Collections : [University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library]

The Manuscript and printed materials series is arranged alphabetically either by personal name or name of organization, or by general subject area, such as Circus, Underground Railroad, etc.

Under the name of an individual in the Manuscript and Printed Materials series, the researcher might find biographical and genealogical information, marriage announcements, newspaper obituaries, and a scattering of correspondence. For some, there is more material, such as diaries for Hiram K. Billings, L. C. Encke, and William J. Piper, and scrapbooks for June Wallace Cory and Sarah Viola Keeler Tuthill. Of some interest are the files of Austin Pomeroy who served as highway commissioner and Jackson County surveyor, and papers about two Concord citizens who achieved national prominence, George Arthur Malcolm and Senator Charles E. Townsend.

Organizational materials are among the most extensive portions of the Aldrich collection. These include account books, inventories, legal papers, minutes, and business correspondence for such firms as the Concord Telephone Company, the Concord General Store, the Concord Milling Company, the Farmers State Bank, and the Aldrich Insurance Company. The collections for Lewis Keeler and Alfred J. Paddock include both personal papers and records of their businesses.

Governmental records include township assessment rolls and various files relating to village government. School records are extensive and include a complete record of District No. 6 from September 1866 to July 1911, including records for the school alumni association and memorabilia for nearly every school year from 1879 to 1952.

Under the names of churches, the researcher will find histories, membership rolls, subscription lists, and collected miscellanea. Churches represented include the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Universalist.

Among the various social and fraternal organizations represented in the collection are a scattering of records for such groups as the Concord Temple Association, the Pleasure Club, and the local American Legion.

Correspondence, poems, articles, addresses, account book, and Delta Kappa Epsilon autograph book; letter book, 1883-1884, dealing mainly with prisons and jails in Michigan which Barbour inspected.

The Manuscript Materials (0.8 linear feet, 1937-2012) include correspondence, ephemera, photographs, reminiscences from Gargoyle staff members, and original artwork. Researchers will find original Gargoyle artwork (cover art and other illustrations) by former art editors, Doris A. Smith, Max Hodge, Phil Zaret, and others as well as an original cartoon by "Peanuts" cartoonist Charles Schulz created for an issue of the Gargoyle marking its revival in 1962. Photographs include the Gargoyle 1993 reunion and miscellaneous photographs of Gargoyle staff in the 1930s and 1940s. The correspondence contains letters mainly addressed to John Dobbertin, Jr. from former Gargoyle staff, including former editor George Quick. The correspondence also contains letters from Arthur Miller and Charles Schulz. The reminiscences consist of various recollections of former staff members on life at Gargoyle during their time at the University of Michigan compiled by Dobbertin to be used in the Gargoyle book. The collection also includes two printing plates, both Max Hodge designs, one for the January 1938 cover and the other for a "Michigarg" board game (color prints of the board game can be found in the oversize folder).