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Another strength of the record group is its documentation of numerous local Episcopal parishes and missions in western Michigan. The files of the Diocesan Historiographer, the officer responsible for collecting historical information on diocesan churches, together with the correspondence files of the other diocesan offices document local parish activities, largely from about 1930 to the 1980s. Included in the collection is the manuscript copy and additional notes for Rev. Franklin Smith's history The Diocese of Western Michigan. This volume provides a thorough history of the diocese to 1948 and should be consulted as background to the archival records. This series also includes files of historiographer Maurice F. Thomas and Betty Sutton. Within the Betty Sutton subseries, in addition to collected material on the individual parishes, there is an extensive set of files with biographical information on the priests of the diocese.