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The Detroit Observatory, an astronomical observatory on the campus of the University of Michigan, was the vision of University of Michigan President Henry Philip Tappan. He recognized the need for institutions of higher education to pursue scientific endeavors. Built in 1854, the Detroit Observatory was named after the Detroit residents who helped finance the building project. Extensive restoration work of the Observatory was completed in 1999.

The Detroit Observatory record group includes administrative materials of the Observatory's later years (post-1994), including documentation on the Observatory's restoration project and materials encompassing the Observatory's publicity and outreach efforts. The collection also contains various historical documents and artifacts such as logbooks and records, photographs and other visual materials, motion pictures, architectural drawings, and publications. The collection includes all of the documents, artifacts, and records transferred to the Bentley Historical Library in 2005. Materials not physically transferred to the Bentley that remain in the Observatory (such as telescopes, clocks, and associated astronomical devices) have not been identified here, but documentation can be found listed in the various inventories and databases found in the administrative series.

This collection contains the following series: Administrative, Publicity and Outreach, Research, Historical, and Publications.

University of Michigan professor of anthropology; professor of botany; curator of ethnology; and former director of the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology. Well-known for his innovative research in archaeology, ethnobotany, and paleoethnobotany, as well as a long and distinguished teaching career and dedication to public and professional service.

The Richard I. Ford Papers document the professional and personal life of one of the country's most prominent paleoethnobotanists, curator and former director of the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, and longtime University of Michigan professor of Anthropology and Botany. The records in this collection measure 27 linear feet, and date from 1968 to 2005, with the majority of the records from the period 1970 to 1990. The Ford papers are primarily comprised of correspondence, legal filings and consulting materials, lectures and conference presentations, publications, committee and service records, administrative materials, teaching files, and mixed media. The records are arranged into seven series: Correspondence, Legal Consultations, Professional Service and Activities, Teaching, University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, Audio-Visual Materials, and Research, Publications, and Projects.

The collection includes the following series: Kurt P. Oppermann and family papers; Oppermann Fur Company records; collected materials on historic preservation, miscellaneous, Saginaw, Michigan history, and collected papers of others including Bude Volusin, Mabel C. (Scott) de Fere, Marion C. Weir, and Frank Selzer.

The collection is divided into the following series: Papers of Kurt P. Oppermann and his family, the Oppermann Fur Company Records. Materials Kurt largely collected include: Historic Preservation Materials, Miscellaneous Materials, Saginaw Michigan, Materials, and the Papers of Other Saginawians, including: Bude Volusin; Mabel C. (Scott) De Fere; Marion C. Weir; and Frank Selzer.

The collection provides detailed, personal information about Kurt and his family who were pivotal in the fur and newspaper business, as well as in the musical and social life of Saginaw in the late 19th and early 20th century. His interest in history prompted him to collect photographs, blueprints, and other information on Saginaw history, families, and buildings. This is a valuable collection to study family letters and relationships, Germans in Saginaw, Saginaw history, Saginaw buildings, and the fur business in the late 19th and early 20th century.

The Papers of Kurt P. Oppermann are divided into the following subseries: Biographical Materials (.5 cubic ft. in 1 box), including obituaries, funeral cards, published histories on the family, and Kurt’s Account Book, 1939-1941; his Diaries, 1920, 1926, 1936, 1946, and 1970; high school class notes, 1911-1912, and a Seemann and Peters stock certificate, 1946.

Photographic Materials (2 cubic ft. in 4 boxes), includes a wide variety of photographic materials with images of the extended Oppermann, Nerretes, and Peters families and their friends from the 19th century through 1973. Twentieth century reproductions of 18th and 19th century images of Oppermann ancestors are also included. The subseries include an ambrotype, cartes-de-visite, daguerreotypes, glass-plate negatives, various types of film negatives, positive prints, tin types, and both photographic and negative albums. Many of these photographic materials are partially identified. Images show family members in formal poses, in the family yard at 130 N. 6th Street, Saginaw, on fishing trips, at Kurt’s Arrowhead Farm, various trips Kurt took throughout Michigan and Germany from the 1930s through the 1960s, the interior and exterior of the Oppermann family mansion, and Dr. and Mrs. Karl Kangler richly dressed in Arabic costumes for a costume party. The 19th century Cartes-de-visite Album contains images of Oppermann, Nerretes, and Peters family members. Some of the photographs were taken by the Goodridge Bros. and by Armstrong and Rudd’s Gallery. A photograph album, late nineteenth century, is also included with the volumes at the end of the collection.

Personal Correspondence to Oppermann Family Members (approximately 3.25 cubic ft. in 7 boxes) is the next series. The Oppermanns wrote extensively over decades to each other. They loved each other very much and wrote fairly long, detailed letters covering a wide variety of family news such as illnesses, deaths, weddings, homework, bumps and bruises, as well as religious, social, musical, and fur business news.

All correspondence within each subseries in this collection is in chronological order.

Kurt’s letters to his family are divided into: Letters to One or Both Parent and/or Siblings, 1914-1934, and undated (approximately 1 cubic ft. in 1 box); Letters to Friends and Family, 1914-1916, 1918, 1926, 1929 (1 folder); and letters to Letto (Lydia), 1929-1930 (2 additional folders).

Letters to Kurt from his parents are next and include: Letters from both of his parents, 1917; Letters from his Fathers, 1912-1930 (Scattered) and undated (2 folders); and from his Mother, 1914-1935 (approximately 1 cubic ft. in 1 box). Letters between Kurt’s Mother, Nettie (Peters) Oppermann, and her family and friends before her marriage, 1887-1890, and between Nettie and her new husband, Gustav Oppermann, and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Peters, Sr., and her siblings, 1891-1894 (4 folders) are next. These letters are particularly affectionate and tender, proving that her family embraced Gustav into their family and that they loved each other very much.

Letters to and from Kurt and his siblings are next and in general are quite affectionate and full of news of jobs, family members, and the health and accomplishments of their children and grandchildren. The only negatives in the letters occur in the late 1930s over concerns the siblings had that Art was ruining the family fur business and what Kurt should do to save it. Clearly Kurt was believed by his siblings to be the only one with a chance of saving the business, the family reputation, and Art. A description of the letters of the Oppermann siblings is as follows:

Letters of Arthur “Art” P. Oppermann and his wife, Hulda with Kurt, 1910-1927 (Scattered), and undated, and a letter Art sent to the editor of the Saturday Evening Post rebutting insults about Germans and American neutrality, 1915. The letters between Art and Kurt end in 1927. Before 1927 many of the letters talk about family news and the fur business. After 1927, their relationship deteriorated. This was in part due to the other siblings’ widely held view that Art had ruined the family fur business and Art’s bitterness towards Kurt as a result of Kurt’s actions to try to save the business. (5 folders).

Letters with Eugene “Gene” P. Oppermann and his wife, Stella, 1916-1942 (Scattered, 1 folder). Gene and Kurt were quite close and lived together in the old Oppermann family home from 1936 until Gene married. In his letters, Gene encouraged Kurt by November 16, 1936 to push Art onto “the right track” to avoid the disgrace and destitution of the family and for Kurt to impose a system on the business to get it going. He supported Kurt in staying in the family home because he was the only single sibling and had been shunted for years between Saginaw and New York on family business. The letters document a positive, close brotherly relationship between Kurt and Gene.

Letters with Helen “Letto” (Oppermann) Edgerly, 1916-1964, and 1974, and undated (5 folders). She maintained a pleasant relationship with Kurt all her life although they were often physically separated by thousands of miles after 1925.

Letters with Paul “Barney” P. Oppermann, 1916-1975 (Scattered), and undated. (4 folders) These letters like the ones between Kurt and Pat are affectionate, but not unusual.

Letter with Peters “Pat” Oppermann, 1916-1974 or 1975 (Scattered, 1 folder). Like the letters between Barney, these letters are affectionate, but not unusual.

Letters with Robert “Bob” P. Oppermann, and his wife, Stella, 1916-1974. (Scattered, 5 folders). Included here are weekly reports to Bob from Kurt from January through March 1937 that mention the strikes and shutdown automobile plants and the effect of that and the generally poor economy on the Oppermann business. In March 1937 Bob mentioned Kurt’s 18 acres and Kurt mentioned how he needed the good air there.

The subseries concludes with Personal Correspondence [with] Extended Oppermann Family Members. This includes Kurt’s aunts, uncles, cousins, and a niece, 1916-1961. Most of this correspondence consists mainly of family news, with some holiday or birthday greetings. Some of the correspondence with his cousin, Helmut Oppermann, in Germany is in German and some is about family genealogy.

Political Correspondence consists of one folder each of correspondence with Charles “Charlie” Koehler, a Saginaw City Councilman and friend of Kurt’s, 1947-1960; a letter from Kurt to Adolph (surname unknown) protesting his being treated as a city employee, 1942, in regards to being in or helping to organized an orchestra; and correspondence with Stephen J. Roth, the Attorney General of Michigan, 1949-1950.

General Correspondence between Kurt and his friends covers a wide variety of general family and personal news. Like all the correspondence in this collection, it is filed chronologically. It is divided in two sections. First, correspondence with Kurt’s friends with whom he had regular but sporadic correspondence, perhaps one or two letters a year for a decade or so (approximately 1.75 cubic ft. in 4 boxes). The correspondence is fairly regular, 1909-1942, and particularly good during World War I. It is more scattered, 1943-1974, and undated. Some of his good friends that he had extensive correspondence with during the 1920 and 1930s include: Dick Townsend, Jo Polak, Van George, Ben Bartlett, Hazel McMullen, Helen and Jane Runyon, Kate Wolf, Marguerite Geoffrey, Lucile Whitman, George Long, J.W. “Wes” Harrison, Howard “Howdy” Ewen, and Mabel (Scott) de Fere.

Kurt’s brother, Barney, with whom Kurt was very close, also knew and was friends with most of Kurt’s friends of this period. Harriet, Dorothy and Lucile, possibly nurses or patients are sometimes referred to as “the three maidens”. Many of these friends also spent time recovering from illness at Castle Point, and many of them knew each other.

The second section is General Correspondence of friends with whom Kurt extensively corresponded over long periods, on specific topics of research, and with whom he exchanged multiple letters monthly (1 cubic ft. in 2 boxes.) Kurt was friends with all the women, but they were mostly just penpals. His correspondents include: Catherine Ditzler, 1916-1934 (the correspondence ends after she married in June 16, 1934); Dr. W. W. Florer, 1950-1954, and undated, with whom Kurt discussed historic settlement near and in Saginaw; William D. Fueher, 1953, re: German Language in public schools and German communities in Michigan; Jenny Heyne, 1914-1925; Dr. Carl Ibershoff, 1919-1951 (Scattered) and undated (some materials in German); Mollie Jensen, a friend of Kurt’s ex-girlfriend, Christine, who wrote to Kurt through a third friend to avoid scenes with her jealous husband, Norman, whom she finally divorced in 1929, 1927-1934, and undated (2 folders); Myron E. Leppy, 1926-1930; Rita Moloney, 1930-1932, 1939; and Sinfonia Fraternity at the University of Michigan, 1915-1931 (Scattered). Also there is correspondence with Dorothy Miller, 1921-1922, 1925, and undated. Dorothy’s letters indicate that she was Kurt’s girlfriend, but this may have been a long-distance emotional relationship only.

The second largest series in the collection is that of the Oppermann Fur Company Business Records. The records are divided by format into loose papers and smaller volumes that fit into the boxes, and then oversized volumes.

The papers, 1915-1937 and undated (4.5 cubic ft. in 9 boxes) are filed alphabetically by the type of material, and then chronologically. A wide variety of financial records is represented here, including accounts, a ledger, inventories, job receipt books (documenting customers and work they wanted done or items created), mailing lists, lists of prospective customers, publications, sales records, tax receipts, and work notes, among others. It is clear that Kurt examined these records in his effort to try to save the business and that he inherited them when the business closed.

A great strength of this series is the Business Correspondence, 1918-1925. It is divided first in to Business Correspondence with Companies, and then with Customers. Kurt kept the records in roughly alphabetical and chronological order for 1920, 1921, and 1919-1925. The companies include suppliers of furs, leather, beadwork, embroidery silk, buttons, tanning and curing supplies, as well as stationery, food, tools, and office supplies. Companies with whom they conducted extensive or specialized business, such as women’s clothing, and Charles F. Wagner, a fur merchant with Wagner, Jodie and Co., 1919-1924, and with G. Gaudig and Blum Corp., 1923-1925, are filed separately. Many of the fur related businesses had beautiful stationery with various animals and furs, as well as images of their establishments. Filed with some of the correspondence are catalog books, fliers, business cards, and swatches of material.

Sixteen Oversized Volumes of business records, 1888-1934 (approximately 5 cubic ft.), document both the Saginaw and Flint Oppermann fur stores. The volumes are physically located at the end of the collection. The volumes include an Account Receivable Book, Day Books, a HUGE, very heavy Scrapbook of advertising and fur business information on the Oppermanns, A. J. Jaeckel and Company, and other fur companies mainly in New York City, Job Receipt Books, and Ledgers, two of which are indexed, and two others which include inventories of the Flint Store. Many of the advertisements in the Scrapbook are from various Saginaw newspapers.

A third series in the collection is Historic Preservation Materials (.5 cubic ft. in 1 box). This consists of materials Kurt accumulated or generated to create public interest and organizations, including the Heritage Foundation Association, the Saginaw Historical Building Foundation, and the Saginaw Historical Heritage Committee, all of which Kurt helped found, to save old Saginaw buildings, 1949-1962. Among the buildings of interest to him and his friends were the Webber House, which is extensively documented here, the Saginaw Civic Center, the Old Saginaw Auditorium, and the Arthur P. Hill High School. Unfortunately for Kurt, many people in Saginaw had little money or interest at the time to save the buildings which were destroyed. Also documented here are the efforts of white people in historic areas of Saginaw to prevent their property from being purchased by African Americans in the early 1960s. This effort is documented in the Johnson-Lapeer-Janes Neighborhood folders. At first Kurt created an advertising draft that was blatantly racist to get supporters. The draft was amended after advice from a friend of Kurt’s who was on the city commission.

The Miscellaneous series (.5 cubic ft. in 1 box) includes mostly Kurt’s correspondence with various people, including his apartment manager, letters to the editor of the Saginaw News, 1936-1957 (Scattered) on a variety of topics, and a collection of lovely, undated greeting cards, as well as one folder of Kurt’s miscellaneous poetry, 1911-1973, and undated.

The Saginaw, Michigan, Materials (1 cubic ft. in 2 boxes) consists of advertising fliers on auctions, 1960-1965; and meeting minutes and attachments of various Saginaw committees and boards, including the Christian Business Men’s Committee; the Saginaw Board of Appeals on Zoning, 1955-1960 and 1968; Saginaw City Council, 1953-1959 (Scattered); and information on Saginaw Schools and the Saginaw Sewer Construction Progress Reports, December 1955-February 1959.

A few legal-size items, mainly legal items, are found in Box 30 due to their size. Items of particular interest include correspondence regarding Kurt’s tuberculosis claim, 1924-1969 (Scattered); legal papers of Kurt and other family members, 1936-1968; and Oppermann Fur Co. Advertisements, Sketches, and Fur Business related Materials, 1920-1939, and undated.

The last series in the collection is Papers of Other Saginawians. Mabel C. (Scott) De Fere’s papers came to Kurt after she died. Other papers, including those of the family of Bude Volusin Kurt either collected or people gave the papers to him knowing of his interest in Saginaw history. Included here are some letters of the family of Bude Volusin, a Saginaw architect and builder, 1853-1871 (some in German). The papers of Kurt’s longtime friend and Saginaw teacher Mabel C. (Scott) De Fere (April 10, 1899-March 15, 1968) include her Correspondence, Biographical Materials, Certificates, a Diploma, and Teaching Materials as well as numerous Photographs and other materials documenting her family and friends in Bergland, Michigan. Mabel married Tom De Fere by 1926. They divorced by June 4, 1936. One letter notes that Kurt and Mabel became engaged on January 5, 1939, but they apparently never married. Mabel loaned Kurt over $700 by 1942, at which time Kurt considered her co-owner of Kurt’s Arrowhead farm. The papers of Marion C. Weir consist mostly of his published and unpublished poetry and correspondence with Kurt, 1917-1959. His published poetry was published by the Oppermann Fur Company. Lastly, in the Oversized Volumes there is an account book of Frank Selzer, a Saginaw artist and probably a lithographer, 1930-1941, documenting companies, people and newspapers for which/whom he did artwork.

Due to size, a few items have been placed in Oversized Folders immediately before the Oversized Volumes. These include Folder #1, Webber House Blueprints (copies, 2), 1960; Oppermann Fur Co., Advertising, Sketches, etc., 1926, 1933-1934, and undated; and Certificates and a Diploma of Mabel C. (Scott) de Fere, 1914, 1916-1917, and 1936.

Corporate records of C.J.L. Meyer of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and Hermansville, Michigan, manufacturer of doors, lumber for sashes, hardwood flooring, and related products; records of the William Mueller Company of Escanaba and LaBranche, Michigan, a firm taken over by Wisconsin Land and Lumber in 1909. Financial journals, ledgers, inventories, payroll ledgers; letterbooks of C.J.L. Meyer, Edwin P. Radford, company superintendent, and of other company officials; office correspondence files; and photographs.

This record group which came from the Wisconsin Land and Lumber Company in Hermansville, Michigan is in fact an accumulation of records from three distinct business enterprises. First, there are records of C.J.L. Meyer business enterprises in Chicago and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Next are records maintained in Hermansville with the establishment of the Wisconsin Land and Lumber Company in the 1870s. A third, smaller portion of the records are from the William Mueller Company, which WLL purchased in 1909.

When originally received in 1948, the records consisted of nearly 500 volumes of business journals and ledgers, time books, and letterpress books. During 1979-1981, the library began a program of microfilming to reduce the size of the record group. With the permission of the company, records that had been microfilmed were discarded. Also discarded were records duplicative in content of the records on microfilm. Other records were retained in the original without filming. The record group then consisted of 53 reels of microfilm representing approximately 112 volumes of business records, 65 oversized volumes, and 42 linear feet of boxed records (volumes, letterpress books, and correspondence files). In 2006, the library received additional microfilm (18 rolls) and digital materials containing scanned images of the photographs in the possession of the IXL Museum, which is the repository for the records of the company not received with the first accession. These records, which were retained, include personal correspondence of C.J.L. Meyer, some records of Meyer prior to the establishment of WLL, and records then considered current or of continuing value to the operation of the company.

The record group has been arranged as much as possible into series, but the researcher should note that identification of individuals volumes or files was not as certain as one would like. Thus, for example, there are various ledgers and journals, some with overlapping dates, but it was not always clear where these records were created or what function or division within the firm they documented. The fact that the company retained some of the earlier records accounts in part for what appear to be broken series. Further complicating the structure of the following finding aid is the interspersing of microfilmed materials and oversize volumes. Similar kinds of records (such as time books), for example, are thus found both in original and on microfilm.

As much as possible, like kinds of records have been kept to together (letterpress books, etc.). These are followed by records known to be created by a specific organization or maintained in a specific locale (e.g. Fond du Lac). The series in the record group are: Letterpress books (mainly business correspondence); Letterpress books (mainly business correspondence); Inventories, order books, etc.; C. J. L. Meyer Business Records; Wisconsin Land and Lumber Company; William Mueller Company; Photographs; and IXL Museum additions.

In 2007, the IXL Museum of Hermansville, Michigan, successor to the company and custodian of additional records of the Wisconsin Land and Lumber Company, entered into agreement with the Bentley Library to exchange microfilm of selected portions of the records housed in the other's repository. In addition, the two repositories agreed that the Bentley Library would place on indefinite loan to the IXL Museum the originals of WLL photographs in its possession, and that the IXL Museum would donated to the Bentley Library digital copies of all of the many hundreds of photographs in its collection.

Historian and archivist at the University of Michigan, archivist of the United States, dean of the University of Michigan School of Information and Library Studies. Records, 1980-1985, detailing his activities as Archivist of the United States; documentation prepared by Warner in 1972 and submitted to the Indian Claims Commission relating primarily to Indian land claims in Michigan and Ohio; files detailing archival career interests, as director of the Michigan Historical Collections (now Bentley Historical Library) and as a member of the Society of American Archivists.

The Robert M. Warner Papers date from 1945 to 2007. These materials primarily highlight Warner's lengthy professional career, documenting his various teaching and administrative positions at the University of Michigan, his appointment as Archivist of the United States and the subsequent administration at the National Archives. Also documented is the appointment of his successor at the National Archives, his return to the University of Michigan as Dean of the School of Information and Library Science, and his activities on various boards and foundations after his retirement. Much of the records documenting his tenure as the director of the Michigan Historical Collections (now the Bentley Historical Library) can be found under the official Bentley Historical Library record group.

The Robert M. Warner collection has been divided into ten series: Biography; Correspondence; Indian Court Claims; National Archives; School of Information and Library Science and Dean of the Michigan Library Systems; Teaching Materials and Scholarly Research; Professional Activities, Speeches; Scrapbooks and Scrapbook Materials, and Audio-Visual Material.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, businessman and attorney, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party State Central Committee, U. S. Congressman-at-large, 1963-1964, gubernatorial candidate in 1964, member of the U. S. Federal Election Commission, 1975-1978. Chronological, congressional and topical files relating to political and personal activities; include political files detailing state election campaigns 1948-1964, particularly the campaigns of G. Mennen Williams and John B. Swainson; also photographs and transcript of oral interview, 1979.

Neil Staebler first began donating his files to the Michigan Historical Collections of the University of Michigan in 1961 following his eleven year tenure as chairman of the Democratic Party State Central Committee. Periodically thereafter and continuing into the 1970s, Staebler continued to add to his collection with Congressional papers (1963-1964), campaign files when he ran for governor in 1964, topical records created from his years of service with the Democratic National Committee (see attached vita), and records from his term as commissioner on the Federal Election Commission (1975-1978).

This collection comprised of twelve series documents Staebler's career and the course of Democratic politics since World War II. Since Staebler was principally an organizer of campaigns, a behind-the-scenes manager who preferred to handle the details of an election rather than to step into the candidate's spotlight himself, the collection concerns all phases of a successful campaign not just the posturings of the party's candidates. There is, for example, much information relating to the day-to-day operations of the party, i.e. fund-raising activities, the annual Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner, the formulation of the party's platform and related resolutions at the Spring and Fall conventions, and the activities of party-related special interest organizations.

The Finnish Collection consists of 100 reels of microfilm concerning Finnish-American Churches, Labor Societies, Temperance Organizations, and other materials from the United States and Canada. The collection is the result of a joint project between the Bentley Library, Suomi College (now Finlandia University), and the University of Turku, Finland, coordinated in 1974-75.

The Suomi College Finnish-American Collection is comprised of 100 reels of microfilm containing records from 151 separate organizations (68 of which are located in Michigan). These organizations are comprised of the following kinds of records:

1. Church materials: 62 record groups (32 from Michigan)
2. Labor societies: 9 record groups (0 from Michigan)
3. Temperance materials: 61 record groups (26 from Michigan

Other organizations, including educational, relief, musical, athletic, national, historical societies, publishing companies, and some personal: 19 record groups (10 from Michigan)

Because the materials have been filmed in a random order, an index at the end of the container listing has been prepared to guide the researcher to specific kinds of records: church, temperance, etc.

Reports and administrative records of WPA project to survey historical records in Michigan; includes correspondence, drafts of guides to county archives, proceedings of county boards of supervisors, field reports of workers, and copies of land patents for some counties; also material relating to the history of Blacks in Michigan.

The Historical Records Survey record group documents the activities and the product of the legions of depression era workers who inventoried the records held in county courthouses, municipal offices some private repositories. The records include correspondence, drafts of guides to county archives, proceedings of county boards of supervisors, field reports of workers, and copies of land patents for some counties; also material relating to the history of Blacks in Michigan.

Originally the H.R.S. records transferred to the Michigan Historical Collections measured about 121 linear feet. After processing, the collection consisted of 26 feet of records relating to the H.R.S. and 65 feet of transcripts of county and municipal records. Of the remaining 30 feet, 29.5 feet of duplicate, extraneous, or insignificant materials were discarded (described in more detail further on) and approximately half of a linear foot of printed material was transferred to the library's printed collection.

The H.R.S. material has been divided into the following series:

1. Survey of County Records
2. Survey of Municipal Records
3. Survey of Federal Records
4. Survey of State Records
5. WPA Project Files
6. Manuscripts Survey
7. Inventory of Negro Manuscripts
8. Transcripts of County Records
9. Transcripts of Municipal Records
10. Photographs
11. Historical Records Survey Correspondence
12. Survey Forms of 1987 Survey of Records in Counties and Municipalities.

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."

Volney H. Jones was a leading ethnobotanist and served as Curator of Ethnology at the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology from 1945 to 1969. The papers include correspondence with ethnobotanists and anthropologists, including Edward F. Castetter and Leslie A. White, administrative files, biographical information on anthropologists, teaching files for Jones' courses within the Department of Anthropology, and notes for unpublished textbooks on ethnobotany. The papers also include correspondence with Chase S. Osborn, Stellanova B. Osborn, and Milo M. Quaife concerning a project to establish a Friends of the Michigan Indian organization, and correspondence and reports from Ted Bank concerning the University of Michigan expeditions to the Aleutian Islands.

The Volney H. Jones Papers include correspondence with ethnobotanists and anthropologists, including Edward F. Castetter and Leslie A. White, administrative files, biographical information on anthropologists, teaching files for Jones' courses within the Department of Anthropology, and notes for unpublished textbooks on ethnobotany. The papers also include correspondence with Chase S. Osborn, Stellanova B. Osborn, and Milo M. Quaife concerning a project to establish a Friends of the Michigan Indian organization, and correspondence and reports from Ted Bank concerning the University of Michigan expeditions to the Aleutian Islands. The Jones papers are comprised of eight series: Correspondence, Administrative Files, Biographies and Bibliographies, Teaching Files, Culture Areas and Ethnobotany Textbook Files, Hopi Research Files and Maize Research.