Collections

Designer and automotive engineer with the General Motors Corporation; he later assumed increasing responsibilities within the company as president and chief operating officer and then chairman and chief executive officer. After leaving GM, he became chairman of Energy Conversion Devices (ECD). The Stempel collection documents his work with GMC and ECD and includes minutes of meetings, company memoranda and correspondence, speeches and other various presentations, publications, and photographs and other visual materials. Portions of the collection relate to other business and public service affiliations.

The Robert C. Stempel collection has been arranged into the following series: General Motors Corporation; Energy Conversion Devices; Speeches / Conferences / Presentations; Organizational Affiliations, Responsibilities, and Interests; Background / Personal information; Visual Materials, and Sound Cassettes.

Collection of auction catalogs and books, some of which are self-published, catalogs, bibliographies, facsimiles including reprints, a photograph album, and a scrapbook of clippings, all on the topic of angling.

Collection of auction catalogs and books, some of which are self-published, catalogs, bibliographies, facsimiles including reprints, a photograph album, and a scrapbook of clippings, all on the topic of angling. Materials are from or focused on Michigan as well as national and international angling. Authors include individuals, organizations, and government units. Original inventories compiled by Kohrman and inventories annotated by processing students are in the first folder of Box 1. Materials not in the boxes or not in the inventory that were found in the boxes were noted by the processing students. All catalog publishers are listed in the subject headings. These published materials are part of the Robert E Kohrman Angling Collection, but did not have an OCLC record at the time of processing in 2024, and thus were processed together as a manuscript collection to speed accessibility by researchers. For more detail please see the finding aid and inventories. The catalogs are organized in original order. The remainder of the collection is in alphabetical order by author or creator’s name. Some of the materials are still under copyright.

Collection of auction catalogs and books, some of which are self-published, catalogs, bibliographies, facsimiles including reprints, a photograph album, and a scrapbook of clippings, all on the topic of angling.

Collection of auction catalogs and books, some of which are self-published, catalogs, bibliographies, facsimiles including reprints, a photograph album, and a scrapbook of clippings, all on the topic of angling. Materials are from or focused on Michigan as well as national and international angling. Authors include individuals, organizations, and government units. Original inventories compiled by Kohrman and inventories annotated by processing students are in the first folder of Box 1. Materials not in the boxes or not in the inventory that were found in the boxes were noted by the processing students. All catalog publishers are listed in the subject headings. These published materials are part of the Robert E Kohrman Angling Collection, but did not have an OCLC record at the time of processing in 2024, and thus were processed together as a manuscript collection to speed accessibility by researchers. For more detail please see the finding aid and inventories. The catalogs are organized in original order. The remainder of the collection is in alphabetical order by author or creator’s name. Some of the materials are still under copyright.

Robert E. Lewis served as editor-in-chief of the Middle English Dictionary at the University of Michigan from 1982 to 2001. Before coming to Michigan Lewis was a professor of English at Indiana University where he co-authored A Guide to the Manuscripts of the Prick of Conscience. The Robert E. Lewis papers relate primarily to research into Prick of Conscience, the most popular English poem of the Middle Ages. The papers include correspondence, articles, notes and reproductions (photocopies and microfilm) of medieval manuscripts and texts of the poem and related material

History of Prick of Conscience Studies

The Prick of Conscience, to judge from the number of known manuscripts (120), was the most popular English poem of the Middle Ages, surpassing such popular poems as Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (its nearest competitor with 64 manuscripts), Piers Plowman (with 54), and John Gower's Confessio Amantis (with 51), and was itself surpassed in English only by the two versions of the Wycliffite prose translation of the Bible and the prose Brut. The poem exists in three versions: (1) an original or main version (in 99 manuscripts), which originated in the north of England, probably Yorkshire, with a preponderance of manuscripts from that area and the north midlands, but also extending into the west midlands and East Anglia and even into the southeast and the southwest; (2) a shorter, thoroughly revised recension (in nineteen manuscripts) originating somewhere in the south, with a more restricted distribution; and (3) a heavily revised and abbreviated version of the main version entitled Speculum Huius Vite (in two manuscripts).

The popularity of the poem is supported by other signs: eighty per cent of the counties of England can claim at least one copy of the poem, some have two or more, and three of the copies are written in the Anglo-Irish dialect; extracts circulated separately (twelve in eight manuscripts); the poem was quoted in a number of other Middle English poems ("Stimulus Consciencie Minor," "Desert of Religion," "Of the Flood of the World," "Wheel of Fortune," for example) as well as in a stained glass window at All Saints Church in York); there was a translation into Latin prose made in the 14th century (six manuscripts exist); and the poem appears in wills and book lists.

The Prick of Conscience is a long verse compilation (over 9,600 lines in rhyming couplets), divided into a prologue; seven books, which treat, in turn, the wretchedness of man's nature throughout his life, the world and the various conditions thereof, death and the fear of death, purgatory and its characteristics, the day of judgment, the pains of hell, and the joys of heaven; and a brief conclusion or epilogue. The poem has a great many sources: ultimately over twenty separate works, primarily Latin, including both well known ones like St. Augustine's De Civitate Dei, Honorius of Autun's Elucidarium, Pope Innocent III"s De Miseria Humane Conditionis, and Bartholomeus Anglicus's De Proprietatibus Rerum and not so well known ones like Robert Grosseteste's De Penis Purgatorii (in its French version) and Hugh Ripelin of Strasbourg's Compendium Theologice Veritatis.

For a long time the poem was thought to have been written by the well known hermit and mystical writer Richard Rolle (died 1349), to whom it is attributed in five manuscripts, but his authorship is now considered extremely doubtful. Three manuscripts attribute the poem to Robert Grosseteste (circa 1170-1253), Bishop of Lincoln, but he lived too early to be the author. A more recent suggestion is William of Nassyngton (died 1359), chancellor of the Diocese of York and the author of the Speculum Vite, but there is as yet no proof for this. In genre the Prick of Conscience is unlike any other Middle English work in verse or prose, though it has some similarities and has been compared to the Speculum Vite. Its primary function was probably as a compendium of knowledge from which a parish priest could instruct his flock or draw material for his sermons, and its wide circulation in the 14th and 15th centuries indicates that it must have fulfilled its purpose.

The poem is worth studying for a number of reasons and from a variety of points of view, and when Lewis came to Ann Arbor in 1982 he had just completed, with Angus McIntosh A Guide to the Manuscripts of the Prick of Conscience (Oxford: Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature), which they hoped, as they said in their Preface, would "stimulate and facilitate research into some of the important . . . questions connected with [the poem], such as its genre, the reasons for its popularity, its audience, and its influence in Britain in the later Middle Ages"; and Lewis himself was planning to spend whatever free time he had on various aspects of the poem. He had made good progress on two projects: the sources (and the manuscript tradition of the sources) of Book I and an edition of one of the short poems indebted to the Prick of Conscience, the "Stimulus Consciencie Minor." But the work of the Middle English Dictionary took precedence during his official working years, and because of other commitments he was unable to complete these projects during retirement. He deposited his Prick of Conscience materials in the Bentley Library in the hope that other researchers would consult them as a starting point either to complete the two projects he began or to study other aspects of the poem.

Scope and Content Note

The Robert E. Lewis papers relate primarily to research and study of the Prick of Conscience the most popular English poem of the Middle Ages. Prick of Conscience material includes reproductions (photocopies and microfilm) of medieval manuscripts and related Middle English texts as well as Lewis's correspondence, notes, and research files on the Prick of Conscience. Material relating to the Middle English Dictionary and his professional career is also present.

The Lewis papers are arranged in five series. The first four series relate to the poem Prick of Conscience: Prick of Conscience, Related Materials, Notes on Cards and Slips, and Microfilms of Manuscripts. The content of the first two boxes are all in standard archival folders and are arranged by subject. In box three the materials represent a variety of formats (4" x 6" cards, 5" x 8" cards and slips, and a paperback book), also arranged by subject, with a few microfilms in various kinds of containers. The final box consists of microfilms only.

African American civil rights activist and Black militant leader in Monroe County North Carolina who came to advocate armed self-defense in response to violence, left the United States in 1961 and lived in Cuba and China until 1969 when he settled in Baldwin Michigan. Papers include correspondence, newspaper clippings, audio-visual material, manuscripts, petitions, and government documents documenting the civil rights movement, black nationalism, radical politics in the United States and Williams's experiences in Cuba and China.

The Robert Williams papers, dating from 1951, include correspondence, notes, newspaper clippings, audio-visual material, manuscripts, petitions, and government documents. The collection documents a wide variety of subjects: the American civil rights movement, Black Nationalism, cold war politics, Castro's Cuba, Mao's China, and the radical left in the United States.

As Robert Williams continued to add to his collection following his initial donation in 1976, it was necessary to arrange and describe the materials based on groupings of dates of accessioning. Thus the bulk of the collection is divided into two subgroups: 1976-1979 Accessions and 1983-1997 Accessions with much overlapping of material. In addition, the collection contains a small series of papers collected by his son John C. Williams and a separate series of Audio-Visual Materials.

Soldier with C-Company, 307th Engineering Platoon, 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, in Vietnam, includes recorded letters sent home while stationed in Vietnam, 1968-1969; and photographic snapshots of Shepard, other members of his company, and the areas in Vietnam where they were stationed.

The Robert Shepard collection includes recorded letters (18, 3-inch reel-to-reel tapes) sent home while stationed in Vietnam, 1968-1969; and photographic snapshots of Shepard, other members of his company, and the areas in Vietnam where they were stationed. The Photogaphs consist of two photo albums and two envelopes full of loose photographs as well as scans of the photo albums created by the donor.

The recordings consist of 18 audio letters sent to his family from Vietnam. These were sent through the army mail's "Voices from Home" program using 3M's "Living Letters" brand.

This collection consists of nine letters written by Robert Morgan between 1830 and 1843 from Sharon, Pennsylvania; Freedom, Pennsylvania; and Quincy, Illinois. He wrote to his brother, William Morgan of Seaford, Delaware, about family news, tending to his large and growing family of eleven children, and provided details about living and working in Western Pennsylvania and Illinois. He wrote about the landscape, weather, diet, labor and wages, costs of provisions, health, as well as canals, religion and more.

This collection consists of nine letters written by Robert Morgan between 1830 and 1843 from Sharon, Pennsylvania; Freedom, Pennsylvania; and Quincy, Illinois. He wrote to his brother, William Morgan of Seaford, Delaware, about family news, tending to his large and growing family of eleven children, and provided details about living and working in Western Pennsylvania and Illinois. He wrote about the landscape, weather, diet, labor and wages, costs of provisions, health, as well as canals, religion and more.

In Sharon, the Morgans lived on the road from Pittsburgh to Lake Erie, and Robert commented on shipments of cheese and livestock coming from Ohio (October 30, 1830), and he noted the construction of canals (May 13, 1831). He encouraged his family in Delaware to move westward: "I think when you and George sees the paper you will leave that poor sickley corn fed part of the Country and Come out whare you can have a plenty." He remarked on the need for doctors and preachers, good wages, and plentiful opportunities as inducements.

Robert and William Morgan corresponded regularly about religion, particularly Methodism and opposing viewpoints about traditional and reformed practices. Robert noted his wife's refusal to read any books on Methodist reforms or listen to him discuss it (July 25, 1831), and he wrote about revivals, churches, and preachers in the region. In 1832 Robert Morgan and his family moved to the newly established Freedom, Pennsylvania, where he initially worked as a carpenter. He occasionally referenced politics, including Andrew Jackson and banking (June 30, 1834; October 12, 1834), and wrote frankly about the potential hazards of remarrying (October 12, 1834). Some letters include comments on sickness, including cholera, scarlet fever, and the deaths of children and grandchildren. The final letter was written from Quincy, Illinois, where several members of the Morgan family had emigrated.

Robert McCleery, a career Navy man, was appointed Chief Engineer aboard the U.S.S. Wabash and detailed to Port Royal Harbor as part of the South Atlantic Blockading fleet during the Civil War. His collection contains routine paperwork concerning the maintenance of federal ships involved in blockading Charleston and Port Royal Harbors, S.C., and one notebook he kept while a student.

One notebook contains content produced between 1845 and 1853, while McCleery was studying chemistry, engineering, and other topics while livin gin Frederick City, Maryland. The letters date from the months in which Robert McCleery served as a Chief Engineer at Port Royal Harbor. The collection is a compact assemblage of routine paperwork concerning the maintenance of federal ships involved in blockading Charleston and Port Royal Harbors, S.C., including requisitions for machinery, foodstuffs, dry goods and personal goods, as well as routine repairs to ships. A few letters make minor note of staff relations on board ships.

Fundamentally routine in nature, the McCleery correspondence makes few direct references to blockading activity or the naval activity at sea. The collection represents, instead, the mundane, but essential port-side work required to maintain a fleet in good order.

The Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society papers consist of documents generated by the society as well as correspondence to and from various members of the society about slavery, the conditions of freemen, and other progressive issues.

The Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society papers contain only a small portion of what must at one time have been a much larger collection. As a society devoted to the immediate abolition of slavery, the antislavery movement forms the context of most of the correspondence in the collection, but the members of the society were individually and collectively involved in the education of freedmen and in other movements, including women's rights. As a result, the collection offers a broad perspective on the mentality and activity of a small group of progressive northern women involved in the reform of what they saw as the worst inequities in American society.

The Society maintained contact with several national-level leaders of the antislavery movements, and provided important financial support to Frederick Douglass, in particular. The nine letters from Douglass in the collection all relate to the assistance provided for publication of his newspaper or are requests from him for direct aid to fugitive slaves en route to Canada. A particularly affecting letter is one that he wrote from England in 1860, while on an antislavery tour. Harriet Tubman, Beriah Green, Lewis Tappan, George B. Cheever, and Gerrit Smith also appear in the collection, either as correspondents or subjects of letters. Among the more interesting of these letters is one from John Stewart, probably a free black man, addressed to Harriet Tubman; a letter from Moses Anderson, also African-American, writing about the importance of Uncle Tom's Cabin in shaping his political consciousness; Jacob Gibb's letter of introduction for a fugitive slave; and William Watkins' report on the number of fugitive slaves that have passed through Rochester into Canada in the year 1857.

British support for the Society was crucial in keeping it viable in the late 1850s, and is documented through the letters of Julia Griffiths Crofts (Leeds, England); Sarah Plummer (Dalkeith, Scotland), and Maria Webb (Dublin, Ireland). The fund-raising efforts of the society can be tracked partly through the list of goods donated for a Festival (1:77), a small collection of ephemera relating to British antislavery societies (1:82), and a list of donations from those British societies (1:28). The most significant item for tracking finances, however, is the account book for the Society (2:20), which covers its entire history. The secretaries of the Society recorded the complete finances of the organization, and provided lists of speakers at their annual events, and carefully delineated money remitted to individual fugitive slaves. Included at the end of the collection are a set of photocopies of the manuscripts (2:21) and supplemental information about the Society and its members, provided by the University of Rochester (2:22).

Freedmen's education was a major concern of the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society, and is discussed extensively by several correspondents. The single most frequent correspondent in the collection is Julia A. Wilbur, writing while working with freedmen in Alexandria, Va., 1862-1865. Wilbur writes long and vivid letters describing the miserable living conditions found among the freedmen, their want of clothing and shelter, and she describes several individual cases. Wilbur also met and became familiar with the renowned ex-slave and author, Harriet Jacobs. The situation that Wilbur describes in Virginia verges on the chaotic, with corruption at the highest levels, dissension among those in charge of contraband matters, and many in the military reluctant or unwilling to take any responsibility. She was a perceptive observer of the progress of the war, Southern citizenry, and of the destruction that the war had inflicted upon Virginia. Her official reports to the Society, which are more general and less pointed than her private correspondence, were published in the Society's published annual reports (2:1-13).

In addition to Wilbur's letters, there are six other items pertaining to freedmen's education. Three letters from G. W. Gardiner and one document signed by Lewis Overton, 1862-63, relate to the work of the Colored School, founded for freedmen at Leavenworth, Kansas, and both letters from Daniel Breed, 1863-64, include discussions of the Rochester School for Freedmen in Washington, D.C., named for the Society whose money founded it.

The printed items in the collection include fourteen of the seventeen known annual reports of the Society, a report from the Toronto Ladies' Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored fugitives (2:14), and circulars from two British societies (2:15-16). Three issues of Frederick Douglass' Paper (October 2, 1851, February 19 1858, and July 1, 1859) and one issue of The North Star (April 14, 1848) are included in Oversize Manuscripts. An issue of the Christian Inquirer (New York, July 24, 1858), having no direct relation to the Rochester Society, was transferred to the Newspapers Division. Finally, in two letters written in 1859 and 1861, Rebecca Bailey discusses her father William Bailey's newspaper, The Free South.

This collection consists of two variations of a 1912 yearbook for members of the 1915 co-ed class of Rochester High School in Rochester, Pennsylvania.

This collection consists of two variations of a 1912 yearbook for members of the 1915 co-ed class of Rochester High school in Rochester, Pennsylvania. These yearbooks include pencil and pen-and-ink portraits of students, faculty, and sports teams, as well as caricatures, cartoons, and humorous drawings. Several poems are also included. Their content touches on humor, social affairs, class members' personalities, curriculum, athletics, and gender. The content is very similar between the two volumes, with some variations of student descriptions and introductory matter.

The first volume, titled "The Nightmare," includes an introduction stating that "the only excuse for publishing this book is because the rest of the bunch have one apiece . . . [and] merely aids one in passing some idle hours in school . . . this book is strictly 'Entre Nous,' so don't tell anybody outside of America." One page, headed "Familiar Quotations" quotes Bunny Amos Rex as having said, "Aw fellows let's git together and do some devilment." On the opposite page of the "Quotations" section is a drawing of the Rochester High School with the label "Agony Building." Accompanying the student portraits are humorous descriptions of said students: Armin Barner is described as an elegant musician, politician, electrician and magician of the lowest rank.

The second volume, titled "Freshmen Class Book 1911," includes a preface claiming the book "touches on such topics as Elementary Science, Natural Science, Natural Phylosophy, Orthography, Uranography, Geodasy and Wireless Telegraphy" to emulate "when all writters chiseled out dedications for a book thereby showing their originality." It further states that the class has attempted the same "because of our first class solid ivory domes." Many pages feature illustrations or descriptions of the school's sports teams. It also contains croquet scores for the women's team, who apparently gave the class "the thing we need to brag over," as they "mopped the valley clean" in their season.