Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

The Audiovisual series includes a motion picture, as well as several digital recordings, U-matics, and VHS tapes. The motion picture was created by Latino students at the University of Michigan in the early 1970s intended as a recruiting tool to encourage individuals to apply for admission. The digital recordings feature interviews, some in Spanish, with Perazza and other members of the Latino community in Detroit, a concert, and drives and walks around the city of Detroit. The U-matics and VHS tapes also feature interviews with members of the Latino community, as well as Perazza's work with social service organizations and a presentation on Rincón, Puerto Rico.

Audio/Visual Materials contain materials from 1986 to 2017, and include recordings of concerts and photos. The photographs contained in this series are both undated and dated material from 1946 to 2017, with the bulk of the dated photographs falling in the 1983-2008 range. These materials are separated into two categories: Performance photos and Social photos. Items of note in the Performance-undated folder are two photographs, one autographed by Congressman Phil Crane and the other autographed by Congressman Carl Purcell.

The Audio-Visual series, undated and 1998 (1.25 linear feet), consists of audio and visual materials documenting Balogh's teaching career and architectural projects. Included in the series are photographs and slides of Balogh's students' work, Balogh and his colleagues, and Balogh's residential, industrial, and commercial buildings. Also in the series are video (VHS) and audio tapes of Balogh's 1998 American Institute of Architects awards, and unlabeled microfilm reels of Balogh's building projects.

The first series, comprised of manuscript material, some printed material and some unique items, including handpainted silk and locks of hair from children who died young, is arranged by Family Groups. Helen Blair Lamar created typed transcriptions of much of the correspondence of her parents, Charles Austin and Effie North Blair. She apparently discarded a significant amount of original material, for a note written to her niece Betty Blair Grandstaff in 1958 reads, "I am discarding more boxes full of letters."

As a result, the majority of the correspondence of the collection is in the non-original format of three typescript volumes entitled "Life of Charles A. Blair," volumes 1 and 2, and "Letters of Effie C. Blair." Much of Charles Blair's correspondence is with his three brothers, and spans over 35 years. As adults, the brothers often relied on Charles for support and utilized a variety of tactics, from cajoling to threatening, to extract favors and funds from him. The first volume includes brother George Blair's colorful accounts from Wyoming, where he was prospecting for gold in 1876.

The volume of letters from Effie to her daughter Helen spans a 20 year period, from 1924 until Effie's death in 1944. These informative letters are packed with meticulous descriptions of Effie's daily life. This volume also includes early letters to Helen from her Gunston Hall School chums. All three volumes include transcriptions of newspaper articles and other materials in addition to correspondence.

There are also a few noteworthy letters that have survived in the original. Guy North wrote a fascinating letter to his new wife Ella Hanks North on the eve of his enlistment in the Civil War. Lot V. North (1806-1900), Guy's father, struck up a correspondence with his granddaughter Effie North Blair late in his life and writes at great length about his religious views. There are two letters written in 1895 by Hattie Rea to her sister Alice, second wife of Frederick Johnson Blair (1860-1943). Hattie details what the newlyweds will need when they join her in the wilds of Florida. Both Fred and George Blair, with the financial support of brother Charles, unsuccessfully attempted to start pineapple plantations on the St. Lucie River in Florida. There is also a smattering of original family letters, business correspondence and greeting cards. Typed transcriptions are noted; otherwise, assume the item is in its original manuscript format.

The collection includes two journals kept by Ella Hanks North Cole (1837-1917), spanning the years from 1890 to 1906. She played the organ for several churches in Toledo, Ohio and then in Jackson, Michigan, where she lived with her daughter Effie North Blair's family. Due to financial difficulties, Ella was unable to stay with her second husband, Myron Cole, who was dying of cancer of the face back in Toledo. After his death, Ella remained with her daughter until her own death in 1917. The journals detail her health, money troubles, attendance at church functions and ambivalence about card playing.

Another set of writings in this collection are a series of newspaper articles about "Historic Jackson County" and some unpublished short stories by Nellie Blair Greene (1882-1953). She was Helen Blair Lamar's cousin, and later married her cousin Harriet's widower and wrote for wrestling magazines.

There is a wide variety of official documents and printed items, including wedding certificates, deeds and invitations to important events. Most of these materials are in the first series, within the subseries of the person to whom they relate.

Information about the Blair, Hanks, North and related families is in evidence throughout this collection. There are, as well, several folders of specifically genealogical material, including notes, Daughters of the American Revolution applications and acid-free copies of newspaper clippings. These are filed in the Helen Blair Lamar subseries, for she apparently generated the majority of this material. A large Blair Family tree is housed in the oversize folder. A number of family group charts, supplied by the processor, have been added to the very beginning of the collection, along with other background materials, in order to help the researcher grasp the genealogy. They are accurate to the best of her knowledge.

The Biographical Information series features five sound recordings containing oral histories and interviews. Materials include a 4-part oral history series recorded in 2015 in which McCoy describes his background, education, inspirations and activism. The series also contains an interview conducted by The Michigan Daily student newspaper after the paper named McCoy a "Student of the Year" in 2015. The interview discusses McCoy's leadership and organizing work on the University of Michigan campus.

The Autobiographical and Biographical series, 1944-1975 (1 folder), contains autobiographical accounts of Dustin's life and biographical information provided by others.

The Autobiography series contains a personal statement written by Dominic Capeci in 2019. The autobiography describes Capeci's family and childhood, his education at the University of New Mexico and the University of California, Riverside, and his career as a scholar of African American History.