Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

Michigan-based architect, founder of Gunnar Birkerts and Associates, professor in the University of Michigan College of Architecture and Urban Planning. The collection is comprised of six series: Personal papers, Professional papers, Faculty papers, Project records, Personal Project Files and Personal Correspondence and Files. Personal papers includes biographical information, family photographs, early architectural drawings, and course notebooks and project drawings completed while a student at the Technische Hochschule Stuttgart. Professional papers includes transcripts and notes of speeches, lectures and seminars (many of these are also available on audiotapes; some are available on videocassettes). Also included are correspondence, awards, travel diaries with conceptual drawings, newspaper and journal articles and photographs. Faculty papers include course and other materials relating to his career as professor at the University of Michigan College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Project files contains textual files, photographs, and conceptual drawings associated with 122 of the buildings and projects designed by Birkerts. Scanned images of some conceptual drawings are available online.

The Gunnar Birkerts Collection offers researchers the opportunity to study the personal, professional and faculty papers and conceptual sketches of one of the masters of American modern architecture, whose career spans the second half of the twentieth century. The collection encompasses 15 linear feet of Birkerts' student work, notes and transcripts of speeches, lectures and interviews, video and audio tapes, writings, correspondence, awards, travel diaries, academic course materials, photographs and project records. Perhaps the greatest significance of this collection lies in its presentation of over 1900 drawings of 122 buildings and projects by the architect's own hand, many of which are valuable, early conceptual sketches.

In its pairing of narrative and visual documents, the Gunnar Birkerts Collection offers a rich perspective on the architect himself, illuminating his views on the creative process and the resulting conceptual designs which have defined his expressive architecture over his illustrious fifty-plus-year career. The Gunnar Birkerts Collection is the architect's deeply personal legacy. He recognizes that, while some of his buildings may be demolished over time, his original conceptual designs on paper are conserved here for future generations to study and enjoy. To this end, he has endowed the Gunnar Birkerts Collection to ensure that his drawings will be preserved and that his place in architectural history can be studied and understood.

The Gunnar Birkerts Collection is comprised of six series: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Faculty Papers, Project Records, Personal Project Files and Personal Correspondence and Files. The narrative and visual documents in these series illuminate the full breadth of the architect's life and work, from his early years as a student at the Technische Hochschule in Stuttgart, Germany in the 1940s to his career in Michigan as an internationally acclaimed architect, esteemed design professor and global lecturer from the early 1950s to the present.

Entrepreneur and disability rights activist from Birmingham, Michigan. The collection document's Van Arnem's life and career through news clippings, columns that Heidi Van Arnem wrote for the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News, business materials, files relating to her advocacy and fundraising efforts, and visual materials.

The collection is arranged into four series, Personal and Entrepreneurial, Fundraising and Advocacy, News Clippings, and Visual Materials.

University of Michigan committee which selects the annual Henry Russell Lecturer, the highest faculty award and the nominee for the Henry Russell Award recognizing a junior faculty member for superior scholarship and teaching ability.

The Henry Russel Lectureship Committee record group provides for unique research possibilities. An overview of the history of teaching at the University of Michigan can be examined throughout these files, primarily documenting the period from 1969 to 1989. The collection is arranged into four record series: General Files, Nomination Files, Photographs, and Audio Cassettes.

Collection of early Herman Miller Co. catalogs and posters.

Collection includes Action Office Acoustic Handbook (undated), The first edition of the Herman Miller Furniture Company catalog (1948), The Morrison/Hannah Collection - Knoll International catalog (1973), Haller Program catalog (1972) and poster (1971), Environmental Enrichment - Designed by Alexander Girard poster (1972), Library Group catalog (undated), The Tubular Collection catalog (1972), Office Systems Group - Eames Office Seating catalog (1972), "My life with the Herman Miller Designers" - speech given by Hugh DePree to art and design students at Rochester Institute of Technology (copyright 1955, undated), two reprinted articles about Charles and Ray Eames (1966, 1970), and professional profiles of several Herman Miller designers (circa 1971).

University of Michigan professor of nuclear engineering; files relating to his Central American peace interests and to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy; also class notes, personal / biographical information, and visual material.

Nuclear engineer Henry Jacob Gomberg was a faculty member at the University of Michigan from 1946 to 1961 as well as director of the Puerto Rico Nuclear Center. He later worked for nuclear engineering business in the private sector. The Gomberg collection mainly contains materials from his numerous professional ventures in the nuclear energy field. It includes correspondence, personal notes, photographs, publications, and reports.

The Henry J. Gomberg collection, covering the period of 1941 to 1995, is divided into nine series: Central American Peace Interests; Class Notes; International Cooperation Administration (ICA); KMS Industries; Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy; Personal / Biographical; Puerto Rico; University of Michigan, and Visual Material.

Football coach, 1938-1948, and Athletic Director at the University of Michigan, 1941-1968. Papers include correspondence and other papers concerning his career at the University of Chicago, the University of Minnesota, Princeton University, and the University of Michigan; materials concerning his work and association with the National Collegiate Athletic Association rules committee, 1942-1977, the Intercollegiate (Big Ten) Conference, and the University's Board in Control of Intercollegiate Activities; also include materials relating to University of Chicago football coach, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Ralph Young, athletic director at Michigan State University, and the founding and first years of the American Football League; and photographs.

The Crisler papers document Fritz Crisler's career in athletics, 1923-1978, as a student athlete at the University of Chicago, football coach at Minnesota, Princeton and Michigan, as Athletic Director at Michigan and as a member of the NCAA football rules committee, 1942-1977. The collection is composed of several series: General and Topical Correspondence; Speeches and Articles; Football Material; NCAA Football Rules Committee; Intercollegiate Conference [Big Ten]; Clippings and Scrapbooks; Amos Alonzo Stagg; Photographs and films.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Professor of law at University of Michigan, and specialist in corporation law. Correspondence, speeches, newspaper clippings, notes, and manuscripts of books and articles, relating to his professional career, Ann Arbor, Michigan organizations and issues, particularly progressive political movements and prohibition, including the Michigan Anti-Saloon League, the anti-trust movement, and the 1912 Progressive Party; also photographs.

The Horace L. Wilgus papers include correspondence, speeches, clippings, notes, manuscripts of books and articles dealing with his professional career, the many Ann Arbor organizations and issues in which he was interested: particularly progressive political movements and prohibition, including the Michigan Anti-Saloon League, the anti-trust movement, and the 1912 Progressive Party. The collection also includes University of Michigan Law School course materials, family genealogical information, and a small series of photographs, many of them of his home on Washtenaw Ave. in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Papers of Howard Bishop Lewis (1887-1954), professor and chairman of the Department of Biological Chemistry at the University of Michigan (1922-1954), director of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan (1933-1947), a supervisor for the Michigan Memorial-Phoenix Project, and an active participant in many professional organizations and policy committees especially concerning health and nutrition. The series in the collection are: Photographs; Writings; Administrative; Examinations; Lectures; Research Files; Correspondence; and Organizational Activities and Interests.

The personal papers of Howard Bishop Lewis concern his public activities rather than his private life. This includes his roles as educator and administrator at the University, and as a researcher in the fields of health and nutrition. The materials have been divided into eight series: Photographs; Writings; Administrative; Examinations; Lectures; Research Files; Correspondence; and Organizational Activities and Interests.

The Human Rights Party (HRP) of Ann Arbor was a radical socialist third party that influenced local politics in the period 1971 to 1975. The record group contains organizational and campaign documents of several parties including predecessor and successor parties to HRP. Campaign materials, platforms, position statements and numerous newspaper clippings along with committee and meeting minutes form the bulk of the records of this activist organization.

The records of HRP consist mainly of campaign activities, campaign issues, platforms, and clippings. The record group is divided into six series: Radical Independent Party, 1970-1971, Human Rights Party Organization, 1972-1975, HRP Campaigns, Socialist Human Rights Party, 1975-1977, Human Rights Party of Michigan, 1971-1976, and the People's Party, 1972-1979. In this collection, focal political issues are filed under the Steering Committee, if not separately foldered. Clippings are a major source of information and researchers should consult them for details.