Collections

The Bentley Historical Library houses the Michigan Historical collections, which documents the history of Michigan; and the University Archives and Records Program, which maintains the historical record of the University of Michigan. Founded in 1935 as the Michigan Historical Collections, directors of the library include Lewis G. Vander Velde, F. Clever Bald, Robert M. Warner, Francis X. Blouin, Jr., and Terrence J. McDonald. The records include administrative files, correspondence, meeting materials, files on exhibits, archived websites, images, audio-visual media, and documentation of special projects such as the Vatican Archives project.

The records of the Bentley Historical Library were received in six main accessions 1991, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2014. Together the records comprise 79 linear feet, plus two oversize boxes, and oversize folder, three flat file drawers, and more than 16 GB of data spanning the years 1935-2014. The researcher should consult the summary box list on page vii for a quick overview of the materials in the collection.

Correspondence, manuscripts, publications, and ephemera from award-winning novelist, journalist, and anarchist Cara Hoffman.

The correspondence series contains digital correspondence between Hoffman and colleagues, as well as letters sent to Hoffman. The creator separated digital correspondence from Goddard College, Jon Frankel, and Rachel Pollack from other letters. These correspondents' folders are arranged alphabetically. Their back-and-forth with Hoffman largely consists of discussions about craft or admissions to Goddard College. Additional correspondence is ordered chronologically. Many letters date from the 80s and 90s and concern the personal lives of Hoffman's correspondents.

The Works series consists of notes, manuscripts, proofs, and publications of Hoffman's novels, short stories, and articles. Materials are grouped by work. The bulk of materials relate to Hoffman's most recent novel, Running, which is based loosely on her early travels in Greece in the 1980s and 1990s.

The collection also includes 5 of Hoffman's personal journals, dating from 2000 to roughly 2018. These journals include notes and writings related to Hoffman's writing process and her work on her MFA. Following the journals are Hoffman's Goddard diploma and handful of ephemera from Hoffman's travels.

This collection is the official organizational records of the CMU. Honors Program and the related Honors Council

This collection is the official organizational records of the CMU. Honors Program and the related Honors Council. The collection consists of seven series including: Student Biographies, 2006-2015 (Box 1 - 3), Honors Council Minutes, 1961-1995 (Boxes 3 - 4), Honors Council, Academic Senate, Minutes, 1996-2018 (Boxes 4 - 5), Subject Files, 1961-2021 (Boxes 5 - 8), Audiovisual Media, 1968-2012 (Boxes 9-10), Objects, 2013 (Box 11), and Posters, 1992-2009 (Oversize Folder 1). The Student Biographies series includes biographical sheets completed by competitors for Centralis scholarships and Freshmen Honors students. There is no standard format or medium. Besides the biographies, the sheets may include collages, art, poems, songs, and photographs. Some of the biographies originally included materials with battery-operated materials. Minutes usually include agendas, minutes, and attachments, such as communications, reports, proposals, scholarship information, and other materials. The Subject Files series begins with several histories of Honors describing its beginnings and major changes. Program history is also documented in the course description guides, course outlines, Beaver Island class trips, program reviews, policy and procedure manuals, fundraising, scholarships, and endowment scholarships. Information about Honors related organizations including the Honors Outreach Network, the Honors Philanthropic Society, and the Honors Alumni Board is included, as well as three self-published books. Audiovisual Media includes an advertisement video, an Inside Central segment with Ed Long, and many photographic materials, which are largely both undated and unidentified. However, there are folders of photographs organized by occasion or group, including Beaver Island, Centralis, The Claude S. Larzelere Trivia Contest, Directors, Talent Show, the Stratford Festival, and Volunteer Work, among others. The Objects series includes two plastic CMU Honors Program 2013 Winter Charity Ball wine glasses. The Posters series mostly pertain to Centralis Scholars, but also include a timeline on the program’s history, and a photograph of Maestria en Administration Internacional, Cohort 5, 1998. This last poster is the only item in Spanish in the collection. Overall, the collection is in very good physical condition. The collection is in alphabetical and chronological order by series. Boxes 1 through 9 are cubic foot boxes. Box 10 is a letter sized .25 cubic foot box. Box 11 is a small odd sized box.

Researchers may be interested in knowing information on specific scholarships can be found by searching for both the scholarship’s specific title and the general term “scholarships.” Handbooks may also be found in program reviews or Honors Council minutes for a given year. More information on specific classes might be in the Honors Council minutes. Additional information on Honors may be found in multiple CMU organizational records collections and the papers of Dr. Charles Westie which are in his wife, Ardith Westie’s, papers, in the Clarke Historical Library. Dr. Westie was one of the first people who pushed to create the honors program.

Processing Note: During processing 21.5 cubic feet of miscellaneous financial and other materials, evaluations, search committee materials, duplicates, reading and generic materials, lists of prospective students, social security numbers, and unidentified biographical sheets were withdrawn. Acidic materials were photocopied, and the copies were maintained within the collection. A sampling was retained of the following materials: Centralis Scholarships, Graduation materials and The Claude trivia contest materials. The Claude is otherwise recorded in CMLife. CMU mascot information was interfiled into the Clarke’s CMU Vertical files. Photographs, negatives, and biographical sheets were not rehoused due to the vast quantity in the collection and the Clarke’s current resources. In the biographies, wires and batteries were removed.

Certificates of Copyright and US Patents held by Central Michigan University.

Copyright and US Patents held by Central Michigan University (CMU) or people who worked for CMU and/or obtained patents with CMU support. One 2011 patent is Russian and in Russian. About .75 cubic feet of the collection is patents. The remainder of the collection, except for one legal-size folder, is Certificates of Copyright, with some applications, of CMU people, 1972-1979, 1981-1999 (Scattered) and 2000. Both the Certificates and Patents are printed forms with handwritten or typed information added. From 1985 forward the Patents include gold seals and ribbons. A few pieces of related correspondence are included with both the Patents and Certificates of Copyright. A legal-size folder with Application, Amendment, Fee Receipt from Bobby A. Howell and Erik W. Walles for Patent and Trademark (all copies), 1979, completes the collection. The collection is organized by size, alphabetically by format, and then chronologically. The collection is ongoing.

This collection consists almost entirely of a variety of Central Michigan University (CMU) published brochures, fliers, and a few posters, mostly generated for Admissions, used to recruit students to CMU, either generally or to specific colleges.

This collection consists almost entirely of a variety of Central Michigan University (CMU) published brochures, fliers, and a few posters, mostly generated for Admissions, used to recruit students to CMU, either generally or to specific colleges. The importance of this collection is in documenting how recruitment materials changed during COVID-19. Some of the Snapshot fliers are in Spanish, but the rest of the collection is in English. Two folders at the front of the box contain newsletters from the College of Education and Human Services (EHS) and the College of Humanities and Social ahnd Behavioral Sciences (HSBS). While these newsletters may have been used by recruiters, they were not originally intended for that purpose. The collection is organized alphabetically by topic and chronologically and is in excellent physical condition. Researchers may also be interested in other U Comm collections housed in the Clarke Historical Library.

Processing Note: 1.5 cubic feet of materials were withdrawn during processing, mostly duplicates, postcards, drafts, and miscellaneous materials. One folder of materials was added to Pres. Davies’ papers. Three folders of materials were added to President Ross’ papers. Two folders were added to the CMU Vertical Files. Three issues, one each of three cataloged series titles, were cataloged separately.

The organizational records include: an organizational history, account books, Christmas bird count reports, constitution and bylaws, meeting minutes with attachments (earlier years are in volumes), membership lists, miscellaneous, newsletters, newspaper and magazine clippings (copies), pamphlets, photographs, programs and property materials.

The organizational records include: an organizational history, account books, Christmas bird count reports, constitution and bylaws, meeting minutes with attachments (earlier years are in volumes), membership lists, miscellaneous, newsletters, newspaper, and magazine clippings (copies), pamphlets, photographs, programs, and property materials. The collection is organized by alphabetically and chronologically. The collection is ongoing.

A copy of William Theunissen’s Chippewa Valley Audubon Club, 1951-1992 history of the Club is separately cataloged in the Clarke.

Processing Note: Duplicate materials and acidic materials, which were copied, were returned to the donor as per the donor agreement.

The collection includes church brochures, historical materials, the building project, membership events, sermons, the children’s ministry, Vacation Bible School materials, special programs, general outreach, a partial copy of the church’s website, giving the church’s history, information about its ministers, and related links, annual and other reports, and CDs.

Collection of various brochures of the church describing the new building project, membership events, sermons, the children's ministry, summer camp, a woman's workshop program, and general outreach, a partial copy of the church's website, giving the church's history, information about its minister, May 2003 newsletter, general outreach information, and related links, Annual Reports, and CDs, however Vacation Bible School materials, including photographs, trading cards, CDS, and program materials, compose the majority of the collection. The collection is ongoing.

David Cope is a poet in the Objectivist tradition and the founder of Nada Press, a small press which publishes the literary magazine and other poetry. Cope, a University of Michigan graduate and lifelong Michigan resident, taught literature and writing at Grand Rapids Community College and Western Michigan University. The collection documents Cope's writing, editing, and to some extent teaching and other spheres of Cope's life, through correspondence, manuscripts, notes, printed material, photographs, and videotapes.

David Cope made his first donation of papers to the Special Collections Research Center in 1987. Since then he has continued to make frequent contributions. The David Cope Papers cover Cope's writing and correspondence from the 1970s to the present, as well as his editing and teaching activities. In addition to offering insight into Cope's work, the collection details some of the activities and thoughts of friends and fellow writers and poets; in particular, Allen Ginsberg, Jim Cohn, Antler, and Jeff Poniewaz. Not currently well-documented are the more personal aspects of Cope's life--especially his family life--except for those details made available through his writings and correspondence.

The David Cope Papers are divided into eight series: Correspondence and Name Files, Writings, Editing Materials, Teaching and Education Materials, Publicity Materials, Personal, Photographs, and Audio/Visual. A small selection of books from Cope's library have been removed from the collection and have been cataloged individually. They are shelved by call number in Special Collections and can be requested through the Library's catalog.

National dental fraternity founded at University of Michigan. Constitution and by-laws, minutes, financial records, fraternity newsletter, memorabilia and artifacts, textbooks, citations and plaques, photographs, and miscellaneous manuscripts.

The records of Delta Sigma Delta provide an interesting view into the organization of a professional fraternity, and into the activities and personalities of those individuals drawn to such a social organization. Because it is such a visual collection, with many photographs, scrapbooks, and artefactual items, the Delta Sigma Delta collection provides a varied source of information about the affairs of a distinguished professional fraternity.

The Delta Sigma Delta collection includes both the records of the fraternity as well as related materials collected over the years by fraternity historian, Dr. Frank O. Clifford, and as such, there is a wide diversity of materials spanning more than a century of activity, 1882 to 1992.

The records of Delta Sigma Delta, at the request of the fraternity, are divided between those records stored archivally and other materials on display in the Delta Sigma Delta Room of the library. This finding aid will describe both sets of records with indications where they might be found.

Reverend Eddie K. Edwards (1936-2004) was a Christian preacher and community activist in Detroit, Michigan. In 1976, he founded the Joy of Jesus faith-based nonprofit organization in Detroit. This organization sought to help Detroit residents—primarily neighborhoods and families experiencing poverty—through a summer camp and other programs, like the Ravendale Area Revitalization Project (R.A.R.E.). He was married to Dr. Mary D. Edwards, who was involved in Joy of Jesus and who currently serves as an author, life coach, and minister. The collection includes ten digital recordings of interviews and television programs featuring Rev. Eddie K. Edwards, Joy of Jesus publications, biographical information about Rev. Edwards, as well as papers related to the ministry of his wife, Dr. Mary D. Edwards.

This collection documents the activism and ministry of Reverend Eddie K. Edwards and his wife, Dr. Mary D. Edwards. Manuscript materials are separated into two series documenting the work of both ministers.

Rev. Eddie Edwards' series contains Edwards's biographical information, letters received on the occasion of Rev. Edward's retirement, and memorial publications and articles. Of special interest is the 1996 publication "Re-Neighborhooding Revitalization Manual for the Re-Neighborhooding Detroit Program." The manual was based on the results of a survey conducted among the residents of a 38-block area of Ravendale community on the eastside of Detroit, near the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Also included are digital images of a Point of Light a ward, memorial for Rev. Edwards, and an "Others" Award from the Salvation Army.

Audio-visual materials include a documentary by broadcast journalist Mort Crim, an audio recording of an interview with Edwards by Evangelical radio host Al Kresta in "A Vision for our Detroit", a video recording of a sermon delivered by Edwards at the Second Chapel Hill Baptist Church in Detroit, a video recording of the first annual Friends of Joy of Jesus Banquet in 1991, an episode from the Christian Television Network (CTN Live!) featuring Edwards, a Detroit Public TV program entitled "A Neighborhood Redeemed", a Sue Marx film in which Edwards is presented the 1991 Winning Ways Award, and a few videos made by the church including an interview with Caroline Thomas and Bob Ivory, a "New Child Development Plan" as described by Edwards, and a program highlighting Joy of Jesus' plan for solving urban decay presented in "A Hand Up, Not a Hand Out".

Dr. Mary Edwards' series consists largely of her works published through Leaves of Gold consultancy, a publishing consultancy started by Dr. Edwards in 2007. Among those publications are her autobiography, meditations and ministry materials, and collections of prose and poetry tied to her Widows with Wisdom work. Her papers also include a collection of her writings that document the history of Joy of Jesus Ministries. Of special interest is the description of the 52-questions needs assessment survey that was prepared and conducted by Dr. Edwards. This project resulted in the 1996 "Re-Neighborhooding Revitalization Manual."