Collections

This collection is made up of 86 items, including 29 letters written by Archibald "Archie" Shields of Detroit, Michigan, to his parents and sisters while serving in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I. Shields served in France on the Western Front and, while on leave, visited friends and family in Scotland. The remaining materials include documents, ephemera, photographs, printed items, and one VHS tape.

This collection is made up of 86 items, including 29 letters written by Archibald "Archie" Shields of Detroit, Michigan, to his parents and sisters while serving in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I. Shields served in France on the Western Front and, while on leave, visited friends and family in Scotland. The remaining materials include documents, ephemera, photographs, printed items, and one VHS tape.

The Correspondence Series is comprised of 29 letters written by Archie to his parents and sisters during his time in the Canadian Infantry during World War I. The correspondence begins when Shields's battalion mobilized in May 1916. He quartered in London, Ontario, Canada, for several weeks before traveling through Toronto, Montreal, and New Brunswick, to board the troop ship Olympic at Halifax, Nova Scotia. After arriving in England in early June, the battalion was stationed at Otterpool Camp in Kent, where Shields applied for a transfer to become a driver and the 99th Battalion dissolved into the 35th. Towards the end of September, Shields went to France as part of the 21st Battalion. Admitted to the hospital in March 1917 for "swollen glands and sore throat," he became a patient in the 16th General Hospital in France, 1st Southern General Hospital in Birmingham, and Hillingdon House Hospital in Uxbridge. Following his recovery, Shields spent time visiting relatives and family friends in Scotland but was punished upon his return for taking longer leave than approved. He took subsequent leaves to Paris and Scotland. The last of the letters is dated November 5, 1918.

Shields's letters include descriptions of camp life and military training (marksmanship, stretcher bearing, trench digging), requests for parcels, requests and comments on news from home (include fundraising efforts), notes on letters and packages received, comments on friends' and relatives' military experiences, and remarks on his own experiences (including censorship, shelling, and life in the trenches). Envelopes are included with most letters, many with an "Opened By Censor" label attached. Shields wrote some of his letters on YMCA "With His Majesty's Canadian Forces on Active Service" stationery.

The Documents and Ephemera Series contains a worn black wallet with two colorful military uniform bars, a small black flip notebook, three Canadian Expeditionary Force pay books, and items commemorating the installation of a memorial window at St. Paul's Anglican Church in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, in 2007. Contained in the black wallet are a photograph of Archie Shields in uniform, a 1922 10,000 reichsmark note, and a military pass. The black notebook contains names and addresses of acquaintances, military tactics notes, and brief journal entries respecting Shields's time at the front in France until his admission to the hospital in England; in its pocket is a torn scrap of paper with the header "Plantation Alliance, Suriname, Dutch Guyana." Laid into one of Shields's pay books are assorted papers, including a telegram from his Aunt Effie, railway tickets, calling cards (Clarisse Dalouze and Marie Dalouze of Trazegnies, Belgium, and Armand Loutz of Spy, Namur, Belgium), and a postcard from a watch repair shop. Other materials include a printed letter from the King of and Queen of England, wishing the recipient a safe return and praise for unsurpassed devotion and courage; and a printed note granting the recipient a medal. One small felt patch sewn with "8" and Canadian Army corporal's stripes is present. A ship's card indicates the location of the owner's quarters, approval for one hammock, and the place and time of Mess.

• Group photograph, "21st Batt. Overseas Border Club 1934
• Portrait photograph of Archie Shields in uniform
• Real photo postcard of Archie Shields in uniform
• Photo with inscription "Archie leaving for World War I 1914 from Windsor Ontario"
• Real photo postcard of military personnel, walking
• Portrait snapshot photograph of Archie Shields in uniform, carrying instrument, with his sister May Shields Aird (saying goodbye to her brother as he leaves off to the War), 1916.
• Group portrait snapshot photograph of a drum and bugle corp, including Archie Shields
• A detached album page bearing five photographs:
  • A portrait with the caption "Archie goes to war 1916"
  • A photo of military personnel in formation carrying flags
  • A snapshot captioned "Mich Central Depot- Detroit," showing the façade of the station with several people and an automobile in the foreground
  • A snapshot of a crowd of people in front of Canadian Pacific freight car with people sitting on top
  • A group portrait of buglers in military uniform
• A detached album page bearing nine photographs:
  • A soldier in uniform [Archie Shields?]
  • Michigan Central Station with people and a car in the foreground
  • A military band performing
  • A military procession with a young girl and a man in the foreground, captioned "A Little Child Shall Lead Them, June 3, 1920"
  • Members of the military with flags and bayonets walking under an arch, captioned "Passing into the Armouries, June 3, 1920"
  • Snapshot of a young woman, captioned "May Shields Aird, 1914"
  • Snapshot of three young women, captioned "Ruth, Margaret, Bethia,"
  • Portrait of young man in military uniform, captioned "Jack MacNiven, 1914, Tank Corps"
  • Oval photograph of three young women in a canoe, two at either end facing the camera, captioned "May Shields Aird, Margaret Shields Smart."

• "A Special," What We Know About the War. Uxbridge, Ontario: s.n., 1917.
• Great Britain. Army. Royal Engineers. Field Survey Battn. Wiancourt : Parts of 57c S.E., 57b S.W., 62c N.E., 62b N.W. [London]: s.n., 1918.
• Great Britain. Ordnance Survey. France. Sheet 51B. [London]: Ordnance Survey, 1917.
• Historical Calendar, 21st Canadian Infantry Battalion (Eastern Ontario Regiment) : Belgium, France, Germany, 1915-1919. Portsmouth: Printed by Gale & Polden, Ltd., 1919.
• Department of Soldiers' Civil Re-Establishment Information and Records Branch. Information and Service Handbook : For members and ex-members of the Canadian Naval and Military Forces, circa 1919.
• Nicholson, G. W. L. Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919. Ottawa: Roger Duhamel, 1962.
• The Twenty-First Battalion Communique, no. 26, August 1965.

Ardis Press was an independent publishing house in Ann Arbor founded by Carl and Ellendea Proffer in 1971 that was dedicated to the printing of Russian literature. The publishing house was known both for their English translations of previously untranslated works, as well as Russian printings of 20th Century Russian and Soviet authors. Additionally, they would print the works of contemporary Russian authors as well as anthologies and literary criticisms. Ardis operated from 1971-2002 when it was sold to Overlook Press. The majority of the materials in this collection are from the 1970s-1990s. Noteworthy pieces of this collection include the Russian anthology Metropol, the Russian Literature Triquarterly, and correspondence and manuscripts from a variety of Russian authors, including: Lev Kopelev, Vladimir Nabokov, Osip Mandelstam, Marina Tsvetaeva, Joseph Brodsky, and Sasha Sokolov.

Materials have been divided into seven series. 1. Author/Name Files: This series includes correspondence, manuscripts, newspaper articles, contracts, and publishing materials for Russian authors and translators. Materials are arranged by author's last name.

2. Collected Works/Corporate Authors: This series includes correspondence, manuscripts, newspaper articles, and publishing materials from corporate authors or anthologies of works. Materials are arranged by corporate name or anthology name.

3. Business Records: This series includes materials related to the operation of Ardis Press. It will have three sub-series: Publicity, Company Information, and Author Personnel.The Publicity sub-series includes will have three further sub-series: Reviews, Articles/Exhibit Info, and Marketing/Advertising. Reviews are arranged by author's last name, and both Articles/Exhibit Info and Marketing are arranged by subject. The Company Information sub-series includes sales information and records about Ardis. It is arranged by subject. The Author Personnel series includes three further sub-series: Royalties, Contracts, and Rights. The Royalties series has correspondence, invoices, and documentation for author's royalty statements. It is arranged by author's last name. The Contracts series includes contracts and documentation between authors and Ardis and is arranged alphabetically. The Rights series has documentation, invoices and correspondence regarding copyright and use permissions. It is arranged by subject.

4. Media: This series includes photographs, negatives, slides, audio, and visual materials from Ardis and its employees, authors and their families, Russia and the Soviet Union, and various interviews. Materials are arranged into two sub-series: Photographs + Albums, and Video + Audio. Materials are arranged by media type.

5. Artwork: This series includes artwork from Russian artists, some used for book covers. Materials are arranged by artist last name.

6. Carl and Ellendea Proffer Personal Papers: This series includes documentation, correspondence, awards and programs related to Carl and Ellendea Proffer. Materials are arranged by subject.

7. Non-Ardis Materials: This series includes documents, booklets, and posters from Russian sources but that are not related to Ardis. Materials are arranged by subject.

The collection includes papers (series) of Ardith Westie, Charles Westie, combined papers Ardith and Charles Westie, and papers of John E. Westie.

The collection includes papers (series) of Ardith Westie, Charles Westie, combined papers Ardith and Charles Westie, and papers of John E. Westie. The collection is in good condition and is organized by series, size, alphabetically and chronologically.

The first series consists of the papers of Ardith Westie, about 2.5 cubic feet (in 3 boxes) which is split into five sub series: Biographical, Community, Personal Correspondence, College Years, and CMU. The series documents her outstanding high school years, very active college years at CMU, her later career at CMU, her personal friendships, and her social community interests and activities

Ardith’s Biographical materials sub-series, 1933-2000 (scattered), undated, includes photographs of her throughout her life, high school materials.

Her Community papers sub-series documents her activities and interests including mother interest groups and GAP, Mount Pleasant’s Group Action for People, as described in her biographical section.

Her Personal Correspondence sub-series, 1931- 2013 (scattered), undated, includes, in many cases, 70 years of friendship with female college friends, including Jane Yost Stone, who was Ardith’s college roommate for three years, as well as some of their boyfriends and male friends, and with her family. The young men wrote in the 1940s of waiting to be drafted, of training and serving, and missing friends. Elmer White was also associated with the Michigan Press Association. Some v-mail examples are in the men’s war correspondence. The women’s correspondence reflects the evolution from their college interests, through marriage and work, raising and caring for children, to grandchildren, losing spouses, to living as seniors. The baby announcements in the Lucy Booth Bradley and Gladyce Ellis folders are adorable. Most of this correspondence is to Ardith. During her college years she wrote at least weekly to her family, usually her mother, but also to her twin sisters, Carmen and Janice, and received an equal amount of mail in return. They sent mostly letters and postcards, as well as holiday and birthday cards. Ardith wrote about her classes, expenses ($6 was sufficient for her to survive for two weeks with money to spare), clothing needs, friends, her CMLife work, and of her feelings. After she and Chuck married, he sometimes wrote or typed within her letters to her family. Her mother and sisters wrote about the family’s health, social and farm activities, finances, her sisters’ classes and social life, church events, and news of extended family and friends. The few references to World War II mainly concern men being drafted or dying. One of the interesting letters is in April 1942 where Ardith notes she was studying for exams when Chuck burst in and announced he had to report for the draft on April 30.

Within the Family Correspondence are two examples of commercially produced greeting cards with racist depictions of African American children. The first is on a January 4, 1940 New Year’s card, and features a naked black child inside a barrel. The second is on a February 19, 1942 birthday card and has a black girl hanging laundry, bent over, showing her patched underwear.

Ardith also corresponded less frequently with friend and fellow War Years alum, Senator Robert P. Griffin with clippings (copies) documenting the visit of President Gerald R. Ford to CMU to inaugurate the Robert P. Griffin Endowed Chair.

Ardith’s College Years sub-series, 1938-1942, document her very involved life as a CMU college student, as a member of multiple groups, including Kappa Delta Pi and Masquers (the CMU dramatic club), her homework, notes, and essays, clippings, accounts, dance books with pencils, diaries, some correspondence, and her 1942 valedictorian address. Her commencement program is in her Personal Correspondence to/from Family.

Her CMU sub-series, 1945-1993, and undated, documents Ardith’s work and leadership with the CMU Alumni Association, Housing Committee, Summerfest, CMU 75th and Centennial celebration including history and awards, and the creation and dedication of the Peace Grove, 1995.

The Ardith and Chuck Westie Papers, approximately .5 cubic foot, include personal and CMU materials, including CMU projects and other projects they worked on together, and people with whom they both corresponded, 1940s-2015, and undated, including the CMU War Years Gatherings or Reunions and the CMU Peace Grove Memorial in honor of the CMU students who died while serving their nation in World War I and II. Lists of these students are in the related correspondence. They corresponded with many friends including fellow CMU alums Norm Johnston, a prison history author, and Robert E. McCabe, the architect of the Detroit Renaissance Center. Both Westies researched and documented the history of the First United Methodist Church of Mount Pleasant, of which they were members.

Charles “Chuck” Westie’s Papers, approximately 3 cubic feet, are divided into the sub-series of Biographical materials, College Years, and CMU materials from when he was a professor at CMU

His Biographical Materials sub-series, 1937-1981 (scattered) and undated, includes photographs of Charles, 1937-1993, undated, while a student and professor, and his Personal Correspondence, from family and friends, 1937-1940s, undated. There are examples of his correspondence to Ardith and her family in her Personal Correspondence to/from Family folders 1940 and forward. Charles strongly questioned the WWII before he was drafted. He later wrote letters of support for men seeking conscientious objector status, 1969-1972. Charles wrote powerfully about his attitude about war in an untitled [anti-Viet Nam] article, 1969, referring to his experience at Normandy and how he witnessed many American soldiers and friends die. There is a letter and poem to Ardith about his thoughts about the death of his dear friend John Evans after viewing John’s wedding photographs, July 1944. Related to this is 1946 correspondence to/from Ed Slavinsky’s family. Ed and Charles met in the Percy Jones Hospital when Charles was recovering from losing his leg and Ed was suffering from “battle fatigue,” later called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

His College Years sub-series, 1937-1943, include: Charles’ Central Michigan College of Education B.S. degree and commencement materials, 1945; his academic transcript, 1943, his commencement invitations, and program, 1945; English papers, plays and poems he wrote or participated in; correspondence to friends, mainly his then girlfriend, Lillian Hunt, Masquers (dramatic club) materials, and photographs of his college buddies and girlfriends; a CSTC (Central State Teachers College) pennant and Chippewa Pledge. An oversized photograph album with wooden covers, with a front cover carved by Chuck with an image of an Indigenous man and pinecone, includes images before and during his college years. Photographs which became loose from the volume are in a large envelop boxed with the album.

The majority of Charles’ CMU materials sub-series focuses on his academic career, committee work, and interests while at CMU. Well documented in his papers are his efforts to form and the early years of the CMU Faculty Association (FA). which began as the Mount Pleasant Chapter of the American Association of University Professors. There are correspondence, memos, reports and newsletters, and oversized reports of Committee Z, which investigated and reported on CMU faculty salary compensation compared to faculty nationally. This subseries documents the hostility between the faculty and the administration, and evidence of faculty who were fired or whose tenure, promotions, and salary increases were delayed or denied in retaliation for their complaints and union activity by the administration. Charles communicated with administrators, faculty, professors, Michigan and national union officials, and politicians, including Senator Guy Vander Jagt.

His papers document the Sociology Department and its successor, the Sociology and Anthropology Department, with meeting minutes, memos, reports, and examples of Charles’ tests. There is documentation of committees or topical projects or CMU units he helped create or in which he actively participated. The major projects and committees in his papers include: the CMU Centennial, Art Gallery, the Honors Program, the Museum, the Peace Grove, Veit Woodland, Lem Tucker scholarship, Indigenous education, and the all Ojibwa Boy Scout Troop 606, handicapped and non-traditional CMU students, foster children, and Korean orphans supported by CMU.

Also documented in his papers are CMU student protests and related activities including Jane Fonda speaking at CMU, 1970; President Boyd’s reaction to the community at CMU, and the suspension of CMU African American students in 1970.

Ardith and Chuck corresponded with or documented significant CMU people including presidents Abel, Anspach, Boyd, and Foust, Norval Bovee, D. Louise Sharp, Rolland H. Maybee, and Senator Robert P. Griffin.

There is one box of legal-size materials of Charles’ related to his CMU career and interests, There is also one Oversized folder which includes: a Bicentennial Declaration of Human Rights for Handicapped Persons, by the CMU Office of Career Development for Handicapped Persons [1976]; a poem about Sigma Kappa, undated; and a handmade poster advertising the 1969-1970 classics film schedule.

The Papers of John E. Westie, 1957-1973, undated, .5 cubic foot (in 1 box) is the last series in the collection. With the exception of his C.P. [College Preparatory] high school English papers, 1964-1965, and two brief notes (copies) from President Anspach, 1957, 1960, his papers focus on his successful fight to have the government classify him as a conscientious objector during the Viet Nam War. His correspondence and paperwork with the Isabella County draft board, Selective Service, his lawyer, and between he and his wife, Sandy, and his parents, demonstrate his efforts and the difficulties he overcame. This series includes publications from or by the government about the selective service process, and more from or by religious organizations that advocated for conscientious objectors, the Central Mennonite Committee and the United Methodist Church, the Midwest Committee for Draft Counseling and its Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors, and the National Interreligious Service Board for Conscientious Objectors. Newspaper clippings (copies) about the draft or conscientious objectors, 1965-1972, undated, complete the series.

Researchers may also be interested in other collections in the Clarke documenting the history of CMU, the Faculty Association, Mount Pleasant, and other topics in this collection. Charles’ World War II material is in the state Archives of Michigan.

Processing Note: 31 cubic feet of duplicate publications, miscellaneous materials, most envelopes, blank forms, drafts, vitas, information with social security numbers, and peripheral materials were withdrawn from the collection. Very acidic materials and poor-quality photocopies were photocopied and only the new copies were retained in the collection. 68 Michigan postcards were added to the Clarke’s Michigan Postcard Collection. 20 monographs and 10 issues of magazines re: CMU history and conscientious objectors were separately cataloged. Envelopes were retained if that was the only way to identify the address of the sender. The postal date from the envelope was added in pencil to undated correspondence. Whenever possible, undated correspondence without envelopes was dated from the letter’s contents and context.

The Ari J. Kane Papers (1976-2016) document the activities of the sex and gender studies therapist, educator, and advocate Ari J. Kane, who founded Fantasia Fair and the Outreach Institute for Gender Studies (OIGS). The collection contains personal materials such as correspondence, research materials, educational presentations created by Kane, and other miscellaneous materials from Kane's involvement in the LGBT community. Included in the collection are organizational correspondence and records relating to the Outreach Institute of Gender Studies and the Educational Institute for Sex and Gender Diversity. Also included are event programs, planning information, workshop materials, member lists, and correspondence from events and programs such as Fantasia Fair, the Gender Attitude Reassessment Program, GAYLA, and various professional organizations' annual meetings. The collection contains photographs from Kane's participation in events, parties, and travels around the United States.

This collection documents the activities of Ari J. Kane, who founded Fantasia Fair and the Outreach Institute for Gender Studies (OIGS), and was a sex and gender studies therapist and educator. The collection contains personal materials such as correspondence, research materials, educational presentations created by Kane, and other miscellaneous materials from Kane's involvement in the LGBT community.

It also contains materials documenting the OIGS, such as organizational correspondence; financial records; board of directors meeting minutes; endeavors with organizational support such as the Gender Attitude Reassessment Program (GARP), Fantasia Fair, and the Journal of Gender Studies; publications created by and collected by the OIGS; and miscellaneous promotional materials and flyers. Gender Attitude Reassessment Program materials consist of drafts; research materials; workshop proposals, exercise handouts, and transparencies; correspondence; and a completed manuscript. Fantasia Fair materials consist of event programs, member lists, correspondence, planning notes, newsletters, and flyers. Journal of Gender Studies materials consist of issue proofs, submissions and content to be published, flyers, and mailing lists.

The Educational Institute for Sex and Gender Diversity (EISGD) is also documented in the collection. The EISGD is an offshoot of the Outreach Institute for Gender Studies that formed around 2001-2002. These materials contain organizational correspondence and records such as meeting minutes, expense reports, brochures, and flyers.

The Conferences and Events series contains materials relating to events that Kane was a part of, as well as conferences she presented at or attended. The GAYLA subseries consists of event programs, correspondence, photographs, newsletters, member lists, and planning notes. GAYLA is an annual summer event for gay men held at Ferry Beach, Maine. The American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT) subseries contains conference event programs, presentation proposals and submissions, correspondence, workshop materials, research articles, and AASECT publications. Most of the materials in this subseries relate to Dave Prok, a longtime board member of OIGS and EISGD and professor at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio. Prok served as a conference proposal abstract reviewer for AASECT. The Easton Mountain subseries contains brochures, event programs, notes, newsletters, and materials relating to Gay Spirit Camp and the Maturing Gay Man series of workshops. Easton Mountain is a retreat in upstate New York. Ari J. Kane and Dave Prok collaborated on a workshop for aging gay men called the Maturing Gay Man that they presented at Easton Mountain. The Various Conferences subseries contains event programs, invitations, correspondence, proposals, and presentations from many different events.

The Photographs series consists of photographic prints and photograph albums. The photograph albums depict Fantasia Fair and GAYLA events. The photographic prints depict various events such as Fantasia Fair; GAYLA; Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality and American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists conferences; parties and celebrations; and various travels around the United States. People depicted in the photographs include Ari J. Kane, Jane Peabody, Carole Mayfield aka Dick Arms, Bob Cowart, Winnie Brant, Ron Roy, and Candy Scott, among others. The photographs remain in original order.

The Audiovisual Material series consists of VHS tapes, cassette tapes, floppy disks, and compact discs containing media from Fantasia Fair 1994 and 1996, The Sissy Show, the Gender Attitude Reassessment Program.

A currently anonymous writer, likely a traveling salesperson, maintained this "Harris' Improved Expense Account Book for Traveling Men: Vest Pocket Edition" primarily while traveling in Arkansas during January 1889. Other stops appear to have been in Tennessee and North Carolina. The entries are divided between cash disbursed and received, with sections for towns visited, hotel bills, forms of transportation and fare (railroad, sleeper and boat passage, hack, omnibus, street car, etc.), mileage, baggage, washing and incidentals, and other travel expenses.

A currently anonymous writer, likely a traveling salesperson, maintained this "Harris' Improved Expense Account Book for Traveling Men: Vest Pocket Edition" primarily while traveling in Arkansas during January 1889. Other stops appear to have been in Tennessee and North Carolina.

The entries are divided between cash disbursed and received, with sections for towns visited, hotel bills, forms of transportation and fare (railroad, sleeper and boat passage, hack, omnibus, street car, etc.), mileage, baggage, washing and incidentals, and other travel expenses.

The Armenian Studies Program began in 1976 and was firmly established in 1981 when the Alex Manoogian Chair in Modern Armenian History was created. The record group documents the development and activities of the program from 1983 to 2003.

The records of the Armenian Studies Program document the history of the program from 1983 to 2003. The records are divided into two series: Administrative and Events and Publications.

Papers of Arnold Weinstein, American poet, playwright, librettist, and translator. Material in both paper and digital formats includes manuscript drafts and final versions of libretti, music scores with Weinstein's lyrics, manuscript and published literary works; research and background material related to individual works and projects, as well as programs, publicity material and reviews of shows. Also commercially produced and non-commercial audio and video recordings.

The Papers of Arnold Weinstein collection documents the work of the American librettist, playwright and poet between the late 1950s through the 2000s.

Arthur Loring completed penmanship exercises in 1891 and 1892 within H. W. Shaylor's Harper's New Graded Copy Books of Practical Penmanship, published by the American Book Company. Each page includes a printed example of two finely written place names and one proverb or phrase, advancing through the volume in alphabetical order.

Arthur Loring completed penmanship exercises in 1891 and 1892 within H. W. Shaylor's Harper's New Graded Copy Books of Practical Penmanship, published by the American Book Company. Each page includes a printed example of two finely written place names and one proverb or phrase, advancing through the volume in alphabetical order.

The inside front cover features illustrations of a male student writing at a desk and a close up of his hands holding the pen, along with a written description of the proper position for writing. The back inside cover includes examples of movement exercises, and an advertisement for Harper's Copy-Books appears on the back cover.

The Arts of Citizenship Program at the University of Michigan fostered the role of the arts and humanities through collaborative cultural partnerships and community projects in the Ann Arbor and Detroit area. The program aimed to enrich public life and to enlarge the university's educational mission. These records contains notes, correspondence, publicity, audiovisual materials, presentations, and other material documenting the administration, public programming, and community partnerships undertaken by the Arts of Citizenship program. Also included is a website capture taken July 18, 2005.

The Arts of Citizenship (AOC) Program documentation consists of notes, correspondence, publicity, audiovisual materials (audiocassettes, digital materials, videotapes), and other material documenting the daily administrative activities, public programming, outreach, research, and community partnerships. The record group is divided into three series: Administration, Project Files, and Website. These series represent the original order of materials as received upon accession. The researcher should note that the records do not provide an in-depth portrayal of AOC, but rather information about the operation, functions, and details on specific projects undertaken by the program.

A Select Vacation Tour to Marble, Colorado contains 55 photographs, 11 clippings, 6 pieces of ephemera, and 1 letter documenting an inspection trip for potential investors to marble and slate quarries in Colorado organized by the Knickerbocker Syndicate.

A Select Vacation Tour to Marble, Colorado contains 55 photographs, 11 clippings, 6 pieces of ephemera, and 1 letter documenting an inspection trip for potential investors to marble and slate quarries in Colorado organized by the Knickerbocker Syndicate.

The album (18 x 25.5 cm) is lacking a front cover, but the contents are undamaged. The first item is an illustrated brochure attached to the album's front cover that describes the upcoming journey and provides a detailed itinerary and sample menu. While aimed primarily at current investors in the Colorado-Yule Marble Company and the Colorado Slate Company, “families and friends or acquaintances” were also welcome. The cost was not specified.

The rest of the album documents the trip and promotes the quality of company products. Photographs show Yule marble in use at the Cheesman Memorial in Denver and the Youngstown, Ohio, courthouse. Pamphlets and newspaper articles also declare the marble to be of better quality than Carrara marble and the slate is in quantities that will eclipse Wales in the industry, who was the world leader at the time.

The passengers made a thorough inspection of the Yule Marble site over two days and are shown riding from the mill to the quarry site in the new electric trolley powered by electricity generated from the Crystal River, on the quarry floor watching workers extract blocks that will be shaped into columns at the mill, and visited the site of the slate quarry which was in the early stages of development. Other highlights of the trip included stopovers at Glenwood Hot Springs Lodge and Colorado Springs, excursions to tourist sites like Pikes Peak and Cripple Creek, and city tours in Kansas City, Denver, and elsewhere. Local newspapers covered many of these visits, and clippings are included in the album.

Also present is a letter of appreciation to the mine supervisors signed by 31 of the travelers and an illustrated report on the state of the mine by a mechanical engineer on the trip named Arthur M. Chidester (who also took most of the album’s photographs).