Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Wyandotte, Michigan, businesswoman, chairwoman of the President's Task Force on Women's Rights and Responsibilities during the Nixon Administration, later deputy assistant secretary of state for public affairs. Papers and photographs relating to her interest in women's rights, the equal rights amendment, Republican Party politics, the activities of International Women's Year, 1975, and the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs.

The Virginia R. Allan Papers have been grouped both according to types of documents covering her entire career (biographical, correspondence, writings and speeches, etc.). These are followed by three series of files pertaining to Allan's activities and organizational affiliations within specific time periods in her career. These chronological divisions (with some overlapping of dates) are 1950s-1972, 1971-1977, and 1977-1985. Although each of these chronological series documents Allan's life-long interest in women's issues, there are obvious highlights to each. The first chronological series - 1950s-1972, is especially solid with material relating to Allan's association with the Michigan and the National Federation of Business and Professional Women, and her service on the President's Task Force on Women's Rights and Responsibilities. The second of these series - 1971-1977 - obviously documents Allan's work at the State Department, her role with the International Women's Year and her participation in the Mexico City Conference in 1975. And the third chronological series - 1977-1985 - contain files pertaining to her participation in the second and third United Nations International Women's Conferences and to her faculty responsibilities at George Washington University.

The collection concludes with a small series -- Groups and Activities -- which contains both material dated after 1985 as well as earlier materials, a series of Personal materials, and a series of Audio-Visual materials that includes photographs, a videotape, and sound recordings.

Detroit, Michigan, businessman, president of the Burroughs Adding Machine Co. Correspondence and reports relating to the Kelsey Expedition to the Near East for the University of Michigan and correspondence files, 1926-1942, concerning business affairs and social activities in Detroit and Grosse Pointe, Michigan; also writings of father Charles K. Backus, and photographs.

The Standish Backus collection consists of correspondence and reports relating to the Kelsey Expedition to the Near East for the University of Michigan and correspondence files, 1926-1942, concerning business affairs and social activities in Detroit and Grosse Pointe, Michigan; also writings of father Charles K. Backus, and photographs. The Photographs include portraits of members of the Backus and Standish families, and of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Boyer.

The collections is arranged into five series: Kelsey Expedition to the Near East; Correspondence files; Personal and memorabilia; Charles K. Backus volumes; and Photographs.

Professor of English at the University of Michigan. Correspondence concerning his work at the University of Michigan; letters from former students describing their World War II experiences; and papers concerning his organizational and University activities.

The collection is arranged into two series: Correspondence and Topical and University Activities. The correspondence includes a file of letters from former students describing their World War II experiences. There is also a subseries of professional correspondence from 1947 to 1964. This subseries is arranged alphabetically and includes letters from such personages as Langston Hughes, Victor G. Reuther, Elmer Rice, and William W. Whitehouse. The Topical and University Activities subseries relates to Boys varied interests, such as the Art Cinema League, the Faculty Club, and the American Association of University Professors.

Democratic senator from Michigan, the longest-serving U.S. senator (served between 1979 and 2015). The collection documents Carl M. Levin's 36-year career in the U.S. Senate including his service on the Senate Armed Service Committee, Government and Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Great Lakes Task Force, among other leadership positions. Papers include correspondence, speeches, writings, newspaper clippings, legislative and committee files, campaign materials, photographs, audiovisual materials, and other records documenting his personal life and political career.

The collection documents the personal life and political career of Carl M. Levin including his 36-year career as U.S. Senator from Michigan (1979-2015). The papers include school activities, personal correspondence, materials from Levin's work on the Michigan Civil Rights Commission and Detroit City Council, and campaign materials such as speeches, interviews, platform and planning documents, constituent research, candidate research, financial documents, correspondence, photographs, and audiovisual materials.

The bulk of papers document Levin's tenure in the U.S. Senate including legislative and committee files, correspondence, memoranda, briefing books, background information, schedules, bills, printed materials, press clippings, speeches, writings, photographs, Levin's archived website, social media, and audiovisual materials.

Donald W. Riegle, Jr. served five terms as a Representative from Michigan's 7th district in the U.S. House of Representatives (1967-1976) and three terms as a U.S. Senator from Michigan (1976-1995). Riegle was born in Flint, Mich. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Business Administration (1960) and from Michigan State University with an M.B.A. (1961). The collection reflects Riegle's service from 1966 to 1994 as a U.S. Congressman and Senator. Material from Riegle's years in U.S. Senate comprise the majority of the collection. Collection includes campaign material, topical files, material related to bills and acts, committees and subcommittees; also material related to Michigan affairs, constituent mail, and personal files.

The papers in this collection reflect Donald Riegle's service from 1966 to 1994 as U.S. Congressman and Senator. There is nothing from his years before his entry into politics in 1966 and nothing from the period afterwards. The papers from his Congressional years amount to 21 linear feet; those from his Senate years comprise 143 linear feet, which is of course the vast majority of the collection.

In a broad sense, most of the collection consists of memoranda, notes, reports, and similar materials, concerning pending legislation. Some concerns committee hearings and testimony. There are also files containing campaign and other political material, staffers' files, and a certain amount that might be considered relating more to Riegle the person. This includes a manuscript of an unpublished book; his schedules, speeches, and records of his legislative activity. The collection also documents the activity of his liaison offices in Michigan.

The University Planner's Office oversees the master planning, site planning, and site design for the university. The records consist of correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, reports, architectural drawings, and photographs spanning the years 1840 to 2014.

The records of the University Planner's Office consist of 48 linear feet, 72.3 GB of digital files, and one oversize volume. Records contain correspondence, memoranda, meeting minutes, reports, architectural drawings, and photographs spanning the years 1840 to 2014. The records document the role of the University Planner's Office in campus planning on the University of Michigan campuses and in conjunction with the City of Ann Arbor.

Lawrence L. Witt was a Detroit native who served in the Army Air Force during World War II and was a prisoner of war (POW) for eleven months after getting shot down over Nazi Germany. His daughter Laura A. Edge later researched her father's story and wrote a book about his and other airmen's experiences as prisoners of war in WWII. Correspondence, various documents relating to military and prisoner of war experience, and audio-visual materials including oral histories of several WWII veterans.

The Lawrence Witt and Laura Edge papers document Witt's experiences during and after World War II, as well as his daughter's research on his and other airmen's experiences as prisoners of war in Nazi Germany. Most series consist of folders (both original and digitized copies) originally ordered and numbered by Laura Edge.

Cornelia G. Kennedy, "First Lady of the Michigan Judiciary," was the first woman appointed to the federal bench in Michigan and the first woman to become a chief judge for a United States District Court. Judge Kennedy was nominated to U.S. District Court in 1970 and to U.S. Circuit Court (Federal Appeals Court) in 1979. Although never actually nominated to the Supreme Court, she was mentioned in connection with vacancies there during the administrations of three different U.S. Presidents. In addition to her court-related duties, the collection reflects Kennedy's service to the Judicial Conference of the U.S. and the Federal Judicial Center as well as the American Bar Association and other professional organizations. The collection also contains materials from Wayne County Circuit Court. This finding aid includes a Summary Contents List and expanded Scope and Content Note to provide a brief summary of the Federal Court System's structure and history as well as notes on some of the organizations comprising the context of a legal career that spanned more than half a century.

The Cornelia G. Kennedy papers span Kennedy's career as a judge, beginning with her election to Wayne County Circuit Court (the 3rd Judicial Circuit of Michigan, which includes the City of Detroit) in 1966. The bulk of the collection documents her service as an active federal judge, from the time of her appointment to Federal District Court in 1970 through her confirmation and service in Federal Appeals Court, until she assumed senior federal judge status in 1999.

The collection is valuable not only in that it documents the professional and some of the private life of a federal judge who achieved many 'firsts' as a woman but also for the collection's contribution to an understanding of the federal court system and the evolution of judicial ethical standards and practices, especially with respect to financial disclosure, confidentiality, and conflicts of interest.

To some extent, the history of information and communications technology during the period is also represented in the collection through its examples of different correspondence media in different eras and through materials pertaining to the advent of computer-aided legal research in court libraries and the use of new technologies in federal courtrooms.

Inevitably, Judge Kennedy's long family history in the practice of law coincided with significant milestones in American history and in the development of judicial administration organizations and policy. Kennedy's father had graduated from law school and begun his legal career with World War I on the horizon. Kennedy graduated from law school as the national economy was transforming itself after World War II, and as the federal court system was beginning a new era in judicial practice and in judicial review of administration.

Description of Series Content

This collection is divided into ten series: Personal and Biographical; Correspondence; Speeches and Writings; Wayne County Circuit Court; U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan; U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit; Judicial Conference of the United States; Federal Judicial Center; American Bar Association; and Other Professional Organizations and Meetings.

Of necessity, some series include materials of multiple formats, located together primarily with regard to conceptual content rather than format and some types of materials are found in multiple series. For example, correspondence can be found not only in the Correspondence series but also within court-related series to the extent that it relates to matters addressed there.

Throughout the collection, Judge Kennedy's own phrasing is used whenever possible to describe file folder contents. Some examples of her original file folders of administrative papers and office files also contain handwritten notes and have been retained in the collection to provide additional information to the researcher. These original folder labels and notations also help to illustrate the use of different terminology in different time frames.

The University of Michigan Department of Mechanical Engineering dates from 1868, and it existed under various designations resulting from shifts and mergers in engineering, including at one time industrial engineering and applied mechanics. Records include minutes of faculty meetings, 1922-1941, and 1984-2007; advisory committee minutes, 1997-2007; and material on the 125th anniversary in 1993. Extensive visual materials document departmental activities and research including color and black and white photographs, contact sheets, slides, and negatives. The departmental website, as of June 2001, also forms a part of this record group.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering record group is comprised of manuscript and visual materials transferred between 1995 and 2001. The materials are arranged in eight series Minutes, E-Mail to Faculty, Office Files, Contact Sheets, Photographs, Panoramic Prints and Slides, Negatives, and Website. The manuscript material covers the periods 1922 to 1941 and 1993 to 2007 while the visual materials are mainly from the time period 1985-2000. The earlier accessions include a series of faculty minutes covering the period from 1922 to 1941 and 1993 to 1999. The earlier accessions also include a small group of electronic mail correspondence (printout) that was sent from the central departmental office to the departmental faculty from 1993 to 1996. Subsequent accessions include a small selection of office files alphabetically arranged and additional faculty minutes.

Visual materials, documenting departmental activities ca. 1985-2000, form the bulk of the record group. The departmental website, as of June 2001, also forms a part of this record group. The visual materials in the record group include color and black and white photographs, contact sheets, slides, and negatives. The visual materials are either arranged by a numerical sequence or alphabetically by topic or last name. Materials in the numerical sequence filing system include 4 x 6 prints, contact sheets, and negatives. While the materials in the numerical sequence are categorized by format, the materials in this sequence were designed to form one system. That is the 4 x 6 prints, contact sheets, and negatives reference each other.

Graduate School of the University of Michigan. Records include dean's topical files, 1892-1996; files of associate deans; minutes of the executive board; project and grant files detailing faculty and student research; lists of degrees granted; records of fellowships and awards granted by the graduate school and university; and files relating to academic departments and programs, including reviews of degree programs.

The records of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies document the administration of the school, its academic programs and research projects and fellowships funded by the school and outside sources. The records include Dean's Files, minutes of the Executive Board and Administrative Council, Academic Unit and Program Evaluation files, and grants administration records.

Records of the Graduate School have been received by the library in numerous accessions, some large others quite small. Some accessions represent continuations or complements to previously received materials. This finding attempts to intellectually integrate continuing or similar record series received in multiple accessions.

The records are organized into a number of series. Among the more significant are:

1. Deans' Topical File
2. Research Records
3. University Units
4. Program Evaluations
5. Faculty Research Grants
6. Degree Lists
7. Faculty Fellowships, Grants and Awards
8. Graduate School Executive Board and Administrative Council

In 2008, the Rackham School of Graduate Studies announced that it would become a 'paperless' office and that future accessions to the Bentley Library would be electronic. The materials from 1990 to 2003 were thus digitized by Rackham staff (from the original paper records) and saved as PDF (Portable Document Format) files. As of 2012, these digital accessions comprise two subseries within the Graduate School Executive Board and Administrative Council series and Program Evaluation series.

Michel Oksenberg was a Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan, and a specialist in China and Sino-American relations. His papers contain correspondence concerning professional activities, committee assignments, conferences; publications, project files, book reviews, and periodical articles; also interview notes with refugees from the People's Republic of China conducted in Hong Kong.

Michel Oksenberg papers document Oksenberg's activities as teacher, researcher, policy advisor, and business consultant, as well as his service on several national Chinese studies committees. The normalization of relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) had a profound impact on American sinologists; Oksenberg's papers provide an overview of Chinese studies before, during and after normalization, while also furnishing insight into the actual process of normalization.

The Tecumseh Community Health Study is an ongoing prospective epidemiological study of a natural community's health and disease status. It focuses on the community of Tecumseh, Michigan, and began through the University of Michigan's School of Public Health with a 1957 canvass of all households. The study includes all newcomers to the community until 1970, after which only previous residents were followed. The Tecumseh Community Health Study records consist of materials outlining the project planning and management of the study, the initial community survey, materials from rounds one through three of data collection, and later community surveys and follow-up studies.

The Tecumseh Community Health Study records collection consists of materials outlining the project planning and management of the study, the initial community survey, materials from rounds one through three of data collection, and later community surveys and follow-up studies. Records include conceptual documentation, organizational charts, questionnaires and forms, meeting minutes and agenda, reports, correspondence, budgets, and other study material. In addition to inquiries related to early medical diagnosis and treatment of many conditions, the collection documents an early example of large-scale project management and collaborative grant administration. The collection may also be of interest to researchers studying the history of survey research methodology, data management, and bio-statistical analysis techniques.

An interdisciplinary institution at the University of Michigan that supported social science research in the field of conflict resolution or "peace research," the Center was founded in 1959 by scholars associated The Journal of Conflict Resolution. The Center closed in 1971. Records include administrative files, correspondence, research files, publications and publicity files.

The records of the Center for Research on Conflict Resolution include correspondence, minutes, memoranda, reports, articles, papers, newspaper clippings, publications, and pamphlets. The records document the research activities of the center, and include material about international relations, peace research, conflict resolution, peace activism, and race relations.

The records are divided into 10 series: Administrative, Conferences, Correspondence, Courses, Historical, Organizations, Publications, Publicity, Research, and Topical.

Records of railroad companies, mainly Michigan lines, absorbed with the merger of the New York Central Railroad Company and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company into the Penn Central Transportation Company.

The nature of the records of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad reflects the recent history of the two companies. When the Penn Central Transportation Company was formed in 1968, the offices of New York Central--the junior merger partner--were dismantled and only a small percentage of records retained. Therefore, the extant New York Central records consist almost entirely of minutes and account books of a routine nature. By contrast, records of the Pennsylvania Railroad were relatively undisturbed by the merger and are today richer and more varied than those of the New York Central. The Penn Central records are most useful for their documentation of the growth of the railroad industry. They depict an industry in constant flux due to the opportunities for success offered by a burgeoning industry and the intense competition among railroads that resulted. A single volume of records often contains minutes of two or more railroads, reflecting either the failure of the original company or its takeover by or merger with another company.

Besides documenting the history of individual railroads and of the railroad industry as a whole, the Penn Central records are a good source on the economic and commercial development of Michigan and neighboring states, and provide insight into the rise and decline of various towns along the railroad. Minutes of New York Central subsidiaries, for example, contain discussions of negotiations with town officials over the proposed construction of tracks, bridges, depots, and the like. Similarly, the locality files in the Superintendent--Toledo Division series of the Pennsylvania Railroad records consist of correspondence and memoranda regarding improvements to, or the abandonment of, stations in small towns in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. This series also contains substantial correspondence files on Toledo, Detroit, and Grand Rapids.

Labor and social historians will find the Penn Central records useful in illuminating the lives of workers and in documenting relations between management and workers. More than 40 feet of labor relations files of the Ann Arbor Railroad include agreements between the company and unions, grievances, petitions concerning work rules and pay, wage and hour schedules, and circular letters. There are small series of labor relations files of other companies scattered throughout the collection. Researchers will also find information on the workplace and working conditions in the locality files of the Superintendent--Toledo Division series of the Pennsylvania Railroad; these files contain, for example, memoranda concerning clubrooms and sleeping quarters for workers in city depots.

There is very little technical material in the Penn Central records; photographs are likewise scarce. The most notable exceptions are in the car ferry files, found in three subseries of the Pennsylvania Railroad records: General Manager--Western Region, Vice-President and General Counsel, and Subsidiaries: Mackinac Transportation Company. The car ferry files include maps, plans, specifications, blueprints, and some photographs.

A large portion of the collection consists of records of small railroads that ran through Michigan or were based in Michigan. Records of these companies are brief, often including nothing more than articles of incorporation, a few pages or a volume or two of minutes, and perhaps some annual reports and financial records. Although many of these railroads were subsidiaries of either the Michigan Central Railroad, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, or the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad, they have been filed under the parent company of which the sub-system was a part (New York Central, Pennsylvania, or Ann Arbor Railroad) to promote ease of access. Thus, for example, records of the Canada Southern Bridge Company, a subsidiary of Michigan Central Railroad, are filed under New York Central Railroad, the parent company of Michigan Central. Researchers uncertain of the parentage of a particular railroad should look in the subsidiaries section of the contents list under Ann Arbor, New York Central, and Pennsylvania Railroads. The railroads in each of these subsidiaries sections are arranged in alphabetical order.

Brief histories of individual railroads can be found in the "Green Books"--the annual reports of the New York Central Railroad Company and its subsidiaries. There are several published histories of the Pennsylvania Railroad in boxes 183 and boxes 155-157 and on microfilm in box 60.

A card file giving the date of incorporation, name changes, and parentage of subsidiaries of the Michigan Central Railroad, Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, and the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad has been photocopied and can be found in box 1 of the collection. This folder also contains a list of records in the Public Archives of Canada of Grand Trunk and Great Western Railway system properties in the United States. Finally, there is a section of Aids, Gifts, Grants and Donations to Railroads Including Outline of Development and Successions in Titles to Railroads in Michigan by the Michigan Railroads Commission (1919).

Information in this finding aid concerning the histories of the various railroads was drawn from the collection itself, from sources compiled by the project archivists, and from the following published sources: William Frederick Dunbar All Aboard! A History of Railroads in Michigan (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1969) and Henry E. Riggs, The Ann Arbor Railroad Fifty Years Ago (Ann Arbor Railroad Company, 1947?)

BMC Media Services (formerly Biomedical Communications) is an in-house graphics and marketing production service for the University of Michigan. The collection is comprised of visual materials, including photographic prints, negatives, slides, and contact sheets, as well as videotapes, a few films, and digital files. The records reflect BMC's biomedical origins and document the history of the medical school, health science, hospitals, and related departments at the University of Michigan.

The records of BMC Media Services (formerly Biomedical Communications) measure 31.65 linear feet of visual material in a variety of formats. The records consist of seven series, largely different photographic categories: Faculty and Staff Portraits, Group Portraits, Class Photographs, Building Photographs, Topical Photographs, Films, and Videotapes.

The Information Technology Division, formed in 1985, consolidated academic and administrative computing at the University of Michigan. Douglas Van Houweling was named head of the unit and at the same time appointed to the new position of Vice Provost for Information Technology. During the 1980s, the unit oversaw a shift away from Michigan Terminal System (MTS) mainframe computing to a distributed, networked environment. The Information Technology Division record group documents the development of networked computing at the University of Michigan as it evolved from 1979 to 1995, mainly during the tenure of Douglas Van Houweling. The records include historical data, internal and external committee material, correspondence, and topical files and visual material.

The records of the Information Technology Division measure 23.5 linear feet and date from 1976 to 1998; the bulk of the material represents the years 1985 to 1997. The records consist of correspondence, meeting minutes, electronic mail, newspaper clippings, and reports. They document the administration of ITD, the development of computing on campus, UM's role in the development and management of local, regional, and national computer networks, and ITD's participation, largely in the person of Douglas Van Houweling, in a number of computing organizations, most notably EDUCOM and CIESIN (Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network).

The ITD record group is divided into fourteen series including Central Files, Divisions, Networks, University Files, Vendors, Organizations, Deputy Vice-Provost for Information Technology, Vice-Provost for Information Technology, Virginia Rezmerski Files, Computer Sales Program, Computing Sites, Dean's Partnership Program, Software, and Photographs.

Widely published and award winning Detroit born Polish-American author whose life is at the heart of her poetry, diaries, and publications. The collection primarily consists of correspondence between Pacosz, certain family members, and associates; diaries highlighting pivotal events in her life; creative works; publicity materials; family and biographical information; and photographs.

The Christina V. Pacosz papers gives the researcher an insight into the works and mind of an American born Polish poet. This collection, in which the files are arranged chronologically, spans the years 1899-2019, with the majority of the materials reflecting the years 1961-2012.

The collection comprises of correspondence between Pacosz, her literary cohorts, and family members; published and unpublished anthologies, manuscripts, and poetry; biographical and genealogical records pertaining to Pacosz and her family; works created by her students; personal diaries; photographs of herself, family, and colleagues. The collection also comprises of publicity and research materials.

University of Michigan student newspaper. Records include biographical information about University of Michigan faculty, staff, and administrators, including news clippings, news releases, and curriculum vitae; and negatives and contact prints of images of University buildings, student and staff activities, athletic events, and life in Ann Arbor, Michigan; and portraits of faculty, staff, and administrators.

This record group consists primarily of visual materials created by the photographic staff of The Michigan Daily. The photographs cover the full spectrum of activities on campus -- classroom scenes, staff and faculty portraits, academic ceremonies, student protests, athletics, student life, speakers and musical performers, as well as some Ann Arbor scenes and events and occasional events of state and national significance. To date, no administrative records have been donated to the Bentley Historical Library. The records were received in several accessions. The organization of the records in part reflects these multiple accessions with several distinct runs of negatives and prints (though there may be some overlap in years.

Central academic administrative unit of the University of Michigan which functions as chief executive assistant to the president, responsible for appointments and promotions with oversight for schools, colleges, educational units and programs; including budget planning, legislative relations, institutional research, and affirmative action policies. The Staff Files subgroup contains the files of individual of vice-presidents, associate and assistant vice-presidents, and other staff members within the vice-president's office.

The Staff Files subgroup of the record group Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs consists of 570 linear feet and spans the years from 1947 to 2013. The Staff Files subgroup is comprised of the records of the associate and assistant vice presidents for academic affairs. Whereas the records of the Central Files subgroup often contain finished products, such as reports and policy statements, the Staff Files subgroup tends to document the process of policy formation and other decision-making functions. Scattered through the associate and assistant vice presidents' papers, for example, are frank statements of opinion regarding various schools and programs, candidates for promotion, and the relationship between the branches of the university, as well as notes on meetings with faculty members, committee activities, and other subjects.

The Staff Files subgroup includes the records of the following past and current associate and assistant vice presidents, listed in the order in which their records first appear in the boxlist: Ernest R. Zimmermann, Carolyne K. Davis, Edward A. Dougherty, Richard A. English, Robert L. Williams, John H. Romani, Mary Ann Swain, Robert S. Holbrook, W. Allen Spivey, Robert B. Holmes, Niara Sudarkasa, Robin Jacoby, Robert Sauve, E. Kay Dawson, Susan Lipschutz, Paul Courant, Marilyn Knepp, Pamela A. Raymond, Katharine Soper, Karen Gibbons, John Godfrey, Nancy Cantor, A. Lawrence Fincher, Ralph P. Nichols, Valerie Castle, Glenda Haskell, Linda Gillum, Janet Weiss, Ben van der Plijm, Sharon Schmidt, Kathleen (Kati) Bauer, James Hilton, Stephanie Riegle, Catherine Shaw, Philip Hanlon, Teresa Sullivan, Anne Berens, Brian Konz, John King, Lester Monts, Martha E. Pollack, Lori Haskins, and Ron Fitzgerald. The records of an individual, while still in office, are received by the archives on an ongoing basis.

Architectural firm founded by Gunnar Birkerts, headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Textual records, architectural and engineering drawings and photographs document fourteen of the firm's major buildings including the Federal Reserve Building (Minneapolis, MN), Corning Glass Museum (Corning, NY) and the University of Michigan Law School Library Addition.

The Gunnar Birkerts and Associates Collection offers researchers a rich perspective on the work of one of the masters of American modern architecture whose career spans the second half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. The initial accessions of Birkert's material encompassed 69 linear feet of the firm's textual records, which are associated with 14 of Birkerts' distinguished buildings, and 7158 original drawings and prints documenting the evolution of the architectural design process for each project. In 2008, the records and drawings of 74 more projects were included in the collection, bringing the total amount of textual material to 82 linear feet and the number of drawings to over 10,000. Altogether, these visual materials detail many of the expressive elements for which Birkerts' architecture is renowned, including his bold forms, simplification of detail, innovative selection of surface materials and dramatic use of indirect light. Although six of the buildings in the original collection of 14 projects are located in Michigan, along with the offices of the firm, nine other structures were built in New York, Indiana, Mississippi and Minnesota, testimony to the national scope of this architectural practice. The following buildings were selected for inclusion in the collection by Birkerts and Bentley Historical Library staff because they represent the significance, diversity and evolution of the architect's work:

1. Haley Funeral Home (1960-1961)
2. University Reformed Church (1960-1964)
3. Freeman Residence (1964-1966)
4. Lincoln Elementary School (1965-1967)
5. Tougaloo College Master Plan, Library and Dormitories (1965-1972)
6. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (1967-1973)
7. Duluth Public Library (1969-1980)
8. S.U.N.Y., Purchase, Dance Instructional Facility (1970-1976)
9. Corning Municipal Fire Station (1973-1974)
10. Calvary Baptist Church (1974-1977)
11. University of Michigan Law Library Addition (1974-1981)
12. Corning Museum of Glass (1976-1980)
13. Ferguson Residence (1980-1983)
14. St. Peter's Lutheran church (1981-1988)
15. Additional Projects (added in 2008)

The initial accessions Gunnar Birkerts and Associates Collection are arranged in 14 series, each of which contains the business records and architectural drawings for one building. The finding aid begins with a description of the narrative records in chronological order in each series. An item-level description of the architectural and engineering drawings follows, grouping drawings in folders according to design phases, as described above. The finding aid lists the titles of drawings, when they exist, as well as title bar information including original dates, revision dates, numeric sequencing and, in some cases, names of consulting engineers. A description of the medium and support of each drawing is also given.

The 2008 accession to the collection includes of documentation of 74 additional projects consisting of 3,000 drawings and 13 linear feet of textual materials and photographs. The documentation for these projects is generally not as extensive as for the fourteen in the original accessions and the finding aid does not describe them in as great detail. They have been grouped together as single series titled "Other Projects" and the individual projects are listed in alphabetical order by project title

One of the collection's greatest strengths is found in its emphasis on the architectural design process, offering researchers a broad, visual representation of the evolution of each building through the "Schematic Design," "Design Development" and "Construction Document" sequences. Because Gunnar Birkerts and Associates meticulously saved each drawing associated with the firm's projects, this collection provides an exceptional view of the daily design process, as solutions were sought which defined the architectural character and individuality of a structure. Each of the 14 buildings in the Gunnar Birkerts and Associates Collection is conceived as an individual series, which contains the textual and visual documents associated with the project. Within each of the 14 series, the architectural and engineering drawings are arranged chronologically by design phase, beginning with "Schematic Design," when the owner's program is analyzed and sketches are drawn to illustrate the scale and relationship of the project's components. Researchers interested in viewing the earliest conceptual drawings associated with each building are encouraged to consult the finding aid of the collateral Gunnar Birkerts Collection, which amasses the sketches by the architect's own hand for most of his projects. Digital images of 284 of these conceptual sketches can be seen online in the Bentley Historical Library Image Bank through Gunnar Birkerts, Conceptual Drawings. An understanding of the beginning stage of design for each building is best obtained by studying the conceptual and "Schematic Design" documents in both the Gunnar Birkerts and Associates Collection and the Gunnar Birkerts Collection.

The second "Design Development" stage in each building series includes more precise site plans, floor plans, elevations and sections which further define the dimensions, mechanical/electrical systems, building materials and architectural character of the project. This phase often ends with the production of artistic presentation drawings which are used to obtain the client's approval of the design. Although the collection contains a large majority of original sketches and drawings on tracing paper, vellum, linen and mylar, many blue-line and sepia prints have been retained in each series if they are substitutes for missing originals or if they are annotated and thus show the ongoing search for solutions in the evolution of the design process.

Each series in the collection also records the third "Construction Document" phase, during which the final working drawings are developed before being sent to contractors for bids. These drawings are the graphic representation of the written "Specifications," included in the textual records of every series. The "Construction Documents" for each building, which were often revised to show changes after construction began, may be of significant value to historic preservationists or future owners seeking to restore the building to its original condition or adapt it to a new use.

The Gunnar Birkerts and Associates Collection is also significant in its pairing of the visual documentation described above with the textual records of each building, which describe the decisions and actions of the firm during the design and construction process. Thus, scholars can read the program information, specifications, addenda and memoranda associated with the architectural drawings during each chronological stage of the building's design. Written contracts, correspondence, transmittals and field inspection reports further inform historians about the relationship between the firm and its clients, contractors, consulting engineers, landscape architects and sub-contractors, documenting in rich detail the business affairs of a nationally known architectural firm in the second half of the twentieth century. Of particular value within the narrative records of each building series is the "Architect's Conceptual Statement". These statements offer design and history students an opportunity to understand the interchange of objective and subjective influences on Mr. Birkerts' creative process and the solutions which define the architectural character of each building.

The Gunnar Birkerts and Associates Collection is also of exceptional value to scholars because it represents the end of the era of hand-drawn architectural documents. By the end of the twentieth century, many architects have begun to use the computer in the development of design and construction drawings. However, this collection of the original 14 buildings contains only drawings which show the flow of the creative process from the brain, through the hand, to the paper. Even drawings which are marked "void" are retained because, like annotated prints, they show the evolution of the design as the search for architectural solutions begins to define the building. Whereas the use of computer-aided design would undoubtedly delete many intermediary design drawings from a collection, this aggregation of hand-drawn documents shows the artistry and complexity of the creative process. The beauty of the architect's pencil line on delicate tracing paper, smooth vellum and opaque mylar is preserved here for future generations of scholars, just as its use in the late 1990s is being abandoned by many architects.

In 2015, Gunnar Birkerts donated a large collection of 7,840 color 35 mm slides, associated with the design and construction of 123 projects, documenting through photographs the work of his entire career. This additional collection is encompassed in the series titled, "Photographic Slides of Projects."