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This collection is made up of correspondence, documents, photographs, printed items, and ephemera related to the ancestors, descendants, and extended family of Merwin P. Snell and his first wife, Minnie Gilbert Andrews Sprague. The bulk of the materials pertain to the Snell, Andrews, Hallock, McLaughlin, and Barney families.

This collection is made up of correspondence, documents, photographs, printed items, and ephemera related to the ancestors, descendants, and extended family of Merwin P. Snell and his first wife, Minnie Gilbert Andrews Sprague.

The Correspondence series (106 items) contains personal letters addressed to members of the Snell family. The earliest materials pertain to Merwin Porter Snell and his first wife, Minnie Sprague Snell. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Merwin P. Snell exchanged letters with his cousins. He sent a lengthy letter about comparative religion to Reverend O'Connell of the Catholic University of America on May 25, 1903. Additional family letters are scattered throughout the series.

The bulk of the correspondence relates to Merwin P. Snell; his second wife, Minnie Louise Snell; and their daughters Margaret and Priscilla. From around 1910 to the early 1920s, Merwin and Minnie exchanged letters with their daughters, who sometimes commented on their studies at St. Joseph's Academy in Adrian, Michigan. Some of the family's letters contain illustrations, including drawings that Margaret and Priscilla made as young children. On May 31, 1929, Priscilla Snell wrote to Charles E. Stimming of Loyola University Chicago about women's personal engagement with religion and the necessity of educating women.

In the summer of 1937, Minnie L. Snell visited San Francisco, California. While there, she frequently exchanged letters with her daughters, who lived with Margaret's husband, Leslie Drew Barney, in Detroit, Michigan. Margaret and Priscilla Snell shared news of their life in Detroit, while their mother described her experiences in California (often related to social outings). The series includes several picture postcards depicting San Francisco scenery. In 1947 and 1948, Priscilla Snell, who had taken holy orders under the name Sister Marie Virginia, described her life in Puerto Rico, where she joined a convent. She wrote about her fellow nuns, religious life, travels within Puerto Rico, and leisure activities. Priscilla enclosed a newsletter titled The Barry Bulletin in her letter of August 4, 1957.

The correspondence also includes a few later letters to Margaret Snell Barney from a cousin regarding their shared genealogy, picture postcards of Detroit scenes, and personal letters from friends and family members.

The Documents series consists of two subseries. Legal and Financial Documents (10 items, 1910-1980) include birth, death, and marriage certificates, a will, and other items related to Merwin P. Snell, Minnie L. Snell, and Margaret Snell; some of these items are later or replacement copies. Two receipts concern expenses related to Merwin P. Snell's funeral in September 1921. A subseries of 6 St. Joseph's Academy Report Cards pertains to the academic progress of Priscilla and Margaret Snell in the 1920s.

The Writings, Notes, and Drawings series contains a narrative essay, three groups of poems, drawings of children and a moose, a watercolor painting of a castle tower, a cutout of a bird pasted onto a black, and plot notes for a one-act play.

The first item is a typed copy of "Thrilling Adventures of a Sailor Boy," an essay about E. Watson Andrews (7 pages, January 12, 1859). On April 2, 1858, Andrews boarded the ship Courser for a voyage from China to the United States. The ship was destroyed soon after its departure. Andrews and others boarded a lifeboat, which soon met with a fleet of Chinese pirates. After a violent encounter with the pirates and their subsequent rescue, Andrews and other survivors safely made it to Hong Kong, where Andrews complained of harsh treatment by the United States consul.

The poetry includes manuscript and published verses by Marie LeBaron (15 items), Minnie Sprague Snell (10 items), and various members of the Snell, Long, and Andrews families (13 items). The poems concern topics such as nature, religion, the Civil War, and family. Some items are printed on newspaper clippings.

The Photographs series (approximately 230 items) documents multiple generations of the Snell, Andrews, Hallock, McLaughlin, Wellington, Barney, Snetsinger, and Hames families from around 1861 to 1978. The images, some of which are framed, include black-and-white and color prints, cartes-de-visite, cabinet cards and other card photographs, tintypes, photographic postcards, newspaper clippings, and photo-illustrated Christmas cards. The pictures include formal individual and group portraits, schoolchildren, and a wedding party. Several items depict Priscilla Snell in a nun's habit, and a few show Spanish-American War-era and early 20th century soldiers in uniform. A small number show the interior of an office or residence. Many of the photographs were taken in cities in Connecticut, Michigan, and Ohio.

The Scrapbook is a repurposed account book, with newspaper clippings pasted in over most of the original financial records. Pages 1-35 contain scrapbook material, and pages 36-66 contain financial records dated 1875-1877. Most of the clippings are poems and articles written by Marie LeBaron (or Le Baron) in the 1870s, including articles about Washington, D.C., and Congressional politics. Visual materials include a painting of a flower against a colored background resembling stained glass, a painting of a pear, an illustrated poem, and a group of faces (drawn into the back cover). One article concerns LeBaron's interest in theosophy. Two articles concern the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, awarded to George D. Snell.

The Printed Items and Ephemera series (53 items) is made up of newspaper clippings, published volumes, and other items. Twenty-seven newspaper clippings and obituaries relate to relatives and friends of the Snell family. Some articles concern marriages and other social news. Two articles concern the longevity and early recollections of Diana McLaughlin and Minnie L. Snell; the article about Snell largely concerns her father's work as a lumberman in northern Michigan.

Additional items include memorial cards for Merwin P. Snell, Minnie L. Snell, Leslie Drew Barney, and Marie L. Wellington; a reward of merit; a photographic postcard of Detroit and a painting of "Mrs. Andrews"; a musical score for "Brotherhood Song" by Joseph Mansfield Long, signed by the composer; and invitations for commencements at St. Joseph's Academy (1931) and the Catholic University of America ([1947?]). Personal ephemera items include a silk pouch made by Eliza Allen's mother in 1805, containing small paintings by Eliza's friend, Caroline Mayhew (1818), and a carte-de-visite portrait of Eliza Hallock (née Allen) taken in 1864; a baby book with notes about the first months of Margaret LeBaron Snell (1911); Marie LeBaron Barney's diploma from Saint Theresa High School in Detroit, Michigan, with a tassel and 3 photographs (June 7, 1953); and two pieces of embroidery with floral designs, done with thin yarn (undated).

• Le Baron, Marie. The Villa Bohemia (1882, housed in the Book Division)
• The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: Translated Out of the Original Greek and with the Former Translations Diligently Compared and Revised (New York: American Bible Society, 1889)
• The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (Combination Self-Pronouncing Edition, 1897)
• Hallock, Charles. Hallock Ancestry, 1640-1906 (1906)
• The Guide to Nature magazine (July 1910 and October 1921)

The Genealogy series (11 items) is made up of notes and a family tree related to the Snell, Long, LeBaron, and McLaughlin families, as well as a memorandum printed in memory of Gerard Hallock Snell.

Souvenir Photographs of “A Trip to Cuba” is a privately published photograph album that contains approximately 213 photographs taken during a 26-member excursion to Cuba in 1907 conducted by the South West Land Company of Cuba.

Souvenir Photographs of “A Trip to Cuba” is a privately published photograph album that contains approximately 213 photographs taken during a 26-member excursion to Cuba in 1907 conducted by the South West Land Company of Cuba.

The album (35 x 27 cm) is bound in grey buckram and with the title "Cuban Trip '07" gilt stamped on the front. The name "Fred W. Adams" is also gilt stamped on the front while "Fred Adams Norman Adams Jan. 1907" can be found inscribed on a loose page tucked inside the front cover.

A printed title page is included indicating that the album's images were created during an expedition to Cuba "conducted under the auspices of The South West Land Co. of Cuba." in 1907 while also listing the traveling party's personnel and itinerary. Departing from Youngstown, Ohio, on January 4th, 1907, the group traveled to Washington, D.C., by train before departing for Havana via Tampa. Professional photographer R. W. Johnson of Pittsburgh is listed as the group's official photographer who produced the album's images.

The album begins with images taken in Washington, D.C., of the U.S. Capitol as well as a group portrait of the 26-member group piled into a D.C. sightseeing vehicle. In the latter image two pencil marks indicate the position of the album's former owner Fred Whittlesey Adams and his 13 year old son Norman (their presence is noted by pencil mark in several photographs). Subsequent images include a series depicting the party's travel by sea aboard the steamer Newhaven, views of Havana Harbor, street scenes and architectural profiles, Havana Cathedral, a cockfight, exterior and interior scenes from around Morro Castle, group portraits of Cuban agricultural laborers, views of Caibarién, images of produce being prepared for shipping, a group portrait of a family showing the mother allowing her infant to feed from a goat udder, views of the traveling party touring rural farmsteads and plantations, and a portrait of an Afro-Cuban carpenter.

The Stereograph-half album (34 x 27 cm) contains approximately 204 photographs, the majority of which are commercially produced half-steregraphs from locations in New Hampshire, New York, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Florida, Colorado and California.

The Stereograph-half album (34 x 27 cm) contains approximately 204 photographs, the majority of which are commercially produced half-steregraphs from locations in New Hampshire, New York, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Florida, Colorado and California. Photographs show Crawford Notch and Mt. Washington in New Hampshire; the American Falls of Niagara in winter; the Erie Canal in Lockport, N.Y.; landmarks and monuments in Washington, D.C. and Arlington, Va.; and 6 views of Lake George, N.Y. by Seneca Ray Stoddard, including the steamboat Horicon and the Sagamore Hotel. Florida photographs, some signed by photographer B.F. Upton, include Castillo de San Marcos; street scenes and a former slave market in St. Augustine; Harriet Beecher Stowe's house and family in Jacksonville; and African Americans standing near a log home and in a field of cotton. California scenes show the beach and town of Monterey, Cliff House in San Francisco, and 16 views of the Yosemite Valley. Two large albumen prints show Summit Station of the Central Pacific Railroad near Soda Springs, Calif., and gateway to the Garden of the Gods, Colorado, with ink stamp on verso: C.R. Savage, Art Bazaar, Salt Lake City, Utah. Additional photographs include botanical views, tourist attractions in Scotland, Paris, and other western European locations, and photographs of artworks.

The album is half bound leather with brown boards and is stored in a blue box.

The Portland, Washington, D.C. photograph album contains 74 interior and exterior photographs of The Portland apartment building in Washington, D.C. from 1900 to 1903.

The Portland, Washington, D.C. photograph album contains 74 interior and exterior photographs of The Portland apartment building in Washington, D.C. from 1900 to 1903. Most photographs have handwritten notation stating date, location, or subject matter. Exterior images show The Portland and Thomas Circle from various viewpoints. Interior images show various rooms in an apartment; the parlor, bedrooms, dining room, and den. Many of these images appear to include family members, friends and neighbors. The last photograph is of a woman near the shore in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

The album is 14.5 x 12 cm with red artificial leather covers.

The Thomas M. Spaulding collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence and other materials; Biographical and Personal; Organizational Affiliations; Political Materials; Topical Files; Writings; Stephen Tucker Spaulding Materials; and Photographs. The correspondence is of interest for its mention of current affairs, national politics, and the Cosmos Club of Washington, D.C. Of special interest are two volumes of diaries, covering the period of 1941-1944, with detailed comments on the conduct of World War II as viewed from Washington, D.C.

Letters of Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg with family members John and Barbara Bailey; also papers of Arthur H. Vandenberg, Jr., aide to President Dwight Eisenhower, largely concerning Republican politics, 1948-1952, and election of 1952.

The Vandenberg Family papers, 1923-1965, and Washington, D.C.; include letters of Arthur H. Vandenberg with family members John and Barbara Bailey; also papers of Arthur H. Vandenberg, Jr., aide to President D. Eisenhower, largely concerning republican politics, 1948-1952, and the election of 1952. Correspondents include: Thomas Dewey, Dvight Eisenhower, and Nelson Rockefeller.

This collection is comprised of 30 incoming letters to Mary Jane Whitney and her brother, William Wallace Whitney, of Albany, New York. Eliza Whitney wrote 13 letters to Mary about her experiences at the Albany Female Academy, and William and George Whitney each wrote letters to Mary about their lives in Albany. Asa Whitney, a machinist and railroad entrepreneur, sent Mary and William news from home and updates on his business affairs.

This collection is comprised of 30 incoming letters to Mary Jane Whitney and her brother, William Wallace Whitney, of Albany, New York. Eliza Whitney wrote 13 letters to Mary about her experiences at the Albany Female Academy, and William and George Whitney each wrote letters to Mary about their lives in Albany. Asa Whitney, a machinist and railroad entrepreneur, sent Mary and William news from home and updates on his business affairs.

Mary Jane Whitney received 21 letters while teaching at a school in Washington, D.C., between December 19, 1839, and July 26, 1841. Eliza, her sister, wrote about her social life and activities in Albany and her education at the Albany Female Academy. She discussed her subjects of study, classes, examinations, teachers, and classmates, and special occasions, such as visits to a local medical college and a lecture delivered by Harvey Peet. Eliza also attended parties and other social engagements, and often reported local marriages.

Asa, William, and George wrote to Mary about life in Albany, the health of her grandmother, and the potential publication of her father's political tract. Mary received two questions about possible encounters with William Henry Harrison: Eliza asked whether Mary had attended a ball given in President-elect William Henry Harrison's honor, and her father wondered if the capital had been crowded during Harrison's inauguration.

Asa Whitney sent 9 letters to his son William between August 26, 1842, and July 24, 1843, while William lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His letters primarily relate to his business interests and to his partnership with Matthias Baldwin. He also wrote one letter from Cleveland, Ohio, about a recent business trip (March 14, 1843). Whitney's letters from September 1842 concern John Whitney's affliction with scarlet fever, as well as the death of a neighbor from the same disease.

The Wilbur Wright Airfield photograph album contains 250 images taken by Corporal J. O. McDonnell that mainly document military activities at Wilbur Wright Airfield in Ohio during World War I.

The album (18 x 28.5 cm) is string-bound and has black leather covers with "Photographs" stamped in gold on the front and black paper pages. Images are sequentially numbered in white pencil. Contents primarily cover a range of aviation training activities and other operational aspects of Wilbur Wright Airfield. Various training aircraft are documented in detail; the majority were Curtiss JN-4s, known as “Jennys,” but the base also had some DeHaviland DH-4s. Numerous views of planes are included, showing them on the ground, in the air, and operating in all seasonal conditions. Several crash landings are also documented, with most of the wrecks appearing to be “nose-overs” (planes flipping forward upon landing) rather than high-speed crashes into the ground.

In addition to pilot training, Cpl. McDonnell also documented aspects of daily life at the base including hangars, mechanics shops, fabrication areas, and barracks. Photographs include shots of military personnel working on planes, lounging in barracks, and searching for wreckage. Also present are photographs of visitors to the base (including actress Pearl White and possibly other cast members of Pearl of the Army), the New York Times airplane, experimental plane designs (such as a dual engine biplane and innovative wing shapes), and two images showcasing the newly developed Brock Automatic Aeroplane Camera designed for aerial surveillance. Cpl. McDonnell himself may possibly appear in photograph no. 69 posing with a young woman in front of an airplane.

Other locations besides Wilbur Wright Airfield are represented in the album, including storefront views and street scenes in Mineola, New York, which may possibly have been McDonnell’s hometown. Also present are four portraits of Theodore Roosevelt giving a speech in 1917 at a racetrack in Mineola, seven images of Washington, D.C., landmarks (including four directional views taken from the top of the Washington Monument), a view of the Tijuana Fair, the Horton Plaza fountain at the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego, and six aerial photographs showing an unidentified coastal city (likely San Diego) and several ships.

Other photographs produced by Cpl. McDonnell for official U.S. Army purposes differ from those found in this album in terms of their size, content, quality of composition, and attention to staging. It is likely that he took photographs for official (and sometimes classified) purposes in his role as base photographer while also taking his own personal snapshots, the latter of which are what appears to be compiled in this album.

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 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:

• Airships (11)
• Bridges (69)
• Civil War I--stereographs (91)
• Civil War II--cartes de visite, Kodachrome slides, negative film strip copies of stereographs held at the Library of Congress, postcards (48)
• Disasters (49)
• Expositions (24)
• Industry & Labor (89)
• Miscellaneous (23)
• Portraits (109)
• Railroads (62)
• Ships (80)
• War (30)

• Alaska (47)
• Arizona (3)
• California (20)
• Colorado (2)
• Dakota (4)
• District of Columbia (50)
• Florida (2)
• Hawaii (1)
• Illinois (17)
• Iowa (2)
• Maine (8)
• Maryland (27)
• Massachusetts (20)
• Michigan (31)
• Missouri (3)
• New Hampshire (10)
• New York (116)
• Ohio (2)
• Oregon (2)
• Pennsylvania (16)
• Tennessee (1)
• Texas (1)
• Vermont (3)
• Utah (3)
• Virginia (6)
• Washington (1)
• West Virginia (1)
• Wisconsin (2)
• Wyoming (2)
• Unidentified locations (35)

• Austria (5)
• Belgium (6)
• Brazil (1)
• Canada (3)
• Cuba (5)
• Czechoslovakia (1)
• Egypt (5)
• England (21)
• France (43)
• Germany (14)
• Greece (1)
• India (2)
• Ireland (4)
• Italy (22)
• Japan (3)
• Mexico (1)
• Miscellaneous (31)
• Monaco (4)
• Netherlands (1)
• Norway (3)
• Palestine (5)
• Panama (41)
• Puerto Rico (3)
• Scotland (10)
• Spain (2)
• Sweden (2)
• Switzerland (9)
• Turkey (1)

• Keystone Alaska and Panama views, set box (1)
• Stereoscope (1)

• Post-WWI Keystone views of German and American zeppelins and one real photo postcard showing pre-WWI aircraft (Series I, Box 1, Airships)
• Numerous views of the Brooklyn Bridge under construction and after completion, and the Niagara Falls suspension bridge (Series I, Box 1, Bridges)
• Views of Civil War battle sites, encampments, and leaders on contemporary mounts as well as numerous reproductions of stereographs showing important battlefield sites and troops (Series I, Boxes 1-2, Civil War)
• Stereographs, real photo postcards, and other images documenting the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, 1871 Chicago Fire, 1889 Johnstown Flood, 1900 Galveston Hurricane, and other calamities (Series I, Box 3, Disasters)
• Images showing scenes from various American and European events, with an emphasis on the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia (Series I, Box 3, Expositions)
• Images showing mills, factories and people engaged in various occupations, including a boxed set of 50 images related Sears, Roebuck operations produced around 1906 (Series I, Box 3, Industry & Labor)
• Hand-colored early groupings of French theatrical tableaux (Series I, Box 3, Miscellaneous)
• Approximately 109 portrait photographs in different formats of various individuals, including William Jennings Bryan; a boxed set of 50 cartes de visite depicting Danish actors and actresses; cartes de visite of Emperor Napoleon III and the Mikado of Japan; and numerous unidentified subjects represented in real photo postcards (1), tintypes (17), framed/cased ambrotypes, and daguerreotypes (13) (Series I, Box 4, Portraits)
• Approximately 62 images of railroads, mostly in the U.S., including photographs from an 1866 expedition to the 100th meridian on the Union Pacific Railroad while under construction (Series I, Box 5, Railroads)
• Approximately 80 images of ships including warships, freighters, riverboats, passenger ships, shipwrecks (including of the USS Maine), and shipyards mostly in the U.S. with the notable exception of a photo of the 1858 launch of the SS Great Eastern, with Isambard Kingdom Brunel possibly in the crowd. Also of interest are 8 photos and postcards showing ships in World War I-era "dazzle" camouflage (Series I, Box 5, Ships)
• A Keystone View Co. series of images related to World War I (Series I, Box 5, Wars)
• A number of images produced by Keystone View Co. and other stereograph purveyors that focus on major cities such as Boston, New York, Paris, Constantinople, and Jerusalem (throughout Series II & Series III)
• Views from geological expeditions to the American frontier in the 1860s and 1870s (Series II, Unidentified Locations)

Ann Arbor, Michigan, archivist; collected materials relating to local Democratic Party politics; student papers; and photographs.

The McNitt papers consist of materials collected relating to his interest in, and activities with, the local Democratic Party. Included are newsletters, leaflets, campaign materials and newspaper clippings concerning state, county, and municipal politics, particularly the presidential campaigns of Eugene McCarthy in 1968 and George McGovern in 1972, Ann Arbor City Council and school board elections; the New Democratic Coalition of Michigan; the Human Rights Party; the state presidential primary in 1972; Democratic state conventions; state elections in 1968, 1970, 1972, and 1974; and the election campaign of Congressman Richard F. VanderVeen in 1974.

The collection also includes copies of student papers on topics relating to Michigan history. The titles of these papers are "The Library Extension Movement in Grand Rapids", "Journalism and the Republican Party of Michigan, 1890-1920; A Study of the Michigan Republican Newspaper Association", and "Peace and American Society : Rebecca Shelley and the Peace Movement."

Finally, there are many hundreds of photographs taken by McNitt relating to the construction of the Bentley Library and to the accessioning of the papers of Gerald R. Ford.