Collections

The Perry Bullard Papers (1973-1992) document Bullard's service as a state representative from Michigan's 53rd district, primarily between the years of 1980 and 1992. The collection contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, committee reports and studies, bills, and briefing material on issues that came before the Michigan House of Representatives between 1973 and 1992.

The Perry Bullard papers document his twenty year career in the Michigan House of Representatives, especially as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. The collection includes both Bullard files and files maintained by members of his staff. The files document the passage of acts (or failure of bills) through correspondence, staff memoranda, communications from constituents and lobbying groups, and all manner of background and printed material. The series in the collection are Correspondence; Legislative Files; House Judiciary Committee files; Topical Files; Political and Campaign materials; Publicity, Speeches, Clippings; and Personal Materials.

Records of the Personnel Office include personnel policies and procedures; memoranda to the deans, directors and department heads; negotiations with and the administration of the contract with the Graduate Employees' Union; and activities with numerous employees' unions at the University of Michigan.

The Personnel Office records comprise 31 linear feet and span the 1940s through the early 1990s. These records document the activities of the office prior to its 1994 consolidation with the Affirmative Action Office. The office is now part of the Office of University Human Resources, with many of its original responsibilities performed by its sub-unit, Academic Human Resources.

The records have been filed as received from the unit in periodic accessions. As such, there is considerable overlap in topics and dates of coverage within the various records series. Files relating to specific promotion and tenure cases are in a separate record group, University of Michigan Office of Academic Human Resources Promotion Casebooks. A finding aid for these records is available in the Bentley Library.

Records are divided into nine series: Topical Files of Assistant to the Vice President for Academic Affairs: Charles Allmand; Topical Files of Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs-Personnel Administration: Colleen Dolan-Greene; Personnel Data Systems (PDS) Files; Graduate Student Assistants (GSA)/Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) Files; Memoranda to Deans, Directors, and Department Heads; Administrative Files, 1980 - 1992; Administrative Files, 1970 - 1994; Labor Relations, and Administrative Files, 1963 - 1994.

Assistant director of men and director of housing at the University of Michigan. Collected materials largely relating to student housing at the University of Michigan; also files on student activities, including problems of transportation.

The Peter A. Ostafin Papers consist of both personal and official (University of Michigan) records that reflect his professional career in housing at the University of Michigan from 1955 to 1977. The records cover a range of subjects that include housing developments at the university, transportation issues, student governance, a variety of student activities, and administrative activities and issues. Materials found include minutes, reports, proposals, memoranda, newspaper clippings, and a variety of background and source documents relating to housing, transportation, and student affairs. The original order of the collection consisted of topical folders and loose documents in a random order. Scattered throughout the collection are documents created by and for both John Feldkamp, director of Housing, and Barbara Newell, vice-president for Student Affairs. Outside the strengths of the collection, much of the remaining material is scattered throughout the topical files and is of limited importance. Included are materials that mostly serve to illustrate sources consulted by the various groups on which Ostafin served. These reference materials form the majority of the early records, some dating back to the early 1940s.

Although the papers touch on many aspects of both students' lives and housing, the strength of the collection lies particularly in several specific areas: Housing (including both University and non-University), Student Activities, Transportation, and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments.

State representative from Chippewa County, Michigan. Correspondence and business papers dealing with mining, fishing, shipping, fur trading, lumbering and other businesses in the Northern Peninsula, particularly in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; also maritime papers, ships' manifests from Michilimackinac and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, miscellaneous American Fur Company papers, and papers on lighthouse administration, the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, and Republican politics.

This collection of eight microfilm rolls divides into two series: Correspondence and business papers, and Maritime papers. Although titled the Peter Barbeau collection, the papers are of Barbeau and others Northern Michigan businessmen. The papers detail business activities, particularly in Sault Ste. Marie area and concern mining, fishing, shipping, fur trading, lumbering, and other businesses. Also included are maritime papers consisting of customs papers and ships manifest from Michilimackinac and Sault Ste. Marie. Found within the collection as well are miscellaneous American Fur Company papers, papers on lighthouse administration, the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, and some Republican politics.

Professor of biology and dean of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies; contain correspondence and other papers concerning his professional activities; and biographical sketch.

The Okkelberg collection is comprised of correspondence dating from 1910 to 1950, the approximate dates of his tenure at the University of Michigan. The correspondence is arranged chronologically and relates primarily to his career as a professor of zoology and to his work as an University of Michigan assistant and associate dean of the graduate school. Okkelberg corresponded with colleagues and administrators, within and outside the University of Michigan community. Correspondents include: Marion L. Burton, Oct. 1920, Robert M. Lovett, Sept. 1926, Jacob E. Reighard, July 1913, and Alexander G. Ruthven, June 1914 and April 1918.

Peter Pollack was a landscape architect who primarily worked in the Ann Arbor area. He also served as a professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources. The collection includes correspondence, minutes, and working files that document Pollack’s involvement with various urban design and landscape projects in the state of Michigan in addition to his teaching career. The collection also includes drawings and plans for Pollack’s major projects.

The Peter Pollack collection (29.5 linear feet, 51 tubes, 13 oversized folders) documents Pollack's professional involvement in the field of landscape architecture. While the collection includes material relating to his teaching career and his involvement in landscape architecture organizations, the bulk of the collection relates to specific projects Pollack worked on. The collection documents his entire career, but includes a greater depth of information related to projects Pollack was involved with in the Ann Arbor area. In addition to the working files for these projects, the collection includes copious sketches drawn by Pollack and official project plans. The material relating to the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority and the Pfizer campus is particularly strong.

The collection has been arranged into the following series: Administrative Files and Promotional Materials; Project Summaries; Project Files; Teaching Files and Other Activities; Digital Materials; and Videotapes.

Art historian, writer, journalist, and expert of Puerto Rican music and art. Letters received from Robert F. Williams, African American civil rights activist and Bloch's friend.

This collection is comprised of letters received from friend Robert F. Williams, militant African American civil rights activist. In the letters Williams discusses his arrest at a student sit-in protest, his struggles as a civil rights leader in the South, his travel plans, and his appreciation of Bloch's writings.

Peter Sparling is Professor of Dance at the University of Michigan School of Music. Well known as both performer and choreographer, he has danced with Martha Graham and Jose Limon. Papers consist of materials relating to Sparling's dance training, performance, and teaching including background materials; choreography notes and sketches; correspondence; clippings and publicity from dance companies with whom he was associated; programs and reviews; photographs, video and film of performances; and posters.

The Peter Sparling Papers include materials relating to Sparling's dance training, performance, and teaching. The papers are divided into eight series: Background Materials, Choreography, Correspondence, Dance Companies, Programs, Reviews, Photographs, Performance, Audition, and Rehearsal Videos, and Posters.

Marquette, Michigan businessman, Democratic state senator, and Republican regent of the University of Michigan. Letterbooks and correspondence relating to activities in the Democratic Party in Michigan, particularly in the Upper Peninsula, to his service within the state legislature, and to state and national elections, 1876-1896; also correspondence and other records concerning his extensive business interests that include Northern Michigan iron, insurance, banking, and general investments.

The collection documents the development of the economy of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan from the perspective of one of its pioneer entrepreneurs. Through correspondence and other business records, there is documentation of White's extensive business interests in Northern Michigan iron, insurance, and banking. Other portions of the collection concern his service in the state legislature and his involvement in state and national elections, 1876-1896.

Peter White's correspondence, the largest portion of the collection, has been divided into two series: correspondence/business papers and insurance correspondence. The papers for 1850-1853 deal with White's activities as clerk for Robert Graveraet. Also discussed in this early period are legal matters with some material on his work as postmaster and various family matters. The correspondence for 1854-1862 deals with early mining companies with whom he had association and provides some information about the financial aspect of various organizations. White acted as a marketing agent for several companies and this aspect is covered well. The term served by White in the state legislature is covered very sparsely.

Beginning in 1863 White activities expand to encompass insurance and banking concerns. While the iron interest is well represent in the papers for 1863-1873, insurance and banking occupy an increasingly important place. After 1874, White's insurance business is heavily represented in the correspondence. Banking also continues to occupy an important place but the iron companies are far less frequently a subject of discussion. Local politics is also discussed in the correspondence for 1874-1891. As someone who had been actively engaged in politics and public service, White commented on state and national election campaigns from the 1870s to the 1890s. Most notable are letters exchanged pertaining to the campaign of Williams Jennings Bryan in the presidential election of1896. Beginning in 1902, the insurance correspondence decrease and the investment phase of White's career make itself evident. After 1900 correspondence with the University of Michigan and its history department becomes more important.

The remainder of the collection consists of Business Records, divided between folder records and bound records. Each of these series includes records of specific companies with whom Peter White was associated. These include the Phenix Iron Mining Company, the Michigan God Company, the Manhard-Jopling Company, the Lake Superior Leather Company, and the Schoolcraft Iron Company.

Ann Arbor, Michigan photographer. Photographic images taken to accompany articles in the Ann Arbor Observer. Images include Ann Arbor businesses, buildings, neighborhoods, parks, landmarks; also photos of local personalities, politicians, business people, and University of Michigan faculty and staff members.

The Peter Yates collection is made up of approximately 5200 negative strips, or 26,000 images, of photographs taken for the Ann Arbor Observer between 1978 and 1990. The collection documents both the ordinary and the eccentric in Ann Arbor, as photographs of politicians, professors and business people are interspersed with images of local "characters" and unusual events. Neighborhoods, parks and buildings are also represented in the collection. The negatives are stored in chronological order, according to the date of the issue in which they appeared.

The index is arranged in alphabetical order by subject, and each entry includes the date of the Observer issue in which the photograph was published. The index is not comprehensive, but provides access to photographs of notable people, institutions and trends in Ann Arbor. For example, not every restaurant review photograph has been indexed, but "institutions" such as the Fleetwood Diner and the Gandy Dancer do appear on the list.

For further subject access to the Ann Arbor Observer, please consult the Index to the Michigan Alumnus, LSA Magazine and Ann Arbor Observer in the Bentley Library reading room.