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Collection

Alfred B. Connable papers, 1925-1992 (majority within 1941-1957)

2 linear feet

Republican regent of the University of Michigan. Files and photographs relating to his election campaigns, his regental activities, especially as member of the Association of Governing Boards of State Universities and Allied Institutions; also papers concerning his work as price specialist with the Office of Price Administration during World War II, and as Michigan campaign manager for Wendell Willkie, 1943-1944.

The papers in the Alfred B. Connable collection, covering the years 1925-1992, document Connable's political and business careers, and also include biographical information. Included in the collection are newspaper clippings, correspondence, a diary, and photographs. The collection is organized into six series: Biographical Information, Board of Regents, Business Career, Political Career, Miscellaneous, and Photographs.

Collection

Arthur H. Vandenberg papers, 1884-1974 (majority within 1915-1951)

8 linear feet (on 11 microfilm rolls) — 25 volumes — 20 phonograph records — 1 film reel — 1 audiotape (reel-to-reel tapes)

Online
Republican U.S. Senator from Michigan; advocate of the United Nations and bipartisan foreign policy. Correspondence, scrapbooks, diaries, and visual materials.

The Arthur H. Vandenberg collection consists of 8 linear feet of materials (available on microfilm), 25 volumes of scrapbook/journals, and assorted audio and visual materials. The collection covers Vandenberg's entire career with a few folders of papers post-dating his death in 1951 relating to the dedication of memorial rooms in his honor in the 1970s. The collection is divided into four major series: Correspondence; Speeches; Campaign and Miscellaneous Topical; Clippings, Articles, and Scrapbooks; Miscellaneous and Personal; Visual Materials; and Sound Recordings.

Collection

Carl M. Weideman Papers, 1921-1972 (majority within 1932-1934)

3 linear feet — 1 oversize folder — 2 oversize volumes

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.

Collection

Gerald L. K. Smith Papers, 1922-1976

102 linear feet — 2 phonograph records

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.

Collection

Henry D. Brown papers, 1888-1970

1.8 linear feet (in 3 boxes)

Historian, manuscript curator, and the director of the Detroit Historical Museum; collected historical materials and various activities files.

The Henry D. Brown papers are divided into three series, the Collected and research materials series, the Personal and miscellaneous series, and the August 2017 Accession.

Collection

Oscar Gottlieb Christgau Papers, 1908-1971

12.2 linear feet — 2 oversize volumes — 1 oversize folder

Temperance leader, assistant to the general superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League of America. Correspondence, scrapbooks, dramatic productions, photographs, and printed material concerning the enforcement and repeal of the 18th Amendment, the political activities of the Anti-Saloon League, particularly during the election of 1928, and the temperance activities of William Jennings Bryan, Morris Sheppard, Billy Sunday, and F. Scott McBride. Correspondents include: Patrick H. Callahan, James Cannon, Arthur Capper, Luren D. Dickinson, F. Scott McBride, Homer Rodeheaver, Howard H. Russell, Morris.

The Christgau Collection is comprised of correspondence, scrapbooks, topical files, printed matter, and photographs covering the period of roughly 1906 to 1971. The Correspondence deals largely with the mechanics of Christgau's work: the enlisting and scheduling of temperance speeches and productions, local arrangements for temperance conventions, and personal support for local option and other temperance-related issues. Though there is some overlap, the collection includes a separate series of correspondence and other materials relating specifically to his work as manager of the regional Southeastern Conference convention of the ASL which met each year in St. Petersburg, Florida. This sequence of correspondence covers the years 1928 to 1948.

The collection includes Christgau's autobiography, many of his speeches and notes for speeches, notes which he made on the conventions he managed and the speeches he heard, and copies of the addresses he made over the radio in the late Thirties and throughout the 1940's. Christgau also maintained separate files documenting his work with the national ASL and the ASL of Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota. In a series of topical files, Christgau included information, clippings, and printed materials on individuals associated with the temperance movement and with issues of concern to temperance groups.

The collection also contains files pertaining to the dramatic productions which Christgau presented under ASL auspices. These files have been arranged by the name of the production and include texts of the drama and promotional materials. The remainder of the collection consists of a section of temperance printed items, newspaper clippings, bound scrapbooks and photographs.

Collection

Prentiss Marsh Brown Papers, 1902-1973

28 linear feet (in 29 boxes) — 2 oversize folders — 12 microfilms

Michigan congressman and senator, head of the U.S. Office of Price Administration; papers include correspondence, legislative files, speeches, political files, business and legal records, diaries and scrapbooks, visual materials, and sound recordings.

The Prentiss M. Brown Collection is rich and full and offers researchers materials on a variety of local and national topics reflecting the diversity of the man's private and public life. The earliest item in the collection is a letter book dated 1902-04 of James J. Brown, like his son a prominent St. Ignace attorney. The collection then picks up Prentiss M. Brown's entrance to the legal profession in 1917, traces his rise to public office, his work in Congress and with the O.P.A., and then concludes with his later business interests and his crusade upon behalf of the Mackinac Bridge.

The Brown Collection comprises approximately twenty-eight feet of correspondence, letterbooks, scrapbooks, diaries, speeches, topical and legislative files, photographs and phonograph records, and legal case files and business records. Covering the period 1917 to 1973, the papers concentrate most heavily in the years 1932-1942 when Brown was in the U.S. Congress. The greatest gap in the collection is in the period of the 1920s when Brown was making his first bids for political office. Also missing are any extensive files for the time of Brown's O.P.A. directorship. What the collection has on the O.P.A. are largely speeches, scrapbooks, and congratulatory letters.

Collection

Thomas Harrison Reed Papers, 1902-1971

8 linear feet

Consultant in municipal government, professor of political science at the University of California and the University of Michigan. Correspondence and other papers concerning his work with the National Municipal League, as municipal consultant, and as director of studies of the Republican Program Committee.

The Thomas Harrison Reed Collection is the papers of a man who was an active and important figure in the field of municipal government during much of the first half of this century. The Reed papers consist of eight feet of manuscript material, including correspondence, memos, newspaper clippings, and printed material. Over half of the collection deals primarily with Reed's work as a municipal consultant. The collection also contains a substantial amount of material which pertains to Reed's activities in connection with the American Political Science Association as well as material which relates to his academic career and correspondence with Michigan citizens and legislators and Michigan's Congressional representatives. In addition, the collection includes material on Belgium, Reed's work as city manager of San Jose, and his work with the Republican Program Committee.

The Thomas Harrison Reed Collection provides useful material for research on the history of the activities of the National Municipal League and on trends and issues in municipal government during the first half of the twentieth century in the United States. The collection is also useful to anyone interested in the issues which were involved in the revision of city charters in many American cities during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. The collection contains, in particular, substantial material on reform in Atlanta during the 1930s.

Although this collection contains material on Reed's association with The University of Michigan and some material which deals with government in Michigan, it would be of little use for research on any aspect of Michigan history. During his twelve-year residence in Michigan, Reed did little work which related specifically to municipal government in this state. He did publish Oakland County: a survey of county and township administration and finance in 1932, but the collection contains nothing of substance relating to this work. With this exception, and aside from some correspondence and a few speeches to such groups as the League of Women Voters, there is no material in this collection which would be of more than passing interest to one engaged in historical research relating to Michigan.

Collection

William B. Cudlip papers, 1922-1985

8.5 linear feet

Detroit, Michigan, attorney, Republican regent of University of Michigan; regent’s files; political materials; and personal miscellanea.

The Cudlip collection contains files relating to his activities as regent of the University of Michigan, 1963-1972, to his work as delegate to Michigan's Constitutional Convention, 1961-1962, and as general counsel for the Michigan Bankers Association, 1932-1953. In addition, there is personal and political correspondence, 1922-1985, detailing in part with his involvement in Republican Party affairs, especially his friendship with Michigan Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg and his support of Vandenberg's candidacy for the Republican nomination for president in1940. Other files include speeches relating mainly to banking during the depression; an essay, entitled, "Pages from the diary of a lumberjack"; and notebooks from his University of Michigan Law School classes, 1923-1926.