Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Collector of books, maps, artifacts primarily relating to the Harbor Springs area of Michigan. Artifacts include black ash baskets, porcupine quill and birch bark boxes, and miscellaneous stone and metal implements; and miscellaneous collected material.

This finding aid only describes the artifacts and historical documents collected by Earl De La Vergne. The many books he collected have been individually cataloged. The artifacts in the collection include Native American black ash baskets and quill boxes, as well as various stone and metal tools and hardware. The collected documents include a diary of an 1879 trip from Kent County, Michigan, to Emmet County, Michigan, by Etta Carpenter [mimeograph of typescript]; 1902 list of birds seen near Harbor Springs, by O. Widmann and Judge Stephenson; notes relating to Michigan history; photographs; and a citation.

Organization created by Baptist minister Reverend Edward Pinkney to fight economic and social injustice in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Includes correspondence, news articles, court documents, protest fliers, protest signs, religious writings, website captures, and photographs. Also contains a copy of the 2006 documentary, "What's going on in Benton Harbor? : The Trial of Reverend Pinkney."

The Black Autonomy Network Community Organization records (1 linear feet, 1 oversize box and 3.41 GB) contains correspondence, news articles, court documents, protest fliers, religious writings, and photographs. The collection also includes a box of protest signs supporting Reverend Pinkney and digital files containing email correspondence, website pages and a copy of the 2006 documentary, "What's Going On in Benton Harbor: The Reverend Pinkney Story." The materials focus on the voter fraud charges against Reverend Edward Pinkey and the protests in response to his conviction.

The School of Dentistry is a teaching and research unit of the University of Michigan. Records include administrative files, faculty meeting minutes, curriculum and education, subject files relating to dentistry and to the professional interests of the school's faculty; and photographs and films.

The School of Dentistry record group spans the years from 1873 to 2010, but does not comprehensively document the entire span. The records are fragmentary, providing only a partial picture of the School of Dentistry. Documentation reflects the tenures of various deans with scattered documents from the late 1800s and more detail in the period 1920-1990. The records give some insight into the development of dentistry as a profession, and the training and education of dental students. The records, comprised of 40.5 linear feet, 1 oversize volume, 1 oversize folder, and 1.3GB, have been divided into 10 series: Educational Information, Administration, Black Dentistry Conference, Organizations, Surveys, Photographs and Audiovisual Materials, Department Chairpersons' Meetings, Faculty Meetings, American Dental Association Accreditation, Dental Research Institute, and Website.

A collection of historical booklets on the history African Americans in Battle Creek and Calhoun County, Michigan, compiled by historian Frank R. Brown. Subjects include African-American churches, education, sororities, fraternities, and social clubs, minority-owned businesses, women’s sports, and the arts. Also includes histories of Battle Creek chapters of the NAACP and the Urban League Guild.

The Frank R. Brown papers consist of histories on a range of topics related to African American cultural, civic, and commercial life in and around Battle Creek, Michigan. The materials were compiled by Frank R. Brown, some with the help of members of the Black Heritage Committee, based at Mt. Zion AME Church. The histories include brief narratives written by Brown; photocopies of clippings, newsletters, and other documents; photographs; and occasional letters to Brown and others. Subjects include general histories of African Americans in Battle Creek, churches, education, social clubs, sports, the arts, minority-owned businesses, the Battle Creek branch of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs, and the celebration of the 200th anniversary of Sojourner Truth's birth. The church histories document the Fourth Episcopal District of the AME Church, the AME Church in Marshall Michigan, and a number of African-American churches in Battle Creek. Also included are histories of the Battle Creek chapter of the NAACP, the Southwestern Michigan Urban League Guild, and several Urban League programs, newsletters, and pamphlets. The histories have been arranged into three series: Black Heritage Committee Histories; "Old World Background, New World Experiences" Histories; and Miscellaneous Histories and Related Items.

Homeowners in northeastern Ann Arbor, Michigan. Correspondence and other papers relating to their concern and interest in development projects in Ann Arbor and northern Michigan.

The Barritt collection is made up of materials accumulated by either Marjorie or Loren Barritt (or both) primarily relating to their property on what later became Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Smaller series document their involvement in nature and neighborhood preservation in Ann Arbor. The Barritt collection has been arranged into four series: Black Pond, Leslie Homestead Master Planning Committee, Bird Hills/Twining controversy, and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

This record group pertains to the University of Michigan Department of Afroamerican and African Studies and to campus, regional, and national organizations devoted to political and civil rights causes from the 1960s to the 1990s. The collection includes print documents, photographs, and audio-visual material that document racial harassment incidents, political protests, scholarly conferences and symposia, MLK Day celebrations and black student life on the U-M campus. There are also materials about the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the anti-apartheid and divestment movements of the 1980s. Originally a Center, the unit was formally recognized as a department of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts in 2011.

The records of the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS; formerly known as the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies, or CAAS) include correspondence, syllabi, clippings, publicity materials, photographs and audio and video recordings of campus speakers. The record group includes archival material that was originally collected and made available in DAAS's library relating to black activism and to organizations of interest to black students, faculty and staff, as well as DAAS's own organizational archives. Because these materials have been consulted and cited by researchers prior to their transfer to the Bentley in 2011, their original arrangement has been preserved so far as possible.

Paper and photographic records consist of three major series: Black student activism, 1969-2001 (5.5 linear feet), Blacks at U-M, 1969-2007 (4.5 linear feet) and Organizational archives of CAAS, 1962-2010 (17 linear feet) (formerly designated simply "Archives.") There is some overlap of subject matter. These categories reflect the organization of the materials imposed by CAAS librarians and archivists prior to transfer to the Bentley in 2011.

The following list identifies the greatest concentration of material relevant to some of the notable subjects in the collection:

1. The Black Action Movements (Boxes 1-2 and 55)
2. Incidents of on-campus harassment and responses (Boxes 1, 2, 4)
3. South Africa, apartheid, and divestment -- (Boxes 2, 3, 5)
4. Free South Africa Coordinating Committee (Box 3)
5. Washtenaw County Coalition Against Apartheid (Box 5)
6. United Coalition Against Racism and the Baker-Mandela Center (Boxes 1, 4, 5)
7. The Michigamua controversy (Box 3)
8. The Nelson Mandela Honorary Degree Petition (Boxes 3, 11)
9. Gulf War activism (Boxes 3, 4)

This record group also includes a large number of audio and video recordings of presentations, interviews, documentaries, and cultural performances from the 1970s to the 1990s. The recordings include several notable faculty members, visiting scholars, and activists, including Harold Cruse, Cornell West, Rita Dove, Jesse Jackson, Angela Davis, Marian Wright Edelman and Rosa Parks.

The audio-visual material in the collection is organized is organized in to six series by format: Audio recordings on cassettes, 1975-2001 (486 cassettes, 9 linear feet), U-Matic videotapes, 1971-1989 (91 videotapes, 9.1 linear ft.) VHS videotapes, 1971-2004 (131 videotapes, 7 linear feet), Open reel videotapes, 1971-1980 (12 videotapes, 1 linear feet), Reel-to-reel audiotape, 1971, 1980 and undated (4 audiotapes, 0.3 linear feet) and Mini DVDs, 1999-2000 and undated (24 Mini-DVDs, 0.2 linear feet).

Correspondence and other papers of Alde L. T. Blake, including exchanges with Jane Addams, Ben Lindsey, Governor Woodbridge N. Ferris, and Anna Howard Shaw, and other materials documenting Alde Blake's suffragist activities. Scrapbooks of William F. Blake largely concerning family history and business interests, and his correspondence; a volume containing copies of private and unofficial letters written by William Blake to various persons during his tenure as U.S. Consular Agent. A volume with copies of letters sent by Robert Blake in his capacity as U.S. Consular Agent serving in Canada, including detailed commercial report about London, Ontario in 1873. Freeman N. Blake's Law School notebook. Also, included a genealogical tree of Kutsche family. Correspondence, notebooks, wills, certificates, and other materials relating to other Blake, Kutsche, and Tuck family members. Visual materials include two photo albums, as well as numerous photographs (some oversize), daguerreotypes, and one tintype. Photographs include photos of Anna Howard Shaw, Jeanette Rankin, and others following a lecture by Dr. Shaw; also group photos, possibly of woman suffrage groups.

The Blanchard family papers document the lives and careers of several members of the Blanchard, Cobb, and Proctor families from the mid-nineteenth century through the late twentieth century. Includes visual materials, publications, personal writings, and extensive correspondence files.

The Blanchard Family Papers document the professional achievements and personal lives of several generations of a scientifically minded and artistically gifted family. The papers focus heavily upon the eminent plant pathologist and nematologist Nathan A. Cobb, his wife Alice Vara Cobb, their daughter, biologist Frieda Cobb Blanchard, and her husband, herpetologist Frank Nelson Blanchard (the latter two of whom were professors at the University of Michigan). In addition to the photographs, drawings, correspondence, journals, and writings of these four individuals, the collection is rich in family correspondence, diaries, and personal papers from other members of the Cobb and Blanchard families (and their forebears and branches, including the Bigelow, Proctor, Ross, White, and Randall families). The Blanchard Family Papers will be of value to researchers interested in a variety of topics: scientific endeavors and methodologies (and in particular those related to agronomy, nematology, botany, and herpetology); the visual arts and the development of photography in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; colonial and provincial life in Australia and Hawaii (respectively); and the daily affairs of American (and Michigan) families throughout the twentieth century. The Blanchard Family Papers consist of seven series: Nathan A. Cobb, Alice Vara Cobb, Frieda Cobb Blanchard, Frank Nelson Blanchard, Blanchard and Cobb Family Letters, Other Family Members, and Isaac G. Blanchard.

Founder of the Van Leuven Browne Hospital School for Crippled Children and advocate for improved educational and work opportunities for children with physical disabilities. Contains materials related to the Van Leuven Browne Hospital School for Crippled Children and Browne's other initiatives for children with disabilities. Correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, and publications; includes copies of novels and magazines related to disabled children that were authored by Browne.

The Blanche Van Leuven Browne papers document Browne's advocacy for children with physical disabilities. Highlighted in the collection is her work with the Van Leuven Browne Hospital School for Crippled Children between 1907-1917. Collection includes Browne's correspondence, Hospital School patient registers, schedules, and other administrative information, as well as photographs, glass plate negatives, clippings, and publications related to the school. The collection also contains copies of the novels written by Browne, "A Story of the Children's Ward" and "Easter in the Children's Ward," and other materials she published.

Correspondence of the Blaustein family of New York. Karl Blaustein and his son Albert (who received his BA from the University of Michigan) were lawyers. Karl and his wife Rose also had a daughter, Marjorie, who was a writer and a journalist. This collection includes correspondence between Karl and Rose, and their children Albert and Marjorie Blaustein. Many of the letters are written to Albert during his time as a student at the University of Michigan and during his career as a journalist and service member.

This collection contains the Blaustein family correspondence. Materials include correspondence between Karl, Rose, Albert, and Marjorie, as well as newspaper clippings and other ephemera. The first binder began in the summer of 1937, before Albert left for the University of Michigan. Rose, Marjorie and Albert were on vacation, and Karl wrote to them in their absence. The next six binders include letters from Albert's time at university. The first of the six binders contains a collection of Rose and Marjorie's letters to Albert. The next five binders are organized by date rather than sender. The remaining binders contain letters from Albert's time in Chicago and in the military. In these letters, the family discussed daily life and politics, especially related to Nazism and World War II. Most of the letters were written by Karl to Albert.

The remaining correspondences are organized into folders by recipient. These folders are arranged chronologically and contain correspondence and ephemera. Three of the folders contain letters from Marjorie and her parents during her time at the University of Chicago. She wrote about her efforts as a writer as well as daily life and the war. Another set of folders contains letters from Karl and Rose during the summer of 1943. Rose was traveling, and she wrote about her trips to Marjorie in Chicago, Wisconsin, and various Jewish summer resorts.

The remaining folders contain greeting cards, telegrams, and various letters dating from 1920 to 1965. One of these folders contains ephemera from Harvard and Karl's school papers.

A digital resource is also included. Carmen D. Valentino, the seller of the collection, provided the resource, and it contains research on each member of the Blaustein family. The document also details the contents of the collection. Included is an inventory of letters and their authors, as well as some transcribed letters. Information in this resource has not been verified by Bentley staff.