Collections : [University of Michigan Special Collections Research Center]

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 Jean Fagan Yellin/Harriet Jacobs Research Collection (1855-2017, majority between 1968-2010) spans approximately 10 linear feet with 7 series covering the work done by Jean Fagan Yellin on Harriet Jacobs and related materials on slavery, abolitionism, and feminism. The collection includes correspondence, drafts, reports, notes and annotations, clippings, photographs, and various research files collected, created, and utilized for Yellin's research, writings and publications, and speaking engagements to public and scholarly audiences. Notable materials include extensive evidence of Yellin's engagement with public and scholarly audiences on topics related to Harriet Jacobs, research files and other materials related to Harriet Jacobs and individuals originating from the 1800s and descendants, and files including correspondence proving the authenticity of "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" as an autobiographical work by Harriet Jacobs.

The Jean Fagan Yellin/Harriet Jacobs Research Collection is approximately 10 linear feet and contains materials between 1855-2017 and primarily between 1968-2010. The collection focuses on the work of Jean Fagan Yellin with most attention to Yellin's research and engagement regarding Harriet Jacobs through correspondence, research files, drafts, reports, clippings, photographs, clippings, and other collected materials.

Other notable topics include her works on antislavery, abolitionism, and feminism during the nineteenth century through additional writings, drafts, and research that would connect with Yellin's work on Harriet Jacobs. Notable strengths of the collection include files related to extensive outreach efforts to public and scholarly audiences about Harriet Jacobs, research files with notes and other documentation including those created during Harriet Jacobs' lifetime, correspondence with the North Carolina archivist George Stevenson in researching "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl", and a 1993 interview with Dr. William Knox Jr., a family member of Harriet Jacobs.

Audiovisual materials in the collection have not been digitized.

Jean Fagan Yellin also used extensive abbreviations to describe various professional associations, organizations, projects, and titles within individual files and folder names such as the following:

AAUW: American Association of University Women AHA: American Historical Association ALA: American Literature Association ASA: American Studies Association CAAR: Collegium for African American Research CLA: College Language Association EIAAT: European Imprints of African American Texts HJFP: "Harriet Jacobs Family Papers" ILSG: "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" MELUS: Society for the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States MLA: Modern Language Association NCFA: National Collection of Fine Arts, now Smithsonian American Art Museum NEH: National Endowment for the Humanities NEMLA: Northeast Modern Language Association NHI: National Humanities Institute NYC: New York City Humanities Program OHA: Organization of American Historians SHA: Southern Historical Association