James W. Guthrie papers, 1845-1907
0.4 linear feet
The collection consists of school records, and correspondence and other documents relating to his Civil War service and activities.
0.4 linear feet
The collection consists of school records, and correspondence and other documents relating to his Civil War service and activities.
7 linear feet
The Gilchrist Family Papers, which date from 1867 to 1945, reflect the business life of four generations of a prominent Alpena, Michigan family. The lives of four generations of Gilchrists are documented by the collection, but the bulk pertains primarily to Frank W. Gilchrist and his son, Ralph. Included in the collection is an assortment of correspondence, financial statements, inventories, reports, and cost estimates, pertaining to the lumbering, sugar beet, shipping, and mining industries.
The collection contains a considerable amount of material pertaining to Michigan business history, especially in the areas of lumbering, shipping, cement, and mining industries. Among the papers are financial statements, profit and loss records, invoices, lists of timber prices, salary records, blueprints of milling operations, and correspondence. They provide a documentary record of a family-owned business, which, when faced with declining lumber sales in northern Michigan, attempted to diversify its holdings in the real estate, mining, shipping, and sugar beet industries. Some of these endeavors proved successful for the Gilchrists; others did not. The papers record both the family's successes and failures.
Particularly useful for this study are the correspondence and financial statements of Frank W. Gilchrist and the early papers of his son, Ralph. The collection includes records of the Huron Sugar Company, the Alpena Portland Cement Company, and the Gilchrist Transportation Company, all of which failed to produce sufficient profit for the Gilchrists. The lumber and land companies were more successful.
The collection also serves to document the manner in which Ralph Gilchrist, Frank's son, carried the family industries into the 1920s and 1930s, managing to survive the effects of the Great Depression. The collection contains year by year, and in some cases month by month, financial statements, showing Gilchrist assets before, during. and after the stock market crash of October, 1929. The records of Gilchrist & Company Limited, the Detroit Trust Company; and Commonwealth Securities Incorporated are especially valuable for this study.
The Gilchrist Papers are not particularly useful for social history or for information on the family's private life. The collection does contain a travel diary of William H. Potter, dated 1883, in which a journey from Alpena to Detroit is described, but the bulk of the material reflects only the Gilchrists' official business functions. Correspondence usually relates information on stock acquisition, land purchases, lumber sales, and estate liquidation. The Potter papers are perhaps more personal in nature, containing some correspondence between the elder Albert Gilchrist and his daughter Ella, but these letters are few.
The researcher interested in Michigan business history, however, will find the collection useful for the above-named industries. Moreover, the collection also provides evidence for changes that took place from the 19th to 20th centuries within the office itself and the manner in which business was conducted. To some extent the papers reflect how the family reacted to early forms of office automation, as for example complaints that secretaries make too many typographical errors and that it is often easier to write letters by hand.
The collection remains in excellent condition, for the most part, although the letterpress books from the 19th century are faded and nearly illegible.
8 linear feet (in 10 boxes)
Hankinson's papers are contained in five boxes. Types of materials in the collection include correspondence; topical files on fish studies from Michigan, Illinois, and New York; materials on the Michigan Audubon Society; and field notes (loose leaf, bound volumes, and card files). The time period of these materials ranges from 1899 to 1935.
The archives at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan has additional papers of Professor Hankinson.
7 linear feet
The collection, which was received in two accessions, contains papers and photographs documenting Guthe's work at the University of Michigan, including the 1922 expedition to the Philippines and other expeditions and materials relating to his teaching and administrative activities. The collection is organized into eight series: Philippine Expedition Papers, University Files, Philippine Expediting Photographs, Journals, Writings, Clippings, Other, and Correspondence. The 1944 accession includes the series Philippine Expedition Papers, University Files, Philippine Expedition Photographs, and Correspondence. The 2006 addition includes the series Journals, Correspondence, Writings, Clippings, Other, and Photographs. .
93 linear feet — 5 phonograph records — 10.1 GB (online)
The Clare E. Hoffman Papers consist of Congressional files detailing his work on the House Committee on Education and Labor, the House Committee on Government Operations, and various subcommittees, including investigating labor racketeering; files concern in part his sponsorship of labor-related legislation, bills unifying the armed services, and bills authorizing reorganization of the executive branch; and photographs.
The Hoffman collection of congressional papers covers the years 1934-1962. Unfortunately the first few terms of his service are not as adequately documented as might be hoped, as in 1942 Hoffman directed his staff to discard retired files. As a result, except for a few political files and subject files, the Hoffman collection bulks largest for the years 1943-1962.
Despite the fragmentary character of the documentation on Hoffman's early years in Congress, the collection provides a detailed view of the activities of a conservative congressman from western Michigan for a twenty-year period. In recent American history, the years 1943-1962 were important both for wartime politics and for the myriad problems that came after victory: the cooling of relations with the Soviet Union, the integration of returning veterans into the economy, shortages in housing and consumer goods, a renewed militancy among the nation's labor unions, the continuation of the struggle for civil rights for blacks, the fear of internal subversive activities; in short, problems of great importance and complexity, issues for which there were no easy answers.
Hoffman was eyewitness and participant to the politics of these issues. As a representative of increasing seniority, he was a powerful conservative voice within the Congress. Because of his position on the Education and Labor committee, he helped shape the bulk of legislation passed in the postwar period, notably the Taft-Hartley Act. And because of his position on the Expenditures Committee, Hoffman was instrumental in passage of the National Security Act of 1947 that unified the administration of the armed services and enlarge their responsibilities.
Apart from these major pieces of legislation, the Hoffman collection documents the service of a congressman who was attuned to the concerns and politics of his largely rural and small-town district, with constituents economically conservative and ever distrustful of federal encroachments upon their lives. Of special interest are various files of correspondence with the businessmen and small manufacturers of his district. As a good politician, Hoffman was especially mindful of maintaining good relations with these people, and helping them when he could with their labor-related problems.
Like many congressional collections, the Hoffman papers consist in large part of communications with constituents and out-of-district citizens. But because of his power within the Congress, Hoffman's files (letters received and sent) are often substantive in content and a valuable complement to the work of the House, as published in the Congressional Record and other printed sources.
4 volumes
This collection is made up of 4 albums (220 total pages) containing photographs related to the United States Army Air Corps and United States Air Force during World War II and the Korean War, including items showing the Tuskegee Airmen, and family photographs related to an African American family. Additional items, including manuscripts, newspaper clippings, and ephemera, are laid into each volume. One of the albums has embossed illustrations of three military planes and a military aviation badge on its front cover, along with the printed title "Tuskegee Army Flying School." Some of the materials indicate that the albums may have belonged to John Ellis Edwards, a native of Steubenville, Ohio.
The earliest materials pertain to the military service of African-American servicemen during World War II, including formal portraits of pilots and other members of the United States Army Air Corps who trained at the Tuskegee Institute and pictures of military aircraft. Other items concern United States Air Force operations during the Korean War, including numerous photographs of African-American and white servicemen attending dinners with one another and with local women; several images show a live performance by Les Brown & His Band of Renown and female singers. Many of these images also feature military aircraft and radio equipment, and some are scenic views of the Philippines and Okinawa. The albums also include photographs of civilian airplanes and aerial views of unidentified lands. A small number of the military photographs are official images licensed by the United States Army and Air Force.
The remaining items are primarily informal family photographs taken in Ohio, Atlanta, Georgia, and other unidentified locales between the 1950s and mid-1970s. Many show family members posing near a decorated Christmas tree, and others show automobiles and neighborhood streets. The latest photographs include color photographic prints and school photographs of children. Other non-military pictures include an autographed group portrait of Three B's and a Honey and photographic postcards with studio portraits.
Each of the albums contains several loose items such as additional photographs, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, and ephemera. Most of the clippings pertain to military aviation during World War II and the Korean War, particularly regarding the Tuskegee Airmen. Other printed items are invitations and graduation programs related to the Tuskegee Institute, a church program from Griffiss Air Force Base, colored illustrations of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and Bell P-39 Airacobra aircraft, a military memorandum about radio codes, and a sheet with several reproductions of United States Army and Air Force insignia. The collection includes three letters written by John Ellis Edwards, including a V-mail letter to his father.
10 linear feet
The record group includes minutes of board of directors, office files, tapes of educational programs and talks, and reports and publications.
57 archived websites (online; multiple captures)
The Web Archive of Michigan's Ethnic and Cultural Communities collection contains archived websites created by various ethnic and cultural communities of the State of Michigan. The websites have been archived by the Bentley Historical Library, using the California Digital Library Web Archiving Service crawler from 2010-2015 and the Archive-It web archiving service beginning in 2015. Access to all websites archived by the Bentley Historical Library is available at: https://archive-it.org/organizations/934.
Web Archives include websites of African American, Arab American, Native American, Asian American and other ethnic communities and organizations who call the state of Michigan home. The collection is especially strong in documenting African American, Arab American, and Native American communities, business, religious, cultural and civil rights organizations, as well as distinguished individuals who belong to these communities.
The year that appears next to the website title in the contents list indicates the date that the website was first archived. Archived versions of the site from later dates may also be available.
approximately 1,530 items in 12 boxes
The William A. Lewis photograph collection consists of approximately 1,530 items pertaining to a wide range of visual subjects that are represented across a variety of photographic formats including daguerreotypes, cartes de visite, stereographs (which form the bulk of the collection), and glass plate negatives as well as modern slides, film strips, snapshots, and postcards.
The subject matter of this collection is thematically and chronologically diverse and reflects the broad interests of the collector, with the U.S. Civil War and 19th-century views of American and European cities being particularly well-represented topics. The collection is organized into four main series according to subject matter and is further divided into specific subject groupings within each series. In most cases, multi-item sets have been kept together and placed within the most generally appropriate subject grouping. An extensive number of photographers and publishers are represented throughout the collection including the likes of H. H. Bennett, C. B. Brubaker, John Carbutt, Centennial Photographic Company, B. F. Childs, E. & H. T. Anthony & Company, Alexander Gardner, T. W. Ingersoll, International Stereoscopic View Company, Keystone View Company, William Notman, Timothy O'Sullivan, William Rau, Strohmeyer & Wyman, Underwood & Underwood, and F. G. Weller.
The following list provides a breakdown of every topical subsection of the collection and includes item counts for each grouping: