Collections

The Julio Perazza collection includes three series: Visual, Printed, and Audiovisual. The collection offers significant visual documentation to researchers interested in artistic photography, the Detroit Latino community, Detroit Police Department, and the city of Detroit in general. Highlights of the collection include photographs of Latino community cultural events, daily police activities, and Perazza's "Demolished by Neglect" series, a photographic critique of Detroit's urban policies.

Karen Majewski was elected the first woman mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan and served from 2005-2021. Her papers contain meeting minutes and administrative documents from several community organizations she worked with during her time as mayor.

The Karen Majewski papers are primarily minutes and manuals from boards Majewski served on as mayor of Hamtramck. The bulk of the materials represent Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency and the Michigan Municipal League. Also included are financial reports and papers from Michigan Suburbs Alliance and the Millennial Mayors Congress. One folder contains collected community brochures. Some of which are related to Majewski's involvement in the Polish American community.

Family of Husayn Kharub (Hussein Karoub), imam of the first mosque in North America, in Highland Park, Mich. Collection includes family history materials, publications, and sound recordings by and about family members. Sound recordings include recitations, interviews, poetry readings, and musical performances.

The Karoub Family papers document the history of Imam Hussein Karoub and his family in the United States of America. The collection is made up of biographical materials, some publications and family sound recordings.

This collection consists of four items relating to the career of Kate M. Young, a teacher in Port Huron, Michigan, between 1860 and 1870.

This collection consists of four items relating to the career of Kate M. Young, a teacher in Port Huron, Michigan, between 1860 and 1870. One item is a letter by H. Fish, superintendent of the district, informing Young that she's been approved as a teacher in the Primary Department. The remaining three items are certificates, including Young's certificate of promotion to the high school department dated June 28, 1866.

Katherine Minor wrote most of the letters in this collection between 1859 and 1869 to Leverich & Co. in New York regarding her attempts to keep her plantation near Natchez, Mississippi solvent during Reconstruction. Between 1913 and 1917 Minor wrote 9 letters to Will J. Davis of Chicago, Illinois, and included several references to the World War and at least one reminiscence about likely enslaved African American laborers.

The bulk of the letters in the collection were written by Katherine S. Minor between 1859 and 1869 from Oakland plantation near Natchez, Mississippi, as she struggled to keep her plantations in operation during Reconstruction. These letters are addressed to Charles P. Leverich & Co. of New York, or to his nephew Edward Leverich, a principal of the firm. There are three brief letters from her husband John to the same company, written while the family was summering in Newport during the antebellum years. There are also two later letters that he wrote when Kate herself was unable to, due to illness. Although the letters contain many specifics about the crops, this is not simply a business correspondence; the Minors and Leveriches were probably related (Kate referred to Edward as John's cousin), and Kate wrote quite personal letters to the company. She openly expressed her frustrations and fears, not only for her family, but for the Leveriches, who would certainly have shared in the suffering if the Minors had not been able to struggle through the bleakest years of 1866 and 1867.

Kate's letters make it clear that she was an active partner in the running of the family's cotton plantations near Natchez, one or both of which might have come from her family. In the division of labor, John apparently spent much of his time making the rounds from plantation to plantation, keeping a close eye on crops and workers. In the meantime, Kate handled the plantation's finances: she kept track of invoices, wrote checks against their account with Leverich & Co., paid the freedmen's wages, and ordered quantities of supplies from the north. There were enough mouths to feed on the plantations that she ordered one hundred barrels of pork at a time. She arranged for the shipment of cotton, dealt with her manager, A. B. Kirby, and hired and fired as needed. Naturally, as financial manager, Kate also was the one to correspond with Leverich & Co. In all these matters she appears to have been an attentive and shrewd businesswoman.

Managing the financial affairs of the plantations did not free Kate from her duties as wife and mother. Her husband and her two children, Duncan and Tassie, were often sick, and Kate nursed them through all sorts of ailments. Caring for them caused her to be late in writing to the Leveriches on several occasions, and took a toll on her own state of well being: "My mind is much perplexed for four long weeks I have been the victim of distress and torturing anxiety -- what with Tassie with dysentery & Duncan with a fractured arm you can readily surmise my cares added to my own enfeebled health" (1867 July 18). When John was ill or away, she had to take over his responsibilities as well: "My cares are multiplied . . . [since I am] in charge of so many places" (1866 September 18).

One of the most challenging aspects of Kate's work was arriving at mutually satisfactory labor arrangements with formerly enslaved laborers. In 1866 she reported to Leverich that "the Freed Man work well" although it had been necessary to dismiss "some ten or twelve disagreeable characters." In October of that year, she wrote that the "fields in P[alo] A[lto] are still white - We have made many abortive efforts to employ transient hands - Also sent 15 Carthage hands to pick but it will not answer." Soon, however, the workers were demanding higher wages. By 1869 Kate had each "squad" of laborers keep an account book recording the goods provided to them, "and we enter each item therin with the hopes of preventing trouble on settling-up day." Other freed slaves simply left her. Kate parted reluctantly with her "most accomplished servants. My father's old butler & his son -- they have gone to St. Louis to seek their fortune" (1867 November 16). Kate was fair enough to provide them with letters of introduction and expressed the hope "that they may someday succeed."

When the butler and his son left, Kate lamented, "we could not afford to hire them" anyway. This was a startling change for Kate and John. "It is terrible to be so poor," she wrote. Her husband John, she wrote to Leverich, was "working with his chickens -- feeding our pigs & cows so you see -- we realize our necessity" (1867 November 16). At least one plantation, Palo Alto, was mortgaged a second time in order to secure a $5,000 advance from Leverich & Co. Spending the summer in the more salubrious climate of the North, as they were accustomed to, was impossible. She hoped John could get to the White Mountains, since his health was so poor, but she insisted that she "must devote myself to the improvement of our financial affairs" (1866 March 26).

Nature conspired against the Minors, and many others, in 1866 and 1867, making it impossible to forecast if there would even be a crop to harvest. Rain was a constant problem in 1867. Kate described the fields as looking "like sheets of snow" and worried that "if a hard storm comes, we are ruined." A crisis occurred in March, 1867, when the levee at Palo Alto threatened to break. "Palo Alto is in imminent danger.. .how disheartening is the prospect today," she wrote (1867 March 27). Four hundred hands were reinforcing the levee, battling the crevasses, "all hard at work Sundays & at nights," (1867 March 30). "Does not the planting interest seem to have one evil after another to contend against?," she mused (1867 April 27).

Her question was a valid one, for soon yellow fever threatened, and in July 1867, a worm infestation. "The planters and lessees are panic stricken," she wrote (1867 July 10). The situation was so dire that the Minors decided to plant corn, peas, and pumpkins "as far as we can procure seed" all along the cotton "to overcome the impending evil -- starvation" (1867 July 10). To make 1867 a complete disaster, a storm wrecked the cotton press and destroyed much of their cotton in November. "Does it not seem as if we poor people of the South are suffering from the blight of God's most direful wrath?" Kate asked (1867 November 16).

The collection also includes nine letters Katherine S. Minor wrote between 1913 and 1917 to Will J. Davis of Chicago, Illinois. She wrote about family news, health concerns, dogs and horses, magazines, and complaints about the Natchez Bank, among other topics. In her letter of December 18, 1913, she copied an article about Indian mounds originally printed on July 31, 1857, in the Concordia Intelligence. In these later letters, Minor occassionaly referenced World War I, including an incident where the local baker exclaimed, "I expect you know something what war means" (June 21, 1916). In at least one of these later letters, Minor includes reflections on her earlier experiences, referencing African American laborers and "the many vicissitudes of Life through which I have survived" (September 25, no year).

Papers of Kathleen Russell, former faculty advisor of Tri-Pride, Assistant Dean of Students, and director of Project YES at Eastern Michigan University; The collection documents her involvement in the campaign to pass a Non-Discrimination Ordinance in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and in establishing outreach and support organizations for GLBT youth.

The collection consists of three series: Ypsilanti Non-Discrimination Ordinance, Eastern Michigan University GLBT Activities, and Audio-visual Materials. The strength of the collection lies in the materials Russell collected relating to the efforts to pass a non-discrimination ordinance for GLBT people in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

The Kathy and Angelos Constantinides collection consists of family materials, files relating to Kathy Constantinides's involvement in women's and civil rights issues, documents from the education and career of Angelos Constantinides, and files from their shared involvement in the American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations. Family materials include various certificates and documents from the lives of George and Eleni Constantinides (Angelos's parents) and Pete and Hrissi Bakalis (Kathy's parents). Of note is The Autobiography of Pete John Bakalis translated and edited by Kathy. The papers of Kathy (Bakalis) Constantinides includes her various writings -- an autobiography, a family history, as well as her extensive correspondence to newspaper editors and organizations on gender and women's rights issues. The Angelos Constantinides papers documents his education and his service during the Korean War.

Kay Clifford is a University of Michigan alumnus and a member of the first Peace Corps volunteer group which served in Uganda from 1969-1971. Found in the collection are materials that were collected by Clifford and by Bonnie A. Harris McKenna, a Peace Corps volunteer who received her training at the University of Michigan and served in Thailand. Collection includes materials that were used for the University of Michigan's 2010 exhibit, "U-M and the Peace Corps: It All Started Here"-- early Peace Corps publications, Thai language training materials, materials created specifically for the exhibit, a commemorative video recording, and volunteer ephemera.

The Kay Clifford papers comprise 1 linear foot of materials spanning the years 1945 to 2010. The papers contain materials which were collected for the University of Michigan's 2010 exhibit, "U-M and the Peace Corps: It All Started Here," celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps, and include early Peace Corps publications, Thai language training materials, and materials created specifically for the exhibit. A significant portion of the collection consists of materials donated to Kay Clifford by Bonnie A. Harris McKenna for the exhibit on the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps. These materials were acquired during McKenna's training at U of M and while she was active in the Peace Corps.

Project funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to document the health care experiences of African Americans in southeastern Michigan consisting primarily of oral history interviews with African American health care practitioners and administrators covering the period 1940-1969; background files relating to the project, and oral history interview transcripts and audio recordings. Interviews discuss biographical details, desegregation efforts in Detroit area hospitals, and social conditions facing African Americans.

The records of the Kellogg African American Health Care Project have been kept in the original order in which they were received and have been divided into two chronological series: Phase I and Phase II, reflecting the two separate accessions that were received. The interviews in the Phase I series were conducted in 1997 and accessioned by the Bentley Historical Library in 1998, while the interviews in Phase II were conducted from 1997 through 1999 and accessioned by the library in 2000. Both of these series have a similar order and arrangement, differing mainly in who was interviewed; in addition, there is some updating of administrative papers in the 2000 accession. Both series are divided into two subseries: Administrative Files and Interviews. A description of the subseries for both of the series is below.

The Administrative Files subseries contains the organizational and background materials for the project including copies of the signed consent forms. This subseries gives several access tools for the interview portion of the collection as well as detailed information regarding the interview methodology. A Master Index and a Tape Index allow access by topic to both the transcripts and the tape-recorded material. Material related to follow-up research and further studies is also available.

The Interviews subseries contains the transcripts and tape recordings of the individual interviews. This subseries is organized alphabetically by the name of each person interviewed. A biographical sketch is provided for each individual and in some cases, copies of publications, photographs or computer-generated images of the participant, resumes, and news clippings are also included. In the Phase I series, the cassette tapes containing the interviews are included within each person's file. In the Phase II series, the tapes are stored separately.

1. Anderson, William G.
2. Ayala, Reginald
3. Boddie, Arthur W.
4. Brakefield-Caldwell, Wilma
5. Bryant, Jr., Henry Clay
6. Burton, Alice
7. Cain, Waldo L.
8. Collins, James W.
9. Cooper, Claude H.
10. Cooper, Vivienne B.
11. Dillard, Gladys B.
12. Gaines, Jr., George D.
13. Gant, Leon
14. Glass, Herman J.
15. Goodwin, Della M.
16. Harris, Joseph B.
17. Iacobell, Frank P.
18. Jefferson, Horace L.
19. Jenkins, Sidney B.
20. Johnson, Arthur L.
21. Keith, Rachel B.
22. Lawson, William E.
23. Love, Josephine H.
24. McCree, Suesetta
25. Maben, Jr., Hayward C.
26. Mason, Berna
27. Mottley, Dorothy
28. Northcross, Jr., David C.
29. Northcross, Ophelia B.
30. Peebles-Meyers, Marjorie
31. Raiford, III, Frank P.
32. Roberson, Jr., Rev. Garther
33. Roberson, Rev. Dr. S.L.
34. Smith, Elsie
35. Starks, Fannie L.
36. Swan, Lionel F.
37. Tanner, Natalia M.
38. Todd, Oretta Mae
39. Webb, Irma Clara
40. Whitten, Charles F.
41. Wright, Charles H.
42. Young, Watson

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.