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Elizabeth W. Bauer is a disability rights activist who served many years defending the rights of the disabled within Michigan, across the country, and internationally. She also served an eight year term on Michigan's State Board of Education. This collection contains materials relating to different disability rights issues--such as deinstitutionalization, community placement, education, euthanasia, sterilization, and disability legislation--as well as papers regarding the many organizations through which Bauer enacted her work.

Collection contains materials relating to different disability rights issues, records regarding the many organizations through which Bauer enacted her work, papers relating to Bauer's term as an elected official on the State Board of Education, materials relating to the conferences and workshops Bauer held and attended, Bauer's speeches and writings, and a very small personal series.

The collection is divided into nine series: the Personal series, the Organizations series, the Social Issues series (divided into 8 subseries: Bio-ethics and Disability Rights, Building Feasibility Study, Community Living/Group Homes, Deinstitutionalization, History of Disability Rights, Mental Disability and the Law, Patient Abuse, and Other Social Issues (previously titled Miscellaneous), the Topical File series, the Education series, the Conferences and Workshops series, the International Consultation series, the Speeches and Writings series, and the Publications series.

The Gene Thurber collection consists of reports and studies and other materials received on the topic of special education in Michigan. A significant portion of the collection concerns his work with the Kent Intermediate School District. Very few items in the collection were authored by Thurber.

The records of the Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan (LDAM) document the history, activities, and affiliations of the organization over its more than forty years of existence. The organization has played an important role in helping to influence the crafting of Michigan's special education laws. It continues to pursue its mission of enhancing the quality of life for all individuals with learning disabilities and their families through advocacy, education, training, service and research. Contained herein are also materials of affiliated organizations (CAUSE), commissions (SEAC), grant projects, and publications concerning learning disabilities and special education in Michigan with which the LDAM has affiliated itself.

The records of the Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan document the administration, activities, and history of this organization and members who have participated in its activities programs since its founding in 1962. The record group is divided into three distinct series: Organization and Administration; Activities; and Affiliated Organizations and Activities.

Papers of Percy Bates, an influential African American professor at the University of Michigan School of Education. Materials in the collection relate to his work as Principle Investigator on the Dean's Project on Mainstreaming, a grant project funded by the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped at the U.S. Department of Education. The collection includes teacher training materials, worksheets, case studies, grant information, project models and reference articles, interview questions, and other project materials.

The Percy Bates papers contains papers related to Bates' work as Principal Investigator on the Dean's Project on Mainstreaming, a grant project at the Universisty of Michigan's School of Education. The project trained educators how to integrate special education students into the regular classroom. The materials illustrate some of the challenges of mainstreaming faced by educators, students and parents and how educators were trained to manage these issues. The training materials also demonstrate the core knowledge, skills and attitudes the project team believed educators needed to create a welcoming classroom environment for all students.

The collection has been organized into two series. The Project Materials series contains project planning documents, conceptual models, reference reports and working drafts developed by the project team. The Educational Materials series features copies of the informational packets, worksheets, case studies and simulations developed to train teachers on mainstreaming.

Records of the organization as well as collections of records received from individuals and organization relating to the development and history of special education in Michigan.

The records of the Society for the Preservation of Michigan Special Education History include both records of the organization (minutes, agenda, newsletters, mailing, correspondence, reports, etc.) as well as materials collected from individuals active in the field of special education. Some of the materials were clearly identified as belonging to either Richard Baldwin, Arselia Sehler Ensign, and Robert Luce and were kept together as separate series. Other materials, less clearly defined, were arranged by the organization or agency that created them. The kinds of documents in the collection include reports, minutes of meetings, newsletters, educational manuals, directives from the Michigan Department of Education and other agencies, copies and analyses of legislation under consideration by the state legislature, policy statements, and memoranda and correspondence.

The series in the record group include: Society for the Preservation of Michigan Special Education History organization records; Richard Baldwin papers; Arselia Sheler Ensign papers; Robert Luce papers; Michigan Federation Chapters of the Council for Exceptional Children; Michigan Association of Administrators of Special Education; Michigan School for the Blind; Statewide Communication and Dissemination System; Citizens Alliance to Uphold Special Education; Physically Impaired Association of Michigan; Statewide Technical Assistance Network in Special Education; Local planning and instructional manuals; and Published material.