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Reports and administrative records of WPA project to survey historical records in Michigan; includes correspondence, drafts of guides to county archives, proceedings of county boards of supervisors, field reports of workers, and copies of land patents for some counties; also material relating to the history of Blacks in Michigan.

The Historical Records Survey record group documents the activities and the product of the legions of depression era workers who inventoried the records held in county courthouses, municipal offices some private repositories. The records include correspondence, drafts of guides to county archives, proceedings of county boards of supervisors, field reports of workers, and copies of land patents for some counties; also material relating to the history of Blacks in Michigan.

Originally the H.R.S. records transferred to the Michigan Historical Collections measured about 121 linear feet. After processing, the collection consisted of 26 feet of records relating to the H.R.S. and 65 feet of transcripts of county and municipal records. Of the remaining 30 feet, 29.5 feet of duplicate, extraneous, or insignificant materials were discarded (described in more detail further on) and approximately half of a linear foot of printed material was transferred to the library's printed collection.

The H.R.S. material has been divided into the following series:

1. Survey of County Records
2. Survey of Municipal Records
3. Survey of Federal Records
4. Survey of State Records
5. WPA Project Files
6. Manuscripts Survey
7. Inventory of Negro Manuscripts
8. Transcripts of County Records
9. Transcripts of Municipal Records
10. Photographs
11. Historical Records Survey Correspondence
12. Survey Forms of 1987 Survey of Records in Counties and Municipalities.

Minutes of executive committee, 1874-2002 (with some gaps); minutes and proceedings of state convention, 1873-1880; financial records; and roster, 1873-1978, of lodges chartered by Michigan Grange, showing date of charter, location and other data; also records of various defunct local granges.

The records of the Michigan State Grange include minutes and proceedings of the state convention, minutes of the executive committee, financial statements; and rosters and applications for membership of individual chapters of the State Grange. Whenever a local chapter ceased operations, its records would be transferred to the State Grange office. The records of some of these defunct chapters make up the bulk of the State Grange record group. Records of local Granges may include minutes of lodge meetings, financial records and membership lists. The local records are listed in the contents list in the order in which they were received they were received from the state office. Two indexes, one by chapter name and the other by chapter number, should be used to locate the records of a particular chapter. The chapter numbers were assigned consecutively as the chapters were organized. Counties represented in these defunct chapters include Alcona, Antrim, Arenac, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Chippewa, Crawford, Emmet, Genesee, Gogebic Hillsdale, Iosco, Jackson, Lenawee, Macomb, Marquette, Menominee, Midland, Monroe, Montmorency, Oscoda, Otsego, Sanilac, Saginaw, Schoolcraft, Shiawassee, Tuscola, Washtenaw, and Wayne.

Another portion of the record group includes materials of W. J. Brake, who was a lecturer for the National Grange and who held office for the State Grange.

Other records of the Michigan State Grange were donated to the University Archives and Historical Collections of Michigan State University. The MSU Archives holds the Grange records from the following counties: Allegan, Barry, Benzie, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Clare, Clinton, Eaton, Grand Traverse, Gratiot, Ingham, Ionia, Isabella, Kalamazoo, Kalkaska, Kent, Leelanau, Manistee, Mason, Mecosta, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana, Osceola, Otsego, Ottawa, Shiawassee, St. Joseph, Van Buren, and Wexford.