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Detroit, Michigan trial attorney, Democratic Congressman, 1933-1935, and Wayne County Circuit Court Judge. Correspondence and other materials concerning his term in Congress, national and local politics, and various judicial decisions; miscellaneous diaries, newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks concerning his association with the American Turners Association (German-American athletic society), Detroit, Michigan politics, and the election and recall of Detroit Mayor Charles Bowles; and photographs.

The collection consists of correspondence, primarily from the period when Weideman was a member of Congress; files relating to his election campaign and to a few of the issues of the time; and miscellaneous other materials from his career with the Wayne County Circuit Court and as a member of the American Turners. There is also an extensive series of scrapbooks detailing his professional and civic activities and several folders of photographs.

Michigan Secretary of State, 1931-1935; Governor of Michigan, 1935-1936 and 1939; and chairman, 1936, of the Michigan delegation to the Republican National Convention. Correspondence, speeches, press releases, newspaper clippings, and miscellaneous notebooks and printed materials concerning his political career.

The Fitzgerald papers date from 1928 to 1944 but the bulk of the collection falls within the period of 1930 to 1939, the year of Fitzgerald's death. Papers dated after 1939 are those of his wife Queena. The collection primarily concerns the mechanics of campaigning for office with little documentation of the administration of either the office of secretary of state or governor. The collection has been arranged into seven series: Correspondence; Biographical / Personal; Photographs; Speeches and Press Releases; Political Career; National Republican Party published material; and Scrapbooks.

The largest series in the collection - Correspondence - is important for showing the range of Fitzgerald's political acquaintances and his skill in achieving elective office. A selective index to those who corresponded with Fitzgerald is appended to this finding aid.

O'Brien family of northern Michigan and Detroit, Michigan; family papers of Patrick H. O'Brien and other family members.

The O'Brien family collection includes papers and scrapbooks of John H. O'Brien, a newsman with the Hearst newspaper chain largely concerning the campaign, 1952-1957, for better interstate highway system. In addition, there are scrapbooks and other materials of Michael O'Brien relating to his insurance business and to the political campaigns of his brother, Patrick H. O'Brien. The papers of Eleanor Lawton O'Brien concern her interests in family planning. The reminiscences of Jean Worth relate to his boyhood in Menominee, Michigan, ca. 1915.

Pacifist, participant in World War I peace movement and later peace activities, member of Fellowship of Reconciliation, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and Women Strike for Peace. Papers include Correspondence, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, periodicals, reports, photographs, and other materials relating to the International Congress of Women, 1915, the Ford Peace Ship, the American Neutral Conference Committee, the Emergency Peace Federation, and the People's Council of America.

The papers of Rebecca Shelley (1887-1984) were donated by Shelley in several accessions between 1964 and 1984. The papers make up twenty-one linear feet of materials and cover the years 1890-1984, though only a few photographs and printed items predate 1910. Her anti-war activism, legal battles, writing career, and courtships with Franz Willman and Felix Rathmer are all well-represented. In addition to her personal papers, there are groups of material belonging to Emily Balch, Richard Olsen, Felix Rathmer, Paul Shelly, and William A. Shelly.

Many peace organizations are also documented in these papers through flyers, pamphlets, periodicals, newsletters, and correspondence. These include the American Neutral Conference Committee, Emergency Peace Federation, People's Council of America, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Women Strike for Peace, and many others. As Shelley served as an officer in the Michigan Fellowship of Reconciliation (F.O.R.) through the 1950s and 1960s, many of the organization's official papers came to be in her possession. Therefore, an effort was made to remove most of these official papers to the separate Michigan F.O.R. collection.

The collection is arranged in eleven series: Biographical; Newspaper Clippings; Correspondence; Topical Papers; Miscellaneous Papers; Papers Of Other Individuals; Printed; Periodicals; Diaries And Notebooks; Photographs; and Writings.