A cross-disciplinary center for the study of Chinese history, culture and contemporary Chinese society at the University of Michigan, includes administrative records of the Center and information on research, lecture series, exhibits and other activities of the center.
The Center for Chinese Studies record group consists primarily of material for the years 1962 to 1994. Overall strengths of the collection include documentation of PASE, records of the Asia Library (1962-1982), and course information from curriculum development (1960s). Yearly budget and financial records are fairly complete, except for the period from 1971 to 1976. The gap is unfortunate because it was during these years that the Ford Foundation grants ended and the center had to search for new funding sources. Other material is broadly illustrative of the diversity of the tasks undertaken by the center.
The record group, as received by the Bentley Library, mostly consisted of loose documents and random topical folders. It now consists of topical folders arranged alphabetically within five series. The series Directors Correspondence and the Asia Library are in their original order, as received by the library; Administrative Records, Activities, and Printed Materials are artificial groupings created to provide order and easy access to the records.
The Bentley Historical Library received another large transfer of records from the Center for Chinese Studies in 1997. Spanning the years 1966 through 1994, these consist primarily of administrative files and information pertaining to the activities which the Center for Chinese Studies organized or in which it participated. The records were relatively well organized when it was attained by the Bentley Library. The original order of the records was retained with the exception of some files pertaining to the East Asian Capital Campaign. These were reorganized so that they could be located in one series.