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Law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy, and Washington, D.C. attorney. Diary, 1943-1944, relating to the Supreme Court, and miscellaneous notes, correspondence and newspaper clippings; also papers of Justice Murphy collected by Gressman, including notes of cabinet meetings, and of conferences and telephone calls; and correspondence, 1937-1949, between Frank Murphy and Felix Frankfurter.

The collection consists of two kinds of materials: papers of Frank Murphy that Gressman accumulated as clerk to the Supreme Court Justice; and Gressman's own papers. The greater part of the collection are the papers of Frank Murphy, dating from 1935 to 1948, with the bulk of the files falling in the period of 1939 to 1941, when Murphy was US Attorney General and the first year of his tenure on the Supreme Court bench. Always conscious of history, Murphy made valuable notes on the cabinet meetings he attended and his meetings and conversations with various public figures. These individuals include Hugo Black, Louis Brandeis, William J. Donovan, Carter Glass, Charles E. Hughes, Cordell Hull, Joseph P. Kennedy, John L. Lewis, Sir Robert Menzies, Manuel Quezon, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Francis B. Sayre, Harlan F. Stone and Sumner Welles. Also of importance are the several files of letters exchanged between Frank Murphy and Justice Felix Frankfurter.

Gressman's own papers are much smaller, but these also relate to his association with Frank Murphy, including notes that he made preparatory to writing a proposed biography of Murphy. Gressman's diary on his time spent as Murphy clerk of the Supreme Court is dated July 1943 to April 1944.

Chairman of Michigan Liquor Control Commission, 1932-1934, candidate for the US Senate in 1934, president of Michigan Bar Association, and U.S. Judge of Eastern District of Michigan, 1939-1963. Correspondence and other papers relating to Michigan and national politics, his work on the Liquor Control Commission and the Michigan Bar Association; also campaign speeches and scrapbooks.

The Frank A. Picard papers consist of correspondence and other papers relating to Michigan and national politics, his work on the Michigan Liquor Control Commission and the Michigan Bar Association; files of campaign speeches and scrapbooks; and scripts and related papers for plays he wrote. The collection has been arranged into the following series: Correspondence, speeches and other materials; Scripts and plays; Other writings and miscellaneous; and Scrapbooks.

Newspaper publisher, manager of Chase S. Osborn’s campaign for governor in 1910, vice presidential candidate in 1936. Correspondence, 1907-1910 and Addresses, 1934-1938.

The Frank Knox papers consist of two series: Correspondence and Addresses. The Correspondence series dates from 1907 to November 1910 and was donated by Chase S. Osborn. These are the papers from Osborn's campaign for governor, 1909-1910, and detail the close relationship between Osborn and Knox. The second series of Addresses was donated by Col. Knox in 1938, then at the Chicago Daily News, and concern his interest in public affairs, the New Deal, and his own campaign as vice presidential candidate in 1936.

Michigan-born lawyer, judge, politician and diplomat, served as Detroit Recorder's Court Judge, Mayor of Detroit, Governor General of the Philippines, Governor of Michigan, U. S. Attorney General and U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Papers include extensive correspondence, subject files, Supreme court case files, scrapbooks, photographs, newsreels and audio recordings, and other material.

The Frank Murphy Collection documents in detail the life and career of one of Michigan's most distinguished public servants. Through correspondence, subject files, scrapbooks, visual materials, and other documentation, the collection traces Murphy's life from his years as Detroit judge, later Mayor, to his service in the Philippines, his tenure as governor, his stint as U.S. Attorney General, and culminating in his final years as U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

The Frank Murphy Collection consists of eight series: Correspondence, Other Papers, Supreme Court Case Files, Speech File, Speech Material, Miscellaneous, Visual Material, and Newsclippings/Scrapbooks.

Saginaw, Michigan, sugar processor and Republican Congressman (1935-1953). Correspondence, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, speeches, and photographs.

The Crawford collection consists of correspondence relating to his political career, especially the election campaigns of 1936, 1940 and 1952. Some of his correspondents include Wilber M. Brucker, Mar. 6, 1937, Leonard Hall, May 19, 1950, and George A. Malcolm, Nov. 7, 1936. Of note are letters of Stanley Morse of the Farmer's Independence Council, Aug.-Dec. 1935-1936, describing agricultural conditions and a letter of H.W. Anderson, April 27, 1937, relating to the Flint Sit-Down strike.

There are also scrapbooks relating to his career activities and to his trips to the Philippines in 1935 and 1946. One of his scrapbooks concerns the activities of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1938, and includes a letter from J. Edgar Hoover; another scrapbook contains newspaper clippings and campaign miscellanea from his re-election campaign in 1936.

The Photographs series consists of a photograph album, 1946, detailing his participation as member of the U.S. delegation to the Philippine Commonwealth and Independence ceremonies. This volume also includes photos of various countries visited on the way to and from the Philippines. Other photographs are of a Congressional visit to United States Pacific Ocean island possessions and trusts and to Japan in 1949; and portraits of other Michigan members of Congress.

Civil engineer, served as Michigan state highway commissioner, chairman of the Mackinac Straits Bridge Authority and president of Portland Cement Company. Papers primarily document work with highway commission and Mackinac Straits Bridge Authority.

The papers, 1928-1968, of G. Donald Kennedy document his career in civil engineering, his participation in professional organizations, his activities as a state official, and as a supporter of the Michigan Democratic Party. The collection Includes correspondence, speeches, minutes, reports, articles, clippings, and photographs. The files relate to his work as municipal engineer in Pontiac, Michigan, with the Mackinac Straits Bridge Authority, the American Association of State Highway Officials, the Automotive Safety Foundation, and the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority. The collection also includes papers relating to highway and airport construction, to economic mobilization during World War II, the Willow Run Bomber Plant, state Democratic Party matters, particularly the campaign visits of President Roosevelt to Michigan in 1936.

Judge of the Recorder's Court in Detroit and Frank Murphy's brother; contain correspondence, legal briefs, newspaper clippings, and other materials concerning Detroit politics, 1935-1961, the grand jury investigation of Detroit street railways, 1936, arbitration of labor disputes, 1936-1941, investigation of the Charles Street housing project, 1939-1940, as well as materials illuminating the careers and personal affairs of both George and Frank Murphy, especially in relation to Detroit and the Philippine Islands.

The George Murphy papers, which encompass the years 1911 to 1961, are most comprehensive for the decade following 1932. During this period - the most politically active in Murphy's career - the correspondence is especially useful in illustrating George Murphy's role in his brother's emergence as a politician, especially his role as dispenser of patronage in the depression years. The papers, of course, illuminate the social function performed by the Recorder's Court and contain voluminous correspondence with state and federal judges, attorneys, prisoners, prison officials, probation officers, etc. Judge Murphy also maintained close contact with affairs in his home town, Harbor Beach. Included in the collection are significant materials on affairs in the Philippines during his brother's governorship there, particularly correspondence during the years 1933 to 1936 with his sister, Marguerite, Eleanor Bumgardner, and with leading Filipinos concerning conditions there.

Editor and publisher of the Birmingham Eccentric; correspondence, scrapbooks, and other materials relating to his career.

The collection consists of correspondence, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, and other materials concerning Averill's newspaper career, his support of Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg, especially in the election of 1934, and his support of other Republican candidates, particularly Wilber M. Brucker and Herbert Hoover. Some of Averill's correspondents include Roscoe O. Bonisteel, Wilber M. Brucker, James J. Couzens, Chase S. Osborn, Frank M. Sparks, and Arthur H. Vandenberg.

Founder of the America First Party, head of the Christian Nationalist Crusade, and outspoken anti-Semite. Correspondence, speeches, oral history transcript, memoranda and other materials detailing his criticism of America's participation in World War II, his Michigan senatorial race in 1942, his campaign for the presidency in 1944, his opposition to the spread of communism after the war, and his support of conservative Christian causes and right wing individuals and organizations; and photographs. Portraits of Smith and his wife, Elna Smith; photographs of meetings and conventions of the America First Party, of picketing and other political activity in support of Smith and his platform, and of Smith's associates and supporters; also photographs and portraits of celebrities, buildings, and activities, which Smith collected, probably for use in his publication The Cross and the Flag.

The papers of Gerald L.K. Smith include correspondence, speeches, oral history transcript, memoranda and other materials detailing his criticism of America's participation in World War II, his Michigan senatorial race in 1942, his campaign for the presidency in 1944, his opposition to the spread of communism after the war, and his support of conservative Christian causes and right wing individuals and organizations; and photographs.

The major portion of the Gerald L.K. Smith papers came to the library in the spring of 1982. Before then, the library had accumulated a smaller group of Smith materials, mainly publications of the Christian Nationalist Crusade, mailings out of the Smith office from the 1960's and 1970's, the tapes and transcripts of an interview conducted with Smith in 1968 by a library staff member, and a few microfilm reels of a very small section of Smith's papers.

With the 1982 accession, the Smith collection now totals 102 linear feet of correspondence, memoranda, clippings, published materials, and photographs and motion pictures. The collection covers the years, 1922-1976, but bulks largest for the period since 1939. Regrettably, only scattered materials for the period before 1939 have survived so there is slight documentation of Smith's activities in Louisiana with Huey Long. What has survived from these years are a few letters from parents, some published sermons and radio speeches, and an assortment of notes, clippings, and meeting materials. It is perhaps surprising that not more of the collection had been discarded or mislaid. As the papers came from storage in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, the earlier files had been shifted about several times as Smith and his organization moved their base of operation: from Louisiana to Detroit, to St. Louis, to Los Angeles, and then to Eureka Springs. Smith seems to have been a careful record-keeper, however, and very little of the post-1939 files needed processing.

Wife of Senator Arthur Vandenberg, diaries containing description of social activities and daily political life in Washington; included as part of diaries are newspaper clippings, photographs, programs, and other personal miscellanea; also scrapbooks, 1928-1950.

The papers,1928-1950, of Hazel Vandenberg, wife of Michigan Republican Senator, Arthur H. Vandenberg; include diaries with descriptions of social activities and daily political life in Washington; included as part of diaries are newspaper clippings, photographs, programs, and other personal miscellanea; also scrapbooks,1928-1950.