see the last letter in Personal Correspondence folder), and papers for a milling course Richard O. completed.

Also in the collection are illustrative materials, including photographs and sketches of plans for transport trucks with the Harris Milling Company/FAMO logo in watercolor.

Related family materials include: miscellaneous items documenting Richard O. Harris’ daughter Mary Jane Harris (later Waterhouse)’s involvement with local stage events; papers of Minnie Vroman including a 1909 Chicago x-ray receipt and bills related to a week spent at the Battle Creek Sanitarium in 1917 for gastic issues. There are also papers and a photograph (with unidentified people, probably a Boy Scouts troop and leader) atop a submarine at the Beacon Institute of U.S. Submarine Base New London, Connecticut to which an unknown member of the Harris family was affiliated.

A 2019 addition (Box 3) includes a 1938 Central State Teachers College (CSTC) football schedule of home games on a football shaped program, and a CSTC lecture course season ticket for Kathleen Ordway. Mount Pleasant High School materials include: a 1925 student and staff photograph by T. T. Mock, Battle Creek, Michigan, outside the old high school (photocopy 8 pp.); a 1925 commencement program, a black and white photograph of the 50th reunion of the class of 1925 in 1975; and acidic blue line revision drawings (4 pp.), each of which measures 18x24 inches, of the new Mount Pleasant High School by Louis C. Kingscott and Associates, Inc, Kalamazoo (architects and engineers), April 20, 1953 including a presentation drawing, floor plans for the English, Social Science and Language unit, a floor plan for the science unit with a sectional view of the unit, and a floor plan of the commercial unit (in 1 Oversized Folder). Also included is the October 27, 2000 invitation to the historic marker dedication for Harris Mill. Last is John A. Harris materials including his Civil War service records (copies, 10 pp.), a photograph (copy), presentation reading notes of Anne Harris Hunnewell for the Pasadena Civil War Round Table about John Harris (4 pp.), and letter and envelope (copy) about the John A. Harris materials from Anne Harris Hunnewell to her Grandpa Richard. Also included are 1999 copies from the Internet of a list of John’s unit members (4 pp.), and a map of Eureka, Michigan (1 p.).

Processing Note:

Much of this collection was heavily damaged and was infested with stinkbugs. The archivist and processing student met with the university insect exterminator and determined these bugs were not a threat to the collection. All stinkbugs were contained and removed from the collection. Items with mold, mildew, water, or fire damage, as well as acidic papers were photocopied and withdrawn from the collection during processing, about 1 cubic foot total. Also, during processing one general Mount Pleasant item was added to the Vertical Files.

Three-dimensional items transferred to the CMU Museum in February 2019 where they can receive expert curatorial care include: keychain, patch, matchbooks, product cards, dog food and flour bags, Harris Milling Company FAMO Dairy Feed 100 lbs Bag Sketches (24% and 16%, each measures 18x12 inches, undated; Harris Milling Company FAMO Broiler Ration 25 lbs Bag Sketches (1 is 20%, the other has no % indicated), each measures 18x12 inches, undated; Harris Milling Company FAMO 16% Dairy Feed 100 lbs White Bag Sketch, measures 18x12 inches, undated; Harris Milling Company FAMO Self-rising Bleached Flour Cloth 10lbs Bag, stamped “Emergency Quality Milled Under Gov’t. Order W.F.O. 144,” measures 16.5x10 inches, undated; Harris Milling Company FAMO Self-rising Bleached Flour Cloth 10lbs Bag, measures 17x10 inches, undated; Martha White’s FAMO Self-rising Enriched Bleached Flour .5lbs Bags, (1 plain, 1 with images), each measures 11.5x5.5 inches, undated; Harris Milling Company FAMO Self-rising Bleached Flour Paper 10lbs Bag, stamped “Emergency Quality Milled Under Gov’t. Order W.F.O. 144,” measures 19.25x10 inches, undated; Harris Milling Company Hi-Value Dog Food Paper 25lbs Bag, measures 31x11 inches, undated; Harris Milling Company FAMO Beef Builder Paper 50lbs Bag, measures 34.5x16 inches, undated; Harris Milling Sample Bag (linen) and Harris Ranch Almond Bag (cotton), undated; and a booklet: Michigan. Dept. of Agriculture. Selection…, 1961.

This is an incomplete, unofficial set of Vernon (Isabella County, Mich. : Township) Township records. Also included are three oversized scrapbooks and a copy of the graves in a cemetery.

The collection includes a miscellaneous group of incomplete township records. Most of the records are some type of election records, including absentee voter applications and lists, appointments, board of election inspectors miscellaneous, bonds, caucus meeting minutes, election returns, instruction ballot, oaths of office and acceptances, resignations and tally sheets, some of which are in book form. Other township records include Board of School Inspectors petitions, a dog tax list, meeting minutes, one set each) for the highway commissioners and township board, miscellaneous correspondence and receipts, and sheep damage bills.

Also included with the donation are three oversized volumes, all scrapbooks of mostly newspaper articles. Volume I, 1915-1969, mostly undated, includes mid-Michigan births, deaths, marriages, and events from local newspapers. Volume II, 1961-1966, documents mostly news of Shepherd high school, including sports, homecoming, and students. Other articles document soldiers, babies, some Winn, Michigan, news, two images with text of Representative Al Cederberg, and articles by Ruth Lau and Ida Clark. Volume III, 1914-1918, and 1941-1945, mostly document Isabella County, Michigan news articles of World War II soldiers, women who served, their letters, obituaries, and related article. There are two pages of WWI material, including an image with text of members of the Mount Pleasant Indian School who enlisted with a list of WWI dead soldiers from Isabella County on the back.

An oversized copy of the graves of Woodland Cemetery (Rosebush, Michigan), undated, on greased paper completes the collection. The location of the cemetery was identified by the donor. The copy includes names from gravestones but not the dates. The copy was repaired at one point with scotch tape, which was removed by the archivist, so now the copy is in two pieces. The copy has sustained some stain damage from water and perhaps mildew, although there is no odor.

Processing Note: Three live birth certificates were sent to the Michigan Department of Health. According to the township record schedule most of these records should have already been destroyed. However, they are now kept as examples. Acidic materials or those with mold were copied and the originals were withdrawn from the collection, totaling approximately .25 cubic feet.