Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

The Personal series spans 1.25 linear feet and is the largest and richest series of the collection. It is divided into several subseries: Biographical, Education, Family, World War II, and Miscellaneous.

The "Biographical" subseries contains Meyer's curriculum vitae as of 1989 (including a list of publications), obituaries and other miscellaneous biographical sketches, and Meyer's memorial service program, as well as a complete draft (as well as draft fragments and publication correspondence) of an unpublished autobiography completed by Meyer in 1997. In this autobiography Meyer discusses in detail his hometown of Bielefeld, Germany, his family background, a brief history of Jews leading up to their circumstances in Nazi Germany, the politics leading up to the events of World War II in Germany, his flight to the United States, his experiences in the Army, his experiences in graduate school and his subsequent experiences as a professor and scholar. The 31 scanned photographs used in the autobiography, which show Meyer at various stages throughout his life from age 13 onward, are seen also in a separate folder, where they are described by captions written by Meyer. This subseries also includes Meyer's FBI File, including de-classified military records, and correspondence documenting the several years it took for Meyer to obtain these Files under the Freedom of Information Act.

The series Correspondence (1966-1976), shares considerable overlap with the series Professional Activities and Inquiries (1966-1975). It consists largely of general correspondence that Beeton collected into binders for future reference.

The Papers series consists of four subseries: Biographical Material, Civil War Materials, Professional Papers, and Miscellanea.

The Biographical Material is a single folder of general biographical information. Additional professional information can be found in the Memorials, described below.

The Writings by Mazrui series (5.0 linear feet) consists of drafts, typescripts, and some published versions of scholarly articles, opinion pieces for periodicals and radio broadcasts, and other works. Since a majority of the manuscripts are undated, they are arranged in alphabetical order by title. If available, dates of articles are noted in the box list. The articles included begin with some of his earliest writings from the mid-1960s, well before he arrived at Michigan. Topics covered include African politics and cultural studies, African international relations, and international political relations. Included are scripts for numerous broadcasts on African topics made by Mazrui on the University of Michigan public radio station WUOM in the 1980s.

The landscape architectural drawings series documents the sisters' Ann Arbor-based landscape design practice begun in the 1930s. This series begins with some of their student projects from graduate school at the University of Michigan followed by commissions in Ann Arbor (mainly in the 1930s and 1940s), several later design commissions from the 1940s after they had relocated to Lansing, and finally with a subseries of landscape projects undertaken for the Michigan Highway Department.

Pencil and watercolor on heavyweight paper were used for most of the Student Projects from the early 1930s. This subseries consists of plans and elevation drawings for public facilities, including a teahouse, an automobile club, a military entrance, and a roadside market. Also part of this subseries are two pencil-drawn plans for a residential district of a city and two colored drawings of a playground park plan. Some of the drawings are signed by Alice or Jessie; others are not, but are obviously by the same hand(s).

The bulk of the series is made up of two subseries of landscape project drawings for a number of Michigan clients in the 1930s and 1940s; one subseries documents commissions within Ann Arbor, the other covers Michigan Projects outside of the city. These drawings include general landscape plans, detailed planting plans, building elevation drawings, and some plans and sketches for garden structures such as rose arbors, summer houses, and pools. The formats include pencil drawings on tracing paper, photocopies of such drawings, and blueprints. There is some duplication of drawings in different formats.

Some projects are fully documented by several drawings, while others consist of only one plan. Most of the work is by Jessie Bourquin, who carried on the practice alone after Alice relocated to Lansing in 1935. The finely detailed plans and beautifully executed drawings attest to a high level of professional skill, as well as to the assiduous attention to detail for which the Bourquins became known. Intricate planting plans include dozens of varieties of flowers, trees, and shrubs arranged in multiple beds.

In addition to illustrating the sisters' professional capabilities, the Bourquins' drawings help to document the "end of an era" in Ann Arbor and other communities -- the decline of the leisured, aristocratic estate lifestyle of the well-to-do in early twentieth century America. The Bourquins ended their practice and sought new careers as the Depression dampened demand for luxuries like landscaping, and after World War II different, less elaborate architectural tastes came to the fore.