Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Detroit based philanthropic foundation created by Senator James J. Couzens and administered by William J. Norton to fund organizations in Michigan involved in child health and child guidance; includes administrative records, correspondence, reports of field visits, and topical files.

In the period beginning from the start of the depression and continuing through the mid-1950s, the Children's Fund of Michigan (CFM) was the state's most important private source of funding for programs having to do with children's health and recreational needs. Established just as the depression was beginning, it is impossible to overestimate the contribution made by this organization in such areas as rudimentary child health and dental care, pediatric care, in the establishment of area children's clinics, in its grants to nursing associations and hospitals, in its sponsorship of research in areas pertaining to childhood diseases and ailments, and in the funding and support of such youth-related organizations as the Girls and Boys Scouts, the Green Pastures Camp for Detroit area African American youth, and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. The organization affected thousands of young lives at a time when help was most needed. The record of its contribution is fully documented through such records as minutes, correspondence, reports from the field, memoranda, and financial records. Topics documented within this collection include the condition of children and young people in mid-Twentieth Century America as the nation went through depression, world war, and the uncertainties of the post-war; the administration of a unique multi-million dollar charitable organization and how it allocated its resources; and, lastly, the activities during a twenty-five year period of the several statewide organizations begun or largely supported with CFM funding.

This record group consists of files from the CFM office in Detroit. The files are of CFM executive director and secretary, William J. Norton, and various other division directors, in particular Maud Watson and John M. Dorsey of the Child Guidance Division and Bernard W. Carey of the Child Health Division. They cover the period of 1929-1954, the twenty-five year life of the Fund, although there are included some papers dating up to the early 1960s. The presence of this later dated material is easily explained. As someone who was involved in social welfare organizations other than CFM, Norton continued to use the files (as he had in the past) for those papers relating to his other philanthropic and charitable organization activities. This filing practice, in addition to the fact that Norton (after 1954) continued to receive and file reports and memoranda from organizations and facilities that had received CFM funding, accounts for post-1954 materials in this record group. Norton was so closely identified with both CFM and the numerous local and state charitable organizations of the time that it is not feasible to divorce the two kinds of records - especially as Norton chose to file them as one. The researcher should note that the library has a separate William J. Norton collection that was received separately from the CFM records and which was most likely maintained in a different location. This Norton collection includes more personal materials not necessarily relating to the Children's Fund.

University of Michigan office responsible for programs to help students adjust to college life. Records include reports from various university offices and organizations with responsibility for orientation; correspondence and pamphlet material; and printed works directed toward incoming students and their families.

The Office of Orientation records document, somewhat unevenly, the efforts of the administration of the University of Michigan to ease the transition from high school student to university undergraduate. These records consist of correspondence and published materials sent to incoming students and reports of the various offices involved in orientation. The strength of this record group derives from the face presented by the university in these first documents given to its students. It is illuminating to note what advice the university deems essential for new students, but the tone of presentation is more telling.

The Office of Orientation records span the years 1925-1990, but primarily cover the years 1928-1946. The records came to the library in good order and are organized into three groups: Administration, Orientation Period, and Printed Materials.

Researchers interested in visual images of the orientation process should consult the University of Michigan News and Information Services collection for negatives on freshman week in 1930 and orientation in the 1950s and 1960s.

The Michigan Interscholastic Forensic Association (MIFA) was founded in 1933 to administer high school forensics contests throughout the state of Michigan. The policies and activities of MIFA are determined by a Forensic Council, and records pertaining to the council are included as a subseries in this collection. There are four main speech activities that are sponsored by MIFA: debate, individual events, drama/theatre, and legislative debate. Materials pertaining to specific components of these general activities form the bulk of the collection. Overall, the records largely span the years 1974-2004, although older items are scattered throughout the collection, including materials from two legacy organizations.

The records of the Michigan Interscholastic Forensic Association (MIFA) document the organization's growth from the 1930s to the 2000s, but most of its records concern the years after 1964, and in particular, the period from 1974 to 2002. The records are divided into eight: Administration, Publications, Photographs, Scrapbooks, Multimedia, Activities, Michigan High School Oratorical Association, and Files of Jon Fitzgerald, Executive Director of MIFA. The Forensic Council Minutes (in the Administration Series) and the Publications Series are the most useful parts of the collection for the researcher to gain an understanding of MIFA. The Activities, Photographs, and Multimedia series provide the best accounts of student participation.

University of Michigan faculty water polo team. Administrative and background information; also photographs, videotape and video recordings of Flounders events; and digital content of Flounders images and documents.

The collection is comprised of two series; Administration and Background Information, and Other Media. The bulk of the records are in the Administration series, which contains information pertaining to the history of the organization, fundraising efforts by the Flounders for a score board, memorials, and bills for annual charges for supplies and rental of space. The Other Media series primarily documents random weekly games, team pictures, and the planting of a memorial tree in 1983 for deceased Flounder member John Slocum. There are also digital materials that contain images of members, miscellaneous clippings, and the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Flounders in 2003. The paper records accumulated during the making of the anniversary video recordings, which include typed captions for images, are within the administration series. A VHS Tape is also included as part of the collection that contains material documented in 2002.

The Dentistry Library Collection contains papers pertaining to the library as it served the School of Dentistry collecting books, journals and theses for research and reference use. Items of interest include: annual reports, library statistics, course materials, rare book information, and media clippings on faculty and staff.

The Dentistry Library Collection contains papers pertaining to the library as it served the School of Dentistry collecting books, journals and theses for research and reference use. Items of interest include: annual reports, library statistics, course materials, rare book information, and media clippings on faculty and staff. The University of Michigan Dentistry Library Collection is divided into four series, which reflect the structure of the library itself: Administrative, Library Collection, Library Services, and Clippings Files.

Organization established to promote civic, cultural, and recreational interests and activities of Ann Arbor's African American community. Administrative reports, informational brochures, collected information, and photographs.

The records of the Ann Arbor Community Center spans 0.5 linear feet and document the Center's service to Ann Arbor's African-American community. The records, including annual reports, brochures, clippings and photographs have been arranged into three series: Administrative, 1936-1998; Topical, 1936-1997; and Visual, 1920s-1990s

Electrical engineering was established as a department in the College of Engineering in 1895. In 1971 it was renamed as the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The Department of Computer and Communication Science was transferred from the College of Literature, Science and the Arts in 1984. The faculties and courses were merged under new designation Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Departmental records include administration material relating to policies and budget, annual reports and reviews, topical files, photographs, and personnel files of inactive faculty and research scientists. Records describe the facilities, curriculum, and teaching and research activities within the department.

The Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science records contain correspondence, departmental review reports, committee minutes, faculty and student surveys, personnel records and photographs. The records span the years 1920-1997.

The records are arranged in seven series: Administrative Budget/ Financial, Department Review and Report, Histories, Topical, Photographs, and Personnel.

Youth camp founded in 1921 by member of University of Michigan Student Christian Association to provide outdoor experience for underprivileged youths, management assumed by University of Michigan Institute for Human Adjustment in 1944 and later by the School of Education when emphasis changed to serving physically handicapped children. Records document management of the camp including reports on camp activities and research conducted at the camp.

The records of the University of Michigan Fresh Air Camp are comprised of materials documenting the functions, operations, policies, and events of the camp. Records range from the early 1920s to the late 1970s, but are strongest in the periods from approximately 1937-1950 and especially 1967-1972. Researchers will take particular interest in the annual reports and other materials found in the Reports series, which document the activities of the camp and include pertinent historical information. Records documenting a grant received by the school in the late 1960s through the Federal Education Profession Development Act also provide an excellent overview of the camp's philosophy at that time.

Correspondence and other papers dealing with departmental plans, reviews and organization, buildings and laboratories, staff recruitment, research, impact of World War I and personal affairs of various staff members especially when they were studying in Europe. Correspondence includes letters of John W. Langley, Robert A. Millikan, Harrison Randall, James M. Cork, Ernest Lawrence, Walter Stevens, John O. Reed, Henry Carhart, Karl Guthe, Fred Hodges, Horace R. Crane, and others. Also includes correspondence of chairmen Daniel Sinclair, Richard H. Sands, and Lawrence W. Jones. Efforts to locate a superconducting super collider in Michigan in the 1980s are well documented in these records.

The Department of Physics records contain budget sheets, clippings, committee minutes, correspondence, departmental review reports, organizational charts, personnel records, and photographs. The records are most informative in the administrative proceedings of the department. They are least informative in curricular and research areas. The records span the years 1873-1995 and are arranged into four series: Administrative Files, Undergraduate and Graduate Programs, Research, and Awards and Special Events and L3 Project. Although there are 19th century records present, the bulk of the records cover the period from 1954 to 1991.

The Alumni Association of the University of Michigan was established in 1897 following a consolidation of the Society of Alumni with the alumni societies of the professional schools. The Michigan Alumnus became the association's official organ. As the organization grew, local chapters were established and provided greater structure. The records include files pertaining to the Alumni Association's administrative office and various chapters and interests groups. This includes national and international U-M alumni and alumnae clubs, the Alumnae Council, the Society of Alumni, the University of Michigan Black Alumni (UMBA-formerly the African American Alumni Council (AAC)), and the Reunion of Black Graduates (RBG). The records include but are not limited to correspondence, minutes, reports, and survey responses, audiovisual materials, digital files, photographs, and publications.

The collection spans 1845-2001. The textual records of the Alumni Association (boxes 1-133) are largely unprocessed, and are described in only general terms in this finding aid. Exceptions include files maintained by Marjorie Williams who served as the vice chair and chair of the Alumnae Council from 1960 to 1962, Class Reunion files, and Topical Files.

Additions to the collection (boxes 168-171) incorporate records, audiovisual materials, photographs, and publications pertaining to the University of Michigan Black Alumni (UMBA). To note are materials specifically related to the African American Alumni Council (AAAC)-formerly the UMBA, and the Reunion of Black Graduates (RBG). This includes information about the Dr. Leonard F. Sain Award, the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. scholarship and symposium, the Camp Michigania retreat, and annual reunion for black graduates photographs, planning materials, and souvenir books.