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 Children's Movie Posters Collection consists of 51 oversize posters and photographic prints in 5 folders from children's animated and non-animated movies circa 1953-1957. Movie posters feature a wide range of children's movies based on fairy tales, children's literature, and original content such as "Cinderella", "Little Red Riding Hood", "Heidi", "Pippi Longstocking" and Santa Claus, Puss N' Boots and more produced from a variety of movie studios. The posters often include details on storylines and theater experiences. Some posters are sequels to other films within the collection.

Contains 51 oversize posters featuring children's animated and non-animated movies from Paramount, Columbia Pictures, Childhood Productions Inc., K. Gordon Murray Productions Inc., and others. Posters show adapations of fairy tales and other common children's stories such as those pertaining to Cinderella, Santa Claus, Little Red Riding Hood, Heidi, Pippi Longstocking, and more. Also contains eight photographic prints from the movie "Puss N' Boots (1963)" Range of posters date approximately from 1953-1987 with several left undated. Posters often feature different art styles, mention highlights of the movie, and may advertise showtimes or giveaways.

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.

Edward C. Weber (1922-2006) was long-time curator of the University of Michigan Special Collection's Joseph A. Labadie Collection of radical history. Under his stewardship, the Labadie Collection grew into one of the premier and most forward-thinking holdings of materials relating to radical and protest groups from the United States and around the world. The Edward C. Weber Papers are made up of the subject's correspondence and biographical materials, written from 1949 to 2006. The bulk of the collection, the correspondence is mostly comprised of Weber's letters soliciting materials on behalf of the Labadie Collection or fielding reference questions from researchers, as well as personal correspondence from the his family and friends. The collection's materials are comprised of letters (typed and handwritten), printed out emails, postcards, greeting cards, news clippings, photographs, printed biographical materials, framed commendations, and other miscellaneous paper materials.

The Edward C. Weber Papers consists of Weber's correspondence with organizations, publishers, researchers, associates, family, and friends, along with biographical materials created for his retirement and memorial services. The collection provides a snapshot of the Joseph A. Labadie Collection and his work there for a 40 year period (1960-2000), as well as a portrait of his personal relationships with friends and family from 1949 to 2005.

The Biographical Materials series contains materials from Weber's retirement celebration and memorial service. The first folder contains past articles and correspondence on paper stock, reprinted for Weber's memorial service in 2006. The second set of items relate to Weber's retirement in 2000. This includes a flyer for his retirement celebration, articles about his retirement, and copied certificates of commendation. In addition, two framed items of commendation are housed in an oversized box.

The Correspondence series makes up the majority of the collection and is comprised of 27 linear feet of paper material housed in 54 manuscript boxes, foldered alphabetically by correspondent or corresponding organization. Individual letters, cards, photographs and other types of written communication are arranged chronologically within each subject's folder(s). The majority of folders are dedicated to outreach by Weber to various radical groups and individuals soliciting material donations to contribute to the Labadie Collection. His written responses to reference inquiries for items within the Labadie Collection make up another significant segment of the series. Most of these materials are typewritten letters officially sent on behalf of the Labadie Collection and University of Michigan Special Collections. Some later letters were written by Labadie Collection assistants during Weber's time there and with his knowledge. Since Weber never used email, his letters sent on behalf of the Labadie Collection were typed on a manual or electric typewriter. There are occasional handwritten notations on some of these letters and a few emails printed out so he could read them. Other folders in the series contain personal correspondence from friends, family, and other associates. These items are made up mostly of handwritten notes, postcards, greeting cards, newspaper clippings, printouts of emails, occasional photographs, and other miscellaneous items. Many of the folders were removed from the general Labadie correspondence files in 2008 and a listing was made of them at that time. The rest of the series is made up of personal correspondence Weber stored in his home.

Within the series are several notable, lengthy correspondence partners including Theodore Adams (1950-2004, 21 folders), James Q. Belden (1952-2000, 11 folders), George Nick (1949-1991, 12 folders), Curtis and Clarice Rodgers (1961-2005, 18 folders), and Henry Van Dyke (1950-2004, 12 folders). The series also includes correspondence from notable individuals such as civil rights activist Malcolm X, graphic novelist Harvey Pekar, former Secretary of State Eliot Abrams, the White Panther Party, among many others.

Abbreviations:

LC=Labadie Collection ECW=Edward C. Weber

Eleanor Leacock was a prominant marxist/feminist anthropologist active from the 1940s to the late 1980s. Her area of focus was social and gender relations, feminist theory, and racism in American education. During her career she conducted multiple studies and field work, most prominantly the work she did with the Innu of Labrador Canada. Her collection includes materials related to her various studies and field work, publictions and teaching career, areas of research, and a small portion of family/personal materials. The collection ranges from 1915 to 1987, but most of the collection spans from the 1940s to the 1970s. Notable materials are the field notes and research materials from her field studies in Zambia, Labrador Canada, and Samoa.

The majority of materials in this collection are manuscripts, field notes, research materials, correspondence, articles and papers. This collection includes materials directly related to Eleanor Leacock's career as an anthropologist, such as research notes, field materials, publications, drafts, teaching materials, and correspondence, as well as resources related to the anthropology field. Since Leacock was an anthropologist as well as a professor, many in the field would send Leacock papers and materials for her to review or annotate. These are included in the Professional Materials series. This series in particular will house a large portion of the collection since it includes Leacock's work on her own publications and textbooks as well as those she reviewed for others. The Subject/Research Files series is also very large because it includes notes and research that Leacock conducted throughout her career. There is very little arrangement or description in these folders beyond what was listed on original folder headings.

The most significant portions of this collection pertain to her field work for her various studies. Her most prominant study being the work she did with the Innu in Labrador. Because Leacock passed while in the field in Samoa, the materials in the Samoa series may be unfinished, as are the materials related to her "Levels of Integraion" book, which she had been working on when she passed.

Keeping with the original order of the collection, some topics will be interspersed throughout the collection. For example, some correspondence relating to articles or publications will be found in the Publications series rather than Correspondence, and field materials may be interfiled with other studies (a few Innu materials are found in the Samoa Study series).

The Ethel Smyth Papers contain correspondence with members of the musical community and members of the women's suffrage movement, drafts of autobiographical work, performance programs and pamphlets, and extensive diaries by Smyth commenting on personal matters, national and regional politics, composition and performance, and the lives of her friends. Also contains two sketches of Smyth by an unknown artist and two books of research notes by Christopher Marie St. John for the definitive biography of Smyth.

The Ethel Smyth Papers are comprised of five series. The series, Manuscripts, Print, Research Notes, Artwork, and Diaries, are arranged in two boxes. The bulk of the Manuscripts series consists of outgoing correspondence dated from 1910 to 1937, primarily addressed to recipients who were involved in the music community of the time. Most of the outgoing correspondence is addressed to Professor Donald Tovey, a Scottish composer and conductor and one of Smyth's mentors. This correspondence consists of 16 letters spanning more than 14 years and addresses various musical topics. Also represented in the outgoing correspondence are letters to composer and conductor Gordon Bryan; to Philip Heseltine (a.k.a. Peter Warlock) a composer and founder of the music serial The Sackbut regarding an article she wrote for the publication; and letters to Lady Constance Lytton, who was a friend of Smyth's in the Women's Suffrage Movement. Correspondence also includes a letter to Scottish conductor and student of Donald Tovey, Dr. Mary Grierson, remarking on the glorious first performance of Smyth's work, The Prison in February of 1931. Other correspondence consists of a letter from Lindsay Venn to Ethel Davidson regarding the disposition of Smyth's papers after her death. Also included in the Manuscripts series is the typescript of Lyrics to Smyth's composition, The Prison, based on the writing of Henry Brewster, who was strongly connected to Smyth. Finally, there is a fragment of several bars of music from the Concerto for Violin, Horn and Orchestra penned and autographed by Smyth. A fragment of a composition by Smyth's contemporary, Frederic H. Cowen is on the verso of this item. The Writings sub-series is made up of drafts of two typescripts. The first contains the first three chapters of A Fresh Start, Smyth's last autobiographical work, which was probably begun in 1941 but was never published. The second contains three drafts of An Eightieth Birthday, a speech given on BBC radio in 1938. These are heavily corrected in Smyth's hand. Finally, there is a single holograph sheet entitled Notes on "Mass in D" which seems to be jottings for program notes. The Print series consists of a program from the 1921 Queen's Hall Symphony performance of Smyth's "Love Duet" from her opera, The Wreckers. It also includes a pamphlet containing the lyrics of March of the Women, a piece Smyth wrote in support of the Women's Suffrage Movement. There are three newspaper clippings which discuss Smyth as a conductor, especially at the Bournemouth Music Festival, held in April of 1924. The Research Notes series contain two books of notes taken by Christopher Marie St. John for the definitive biography of Smyth. Both contain research notes and possibly notes from interviews with Smyth and members of her circle. The second of the notebooks is entitled "Wood on her Conducting / Beecham on Criticism" and contain commentary from two of Smyth's close acquaintances, Henry Wood and Thomas Beecham. The Artwork series consists of two pencil sketches of stage sets for Smyth's opera, "The Prison." The artist of these sketches is unidentified. Perhaps the most significant portion of this collection is the Diaries. These six volumes are in fragile condition and begin in 1917, continuing almost uninterrupted through 1942. The diaries are heavily annotated by Smyth herself, and she obviously used them in writing her autobiographical works. The dated entries present an excellent description of Smyth's life and include commentary on composition and performance of her music; her literary works; her health (in particular, her failing hearing) and travels; her beloved old English sheep dogs; World Wars I and II; the political climate of Ireland in the early 20th century; British royalty; and the lives of her many friends, including Empress Eugénie, Edith Somerville, Lady Ponsonby, Maurice Baring, Betty Balfour and Virgina Woolf. Throughout the diaries, Smyth has pasted in newspaper clippings, photography, pamphlets and other memorabilia. It is possible that Volume VI, which consists of family photographs, poetry by Ethel and her sister Mary, and other notes, is written in a hand which is not Smyth's.