Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

The Institute of General History at the University of Turku, Finland (Turun Yliopisto. Yleisen Historian Laitos) microfilmed thousands of letters from Varsinais-Suomi (Southwest Finland) region in 1964. The letters were written by Finnish emigrants to their families and friends in Finland.

The Varsinais-Suomi Region immigrant letters consist thousands of letters written by Finnish emigrants from Varsinais-Suomi (Southwest Finland) region to their families and friends in Finland between 1880 and 1964. There are also post cards, diaries and passports in the collection. Many letters originate from the United States and Canada, but there are also others from South America, Australia, New Zealand and the Soviet Union. The Institute of General History collected the letters between February 1 and October 31, 1966. The collected letters were organized and microfilmed in the fall of 1966.

The collection was arranged by town (also known as parishes or municipalities). Within each town the letters of each recipient were kept together. The owners of the letters are in chronological order according to the emigrating year of their correspondents.

Every subseries of letters includes a questionnaire that was completed by the letter recipient. In the upper right corner of the questionnaire there is a code that includes the abbreviation of the town and the location of the sender.

The questionnaire for collecting these America letters contained the following questions:

1. The owner of the letters (name and address)
2. The writer of the letters (name and last address)
3. The relationship between the owner and the writer
4. When left for America
5. Who were they visiting in America
6. Why left
7. Home town in Finland
8. The occupation of the parents
9. How large was the family of the parents of the emigrant
10. Was the emigrant married when he left Finland
11. Did the wife and children emigrate, too
12. Did the emigrant get married in America
13. What year
14. The nationality of the spouse
15. The occupation of the emigrant when emigrated
16. Had the emigrant ever been working outside the home town before emigrating
17. How did the emigrant go to America (route and vehicle)
18. The first workplace in America
19. What kind of work
20. Where did the emigrant live the longest time in America
21. What kind of work
22. Other members of the group who emigrated at the same time: name, hometown, return to Finland
23. The later life of the emigrant: did/did not return to Finland
24. If applicable, why did the emigrant return
25. Return route and vehicle
26. Occupation after return
27. The number of the letters (photos, diaries etc.) in the enclosed questionnaire envelope
28. The owner donates the letters/loans them only for microfilming
29. The collector of the letters (name and address)
30. To be filled by the Institute of General History

Documents in this collection are identified with the following abbreviations indicating the name of the town or parish from which the immigrant came.

1. ALAS = Alastaro
2. AURA = Aura
3. B-DÖ = Brändö Al.
4. D-FJÄRD = Dragsfjärd
5. HAL = Halikko
6. HIIT = Hiittinen
7. HOUTS = Houtskari
8. JOK = Jokioinen
9. K-KERTA = Kakskerta
10. K-TI = Kalanti
11. K-LA = Karjala Tl.
12. K-NA = Karuna
13. KEM = Kemiö
14. K-KO = Kisko
15. K-JOKI = Kodisjoki
16. KORP = Korpoo
17. K-KI = Koski-Tl.
18. K-VI = Kustavi
19. K-TO = Kuuisto
20. KUUS = Kuusjoki
21. L-LA = Laitila
22. LEMU = Lemu
23. L-TO = Lieto
24. LOIM = Loimaa
25. L-TI = Lokalahti
26. MAAR = Maaria
27. M-LA = Marttila
28. M-KU = Masku
29. MERI = Merimasku
30. MIET = Mietoinen
31. MUUR = Muurla
32. M-KI = Mynämäki
33. NAAN = Naantali
34. ORIP = Oripää
35. PAAT = Paattinen
36. PAIM = Paimio
37. PAR = Parkano
38. PER = Perniö
39. P-LI = Pertteli
40. PYHÄ = Phyämää
41. RÖY = Pöytyä
42. RYM = Rymättylä
43. S-VO = Sauvo
44. S-RO = Somero
45. SUOM = Suomasjärvi
46. T-LO = Taivassalo
47. T-JOKI = Tarvasjoki
48. T-KU = Turku
49. USK = Uskela
50. VEH = Vehmaa
51. VEL = Belkua
52. VÄST = Västanfjärd
53. Y-NE = Yläne

Minutes of the Village Council of Vassar, Michigan; also indexes to records of the Riverside Cemetery Association.

The record group is arranged into two series: Council Minutes and Other Materials. The Council Minutes are bound volumes of proceedings of the village council. Other materials includes a record of interments and deeds of the Riverside Cemetery Association.

Ironwood, Michigan businessman and local historian; include correspondence, research notes and writings largely concerning the history of Gogebic County and Upper Peninsula iron mining; also papers concerning his work with the Gogebic Industrial Bureau.

The Victor Lemmer Papers concerns the history of the western portion of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, particularly Gogebic County, as well as his work as the agent for the Gogebic Industrial Bureau. The collection has been divided into the following series: Correspondence; Photographs; Personal/Miscellaneous; Gogebic Industrial Bureau Files; Research Files; Collected Materials; and Writings/Speeches.

Papers of Victoria Moessner, former professor of German at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and daughter of Hans Emanuel Hansen. The Victoria Moessner papers consist largely of correspondence between Moessner and her friends, colleagues, and family. There is also information about Moessner's family history. The collection also includes papers of her father, Hans Emanuel Hansen. There are a series of family photographs in the collection dating from the mid-19th century to the 1980s.

The collection contains five series: Correspondence, Personal and Professional Papers, Family Papers, Hans Hansen Papers, and Photographs.

Yugoslavian author and scholar, member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY), participant in the partisan army during the Yugoslav Revolution of the 1940s, acquaintance of such Yugoslav leaders as Tito and Milovan Djilas. Series in the collection include biographical/personal, Dedijer family, correspondence, topical files, Bertrand Russell War Crimes Tribunals, project files, writings, lectures and speeches, audio and visual materials, and printed material; include correspondence with various intellectuals and political figures; subjects in the collection concern Yugoslav history, particularly Dedijer's relationship with Tito and Milovan Djilas; also materials relating to the International War Crimes Tribunal investigating United States involvement in Vietnam.

The papers of Vladimir Dedijer measure 9 linear feet plus one outsize volume and date from 1881 to 1987. The bulk of the materials cover the years 1940 to 1987. The papers include both materials created by Vladimir Dedijer during his life as a lecturer, author, and political figure, and also materials collected by Dedijer in his research relating to the history of Yugoslavia and communism. Many languages are represented in these papers, yet the majority of the materials are in English, Serbian, or Croatian.

The papers of Vladimir Dedijer are divided into ten series: Biographical/Personal Materials, Dedijer Family, Correspondence, Topical Files, Bertrand Russell War Crimes Tribunals, Project Files, Miscellaneous Writings, Lectures and Speeches, Audio and Visual Materials, and Printed Materials.

The Vogel & Wurster business records consists of ledgers, financial journals, and other business records primarily in the period when the firm was known as H.S. Holmes Mercantile Company from the 1880s to about 1916.

Zoologist-botanist, collector of plant and specimens for the University of Michigan in the Middle East and South Asia. The collection includes biographical and personal materials, correspondence, topical files, journals, writings, estate materials, photographs and motion pictures. Much of the collection relates to his travels and collecting expeditions in the Middle East and South Asia.

The Walter Koelz papers document Koelz's travel and work in South Asia and the Middle East in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as his life in Michigan, both before and after traveling abroad. The collection has been divided into seven series: Biographical and Personal, Correspondence, Topical File, Journals, Writings, Estate Materials, and Visual Materials.

Orchard Lake, Michigan, family, with various business interests, including lumbering and land transactions (in Michigan, California, West Virginia, and British Columbia), and also active in the development of the Orchard Lake area, especially from the 1920s to the 1940s; Correspondence files of individual family members, subject files detailing family interests and activities, business and legal records, maps, blueprints, and photographs.

The majority of the Ward Family collection is comprised of materials generated by Willis Ward and his son, Harold, and thus reflect the life of the family in the twentieth century. The strengths of the collection rest on materials which document upper-class family life in the first three decades of this century; the development of the Orchard Lake area in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s; the extensive Michigan land holdings of the Ward family; and the history of the lumber town of Deward, Michigan. The researcher should be aware that there are only limited materials in the collection which document either David Ward's business pursuits in Michigan or his personal life. The researcher should supplement those materials with use of Ward's published autobiography.

There are six series which comprise the Ward collection: Personal; Correspondence; Land Holdings; Photographs; Architectural Drawings; and Maps. Whenever possible the original order of materials in the first three series has been maintained.

Warren Petoskey is an Odawa and Lakotah elder. He is a writer, musician, dancer, and lectures on the history of American Indian boarding schools. The collection includes materials related to his professional and personal activities and interests, biographical and historical information, copies of genealogical records, as well as personal photographs and audio recordings.

The Warren Petoskey collection, 1873-2016, contains correspondence regarding presentations that Petoskey has held and his professional performance, copies of genealogy and family records, writings -- including his poetry, essays, and his published memoir, Dancing My Dream, --photographs of himself and family members, certificates for language learning and earned in the course of his work as an addictions counselor, and other materials that document Warren's life as an Odawa and Lakotah elder. The collection also includes an oral history interview audio recordings, the contents of an audio CD, Sacred Dream, with Native American music written and performed by Warren Petoskey, and an archived website for Petoskey's ministry, Dawnland Native Ministries.

Professor of physiology at the University of Michigan; correspondence, speeches, and other materials concerning U-M Medical School activities, the Ann Arbor Red Cross, the Ann Arbor Art Association, and Lombard’s interest in art and etching.

The Warren P. Lombard papers have been arranged into the following series: Biographical/miscellaneous; Correspondence; Organizational and other interests; Physiology and related materials; and Photographs. Much of the collection relates to Lombard's organizational activities, notably the Ann Arbor Red Cross and the Ann Arbor Art Association. Some of Lombard's correspondents include: James B. Angell, William W. Bishop, Marion L. Burton, James J. Couzens, John G. Curtis, Joseph Erlanger, Frederick R. Green, Charles W. Greene, Granville S. Hall, Yandell Henderson, Donald R. Hooker, Frederic S. Lee, Carl Ludwig, Graham Lusk, George W. Norris, Reuben Peterson, William T. Porter, Henry Sewall, Albert A. Stanley, Langdon C. Stewardson, and Victor C. Vaughan.