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The William H. Lee papers are primarily comprised of correspondence and documents relating to Lee’s service with the 8th Missouri Cavalry and the 3rd Arkansas Cavalry, Union Army. A few items document his family life and career after the war.

The William Lee papers contain 57 items spanning from 1862 to 1955, including 49 letters and 8 documents. The earliest items in the collection are 16 letters written by Lee to family members during his service in the 8th Missouri Cavalry and the 3rd Arkansas Cavalry. In his letters of this period, Lee gave detailed accounts of marches, battles, and skirmishes and shared his opinions on several political subjects. His letter of December 7, 1862, contains an account of the Battle of Prairie Grove: “…we marched up on the right wing of our army & in two hours after our artillery commenced firing the day was ours. This is given up by all to be the hardest fought battle of the west & the most decisive.” Lee’s descriptions were frequently accompanied by numerical counts of forces and casualties.

Also of interest is Lee’s perspective on the conflict between North and South, which he expressed in several letters to his mother. Despite residing in Arkansas at the outbreak of the war, Lee strongly identified with the North, and his sentiments seemed to deepen over the course of the war. He expressed deep anger at Southerners (April 22, 1863) stating, “…if every one of them were today occupying a tract of land 6 by 3 feet under the sod I think they would have their Southern Rights…” He also cheered the changes to the Arkansas Constitution forbidding slavery and Confederate “brushwacking” (January 30, 1864). After his February 4, 1865, honorable discharge, the theme of Lee’s letters quickly turned to the courtship of his future wife, Mary, whom he calls “Mollie.” Included in the collection are six invitations to from Lee to “Miss Mollie,” and a letter written on the morning of their wedding day, April 18, 1865, expressing his wish for “a quiet family thing of it.”

Later letters document Lee’s business travels and family life. A letter from Mary to her mother (January 26, 1876) gives substantial information on the Lee children, the adjustment to living in Tennessee (“the society is not of the best”), and the difficulty of finding a school. The 20th-century letters mainly document efforts to put up a new gravestone for Abner Lee, William Lee’s grandfather.

The “Documents” series contains a variety of materials, including Lee’s army discharge papers, a brief autobiography with clippings on William and Mary Lee, and three photos, one of which may portray Lee as an elderly man.

University of Michigan alum (Ph.D. in Geology, 1960), University of Michigan professor of Geology (1965-2000), and curator at the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology (1975-2000). Farrand's papers primarily document his career in geological archaeology through correspondence, field notes, research files, publications, and visual materials.

The William R. Farrand papers primarily document the research activities and career of William R. Farrand, an archeological geologist, educator, and scholar known for his work in the Near East and the Mediterranean. His papers mostly pertain to the various expeditions and excavations he conducted, including at Fontéchevade, France; Franchthi Cave, France; Karystos, Greece; Mt. Ararat, Turkey; Qafzeh Cave, Israel; Yabrud (Yabroud), Syria; and Yarimburgaz Cave, Turkey. Record types present include correspondence, field notes, research and reference materials, topical files organized by name, publications, slides, section maps, and photographs.

Remaining materials include materials that document his activities in professional organizations, publications, and topical files. Materials also include notes by Henry Wright, Curator of Near Eastern Archaeology at the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology at the University of Michigan (as of May 2024).

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.

The Women's Research Club of the University of Michigan was founded in 1902 in response to the exclusion of women from the recently established all-male research clubs. Records include minutes, correspondence and reports of club officers and committees, papers concerning the club anniversaries, and photographs.

Records of the Women's Research Club include minutes, 1902-1999; correspondence, 1903-1939 and 1952-1994; membership lists 1904-1999; financial records 1903-1999; correspondence and reports of club officers and committees, including Loan Fund materials; papers concerning the 25th, 50th, 75th, 85th and 90th anniversaries; relationships with the men's research club; histories, memorials, photographs, and clippings.

Owner of Woody Pontiac Sales, Inc. in Hamtramck, MI and lifelong Republican and proponent of peace in the Middle East; correspondence, newspaper clippings, and photographs.

The Woodrow and Ann Woody papers are organized into two series: Correspondence and other papers and Photographs. The collection consists primarily of correspondence with public figures; newspaper clippings, photographs, and other materials from scrapbooks relating to the Hillcrest Wolverine Open golf tournament; photographs of Woody and his wife Ann with various public figures and attending different social occasions.

The Woods family papers chronicle the establishment of an important family in western Virginia during the 18th and early 19th centuries. While the bulk of the collection pertains to Archibald Woods' (1764-1846) activities as a surveyor and land speculator in Ohio County, the collection also contains several letters from later generations of the family, and documents relating to military and public affairs, including the War of 1812.

The Woods family papers chronicle the establishment of an important family in western Virginia during the 18th and early 19th centuries. While the bulk of the collection pertains to Archibald Woods' (1764-1846) activities as a surveyor and land speculator in Ohio County, the collection also contains several letters from later generations of the family, and documents relating to military and public affairs. A series of land surveys of the Ohio Valley, prepared by Archibald Woods, has been arranged and placed at the end of the collection, and two land documents relating to Woods property are also present in Oversize Manuscripts, a 1774 deed signed by Dunmore granting lands in Botetourt County and an 1820 grant signed by James Monroe for lands in Ohio.

The collection includes a petition relating to the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798. Addressed to the Senate and House of Representatives of Virginia from the citizens of Ohio County, the petition includes thirty nine signatures protesting the Acts. The signers expressed their concern regarding what they saw as a violation of the Constitution, and asserted that the acts were a "serious cause of alarm" for the citizens of Ohio County, whom, they noted, continued to adhere to the Democratic principles of the American Revolution.

During the time that Andrew Woods served as sheriff of Botetourt County, 1777-1780, he kept a small, deerskin-bound notebook of his activities including receipts and notes on the collection of taxes and fees. There are also sporadic family business records. Included are an agreement for disposition of property including land, livestock, and enslaved persons (named Herod [Bin?], Sip, Ceasar, and Nanas). A copy of a contract between siblings Andrew, Martha, and Archibald (likely Andrew Woods' children) for the care of Martha Poage Woods and arrangements for the purchase of an enslaved person for Elijah Woods is also present. The contract provided for clothing, food, and shelter and, if Martha chose "to go back over the mountains," to provide an enslaved person to care for her.

Over fifty surveys and treasury warrants document Archibald Woods' importance as a surveyor and land speculator in the Ohio River Valley. Many of these can be positively traced to land that today lies in the state of West Virginia, mostly in the panhandle, but, Woods owned property throughout Ohio County, which then included parts of Ohio and a corner of Pennsylvania. A contemporary range and township map assists in situating Woods' land holdings.

Seven printed orders, each unique, or nearly unique, include information about troop recruitment and deployment during the War of 1812, and about demobilization at the end of the war. Among other documents in the collection are Archibald Woods' commissions and resignations.

There is little true correspondence in the Woods family papers, although one item, a letter from Joe Woods, is of some interest. In this letter written to his mother, Woods summarizes his reasons for transferring to Princeton, assuring her of his sound character and his decision. William Woods' ledger and daybook from 1828 and Hamilton Woods' cypher book from ca. 1820s are also present in the collection. The collection contains a photograph album with cartes-de-visite, cabinet cards, and other photos from around the 1870s and 1880s, as well as approximately 0.5 linear feet of photographs of Woods family members, particularly Ruth Woods and Charles Moss from the early 20th century, and the Woods family homestead.

Finally, the collection contains useful information about the Woods family estate, Woodsdale. Three documents from 1815-1816 provide floor plans and a record of construction costs, and there are two copy photographs of the house as it stood before its demolition in 1949. In 1976-77, Ruth Moss described the physical layout of the home and grounds as she recalled them, as well as her memories of life at Woodsdale in the early part of the century. An additional 0.25 linear feet of Ruth Moss's genealogical research on the Woods family is also present.

Branch of the YMCA; Annual reports, clippings, correspondence, financial records, minutes of meetings, photographs, press releases, published materials, rosters, and scrapbooks; also includes collected branch records for the Railroad branch, 1877-1890, and the Downtown branch, 1890-1909; and publication, Detroit Young Men, 1911-1922.

The records of the Metropolitan Offices of the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit consist of annual reports, correspondence, financial materials, minutes (Secretary's records), photographs, published brochures and pamphlets, and scrapbooks. The materials document, somewhat unevenly, the efforts of the YMCA to tend to the spiritual, physical, and social needs of the young men in Detroit. The strengths of this record group are in its minutes (Secretary's records) and photographs, each of which provides detailed and telling insight into the development of Detroit and the YMCA from the nineteenth century to 2006. The scrapbooks created by the YMCA, 1936-1973, are also of interest in that they accurately reflect all newspaper coverage of YMCA events and activities for this decade.

The records have been arranged in four series: Administration, Secretary's Records, Visual Materials, and Scrapbooks.