Collections

This collection is comprised of business accounts, letterbooks, and correspondence relating to Republican politics, particularly election campaigns of 1912 and 1936, and enforcement of the Prohibition Amendment; and other papers concerning the career of Frank Knox and the coming of World War II. Correspondents include: Frank Knox (correspondence throughout), and Earl C. Michener, Mar. 23, 1936, Oct. 4 and Nov. 15, 1941; and photographs.

The photographs also include a black and white group photo of the members of the Washtenaw County Bar Association and of the Washtenaw County Courthouse staff.

Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, pastor of various churches in Michigan and elsewhere. Correspondence, prayers and speeches, clippings, and programs; collected A.M.E. minutes, published material, and miscellaneous; and photographs illustrative of his career activities.

The papers of Bishop George Wilbur Baber are divided into seven series: biographical, correspondence, prayers and speeches, clippings, programs, African Methodist Episcopal Church, and photographs.

Three diaries (1863-1865) written while he was serving in Company D, Sixth Michigan Cavalry, as quartermaster sergeant and later lieutenant. Most of his entries concern the weather, food, sickness, letters, camp life,and battles with brief references to Gettysburg, Opequon, and Appomattox Court House. A large portion of his time was spent in the Campbell General Hospital, Washington, D.C. On May 19, 1864 he mentions Mrs. Mary Todd Lincoln's visit to the hospital. Barbour was a resident of Fenton, Mich. This collection also includes an 1863 diary of Barbour's brother Frank A. Barbour. Frank Barbour served in Company A, 5th Michigan Cavalry. He died July 10, 1863, from wounds received in action at Gettysburg. The diary contains Frank's description of the events leading up to the Battle of Gettysburg, and George's account of his brother's last days.

Diary recording daily events of military life, including the battle of Chancellorsville; also includes transcript of diary.

George W. French served as 1st Lieutenant of the Michigan 10th Cavalry from 1864-1865 in the Union army. The collection includes materials related to his wartime activates as well as post-war correspondences and forms.

The George W. French Papers consist of wartime records of the Michigan 10th Cavalry dating from 1863 to 1865. Included are lists of quartermaster stores, requisition forms, and other supply documents of the 10th Michigan Cavalry and 8th and 9th Tennessee Cavalry. Also French's Officer Commission signed by Michigan Governor Austin Blair. Post-war documents include personal correspondence, French's military pension forms, and other assorted personal papers dating to 1906.

Veteran of World War II, later commander of Erwin Prieskorn Post No. 46 of the American Legion, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Subject files relating to veterans activities and his involvement in issues of concern to veterans; minutes of meetings of Ann Arbor, Michigan, post of the American Legion; and scrapbook of American Legion Post No. 46 containing letters from servicemen in Vietnam and photographs of post activities; also other photographs and videotapes.

The George W. Harms collection has been arranged into four series: Biographical; Topical Files; American Legion Post No. 46; and Visual Materials. Most of the collection relates to his activities with the Ann Arbor American Legion post and with veterans affairs in general. Post No. 46 materials includes minutes, correspondence, a scrapbook, and some newspaper clippings dating from 1968 to 1988. The issues of concern to veterans and to Harms included government policies and procedures concerning soldiers listed as missing in action and relationships with their families, Veterans Administration policies toward disabled soldiers, veterans' benefits for survivors of soldiers killed in action, and anti-war protests in Ann Arbor in the 1960s.

Founding partner of Campbell, Wyant and Cannon Foundry Company, Muskegon, Michigan. Photographs of the foundry and its employees.

The George William Cannon photograph collection includes photographs of the foundry, activities, and of employees at work. Copy prints were used in the book "That first casting must be good," published in 1964.

News editor and vice president of Detroit, Michigan, radio station, WJR, moderator of radio program, "In Our Opinion". Correspondence, radio transcripts, scrapbooks, broadcast discs, and audio-tapes of discs; include material concerning career of Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg, the senatorial campaign of 1942 between Prentiss Brown and Homer Ferguson, and radio broadcasting in general.

The Cushing collection consists largely of sound recordings of a selection of the "In Our Opinion" radio program. There are also additional textual materials: clippings and other documents pertaining to the program and some transcriptions of particular programs.

The sound recordings of the "In Our Opinion" program were originally phonograph transmission discs. Nearly impossible to listen to because of their oversize format and the absence of appropriate players, the library applied for and received a grant in 1977 from the NHPRC to transfer a selection of the more than 600 discs onto reel-to-reel tapes. Many of the discs already showed signs of deterioration. The selection of what discs to preserve was based on the significance of the topics discussed and the importance of the interviewees. Among the guests were Senators Arthur Vandenberg and Homer Ferguson, automobile executive (later governor) George Romney, Congressman George Dondero, military historian General S.L.A. Marshall, political science Professor James K, Pollock, Governor Kim Sigler, Lowell Thomas, Thor Heyerdahl, Edward R. Murrow, and Episcopal Bishop Richard S. Emrich, among many others. Topics ranged from state and national politics, the impact of the war, foreign affairs, post-war re-conversion of the economy, and issues specific to Detroit and Michigan.

Detroit attorney and businessman; active in the Michigan Democratic Party and a strong supporter of and personal correspondent with William Jennings Bryan. Collection includes correspondence, clippings, and financial records related to Moore, his family, and his estate; the law firm of Moore & Moore; and associated business interests..

The George William Moore papers provide a complex view of life in Michigan in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Correspondence from the family home in Van Buren Township documents rural concerns and daily activities, while deeds and correspondence from the Upper Peninsula detail the explosive growth of land and mining interests in the farthest reaches of the state. Moore's personal materials cast light on the upper strata of Detroit's society at the height of the Gilded Age and his business records encompass a range of legal activities and reveal the frenetic pace of business and speculation in the years preceding the Great Depression. Political materials and personal writings further reflect some of the most contentious issues of his day, from Free Silver to the public ownership of utilities. This collection will be of value to those interested in the history of law, Democratic politics, mining, and industry as well as the social lives of Michiganians in rural and urban settings. The George William Moore papers are divided into three series: Personal, Moore & Moore, and Associated Businesses.

Physician; member of the first graduating class of the University of Michigan in 1845; papers include journals, correspondence, physician's records.

The Pray collection includes journals, 1844-1849, covering his years as a student at the University of Michigan and in the Medical Department of Western Reserve College, Cleveland, Ohio. In addition, there is correspondence exchanged with his wife, Adele, primarily during the year 1879 when they were separated due to his service in the Michigan House. Other materials of interest include various personal and business account books and record books from his medical practice.