Collections

Ann Arbor, Michigan, family. Family correspondence, photographs, and miscellanea.

The collection consists of letters of Ellen Botsford Bach written while touring Europe and while attending the University of Michigan. Her other papers include reminiscences of her early life in Ann Arbor before 1900 and a recipe book. The papers of Waldo Bach consist of letters he wrote while serving in the Spanish American War.

Correspondence, 1861-1864, of family members who served in the Civil War, including brothers William Baird (Co. C, 6th Michigan Cavalry and later Co. K, 23rd U.S. Colored Infantry) and Henry C. Baird (Co. L, 7th Michigan Cavalry), cousins William E. Baird (Co. E, 22nd Michigan Infantry) and Frederick Diem (Co. C, 6th Michigan Cavalry); other family correspondence of the Civil War era, a reminiscence by William Baird of his family history and Civil War experiences, and miscellanea. William Baird's reminiscence includes an account of his parentage, life on a farm in St. Clair County, early schooling and teaching experiences, and his experiences in the Civil War. He enlisted in Company C, 6th Michigan Cavalry in 1862, and was in winter camp in Washington. The highlights of his journal are the battle of Gettysburg, where he was wounded; studying in a Philadelphia hospital to become a commissioned officer; the granting of his commission through the help of Representative Francis W. Kellogg, and his assignment as first lieutenant to Company K, 23rd U. S. Colored Infantry.

Architectural photographer based in Troy, Mich. Photoprints and copy negatives, chiefly a portfolio entitled "Man's Presence," a study of Michigan's manmade environment.

Representing but a tiny fraction of Korab's oeuvre, the collection held at the Bentley Library will nevertheless appeal to a broad range of researchers. Especially in a collective sense, Korab photographs are not only about architecture and architectural photography, but also about art, technology, modernism, photography's history, the environment, urbanism, ruralism, and the creative process itself. They also document one individual's spirited commitment to a life's work -- work expressed both analytically and emotionally.

The essence of the collection is a Korab portfolio entitled Man's Presence, a study of Michigan's man-made environment that drew him to dozens of towns, cities and rural areas in the upper and lower peninsulas. Photographs capture the quiet magnificence of silos and barns, the elegance of 19th century mansions, the utilitarian architecture of iron foundries and grain elevators. There are also pictures depicting ways man has wasted resources (an abandoned lumber mill, a barren tract of bulldozed land. A superb example of Korab's lifelong fascination with vernacular architecture, Man's Presence is a deliberate effort to capture on film Michigan worlds that otherwise might go unnoticed or become lost to future generations.

The collection is comprised of three series: Biographical Materials; Man's Presence Contact Sheets; and Man's Presence Copy Prints and Copy Negatives.

Established by students in 1896, the University of Michigan Band had its first salaried director in 1915. The William Revelli era (1935-1971) brought the Band to prominence as the marching, concert, and symphony bands toured and performed extensively, including a tour of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union by the Symphony band in 1961, the Jazz Band's 1965 tour of Latin American, and the Symphony Band 2011 tour of China. Records include scrapbooks of band activities (including photographs); bound volumes ("Blue Books"), 1936-present, containing band formations, newsletters, and announcements of band activities, also topical files relating to band tours and concerts. The Marching Band is best documented, although concert band, symphony band, and related ensembles are represented.

The University of Michigan Band records are divided into eight series: Tours and Concerts, Yearbooks, Photographs and Posters, Audio-Visual Material, Band Books ("Blue Books"), Scrapbooks, Publications, and Director's Records. The majority of the records consist of bound volumes of band formations, announcements, and publications, and oversized scrapbooks of band activities. Additional material includes topical files documenting tours and performances. The bulk of the documentation pertains to the Marching Band.

Bankole Thompson is a Michigan award-winning journalist and author who served as the senior editor of the Michigan Chronicle newspaper in Detroit from 2006 to 2015. He is known for his coverage of the 2008 presidential election and his one-on-one interviews with Barack Obama. The collection includes a selection of Thompson's writings and speeches, two books, biographical information, and episodes of Thompson's radio show.

The Bankole Thompson papers (0.25 linear feet and 18.42 GB) include writings and speeches, books, biographical information, episodes of his radio show, and information about the court case Edwards v The Detroit News and Thompson. The materials have been organized into one series, the Bankole Thompson papers.

Dr. Barbara Nimri Aziz is an Arab American author, anthropologist, and journalist. She founded Radio Tahrir, which broadcasted regularly from circa 1990-2013 over New York City's WBAI Radio. Radio Tahrir was the first radio program in the United States to focus on a wide range of topics pertaining to different Arab and Muslim communities across the world. The materials in this collection are dated from 1988-2014 and include broadcast episodes and episode segments as well as commentaries, documentaries, interviews, news reports, and literary recitations.

The Barbara Aziz broadcasts collection (868 digital audio files (online) and 0.1 linear feet) document Dr. Barbara Nimri Aziz's journalistic career, particularly as it pertained to WBAI Radio's Radio Tahrir, Behind the News, and TalkBack programs. Collection material is dated from 1988-2014 and includes broadcast episodes and episode segments, commentaries, documentaries, interviews, news reports, and recitations.

There is some overlap between the Radio Tahrir and related material series as well as the Interviews and related material series. Researchers are encouraged to consult both series for relevant material.

Barbara Bach first worked as a Boston area schoolteacher and creator of television documentaries. After receiving a Master's degree in Education in 1969, she became an Ann Arbor, Mich. businesswoman, networking facilitator, fundraiser, and lifelong educator/mentor to individuals and organizations. The collection includes business records, association newsletters, campaign literature, photographs, and correspondence representing her multiple careers as an entrepreneur, legislative aide, community activist, and executive director in a policy environment promoting economic development in Michigan.

The Barbara Bach papers reflect a context of turbulent economic conditions and ground-breaking socio-political events. Some defining highlights of Bach's political efforts include her work with the Ann Arbor Public Schools Title IX Monitoring Committee for gender equality in sports, her nonpartisan campaign work for the county-wide Washtenaw County SAFE House proposal to assist victims of domestic violence, and her Democratic Party campaign work on behalf of Albert H. Wheeler, Ann Arbor's first African American mayor.

However, Bach's business experience and activities on behalf of economic development and job training in the State of Michigan, in connection with the Michigan Community Colleges Association (MCCA) and as Executive Director of the Inventors' Council of Michigan (INCOM), represent the bulk of the collection.

During the 1980s, community colleges were becoming a focal point for job-related training as a precursor to economic development. Organizations such as the Michigan Technology Council (MTC), with support from the University of Michigan, brought together leaders from business, industry, and government in an effort to facilitate technology transfer through commercial applications and new product development.

Economic recession had helped to heighten interest, at all levels of government, in the policy concept of economic development through entrepreneurial successes. Ideally, through teaching, research, and networking assistance, an entrepreneurial "supercenter" would encourage new product and business development, ultimately creating jobs throughout the economy.

Throughout much of her career in Michigan, Barbara Bach was known as Barbara Eldersveld. The collection also includes some materials from her early public service activities in Massachusetts as Barbara Damon.

The collection is organized into eight series: Personal/Biographical, Greater Boston Area, Teaching and Educational Settings, Political, Business and Entrepreneurial, State Government, Inventors' Council of Michigan (INCOM), and Ann Arbor Community Service.

A Detroit, Mich. native, Barbara Bassett McIver was part of the second cohort of Peace Corps volunteers and part of the first Peace Corps group to go to the Philippines. The bulk of the material is dated between 1961 and 1964, and includes McIver's diary, a scrapbook, letters home, and ephemera relating to McIver's experiences in the Philippines. Also included in the collection are Peace Corps 25th and 50th anniversary program materials.

The bulk of the material in the collection relates to McIver's time as a volunteer in the Peace Corps. The majority of items dated between 1961 and 1964 include McIver's correspondence (mostly letters to her mother) her diary, and a scrapbook. McIver's letters and her diary describe her daily activities, thoughts, and concerns regarding the Philipines, the Filipino culture, the Peace Corps, and other volunteers. McIver's scrapbook contains maps of the Philippines, photographs of McIver, the Peace Corps volunteers, Filipino students and citizens. Of note (within the scrapbook) are two signed letters to McIver from President John F. Kennedy and four letters from R. Sargent Shriver, the first director of the Peace Corps, as well as two letters from Congresswoman Martha W. Griffiths (D-Michigan; 1955-1974) commending McIver for her work in the Philippines. The scrapbook also contains newspaper clippings (scattered dates), a 1967 Outstanding Young Women of America certificate, a 1961 Peace Corps Volunteer certificate, and a 1961 Pennsylvania State-Peace Corps Training Completion certificate, among other items.

The collection also includes the Peace Corps 25th and 50th anniversary program announcements and itinerary.

Professor of anthropology at Wayne State University, active in issues and organizations specific to the Arab-American population of southeastern Michigan, particularly Dearborn, Michigan. Topical files document Arab and Arab-American culture and life. Organizational files document Aswad's involvement in such organizations as the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

The papers of Barbara Aswad consist primarily of materials relating to her involvement and activism within the Arab-American communities of metropolitan Detroit. The bulk of the collection chronicles her associations with both national and community-based Arab-American organizations, most notably the Arab-American Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) of Dearborn, Michigan. The collection has been divided into two series: Topical and Organizations.

This collection consists of photographs of international students and displays at the 1959 University of Michigan World's Fair organized by foreign student associations.