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This is an extended family collection collected by Ken "Casey" Carstens, documenting his Carstens, Raney, Bloch, and Wicke family members.

This is an extended family collection collected by Ken “Casey” Carstens, documenting his Carstens, Raney, Bloch, and Wicke family members. The collection is in original order, divided by series by the names of families, couples, or individuals and then by size, alphabetically, and chronologically. Materials in the collection include textual and photographic materials. Textual materials include letters and emails, vital records, family trees, reunion materials, information from Ancestery.com, and U.S. service members’ documents. Books in the collection include family Bibles with family history written into them, religious texts, family histories, and books documenting the history of non-Michigan areas and people related to the family’s history. Photographic materials include photographs, negatives, photograph albums, scrapbooks, and audio and video recordings in several formats. There are also drawings by family members, including children. Some of the materials are in German, which is noted in the folder labels.

Series in the collection include: Anna and William Carstens Scrapbooks; Calvin and Dottie Carstens Scrapbooks and Photograph Albums; Calvin Z. “Cal” Carstens papers; William John Carstens, Jr. papers; Ranney and Bloch families materials; William and Anna Carstens and their family papers: Anna Wicke Carstens papers; Ernestine Wick papers; Rev. Heinrich Wicke papers; Marie Wicke papers; and Elizabeth Vandevoord papers.

Anna and William Carstens Scrapbooks:

There are three volumes of scrapbooks, 1986-1992. Each volume contains family photographs primarily of their children Calvin, Robert, Aldor, William, Delores, Marjorie, and Edwin; of World War I and early twentieth century baseball, newspaper clippings, postcards, and other topics. Photographs are well documented and identified. Volume pages were removed from binders and foldered during archival processing.

Calvin and Dottie Carstens Scrapbooks and Photograph Albums

There are four volumes of scrapbooks and three volumes of photograph albums. The scrapbooks span 1920 to 1960. Each volume contains family photographs primarily of Cal and Dottie and their children Mike, Ken (Casey), and Diane, with newspaper clippings, postcards. The photograph albums span 1985-1986 and 1996-1999. These volumes contain family photographs in Michigan and Cal and Dottie’s travels in the U.S., to Washington University (where Ken earned his master’s and Ph.D.), the Grand Canyon, and the Pacific Northwest. Photographs in scrapbooks and albums are well identified and annotated by Ken Carstens and family. Volume pages were removed from binders and foldered during archival processing.

Calvin Z. “Cal” Carstens papers:

Many materials in this series relate to the history of Cal’s life and the family histories he created in the late 1990s, with related materials. This series includes four diaries, 1939-2016, with the exception of most of 1944. The diary entries are mostly daily, but become more scattered in later years, and describe Cal’s daily life. These diaries were later turned into a multi-volume family history about Cal and Dottie’s lives with many photographs from throughout their lives. Other compiled histories include one volume about Cal’s parents, a three-page history of Pinconning railroads, and a history of Jonathan “Zeno” Theodore Carstens’ life given to Cal by his children. Digital copies of some of these compiled histories are in Box 7. There are copies of news clippings about Cal’s fifteenth mission, the opening of Sportsmen’s Airfield, Cal rescuing ice fishermen from an ice float, photographs of Carstens veterans, a photograph of Cal Carstens, his siblings, and classmates at Rhodes School, and Al Hoffman, a Michigan pilot and good friend of Cal. The series also includes several other bibliographic materials for several people. These include a copy of Cal’s Baptismal record, two church records for Wilhelm Johann Carstens in German, Edwin “Jack” John Carstens’ obituary and a church bulletin from the funeral, and Michael “Mike” Robert Carstens’ obituary and a police report about his death. There is also correspondence to Cal and Dottie, including letters from the Carstens’ old family friends from Rhodes, giving recollections of the 1920s and 1930s to help Cal with his research and from a Norwegian friend who visited Pinconning in 1965, recalling her visit with the Carstens. This series also contains two CD audio recordings of conversations between Cal and his parents. There are also many family photographs, primarily 1980s-1990s. Additional photographs are on the VHS tape.

The 1989 VHS videotape of 1950-1989 Carstens family slides includes color slides of Dottie, Cal, Ken (Casey), and Mike from San Antonio, Texas, the base, planes, family activities, swimming, parades, hunting, fishing, canoeing, archery, caverns, parties, picnics, holidays, local events, and the birth of their sister, Diane, who is then documented in the rest of the slides. The rest of the slides are mostly in Pinconning with lots of snow scenes and winter activities, with extended family, family and local events, including church, Christmas, birthdays, First Communion, high school graduation, CMU Commencement and images inside CMU Museum, Ken’s archaeology presentation display, family trips to Mackinaw, Tahquamenon Falls, Niagara Falls, Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, Hartwick Pines in Grayling, and Detroit Tigers games. The video ends with the boys’ dates, engagements, weddings, and grandbabies. Additionally, there is a 2-volume CD set recording of the VHS tape.

The June 2024 addition to the collection includes wedding CDs, Kenneth “Casey” Carstens’ sister, Diane, and his son, Jason. Diane’s CD is an audio recording and Jason’s CD is still photographs.

William John Carstens, Jr. papers:

Materials in this series are mostly related to William John Carstens, Jr. and some to Ken and David Carstens. There are several handmade and printed school graduation bulletins from William’s middle and high schools. His World War II service is documented by a photograph album and honorable discharge card, several individual photographs, and many items in the oversized scrapbook. His Flight Record and Log Book are a record of his flight dates and locations as a private pilot and contains a photograph of a biplane. Materials documenting his time playing baseball as a pitcher in the NEML, include several photographs, a newspaper clipping, and many items in the scrapbook. In 1964, William was temporarily stranded on an ice float in Saginaw Bay. There are a few newspaper clippings about the event and it is retold in his Magline employee of the month article. There is a photograph of William’s son, David Carstens, while in military service. There is a newspaper clipping about Ken Carstens, nephew of William, and his involvement in the creation of an archaeology program at CMU. A letter from Casey [Ken Carstens] to Uncle Bill [William] from July 19, 1992, contains two stone projectile points.

Ranney and Bloch families materials:

This series contains materials related to the Ranney and Bloch families. Many of the materials were found and compiled by Ken Carstens, who was researching genealogy for his mother, Dorothy “Dottie” (Bloch) Carstens. Her mother was Maria (Ranney) Bloch. Some of the materials in this series are print offs from genealogical research websites such as Ancestry.com and Find A Grave.

For Dottie’s 90th birthday, Ken and his siblings gifted her a Ranney Family History. It covers 11 generations back to Thomas Ranney (1578-1650). The History contains an opening letter from Ken, a history of English Puritans and their relocation to North America, a chronology and genealogy of the Ranney line, a history of several American Revolutionary War battles (Bunker Hill, White Plains, and Saratoga) that a Ranney ancestor may have fought in, a history of the ship Oliver Cromwell on which Amos Ranney served as the assistant carpenter, a history of the 23rd Michigan Infantry in which William E. Ranney (Dottie’s grandfather) served, newspaper clippings about Clyde E. Ranney (Dottie's father) being in trouble for illegal gambling in 1940, and annotated family photographs, which may be copies from Cal’s compiled family history books.

Dottie Carstens material in the series are her high school yearbook, a copy of her diploma, a booklet from her fiftieth-year high school reunion, and materials related to her Daughters of the American Revolution application and membership. The Carstens had spent several years applying for membership for Dottie using Amos Ranney (Sr.) as her ancestral link to the war. A letter from Ken to Dottie showed excitement at the prospect of the application being accepted soon and noted that they were the first from Amos’ lineage to apply (in other words, Amos Ranney was new to the D.A.R.’s records). Ultimately, Dottie gained membership through her ancestor Moses Hawley. There are also family photographs of Dottie, Marie, Emil Bloch, and their families.

Marie (Ranney) Bloch materials include a letter from Arnie and Marion to Dottie and Cal about how Marie’s U.S. citizenship was obtained and the family’s connection to Germany and Kurland, a brief history of Marie written by Dottie, a CD and Cassette recordings of Marie playing the piano, her death certificate, obituary, and a funeral card. The CD recording can be accessed with Windows Media Player Legacy.

Bloch family genealogical materials are a copy of a ship manifest from the vessel Emil Bloch traveled to the United States on and a couple CDs containing Bloch family photographs and the emails they were sent with from Micheal Field to Cal and Ken Carstens. The files on these CDs are Outlook files and can be accessed with Outlook.

Ranney family genealogical materials include family print outs from the Find A Grave website about Thomas Ranney I, Thomas Ranney II, John Ranney I, and Amos Ranney (Jr.); a copy of the obituary for George E. Ranney who was a prominent doctor in Lansing, MI, three records from Ancestry.com about Nathaniel Ranney, records from Ancestry.com on Amos Ranney (Sr.) including basic genealogical information from family histories, birth records, and federal census data, several Revolutionary War service records of his involvement with Connecticut’s first battalion state regiment and the fifth company in the ninth Connecticut battalion, a death record for his wife listed as “Mrs. Ranney,” copies from Ancestry.com of correspondence between Charles Adams and The Bureau of Pensions concerning Amos’ war pension, and genealogical information about Andrew Ranney, the son of famous painter Willaim Ranney, from Ancestry.com and the 1880 federal census. The series also contains parts A and B of ‘Middletown Upper Houses’ by Charles Collard Adams which contains genealogical information on the Ranneys which was used by Ken during his research.

Five books about the artworks of famous painter William Ranney (1813-1857) and a CD of Lisa playing Christmas Carols on a piano in 1983 and 1985 complete this series. The CD can be accessed using Windows Media Player Legacy.

William and Anna Carstens and their family papers:

This series contains materials related to William and Anna Carstens and their family. Biographical information about them comes from their funeral cards, William’s obituary, Anna’s written recollections of her youth from birth to young adulthood, and a 1914 postcard she wrote to her mother in German. There are newspaper clippings about William and Anna’s 50th wedding anniversary and William’s bowling association. There are several photographs of the pair, William’s General Store, his World War I medals, his baseball team, and Anna’s childhood home. There is a genealogy of their family, compiled by their grandson Ken Carstens, with materials he gathered in creating it. Among these materials are: a plat map of William’s father’s 80-acre farm, genealogical information about William and Anna’s son, Jonathan “Zeno” Carstens, family history forms that relatives mailed to Ken, a letter to Ken from a German researcher about the Carstens family’s history in Germany, a family tree and several photographs of the Bloch family that were emailed to Ken’s mother from her cousin, a Wicke family tree, Fred Rohr’s obituary, family wedding invitations and baby announcements, newspaper articles about William’s brother Otto and William’s grandson Mike, and family photographs with people in them identified. There is also correspondence to Ken from relatives about family history and creating a bench memorial for William and Anna Carstens in Pinconning.

Anna Wicke Carstens papers:

This series documents Anna Wicke Carstens and her husband, William (Bill) Carstens Sr. Photographs of Anna, William, Marie Ranna, Grandfather William with Grandmother Ida, daughter Ida, and the old Rhodes schoolhouse are included. Personal correspondence to Anna are written in German. Additional correspondence concerns a park bench memorial for both Anna and William Carstens in their native town of Pinconning, planned by their grandson, Ken Carstens. Anna’s obituary and memorial guestbook, William Carsten’s obituary, and selected pages from Bentley Township Centennial 1892-1992 about the Carstens family home, Carstens store, Rhodes schoolhouse, and registered Carsten voters in the 1892-1919 period complete the series. A CD of the full Bentley Township Centennial 1892-1992 is in Box 7.

Ernestine Wick papers:

This series contains the drawings and poetry collections of Ernestine Wicke, her Im Kreise der Kinder book, and writings. Also included are Wicke family, Merle family, and Keller family photographs and a marriage license for Gustav Keller and Anna Martha Wicke Keller.

Rev. Heinrich Wicke papers:

This series documents the Reverend and his family via Bibles, journals, letters, poems, and assorted writings. Materials that are in German are so noted on the folders. The series is organized alphabetically and chronologically. The books, Die Bibel and Die heilige Schrift, both contain family history. His Writings and Muses was translated from the original German into an English booklet by his great-grandson Ken Carstens, as a gift to Ken’s father, Cal Carstens. A CD of Wicke/Merle family history provides more insight into the family. Some of the Bible Passages booklet pages are covered in tape and very acidic.

Marie Wicke papers:

Materials in this series mainly relate to Marie Wicke, with some folders documenting her daughters, Elizabeth and Ernestine, as well as more general family information. This series includes Marie’s Obituary and Memorial Guestbook, a Carsten’s family Forget-Me-Not book (in German, and a German Hymn book given to the family by a friend. The majority of her papers are in the form of letters written in German by her brother, Fritz Merle. Also included in this series are other Wicke family letters, photographs, books, obituaries, memory cards, and memory books.

Elizabeth Vandevoord papers:

This series contains Elizabeth (Wicke) Vandevoord’s correspondence with her mother, other scattered correspondence, a photograph, handwritten prayers, obituaries, memory cards, and a family photograph.

Processing Notes:

During processing approximately 3 cubic feet of peripheral and miscellaneous material, duplicate photographs, and objects were withdrawn from the collection and transferred to the CMU Museum. Nine titles were separately cataloged. Books which related to non-Michigan family history were retained within the boxes of the collection.

This is the official collection of Central Michigan University’s Orchesis Dance Troupe, and also documents the CMU career of its found, Yvette Birs Crandall, and her impact on Orchesis and its students, performances, practices, workshops, and social events, mainly 1967-2010, with a few materials postdating that through 2023.

This is the official collection of Central Michigan University’s Orchesis Dance Troupe, and also documents the CMU career of its found, Yvette Birs Crandall, and her impact on Orchesis and its students, performances, practices, workshops, and social events, mainly 1967-2010, with a few materials postdating that through 2023. The collection also includes a small amount of material documenting earlier CMU dance instructors, including Grace Ryan, country dancing classes, and performances, formal dances, possibly Sadie Hawkins dances, as well as social dances at CMU, 1928-1967, in photographs and a scrapbook, which Crandall likely inherited from prior CMU instructors. Yvette’s Wisconsin and CMU University papers and research materials, related to movement and dance, and photographs of and clippings about her (see Box 1) and her published reviews on music, dance, and theatre in the Midland Daily News, 1991-1992 (see Box 5) complete the collection. A list of performances was compiled by Archivist Marian Matyn from documentation in the collection and is found in Orchesis, Programs, 1969-1979 (in Box 2).

Nearly complete, the collection provides excellent documentation of Orchesis and how crucial Crandall was to its success and vitality. All aspects or Orchesis are documented in this collection including advertising, auditions, welcoming or “initiations” of new members, graduating senior events, performances, choreographer’s workshops, social events, travels, competitions, training, backstage preparations, classes, costume and makeup design, choreography, , and participation in CMU events such as country dancing and doing dance movements after a float in Homecoming parades and dancing in Madrigals. Orchesis also performed at various local institutions, such as Mid-Michigan Community College. In 1969 Orchesis performed Peter and the Wolf, for which they received hand printed thank you notes and hand drawn art from elementary school children at Longview Elementary School in Midland, Michigan. Because the children’s materials was very acidic, they were photocopied. In the early 2000s Orchesis performed with Dance Umbrella dancers. Dance Umbrella is an international modern dance festival.

The collection also provides important evidence of how one woman successfully built and expanded a nationally recognized modern dance company from scratch composed mainly of female students. When compared to the CMU Athletics collection, it is clear that she did not have the resources nor the support accorded the more traditional recognized athletic programs which merited CMU published programs and posters, so Crandall and her daughter, Rebecca Crandall Folt, designed and made Orchesis posters and programs themselves by hand. The lack of official CMU photographs in the collection is also interesting and unusual among CMU collections. Crandall paid private photographers for the professional, non-CMU photographs.

The collection is organized by size, format. and then alphabetically and chronologically within each series. Photographs are further organized by those with and without negative numbers. The paper-based and photographic series (Boxes 1-5 which are all .5 cubic foot boxes) are: Biographical Materials, Orchesis materials, Photographs that are not specific to Orchesis, and Crandall’s published reviews. There are two oversized scrapbooks document dance at CMU, 1928-1967, and CMU Orchesis, 1968-1971. The three oversized folders include CMU Orchesis posters (Folder 1-2) and oversized Orchesis professional photographs, both black and white and color, undated. Additionally, photographs are further organized within folders by those with a negative number or date/time stamp and then those without. Overall the collection is in very good condition except for the acidic contents of the scrapbooks and a few posters with tape stains or have hole punctures. Most of collection, as donated, was original material, but some were photocopies. Formats in the collection include paper, original art, photographic materials, including two DVDs, and scrapbooks

Recordings:

In March 2024, Orchesis recordings were donated (see Boxes 6-12, which are all cubic foot boxes). The recordings are organized chronologically and document Orchesis concert performances, workshop performances, Madrigal dinner concerts, “Puttin’ On The Ritz” events, Swing Club, and dancing in Homecoming parades, and liturgical dances. The recording formats include Ampex, Karex, Memorex, and Sony five- and seven- inch helical video tapes, VHS videotapes, CDs, DVDs. And Sony Mini Discs. Warren Crandall recorded most of the recordings, but there are some recordings created and presumably copyrighted by Kabobel’s Kamera and Heitman Video Services, that Yvette paid for, and one that is a gift copy from a Channel 9 and 10 News segment. None of the recordings were created or copyrighted by CMU.

Besides the Recordings, other major Orchesis series include Photographs, Programs, and Posters, which merit further description to assist researchers.

Photographs:

Photographs, 1940s-2010, 2023, in the collection are from multiple photographers, both professional who hold copyright, and amateurs. CMU copyright of photographs taken by CMU Photographer Robert Barclay are few and found interfiled with other photographs dated 1981, 1993-1998 and 2000-2006. Bryan P. Wallace, a professional photographer, took all the photographs which are stamped with his name and copyright information, 1986-1987, including all the galley proofs and related negatives. Other photographer’s names are occasionally found on photographs, while others are unidentified. Most of the professional photographs are black and white until the 2000s. Amateur photographs taken by those in the company and probably also by Yvette document individuals, groups, travel, social events, performances. There is one photograph of the liturgical dance troupe in 1973 in Muskegon with a priest. There are also photographs of a country dance troupe in costume dancing during a CMU Homecoming parade, 1989. Part or all of the company traveled to various trips to cities including Washington, D.C. and Milwaukee, Mid-Michigan College, and Western Michigan University, to perform and participate in regional or national dance events. The company also had summer picnics, a welcoming event, referred to as the initiation, for new members, and a graduation recognition event after the show of the academic year with a cake where each graduating senior receive an award, hug, and the applause of peers. Within folders photographs are sorted by those with a negative number or date/time stamp and those without. Those with additional identification, especially amateur photographs, with a specific event and/or a year date, are in separate folders. Some people, dates, and events are identified in photographs by labels or writing on the back of photographs. If the labels were loose or detached, the Archivist wrote the information in pencil on a piece of acid-free paper and included that in the photograph sleeve, and withdrew the original label or note.

Programs:

CMU Orchesis programs, 1969-2010, are nearly a complete and include mostly Orchesis events: Choreographers Workshop Performance, all concerts, “Puttin’ on the Ritz” events, CMU Madrigal dinners, and Choreographers Workshop Performances, dance competitions, events outside of CMU that she choreographed or advised, and a Church program, featuring CMU liturgical dancers, December 3, 1978. The programs vary in size, format, and materials, and some were photocopies when donated. Those listed as ‘Program’ are only the list of dances and performers. During the 1970s many of the early programs and posters were hand drawn or written in penmanship. Both programs and posters featured photographs from the past. Sometimes there are matching illustrations for programs and posters.

Most of the programs were dated, some with dates written on them by Crandall, when donated. Depending on the information in the program, Archivist Marian Matyn looked up names and information online in digitized CMLife, and reviewed perpetual calendars to try to determine the year for undated programs, and matched materials to posters or other information in the collection. To assist with the process the Archivist generated a list of performance dates from the programs which she added to the collection. Many Orchesis performances were not listed in CMLife. Overall the programs are in excellent to very good condition.

Posters:

Posters, 1970-2010 in the collection are mainly Orchesis posters for Auditions, Choreographer’s Workshop, Dance Concerts, and “Puttin on the Ritz” events and are almost a complete run. There is also one Orchesis Fall 2008, Dancers Photographic collage poster, 2008, which Yvette crafted. The posters vary widely in size from 8.5x11 inches to 30x20 inches, in shape, colors, and format including paper, cardboard, and plastic. During the 1970s many of the early programs and posters were hand drawn or written in penmanship. Some posters listed are actually the original drawings and composite information with parts taped and glued to paper or cardboard from which posters or printed copies were made. Crandall appears to have created many of these posters by hand. Both programs and posters featured photographs from the past. Sometimes there are matching illustrations for programs and posters. Posters are housed in two Oversized folders. Oversized Folder 1 contains all concert performance posters in chronological order and the collage photographs poster. Oversized Folder 2 includes Oversized art, and all remaining poster series grouped alphabetically by series, then chronologically within each series.

Many posters lacked a year date as published. Depending on the information on the poster, Archivist Marian Matyn compared the information to the programs, and then followed the process she used to determine program year dates. (See that process above.) She wrote years on the posters in pencil. If there is more than one year during Yvette’s CMU career that the poster could date from, the year is in square brackets with a question mark.

A few posters have tape attached, while others have tape or hole damage from being pinned, and one, CMU Faculty Dance Recital, (taped, tape stains and term schedule in pen and marker on revere), September 21-22, 1972, has the term schedule written in pen and marker on the back. Overall the posters are in excellent condition. Most of the photographs donated were originals with some being photocopies.

Also included are posters of events in which CMU dancers participated. These posters include dance festivals, for the now American College Dance Association, 1979-1980, and the Great Lakes Regional Dance Festival, 1991 and 1999, and CMU Madrigal Dinner Concert posters, 1986, 1988-1994. The Madrigals occurred annually at CMU, 1977-1992.

Included with the posters is one oversized original art piece. There is also a folder in Box 2 of a few original hand drawn Orchesis art. The oversized image does not appear in posters nor programs. It is similar to a hand drawn image on the front page of the 1968-1971 scrapbook.

Researchers Note:

Researchers may also be interested in other collections documenting Grace Ryan and Rev. John Goodrow in the Clarke. The CMU Posters collection contains one early Orchesis poster and some Madrigal posters found in Crandall’s Orchesis collection.

Processing Notes:

Approximately 5 cubic feet of paper and audio-visual materials were withdrawn during processing. This includes duplicates, undated and/or unidentified, or very dark or damaged photographs, acidic materials, empty envelopes. If there were larger and smaller versions of the same poster, the smaller version was retained in the collection and the larger version was withdrawn. Acidic materials, except for the pages and contents of the scrapbooks, were photocopied, and the copies were added to the collection while the originals were withdrawn. .75 cubic feet of nationally recorded and distributed LP dance records were withdrawn. Family photographs were returned to the donor. Three cubic feet of recordings were withdrawn during processing, including duplicates, rehearsals, personal recordings of television dance programs and music CDs, non-CMU produced dance instructor videotapes, and unidentifiable, inaccessible, and very dark recordings.