The collection contains material relating primarily to Chavis' University of Michigan appointments, and his committee work and interest in equal opportunities in higher education for minority students. The bulk of the collection dates from 1969 to 1971. Memoranda and reports from his work on the Governor's Task Force on Equal Opportunity in Higher education, and the Steering Committee for the Development of Academic Opportunity comprise the bulk of the collection. Also well documented is the Opportunity Awards Program. Several folders on minority enrollment and university recruitment efforts are also in the collection, as well as information on the summer research program for undergraduates and the Fresh Air Camp.
Chavis' non-university activities and interests are also documented. Articles and reports gathered by Chavis' are located in the collected information file, and Chavis' own writings are found in the Writings folder. One folder of information relating to Chavis' curator position at the Detroit Historical Museum is found in the Non-University series, as well as newsletters and correspondence from his involvement with the Detroit based social and scholarly organization, The Moors.
John Mack Townsley Chavis was a historian and university administrator at the University of Michigan. Born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1923, Chavis attended Toledo Public Schools and upon graduation enrolled in the Hampton Institute in Hampton, West Virginia. His education was interrupted when he was called into military service, where he served for five years in the U.S. Army. When his term of service was complete, Chavis enrolled at the University of Toledo, where he earned a B.A. in history. Chavis went on to earn several other degrees, including an M.A. in Philosophy at the University of Chicago, an M.A. in history at the University of Detroit, and a Ph.D. in history from Michigan State University.
Chavis served as Coordinator of Special Projects within the Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan from 1965 to 1979, and as an Assistant to the Dean of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies from 1970 to 1971. Before his university appointment in 1965, Chavis served as curator of the Urban History and curator of Education at the Detroit Historical Museum from 1956. At the university, Chavis was primarily involved with the recruitment of minority students, and acted as director of the Opportunity Awards Program and administrator of the Tuskegee Institute exchange program. Chavis was active in several committees which related to his interest in equal opportunity in higher education, including the Steering Committee for the Development of Academic Opportunities, the Coordinating Committee on Human Relations, and the Governor's Task Force on Equal Opportunity in Higher Education.
