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Reports and administrative records of WPA project to survey historical records in Michigan; includes correspondence, drafts of guides to county archives, proceedings of county boards of supervisors, field reports of workers, and copies of land patents for some counties; also material relating to the history of Blacks in Michigan.

The Historical Records Survey record group documents the activities and the product of the legions of depression era workers who inventoried the records held in county courthouses, municipal offices some private repositories. The records include correspondence, drafts of guides to county archives, proceedings of county boards of supervisors, field reports of workers, and copies of land patents for some counties; also material relating to the history of Blacks in Michigan.

Originally the H.R.S. records transferred to the Michigan Historical Collections measured about 121 linear feet. After processing, the collection consisted of 26 feet of records relating to the H.R.S. and 65 feet of transcripts of county and municipal records. Of the remaining 30 feet, 29.5 feet of duplicate, extraneous, or insignificant materials were discarded (described in more detail further on) and approximately half of a linear foot of printed material was transferred to the library's printed collection.

The H.R.S. material has been divided into the following series:

1. Survey of County Records
2. Survey of Municipal Records
3. Survey of Federal Records
4. Survey of State Records
5. WPA Project Files
6. Manuscripts Survey
7. Inventory of Negro Manuscripts
8. Transcripts of County Records
9. Transcripts of Municipal Records
10. Photographs
11. Historical Records Survey Correspondence
12. Survey Forms of 1987 Survey of Records in Counties and Municipalities.

Project of the Work Projects Administration in Michigan. Notes on books and pamphlets published in Michigan between 1796 and 1876.

The record group, a single series of records, is made up of three subseries as well as a number of smaller groupings of materials. The three subseries are Imprints by date; Imprints by city; and Imprints by checklist number. The smaller groupings include an inventory of state documents, 1851-1878; slips for works not included in the checklist, questionable and phantom imprints, and other problems; and some correspondence and project manuals.

Imprints by date, 1796-1860 (Boxes 1-2) includes inventory slips, most in Style B, arranged by date. Within each year, the slips are in random order.

Imprints by city, 1796-1876 (Boxes 2-4) includes inventory slips, most in Style B, arranged by city and within each city by date. Within each year, the slips are in random order.

Imprints by checklist number, 1796-1850 (Box 5) includes inventory slips for works listed in the published checklist, most in Style A, with editorial notes used in preparing the checklist.

The Michigan Historical Records Survey also published a checklist of New Mexico imprints, but it had been edited elsewhere and no records of this publication are found in the records of the Michigan Imprints Inventory.