The records of the University of Michigan Museums measure four linear feet (and one oversize folder) and date from 1863 to 1976. The great majority of the material, however, falls between 1930 and 1970. The files have been arranged alphabetically.
The bulk of the material consists of files created from two sources: various committees involved in the Museums' governance or Irving Reimann. The committee records are detailed and are particularly complete for the Operating Committee (1945-1956). This committee's documentation is supplemented by various other committee records.
Most of the records created by Reimann relate to the planning or construction of exhibits, as well as the public role of the Museums. This material makes up the bulk of the non-committee files, supplemented by an extensive run of reports (1935-1969). A few records created before Reimann's appointment also exist. These are generally items authored by either Guthe or Ruthven. Of particular interest from Ruthven's era are files (located under "Building") discussing the construction of the Museums building between 1925 and 1928. Records include substantive correspondence between Ruthven and the building's architect, Albert Kahn. Guthe is represented by the Works Progress Administration's Michigan Museum project (located under "Works Progress Administration, Statewide Museum Project").
The practice of retaining specimens for educational purposes is almost as old as the university itself. In 1837, the Regents, acting upon the suggestion of the state legislature, established a "Cabinet of Natural History," making a faculty member responsible for its development and administration. Throughout the nineteenth century responsibility for this activity generally fell upon a faculty member with zoological training. Originally the collections were housed in whatever space could be found for them. Eventually, however, it became necessary to construct a museum to house the material. Occupied in 1880/81, it contained a polyglot mass of specimens, with zoological and anthropological materials being the most numerous.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, faculty interest in the museums waned, and the institutions stagnated. Beginning in 1903, however, the program was revitalized under Charles C. Adams. In 1906, Adams' leading protégé, Alexander Ruthven, became the driving force behind the Museums. Rapid expansion of various collections led to an appropriation of $900,000 in 1925 for the construction of a new building, which was occupied in 1928.
The administration of the Museums presented the university with a difficult problem. For reasons of economy the university preferred to house all specimen collections under one roof, but the result was a forced marriage of numerous discipline-oriented collections with no common theme. In 1880/81 the regents provided that each collection would have its own discipline-oriented curator who would report to the appropriate department, while the museum building itself would be administered by a custodian. Alexander Ruthven, among others, was sharply critical of this arrangement and in 1913 the Museums' structure was modified with a "Museum of Zoology" being recognized as a unit independent of and equal to the various departments. Despite its name the Museum of Zoology continued to house several disciplinary collections unrelated to zoology.
In 1925, the Regents, preparatory to the construction of a new building, adopted yet another organizational scheme. Four independent units, the Museums of Zoology, Anthropology, and Paleontology, and the Herbarium were all to be housed in a fifth unit, the Museums Building. Ruthven was given two titles, director of the Museum of Zoology and also director of the University Museums Building. In this latter capacity he was responsible for oversight of the building as well as the common services within the building utilized by its four constituent museums. Implemented in 1928 when the new building was occupied, Ruthven resigned his title as director of the Museum of Zoology in 1929, when he assumed the university's presidency, but he retained the title of director of the University Museums Building until 1936, when the press of presidential responsibilities led him to abandon this responsibility. Ruthven was succeeded by Carl E. Guthe, who at the time was already director of the Museum of Anthropology. Guthe left the university in 1944 and control of the building fell to an operating committee composed of the directors of the four units within the structure.
The opening of a new building in 1928 with greatly expanded exhibit space led to a revitalization of the exhibit program. In 1947 the operating committee established the position of prefect of exhibits. Irving G. Reimann, who occupied the post, was responsible for all public exhibits within the building and reported to the operating committee. Reimann, however, grew dissatisfied with this arrangement, and in 1956, in yet another reorganization, an Exhibit Museum was created, co-equal to the constituent museums and with oversight responsibility for all public displays. The General Services Unit of the University Museums Building, formerly under the direction of the Museums Operating Committee, became part of the Exhibit Museum, and reported to the new Museums Building Committee.
The Exhibit Museum reported to the dean of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LS&A). The Exhibit Museum consciously decided to expand its presentations beyond the disciplinary bounds of constituent museums and was aided in this process by an Advisory Committee formed within LS&A. Under the auspices of the Exhibit Museum an aggressive program of service to the general public was begun. In 2011, the Exhibit Museum formally changed its name to the Museum of Natural History.
