Collections

The Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, Boston, and Canada travel photograph album contains approximately 240 photographs of a trip to several locations around the eastern United States and Canada.

The Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, Boston, and Canada travel photograph album contains approximately 240 photographs documenting a trip to several locations around the eastern United States and Canada.

The album (25.5 x 31.75 cm) is a "Ward's Album for Unmounted Photographs" with green cloth covers. Images of interest include views of a beachside town with palm trees in what appears to be New Jersey; the Elephantine Colossus at Coney Island, New York; a railroad likely near the Delaware Water Gap; John Bartram's House and various other buildings in Philadelphia; the railroad depot at Landsdowne, Pennsylvania; the Longfellow House and Trinity Church in Boston; as well as the interior of what appears to be a summer cabin. Also present are images of Baltimore, Maryland, including views of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and images from Canadian locations including the Ontario Provincial Legislation Building in Toronto as well as the Château de Ramezay and Market Day at Place Jacques-Cartier in Montreal.

Artwork, ephemera, journals, and underground publications (samizdat) related to protest movements in Ukraine.

Artwork, ephemera, journals, and underground publications (samizdat) related to protest movements in Ukraine, particularly the 2013-2014 Euromaidan protests and the 2010-2013 Feministychna Ofenzyva marches on International Women's Day.

The publications file includes a variety of samizdat publications, including a 2013 script called the "October Project," a book of poems by Vasyl Lozynsky coupled with a samizdat poetry chapbook cut from a National Geographic cover, cover art for the zine Freaker Unltd., and 13 issues of Lystok, an underground poetry publication produced in Kyiv. The journals file includes two issues of Spilne and "Circling the Square: Maidan and Cultural Insurgency in Ukraine," a literary journal special issue about Maidan.

The art exhibitions series includes exhibition guides and catalogues from nearly 30 years of art exhibitions in Ukraine. The exhibitions feature a range of Ukrainian artists and cover subjects like feminism, censorship, and the history of Ukraine's artistic movements.

The conference proceedings are from a 2017 conference held in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine to address the movement to preserve Soviet-era modernist architecture in the face of decommunization laws.

The ephemera folders include stickers, artwork, and pamphlets created by Ukrainian artists. The majority of these are from the 2011 Feminist Offensive on International Women's Day.

The artwork series includes a protest poster meant to accompany the exhibit guide in Box 2, Folder 1, signed and printed posters collected by the Izolyatsia Cultural Center, and a calendar featuring contrasting photos of Kyiv past and present.

Finally, the inventory series contains the detailed item-level inventory Zychowicz sent with the materials, as well as an inventory created by the processing archivist to show where the numbered items in Zychowicz's inventory have been placed in the collection.

Correspondence, manuscripts, A/V materials, journals, artwork, and realia from the life and works of Postbeat poet Jim Cohn.

The correspondence series is made up of letters Cohn sent and received throughout his career. Cohn sorted the correspondence according to the person he was corresponding with, making special room for his two primary correspondents, fellow poets David Cope and Randy Roark.

The ASL Poetry and Poetics, Beat and Postbeat Studies, and Disability series contain records of Cohn's research, writings, and work related to each subject. Similarly, the Research Notebooks contain materials related to Cohn's archival research about poets Paul Blackburn and Ezra Pound.

The Audio Files and Books in Print files series are papers relating to Cohn's recordings and publications, respectively. Related A/V materials were placed in the A/V series, while published books were separated for cataloging.

The Education, Juvenilia, and Photographs series contain papers, photography, and artifacts from Cohn's personal life from childhood through the 2000s.

The Editor/Co-editor and Publisher series consist of magazines that Cohn helped edit or publish, as well as files related to the same.

The Manuscripts series contains Cohn's manuscripts, organized by genre.

Fine Arts includes two of Cohn's art projects, making paper and printing poetry on Tibetan prayer flags.

The Promotional Materials series includes papers relating to Cohn's public career and self-promotion, as well as performance reviews from a former job. The Interviews series contains both interviews of Cohn and interviews with other poets conducted by Cohn.

The Teaching Guides series are papers related to poetry workshops Cohn has taught.

The Museum of American Poetics series consists of printouts of various sections and updates to the website over the years.

Finally, the A/V materials series largely consists of CD and tape recordings of Cohn's spoken word music poetry. Also included are CD backups of the MAP website, recordings of Allen Ginsberg, and Ann Waldman's 2003 film, "Makeup on Empty Space." Please reach out to the Special Collections Research Center for information about accessing these materials.

Jim Dunne is known for his work as a pioneer in automotive spy photography. He is also an established journalist and author, and conducted automotive performance tests and reviews of new vehicles for many years. The collection, spanning 1969-2011, includes his book Car Spy: Secret Cars Exposed by the Industry's Most Notorious Photographer, magazines containing his photographic work, articles written by him, and awards and recognitions. A large portion of the collection is made up of visual materials, which consists of photographs, slides, negatives, digital materials containing images of automobiles he included in his book, and a digital slideshow presentation featuring his work.

The Jim Dunne collection mostly consists of publications and visual materials from across his career, including articles written by and about him, photographs, negatives, and some digital materials. The series in this collection are: Publications, Visual Materials, Recognitions, and Miscellaneous.

Jimmie Howard Reynolds (1925-2013) was a band director from Louisiana who taught and directed music programs at the high school and collegiate level. During the 1970/1971 academic year, Reynolds took a sabbatical leave from his position as Director of Bands at Louisiana Polytechnic University to serve as a graduate assistant under Dr. William D. Revelli during his final year as Director of Bands at the University of Michigan. Reynolds kept a journal of rehearsals and performances from that time and wrote extensively about the pedagogical practices Revelli employed as Director. This diary is a digital transcription of the entire diary as written, prepared by Reynolds' son, Dr. Patrick Allen Reynolds, in 2021.

The Jimmie Howard Reynolds diary, titled "Rehearsals with WRD", was maintained by Reynolds during the 1970-1971 academic year at the University of Michigan. Reynolds was a graduate student assistant for William D. Revelli during his last year as Director of Bands. The diary held by the Bentley Historical Library is a transcription, prepared and edited by Reynold's son, Dr. Patrick Reynolds, in 2021. Dr. Reynolds transcribed the diary as written, with minor changes to punctuation and grammar to aid in clarity. Dr. Reynolds also added some additional information to the text, usually to clarify names, dates, or events as written about by his father; these additions are added in brackets.

While Reynolds and Revelli maintained a close professional relationship for forty years, the diary documents criticisms Reynolds had of Revelli's conducting and pedagogy. In some entries, names have been removed by Dr. Reynolds to avoid embarrassment on behalf of the performers. A full note regarding Dr. Reynolds' transcription work is included in the digital file.

This collection is made up of correspondence and financial records pertaining to John and Godfrey Malbone's claims against the British government for damages to their property during the Revolutionary War. The Malbone brothers complained that a British garrison had been responsible for destruction to and thefts from their farm near Newport, Rhode Island, between 1776 and 1779.

This collection (10 items) is made up of letters, documents, and financial records pertaining to John and Godfrey Malbone's claims against the British government for damages to and theft of their property during the British occupation of Newport, Rhode Island, from 1776-1779. The letters, including one item from John Malbone to General Henry Clinton (April 10, 1779), pertain to the brothers' efforts to receive compensation for their losses, which are further described in several detailed financial documents; the Malbone brothers believed that British soldiers and sailors had been responsible for the losses. A brief note to John Malbone indicates that the claim had not been settled before August 18, 1787. The collection also includes a document granting John Malbone power of attorney for Godfrey Malbone, then residing in Pomfret, Connecticut (May 5-6, 1783).

John and Leni Sinclair were leaders of the counterculture movement in Michigan, organizers of radical social, political, and cultural endeavors primarily in the areas of music, poetry, graphic design, and community welfare projects. Papers and photographs (1957-1979) relating to all phases of their careers, including participation in the Artists' Workshop in Detroit, the Rainbow Multi-Media Corporation, the White Panther Party and its offshoot, the Rainbow Peoples Party; also materials concerning the legalization of marijuana, radical politics, and prison reform. Also material, 1979-2000, relating to John Sinclair's work as a writer, performer, radio show host and music promoter.

The John Sinclair papers came to the library in 1979. Jointly donated by John and Leni Sinclair, this initial accession, covering the period 1957-1979, included textual material, sound recordings, and photographs relating to all phases of their careers, including participation in the Artists' Workshop in Detroit, the Rainbow Multi-Media Corporation, the White Panther Party and its offshoot, the Rainbow Peoples Party; also materials concerning the legalization of marijuana, radical politics, prison reform, and rock and jazz music.

The Sinclair papers provide a rich and unique source for the study of America's radical movement in the nineteen sixties and seventies. Beginning with a remarkable series of correspondence that includes letters from Abbie Hoffman, Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, and Jerry Rubin, and continuing on through extensive subject files, the collection details the cultural, political and business activities of a man whose energy and charisma made him a local and national leader of the counterculture. In addition, the collection documents the support and creativity of his wife and partner, who as writer, photographer and publicist helped to showcase the lifestyle which he symbolized.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, John Sinclair added to his papers with materials relating to his career as a writer and performer. In the winter of 2000, he donated a second large accession relating mainly to the period since leaving Detroit for New Orleans.

The Sinclair collection has been divided into four subgroups: Textual Files, Printed Material, Sound Recordings, and Visual Material.

The collection reflects Cumming’s many interests and activities as Director of the Clarke, historian, author, researcher, bibliophile, printer, and collector.

The collection reflects Cumming’s many interests and activities as Director of the Clarke, historian, author, researcher, bibliophile, printer, and collector. The collection documents Mount Pleasant, Isabella County, Auburn, and Oakland County (Mich.) history, as well as his special interests, including Abel Bingham, the Gold Rush, and (Strangite) Mormons. There are drafts of his books and articles, speeches, and biographical materials. Photographic materials are also included. Most of the material in the collection is undated

Materials were processed mostly by Acc# as per the donor’s wishes. Boxes 1-6, Oversized folder, Acc#5261, 52991, 71-41. Boxes 7-8, Acc# 53561. Boxes 9-10, Acc#67488 and 67600. Box 11, unaccessioned materials from January 2007. Boxes 12-16, Acc#72398. Box 17, Acc#77785 1 box of slides.

Box 17 has four small slide boxes of Michigan slides, 1958-1978, and undated, documenting John’s travels. They are organized alphabetically by location, except for a trip that is dated August 15-16, 1969 which included Leland, Sleep Bear Dunes, Cross Village, and Mackinac Island.

Researchers may be interested in materials generated in his capacity as Director of the Clarke are found in the Clarke Historical Library Organizational Records. Additional Cumming slides are separately housed and inventoried.

Processing Note: Duplicates were removed from the collection. A list of items merged into other, existing collections, where they were more apt to be used by researchers, is in the donor’s file. Published items were separately cataloged and housed in the Clarke.

John Dingell, Jr. was Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan and longest-serving member in congressional history, 1955-2015. Dingell was the son of John Dingell, Sr. (Democratic congressman from Michigan's 15th district, 1933-1955), and husband of Debbie Dingell, who succeeded him as Representative of Michigan's 12th district in 2015. The collection documents John Dingell, Jr.'s election campaigns and his 59-year tenure in Congress. Records include legislative files, correspondence, speeches, scrapbooks, press clippings, photographs, and audiovisual materials.

The collection documents John D. Dingell, Jr.'s political career including his 59 years in the United States House of Representatives (1955-2015). The papers include campaign materials documenting Dingell's 29 elections, Democratic National Committee and Michigan Democratic Party materials, and redistricting in Michigan.

The bulk of the papers document Dingell's tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives including legislative files on topics such as civil rights, healthcare, insurance, Social Security, Medicare, environmental issues, endangered species, the auto industry, agriculture, taxes, and trade; administrative office files including correspondence, schedules, voting records, and legislative planning; and photographs, press clippings, scrapbooks, and speeches.

The collection includes born-digital records, as well as 254 pieces of audiovisual material, described in the Container Listing at the item level. Dingell's member website, campaign website, as well as his personal Twitter account are cataloged separately.

The John E. Boos collection consists of over 1,200 personal manuscript recollections or brief notes by persons who met or saw Abraham Lincoln and by persons who experienced the Civil War. John Boos, of Albany, New York, solicited and compiled most of these reminiscences in the early 20th century. In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created a comprehensive writer index, which identifies each contributor to the collection: John E. Boos Collection Writer Index.

The John E. Boos collection consists of over 1,200 personal manuscript recollections or brief notes by persons who met or saw Abraham Lincoln and by persons who experienced the Civil War. John Boos solicited and compiled most of these reminiscences in the early 20th century. The collection is arranged in four series: Bound Volumes (compiled by and bound for John Boos), Unbound Volumes (binders apparently compiled by John Boos, but never bound), Loose Items, and one Book.

Boos collected autographs and reminiscences on uniquely sized 6.5'' by 9'' paper, and he instructed those he was soliciting to leave a wide 1.5'' left margin for binding. All but one volume in Series I are bound collections of this Boos-standard paper and most contributors in Series II and III contributed a note or autograph on the same size paper.

John Boos's interviewees related an almost uniform admiration or reverence to the President and his memory. Within the first binder of Series II, for example, William Strover (who was not a Civil War veteran, and who never met Lincoln) remarked: "I consider him the greatest man that has come upon the earth since Jesus Christ, and surely the greatest American that lived." Such high praise is featured throughout the entire collection. One example expressing disdain for Abraham Lincoln is a November 24, 1930, letter by Confederate and Presbyterian minister Milton B. Lambdin, who was skeptical about Boos' intent in contacting him. He suspected that Boos made the connection on account of a multi-issue article Lambdin produced for the Confederate Veteran (1929) titled "A Boy of the Old Dominion..."

Series I: Bound Volumes, 1931-1970

Eight of the nine volumes contained in this series are letters and reminiscences compiled by Boos. The volumes revolve around individual persons or themes, including the Lincoln-Douglas debates; Lincoln's assassination; Lincoln's guards; General George H. Thomas, a leading figure in the Western theater of the Civil War who retired to Troy, New York; Johnson Brigham, a fellow Lincoln enthusiast who met the President on several occasions; and the story of Confederate General George Pickett as told by his wife, La Salle Corbell Pickett; and a selection of "Mr. Lincoln's Soldiers."

Boos interspersed the manuscript and typed accounts with ephemeral items and his own narratives of relevant events. He frequently provided an overall account of the volume's theme (usually with lengthy quotations from his correspondents) before presenting the reminiscences and a brief biography of each contributor. In his introductions to these personal accounts, Boos sometimes included a narrative of how he had met and interviewed the individual or linked the person's memories of Lincoln to similar ones. Most of the volumes include a title page, dedication, illustrations, and an index.

The accounts in these bound volumes differ in length, tone, and detail, but they provide insight into how a variety of individuals remembered the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln more than a half-century after the fact. Many of his contributors were Union Army veterans, but he also tracked down individuals who witnessed the Lincoln-Douglas debates as children, Mrs. M. O. Smith who saw Lincoln at Gettysburg,a Confederate soldier, several of Lincoln's personal guards, an actress who had performed in Our American Cousin the night Lincoln was shot (Jeannie Gourley), a man who was in the same Ford's Theater box as Lincoln and who was stabbed by John Wilkes Booth (Henry Rathbone), and the man who recorded the testimony of witnesses to the assassination (James Tanner). The accounts address subjects ranging from the President's dress and style of speaking to the contributors' reflections on his legacy and greatness.

One bound volume, inscribed to John E. Boos by its creator Bernhardt Wall, contains etchings of locations in New York State visited by Lincoln. Three letters from Wall to Boos are enclosed in this 1938 volume.

Series II: Unbound Volumes (extracted from binders), 1905-1941

Series II includes the contents of 13 binders, arranged roughly into thematic categories, apparently by Boos himself (likely with the intention of binding them as he did with the letters in Series I). The order of pages within the binders has been maintained in its present housing.

Boos placed each incoming letter, reminiscence, or autograph into a top-loading page protector with related materials. In some volumes, for example, Boos matched each manuscript with his own typed or handwritten notes, which variously included the veteran's name, where they saw Lincoln, regimental information, where Boos met the veteran, and Boos's impressions of the individual. Boos wrote many of these notes on the back of scrap paper, such as advertising mail received by Boos or sample primary election ballots (some of the scrap paper contains illustrated letterheads).

Binders 1-3: Lincoln's Soldiers (3 binders, 1905-1927). Lincoln's Soldiers largely consists of letters sent to Boos, many with their envelopes still attached. Most contributors utilized Boos-provided paper, though some utilized their own stationery. Despite its title, "Lincoln's Soldiers" is comprised of letters by civilians and soldiers alike. Many contributors had met President Lincoln, and Boos collected as much information as possible about those encounters. Others were unable to meet Lincoln, but shared vivid memories of their times in Andersonville Prison, or interactions with other famous leaders, such as General Sherman (W. H. Jennings) and General Grant (J. E. Parmelee). Some documented their efforts to preserve Lincoln's memory or their involvement in Veteran's organizations.

Binders 4-7: I Saw Lincoln (4 binders, 1911-1928). The bulk of the contributors to I Saw Lincoln met or saw Lincoln during his presidency; a smaller portion interacted with him prior to the presidency; and others saw him while lying in state or en route to Illinois in 1865. The I Saw Lincoln group includes Boos's incoming correspondence and autographs he personally collected while traveling. Glowing praise of Lincoln continues throughout these binders, including an anecdote by Daniel Webster (of Salem, Oregon), in which he described how he was "near being mobbed" in Arkansas in 1871 for calling Lincoln "the brightest star in the galaxy of American statesmen and patriots."

Binder 8: Antietam (1 binder, 1912-1937). The soldiers represented in Antietam were present at the battle; some provided descriptions of the confrontation, though the writers do not all focus on the event. Antietam is notable for having the longest continuous example (in the unbound portion of the collection) of prose by Boos, in which he described the battle and his meetings with the veterans.

Binders 9-11: Lincoln's Soldiers and Where They Saw Him (3 binders, 1911-1933). contains accounts from soldiers who saw Lincoln and soldiers who did not. This group includes a significant number of contributions by soldiers who guarded the President's remains.

Binder 12: Autographs of Abe Lincoln's Soldiers (1 binder, 1910-1917). This binder contains signatures of soldiers, with very brief notes on each veteran. Boos apparently revisited the binder at a later dated and added death dates.

[Unnumbered Binder]: [Additional Lincoln's Soldiers] (1 binder, 1911-1937). This binder includes accounts similar to those found in binders 9-11.

Series III: Loose Items, 1904-1949

This series is comprised of nearly 200 loose letters, disbound book pages, and notes. Many of these items were either part of one of the Clements Library's pre-2015 accessions, or were included with the Dow collection in unarranged binders. The bulk of the series is letters to Boos containing memories of Lincoln. The accounts provided by these eye witnesses include memories of the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln's assassination, hospital visits by the President, his 1860 Cooper Union speech, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, and general memories of the Civil War period. The contributors include veterans, Ford's Theater attendees on the night Lincoln was shot, the daughter of Mary Todd Lincoln's personal nurse (Ealine Fay), and a woman who sang in the choir for the ceremony at which Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address (M. O. Smith). This series contains letters by Jennie Gourlay Struthers and James Tanner, who are also represented in the Then a Nation Stood Still volume in Series I.

The series includes writings and other materials that shed light on John E. Boos's collecting practices and editing processes and a 1924 letter from Congregational minister William E. Barton to Walt Whitman expert Emory Holloway, with comments on the growing cult of memory surrounding Lincoln.

A folder of manuscripts and photocopies pertain to Grace Bedell, who is credited with convincing Lincoln to grow his whiskers. These items include photocopies of letters Bedell exchanged with Boos, original letters between Boos and Bedell's heirs, and letters between Boos and Congressman George Dondero, who at one point owned Bedell's original letter to Lincoln.

The Loose Items series also contains correspondence of Donald P. Dow, photocopies of Boos materials offered for sale, and photocopies of letters not present in the Clements Library's collection.

Series IV: Book. A publication containing 103 John Boos letters has been added to the collection: Rare Personal Accounts of Abraham Lincoln, ed. By William R. Feeheley and Bill Snack (Cadillac, Mich.: Rail Splitter Pub., 2005).

In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created a comprehensive writer index, which identifies each contributor to the collection: John E. Boos Collection Writer Index.