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Records of the Law School document the evolution of legal education at the University of Michigan as well as tenures of various deans and faculty. Documentation includes historical and class files; student organizations and activities; planning and construction of Law School buildings; information on William W. Cook and his bequest; topical files; deans' correspondence; reports and minutes. Also included are materials related to the Thomas M Cooley and William W. Cook lecture series and portraits of faculty and students, photographs of activities of the Judge Advocate General's School held at the Law School during World War II, the construction of the Law Quadrangle and Law Library addition, and student activities.

The Law School Records begin in 1852 and span the years through the end of the twentieth century. The records document the history of legal education at the University of Michigan, the administration of the Law School, and the lives of some of the scholars who have studied and taught there.

The physical arrangement of the records reflects the various accessions of material that have been received from the Law School over the years. This finding aid is structured to reflect the intellectual organization of the records - continuing series and like materials have been brought together regardless of when the records were transferred to the library. The Summary Contents List provides and overview of the organization of the records.

There are eight major series in the record group: Historical and Class Files (1865-1974); Deans of the Law School (1852-1999); Faculty Files (1859-1994); Student Files (1894-1996); Law Quadrangle and William W. Cook, (1919-1938); Law School Lecture Series; Committee of Visitors and Audio/Visual Materials.

Battle Creek, Michigan and Washington, D.C. family including C.W. (Charles William) Post, cereal manufacturer, and anti-union activist and founder of Post City, Texas; and his daughter Marjorie Merriweather Post, executive of General Foods Co., wife of U. S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, art collector, philanthropist, socialite, and Washington D.C. hostess. C.W. Post papers, largely concern labor-management relations, unionism, the Postum Company, currency reform, advertising, and matters of food and hygiene; Marjorie Merriweather Post papers document her social activities and travel, philanthropies art collections, and the maintenance and preservation of her homes and other possessions.

The Post family collection includes papers of businessman and food processor, C. W. Post, largely relating to labor-management relations, unionism, the Post Company, currency reform, advertising, and matters of food and hygiene; and papers, photographs, and sound recordings of his daughter, Marjorie Merriweather Post, General Foods executive and philanthropist, relating to social activities and engagements, philanthropies, and the maintenance and preservation of her homes and other possessions.

The C.W. Post papers consist of manuscript items and printed works created by C.W. Post and retained by his daughter, Marjorie Merriweather Post. The papers are arranged alphabetically by subject.

Social scientist, director of the Institute for Social Research of the University of Michigan. Papers include project files, survey research data and reports, and printed material, largely from his work with the Division of Program Surveys, Bureau of Agricultural Economics and the office of War Information during World War II; Office Of Strategic Bombing Survey, I.S.R. project files; and transcript of oral interview, 1970.

The Rensis Likert Papers document his work as one of the pioneers of survey research, first with the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, then with the Office of War Information, Office of Strategic Bombing Surveys and finally at the University of Michigan's Survey Research Center and Institute for Social Research. The papers include biographical information on Likert; transcripts of oral history interviews with Likert; reports, background information, correspondence relating to various survey projects.

The Likert papers were received and initially processed in four accessions in 1975, 1982,1990 and 1995. Material in later accessions sometimes continued or complemented records series in prior accessions. The papers are boxed in an order that reflects the dates the accessions individual accessions were received. In this finding aid the disparate parts of series received in multiple accessions have been together to reflect the intellectual arrangement of the collection. As a result, the box-folder sequence in he contents listing are not always consecutive.

The materials in the 1975 accession (boxes 1-20) of the Rensis Likert Papers cover the period of 1939 to 1953 and largely concern Likert's work at the Bureau of Agricultural Economics and the Office of War Information during World War II and his subsequent work in the early development of the Survey Research Center.

In 1982 the family of Rensis Likert donated an additional three feet (boxes 21-23) of materials. Notable items in this accession concern Likert's work as assistant secretary and treasurer of the Psychological Corporation (1934-1935); consultant to the Newell-Emmett Company (1935); survey researcher with the Morale Division of the United States Strategic Bombing Survey unit (ca. 1944-1946); and activities with other professional organizations (ca. 1938-1949)

The third accession of the Likert papers (box 24-29) came from the library of the Institute of Social Research of the University of Michigan. The files pertain to all phases of Likert's professional career, and thus the researcher should use these papers in conjunction with the materials in the previous accessions. The final accession (box 29) was received form several sources.

The Todd Duncan Papers document the life and career of baritone singer Todd Duncan. Trained as a classical singer, Duncan was chosen by George Gershwin to originate the role of Porgy in Gershwin's American folk opera Porgy and Bess. Duncan's career spanned numerous concert tours, productions, and performances. The papers in the collection include photographs, scrapbooks, news stories, and personal papers.

The Todd Duncan Papers consist of scrapbooks, photographs, news stories, production programs, and personal papers documenting the career and life of Todd Duncan. Many of the items are scrapbooks of Duncan's career and tours which feature newspaper clippings and photographs from the productions themselves. The collection came to the Bentley Library partially processed. That arrangement has been retained.

The collection spans the years from 1912 to 1998 with the majority of items falling between the years 1935-1973. The collection has ten series: Correspondence; Honors and Awards; Music Programs and Scores; Newspaper Clippings and Scrapbooks; Papers and Books; Photographs; Audio-Visual Materials; Productions and Performances; Topical Files; and African American Music Collection Numbered Items.