Collections : [University of Michigan Special Collections Research Center]

The Broadside Press records include correspondence, typescripts, broadsides, books, financial records, audiovisual material, photographs, realia, and other printed material. These records document a portion of the history of the Detroit-based African-American-owned publisher of poetry broadside, anthologies and other works.

The Broadside Press records include correspondence, typescripts, broadsides, books, financial records, audiovisual material, photographs, realia, and other printed material. The ten linear feet span the years 1968 to 1998, with the bulk of materials falling between 1985 and 1996. Records are arranged in ten series: Correspondence (0.5 linear feet), Book Production Material (1 linear foot), Broadsides (0.25 linear feet), Programs and Events (0.5 linear feet), Business Records (1 linear foot), Financial Records (1 linear foot), Photographic Material (0.5 linear feet), Audiovisual Material (0.5 linear feet), Ephemera (1.5 linear feet), and Realia (.25 linear feet).

Founded by Hermann A. Brunn in Buffalo, New York, Brunn & Company were designers and builders of automotive bodies from the 1920s through the early 1940s, and are best known for the bodies constructed for the Lincoln Division of the Ford Motor Company. Brunn also built automobiles for private individuals, many of whom were well-known members of American business and society circles, including J.C. Penney and J.P. Morgan. Hermann C. Brunn, son of Hermann A., produced numerous designs for the company, and then continued his career at the Ford Motor Company following the closing of Brunn & Company in 1941. The collection documents the work of Brunn & Company, Hermann A. Brunn, and Hermann C. Brunn, through engineering drawings, photographs, paint and upholstery samples, customer order records, correspondence, and research materials.

The Brunn collection has been divided into four series: Correspondence, Design and Engineering, Images, and Sales and Marketing.

The Correspondence series is arranged alphabetically by correspondent and then chronologically within each file. The letters are primarily from customers to Hermann A. Brunn expressing appreciation for the work done on their vehicles. Letters that are circa 1970 includes material written by and sent to Hermann C. Brunn during his employment at Ford Motor Company, and in regards to modern restorations of Brunn vehicles. In cases where a specific vehicle can be identified, the correspondence has been filed with the photographic images of that particular vehicle. Some of the letters were part of a scrapbook and many letters are glued to the same page, as a result at the end of correspondence there are several letters listed together which indicates they are glued together and in the same folder.

The Design and Engineering series is divided into three subseries: Brunn & Company Drawings, Other Drawings, and Hermann C. Brunn. The material in the series consists primarily of drawings produced by Brunn & Company illustrating the various body designs produced by the firm, which are, for the most part, reproductions, or blueprints. The drawings show the left (driver) side elevation of the vehicle and, in some cases, include a plan view of the interior layout. Dimensions, if shown, detail the passenger interior space. The name, or initials, of the designer, customer name, and notes detailing specific vehicle configuration and trim can be found on many of the drawings. The drawings have been arranged alphabetically by make of chassis, then chronologically by date drawn and design number. Data for body style, model, chassis wheelbase in inches, engine configuration, order number, and customer name has also been included in the file title, where known. The Other Drawings subseries consist of a smaller number of drawings that originate from other manufacturers, including General Motors and the Ford Motor Company. The Hermann C. Brunn subseries consists of materials created by Hermann C. Brunn in the period after the closing of Brunn & Company, and includes a manuscript for an article describing the history of the brougham body style.

The Images series is divided into five subseries: Negatives; Vehicles, Brunn & Company; Vehicles Other, Non-vehicle, Brunn & Company; and Non-vehicle, Other. Image formats include black and white, and color, photographic prints and negatives. The bulk of the subjects are Brunn & Company vehicles, with images illustrating the exterior of completed automobiles. In many cases the prints and negatives are marked with the vehicle order number and many images are loose pages from a scrapbook. Images of body construction, interior, and body detail are captured for some vehicles. Non-vehicle subjects include the [1929] Paris, France, Auto Salon. Non-Brunn & Company subjects include several of images of the Aqua Cheetah, an amphibious vehicle built for the United States Army by the Amphibian Car Corporation. Another group of photographs are labeled “Best of Brunn” I and II which are an assortment of photos from various car models.

The Sales and Marketing series consists of brochures, print advertisements, owner lists, price lists, and a number of large-format upholstery and paint samples. The series also includes a Customer Order Book for 1935-1937. This journal records all vehicles built by Brunn & Company during that time period, with entries for order number, order date, body style, model number, customer name, body number, trim and paint specification, intermediate construction dates, and vehicle completion dates.

The Bunyan Bryant Papers hold documents related to anti-discrimination activities in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area, as well as national efforts through the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), from 1961-1965. Efforts in Ann Arbor center on housing at Pittsfield Village, Arbordale Manor, and include documentation on city-wide fair housing efforts and policies.

The Bunyan Bryant Papers hold documents related to anti-discrimination activities in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area, as well as national efforts through the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), from 1961-1965. Efforts in Ann Arbor center on housing at Pittsfield Village, Arbordale Manor, and include documentation on city-wide fair housing efforts and policies. Also present are materials related to racial discrimination at commercial entities such as Seyfried Bridal, Students Friend Discount Barber, and Thompson's restaurant. The documentation holds information about activities that includes correspondence, legal efforts, sit-ins, marches, and picketing.

The Fair Housing series contains documents related to city-wide anti-discrimination planning and policy. AAAFHA Pittsfield Village (Ann Arbor Area Fair Housing Association) is a series that holds materials related to fighting racial discrimination in housing. The AAAFHA-CORE (Ann Arbor Area Fair Housing Association - Congress of Racial Equality) includes information about the Ann Arbor, Michigan chapter of CORE and their activities fighting racial discrimination in housing, education, and commerce. Of note are materials related to a sit-in at City Hall, and documents related to Seyfried Bridal. The Arbordale Manor Housing Discrimination folder holds documentation about discriminatory housing practices when Bunyan Bryant was denied housing based on his race. It includes formal complaints, legal documentation, and correspondence, as well as documents calling for demonstrations. The CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) series contains materials related to the national CORE organization, its relationship with local chapters, policies, and the 1964 and 1965 national conventions. The Jones School Closure (Ann Arbor, Michigan) series includes newspaper clippings of articles related to education and segregation. The Miscellaneous series holds materials not related specifically to the other series that are relevant to racial equality efforts.

Formerly the Tom Mooney Labor School, the records consist of correspondence, minutes of faculty meetings, faculty committee reports, financial records and fundraising materials, promotional flyers and press releases, student publications, course outlines and course announcement flyers, school term schedules from 1950 to 1955, and a transcript of the proceedings of a forum, "Industry and Labor in the Postwar World," held on July 26, 1944. Included are letters to Yehudi Menuhin and Isaac Stern concerning support of a music department at CLS. The school was investigated in 1946 by the Tenney Committee, the California legislature's Joint Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities, on the charge that an institute jointly held by CLS and the University of California was Communist-sponsored. However, the only indication of this fact in the records is brief mention in the faculty meeting minutes.

The records of the California Labor School(CLS) are comprised of materials documenting the educational programs, activities, and events of the school. The records are organized into four series: Academic Files, Office Files, School Promotion, and School Publications. Records of particular interest are pamphlets found in the School Publications series, which include essays, speeches, stories, plays, and even a book of early songs by Malvina Reynolds. Researchers will also find notable historical facts on the CLS in the Press Releases and Ephemera folder of the School Promotion series.

Correspondence, manuscripts, publications, and ephemera from award-winning novelist, journalist, and anarchist Cara Hoffman.

The correspondence series contains digital correspondence between Hoffman and colleagues, as well as letters sent to Hoffman. The creator separated digital correspondence from Goddard College, Jon Frankel, and Rachel Pollack from other letters. These correspondents' folders are arranged alphabetically. Their back-and-forth with Hoffman largely consists of discussions about craft or admissions to Goddard College. Additional correspondence is ordered chronologically. Many letters date from the 80s and 90s and concern the personal lives of Hoffman's correspondents.

The Works series consists of notes, manuscripts, proofs, and publications of Hoffman's novels, short stories, and articles. Materials are grouped by work. The bulk of materials relate to Hoffman's most recent novel, Running, which is based loosely on her early travels in Greece in the 1980s and 1990s.

The collection also includes 5 of Hoffman's personal journals, dating from 2000 to roughly 2018. These journals include notes and writings related to Hoffman's writing process and her work on her MFA. Following the journals are Hoffman's Goddard diploma and handful of ephemera from Hoffman's travels.

Carl Nold was a German-born anarchist who was involved in the Homestead Strike (1892) and served prison time for being involved in the plot to assasinate Henry Clay Frick. This collection is comprised of his correspondence, some photos, news clippings, articles about or by Nold, and court documents.

Papers of this German immigrant anarchist include correspondence, an essay entitled "Six Pathfinders," and court documents for indictments of Henry Bauer and Carl Nold by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the 1892 cases resulting from the attempted assassination of Henry C. Frick by Alexander Berkman. Among the correspondents are Hippolyte Havel, A. Isaac, Harry M. Kelly, Kate Rotchek, as well as Lucy Parsons, whose letters concern anarchists, the International Labor Defense, and criticism of Emma Goldman's autobiography. Also included are poems and an essay by Robert Reitzel, a photo, and a scrapbook about Reitzel's death. The papers are in English and German.