Alexander G. Ruthven Papers, 1901-1961 (majority within 1906-1951)
65.4 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
65.4 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The Alexander Ruthven papers consists of two series of records. The first is the papers of Ruthven as president of the University of Michigan, 1929 to 1951. The second, and smaller, series is the files maintained by Ruthven as a zoologist with the University Museum and as professor of zoology. This latter series dates largely from 1908 to 1929 but also includes collected earlier files from the 1870s.
65.4 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
7.0 linear feet — 1 oversize volume — 1 oversize folder
The records of Camp Filibert Roth document the administration of the camp and the range of research, training and recreational acclivities that took place there. Records include topical and correspondence files of camp directors and School of Natural Resources faculty who worked with the camp, photographs and slides of camp facilities and activities, correspondence with camp alumni and printed material.
The records were received in two principal accessions. Boxes 1-2 were acquired from the School of Natural Resources. The second accession, boxes 3-7, consists largely of the material collected by John Carrow (1913-1995), a former student and professor in the School of Natural Resources. Carrow graduated from the University of Michigan in 1938 and joined the Faculty in 1947. He was also Director of Camp Filibert Roth from 1948 to 1967. Carrow was Secretary of the School of Natural Resources Alumni Association and continued to hold that position after his retirement as a full professor in 1977. Carrow collected items of historical interest not only from Camp Filibert Roth but also from the entire School of Natural Resources.
The records are organized into eight series: Topical Files, Chronological Files, Printed Materials, Alumni Association, Camp Files, Midwest Forestry Conclave, School of Natural Resources and Visual Materials.
7.0 linear feet — 1 oversize volume — 1 oversize folder
14 linear feet
The C.C. Little papers document a wide range to topics, events, administrative actions, policy developments during Little's tenure as president of the University of Michigan. The collection contains mainly reports and replies to letters but very little incoming correspondence. However, the researcher may use these replies as clues to other collections in the library which contain the individual correspondent's papers.
The chronological ordering of the papers makes subject access somewhat difficult. To selective indexes of correspondents and subjects found in the papers provide some assistance in using the Little papers. The following discussion of the papers follows the structure of the subject index.
The growth of the university which had begun at the close of World War I continued to be felt during President Little's tenure. New buildings completed earlier were handling classroom and laboratory needs, so attention now turned to living accommodations and the athletic department's needs (Sec. II). The period of the 1920s was one of increased interest in theories of progressive education. President's Little's primary interest was in educational policy arising from such theories. Thus, academic and departmental proposals and reorganizations (Sec. III of the subject index) form a major part of his papers. He made fewer administrative changes (Sec. I of the subject index). The twenties are also remembered as a time of social ferment in the country and this was reflected in campus life, with more attention being paid to regulating student social mores and the use of alcohol and cars (see Secs. I and IV of the subject index).
Although President Little oversaw the reorganization of some administrative offices, his attention was mainly focused on educational policy, his primary interest. This is reflected in materials on admissions policy, freshman orientation, continuing education of alumni, and the re-organization of the university into two separate units.
A few months after President Little took office, the "Day Report", so named because Edmund Day, Dean of the School of Business Administration chaired the committee which drew it up, was completed. It was the result of an exhaustive study of athletics, physical education and recreation in the university and led to changes in the Board in Control of Athletics, development of women's and intramural athletics, and gave impetus to the financing and building of the stadium (opened in 1927).
President Little's concern with developing students of good moral character resulted in regulation of the use of cars and alcohol, thought to be related twin evils, and the initiation of planning for dormitories, where all students would live under university supervision.
The major building projects that came to fruition during the Little Administration were the Stadium and the Women's League Building. Construction work at the Law School and the School of Education represented on-going projects begun in earlier administrations, while plans for a natural science museum were just beginning to take shape.
During President Little's tenure, schools and departments established earlier continued to grow, while some projects, such as the Creative Arts Fellowship, were brought to a close. The financing and governance of the Lawyers' Club presented on-going difficulties. Compensation for and the role of "outside work" in Medicine, Engineering, and Education required continued attention. The university contributed to scientific research through the Hobbs Expedition to Greenland which also showed the value of the university's fledgling radio program in maintaining communication with such distant projects.
With the appointment of Samuel Trask Dana as Dean, the School of Forestry was established in the spring of 1927. At that time the state was faced with the problems of cutover lands and the collapse of the lumbering industry. In 1927 the School of Forestry provided leadership in dealing with these problems by sponsoring two conferences which brought together owners and operators in the lumbering industry, state officials, and forestry experts to consider solutions.
The School of Education continued its growth with the addition of an elementary school building. The completion of that building in 1929 enabled the School to provide K-12 education under the supervision of its faculty. Some attention was given also to providing pre-primary education, but nothing came of this during Little's tenure.
The university and its academic life did not escape the impact of the societal upheavals of the "roaring twenties". Perhaps more so at the University of Michigan because of President Little's active role in several of those issues, as is reflected in his correspondence. He was an officer in the American Eugenics Society, a vocal proponent of both population control and the "betterment of the human race", and also served as chairman of the Michigan chapter of the League of Nations Non-partisan Association.
25 linear feet (in 29 boxes) — 1 archived website — 3.4 GB (online)
The records of the English Language Institute encompass the period, 1940-2012, and contain 11 series: Correspondence; C.C. Fries Correspondence; Books; Manuscripts and Publications; Scrapbooks; Project Files; Administrative Files; South East Asia Regional English Project (SEAREP); Ford-Japan Project; Publications; and Photographs. The bulk of the collection deals with routine business such as student requests for admission, inquiries from throughout the world regarding the operation of the Institute, requests for linguistic materials available from the Institute, and staff meeting minutes. There is an abundance of information on the relationship between the English Language Institute, its staff and similar institutions both at the University of Michigan and elsewhere; including the University of Michigan International Center, the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the English Language Institute in Mexico, the Ford Foundation, the Inter-American Educational Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation, the Linguistic Institute, Rockefeller Foundation, and the U.S. Office of Education. Also in the collection are extensive files of directors Charles C. Fries and Robert Lado and administrator George E. Luther.
25 linear feet (in 29 boxes) — 1 archived website — 3.4 GB (online)
21 linear feet
As a long-time observer of the Michigan conservation scene, Van Coevering collected a wide range of materials to document the history of hunting, fishing, and wildlife management, the development of state parks and forests, political development of the Department of Conservation and Conservation Commission, concerns about pollution and pesticide poisoning, and other conservation and environmental matters in Michigan. This collection is made up of his writings and background materials on all these topics.
The collection contains only a part of Van Coevering's papers. His "personal" papers were destroyed by his widow after his death. Included here are "historical" papers collected in the course of his work as an outdoor writer. The papers include press releases, clippings, memoranda, reports, and other documents collected by Van Coevering as well as correspondence. Van Coevering's outgoing correspondence is generally of the information-seeking type, and provides little insight into his ideas.
The collection is divided into five major series: Publications, Reference file, School of Natural Resources file, Michigan conservation history file, and Photographs. There is also a small folder of obituaries and other personal information in Box 1. In 1996, the library received an addition to the collection. This 1996 accession from Frank Angelo includes the manuscript of "A Brief History of Conservation in Michigan," and the accompanying research as well as background research for a proposed history of prominent Michigan conservationists.
87 linear feet — 3 oversize folders — 2 film reels — 6 phonograph records (oversize) — 16.3 GB — 19 digital audio files
The James K. Pollock papers represent an accumulation of files from a lifetime of academic teaching and research and an extraordinary number of public service responsibilities to both his state and his nation. The files within the collection fall into two categories: types of document (such as correspondence, speeches and writings, visual materials, etc.) and files resulting from a specific activity or position (such as his work as delegate to the Michigan Constitutional Convention or his service with the Office of the Military Government in Germany after World War II).
The collection is large and of a complicated arrangement because of Pollock's many activities. When received in 1969, the files were maintained as received; very little processing was done to the collection so that an inventory to the papers could be quickly prepared. The order of material is that devised by James K. Pollock and his secretarial staff in the U-M Department of Political Science. Recognizing the anomalies within the order of the collection, the library made the decision to list the contents to the collection while at the same time preparing a detailed card file index (by box and folder number, i.e. 16-8) to significant correspondents and subjects. While there was much to be said for this method of preparing a finding aid expeditiously, it also covered up some problems in arrangement. Thus series and subseries of materials are not always grouped together as they were created by Pollock. Files on the Hoover Commission and the Michigan Constitutional Convention, for example, come before Pollock's work in Germany after the war. In 1999, effort was made to resolve some of the inconsistencies and obvious misfilings of the first inventory but because of the numbering system used in 1969 and the card index prepared for the files, there are still some problems. Researchers should be alert to these difficulties and take time to examine different parts of the collection for material on a similar topic.
87 linear feet — 3 oversize folders — 2 film reels — 6 phonograph records (oversize) — 16.3 GB — 19 digital audio files
9 linear feet — 1 oversize folder
The files document Dana's professional activities mainly from the period after his World War I service and concern his organizational involvements and his participation in forestry conservation projects. Dana's role as dean of the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources is less fully documented here as these materials were retained as part of that school's record group (also housed at the Bentley Historical Library).
Current results range from 1893 to 2012