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Selected Primary and Secondary Sources by Historical Eras:
Pre and Post Civil War Era | Progressive Era |
Depression Era | Post-WWII Boom | Post-Modern Era

Post-WWII Boom

Saul Wellman Collection, 1950s. (Named in honor of its donor, Saul Wellman, long time Communist Party member, Spanish Civil War veteran and political commissar in the International Brigades, this collection contains materials collected by Wellman over a thirty year period in which he was first a party organizer in the Detroit auto plants, and later an active participant in many New Left political organizations and movements. Publications and documents of the Communist Party, USA, especially from the 1950's, the complete transcript of Wellman's 1953-54 Smith Act trial, and extensive materials documenting a wide range of Detroit groups and events are included.)
At the Michigan State University Libraries American Radicalism Collection

Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. 1950s. (The Brotherhood's records (41,000 items) span the years 1939-68, with most material dating after 1950. The largest part of the records consists of files on agreements with major railroads, conventions, relations between the headquarters and local branches, and the Brotherhood's relationship with other rail unions and with the AFL. The records also include several short series consisting of the personal papers of Benjamin F. McLaurin, Ashley L. Totten, and A. Philip Randolph. Randolph's series contains files on his interest in organizing farm workers.
Repository: Labor History Sources in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress

Governor's Commission on Sex Deviates, 1950
State Archives of Michigan See Studies Circular 53

James Foster Foundation, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1950-1963. (Correspondence, reports, and financial statements concerning the Foundation's support of marriage counseling, child guidance programs, and other social programs).
Repository: Bentley Historical Library

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Materials in Special Collections, 1950-
At the Michigan State University Libraries American Radicalism Collection

James and Grace Lee Boggs Collection, 1950-1993 (The papers of James and Grace Lee Boggs, much of it relating to their publications and speaking engagements, reflect their involvement with radical political ideas and groups as well as their community activism in Detroit's neighborhoods.)
Finding aid online at Walter Reuther P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs.
See also Joseph Labadie Collection for publications and pamphlets

Robert F. Williams papers 1951-1997 (African American civil rights activist and black militant leader in Monroe County North Carolina who came to advocate armed self-defense in response to violence, left the United States in 1961 and lived in Cuba and China until 1969 when he settled in Baldwin Michigan).
Finding aid online at Bentley Historical Library.

Girls' Training School, 1952-1960
State Archives of Michigan See Confidential Records Circular 57

Jerry & Mildred Keifer Wurf Collection, predominantly, 1952-1981.
Jerry Wurf’s papers relate both to his professional work with New York District Council 37 and as American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) president, and to his efforts for civil and workers’ rights (see exhibit below). His papers also contain correspondence with a great number of prominent union, political and civil rights leaders of his era. Mrs. Wurf’s papers, which constitute the last series of this collection, reflect her interest in labor education.
Walter Reuther P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs.

In January 2004 an exhibit at the Walter Reuther Library at Wayne State University chronicles the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers' strike. The exhibit has photos and text about the strike and the events surrounding the murder of Martin Luther King. According to Larry Root, "The Memphis sanitation strike embodies some of the past and potential future links between organized labor, community organization, civil rights, and fighting poverty. The web site provides a good, concise overview of that momentous event." The exhibit, entitled "I Am a Man," can also be viewed online at: http://www.reuther.wayne.edu/man/1intro.htm

DonBosco Hall 1954- (Sponsored by the Archdiocese of Detroit to provide residential treatment, emergency shelter, transitional services for youth and after school programs. Annual Reports, Minutes of the Board, program evaluations, and statistics at Main Office: 2340 Calvert Detroit, MI 48206)

Digital Archive for the Brown v. Board Anniversary 1954-2004. This digital archive compiled by the University of Michigan Graduate Library is divided into four main areas of interest: Supreme Court cases; images; school integration in the Ann Arbor Public School District; and recent resegregation trends in American schools. The Ann Arbor section contains minutes, letters, and reports from the Ann Arbor Public Schools.
http://www.lib.umich.edu/exhibits/brownarchive/index.html

Abdeen M. Jabara papers, 1956-1986. (New York attorney originally based in Detroit. Jabara was concerned with issues of civil rights of Arab Americans and the rights of Arabs living or traveling in the United States. He challenged practice of law enforcement agencies to collect information and maintain surveillance of Arabs and Arab Americans. Jabara was involved in the murder trial of Sirhan Sirhan and the extradition case of Ziad Abu Eain. Litigation and case files; subject files regarding his Arab American activism, organizational involvements, and participation in the Middle East delegation of the National Lawyers Guild).
Collection and finding aid in the Bentley Historical Library.

Martha W. Griffiths papers, 1956-1976. (Sponsored legislation and was vocal on issues of civil rights, the war in Vietnam, Sleeping Bear Dunes, the humane slaughtering of animals, the economy and the fiscal policy of the federal government, women's rights, the Equal Rights Amendment, economic problems of women, and the need for national health insurance legislation).
Finding aid online at Bentley Historical Library.

C. L. Franklin Papers 1957-1991 (bulk 1963-1984) (Detroit African American clergyman and civil rights activist)
Finding aid online at the Bentley Historical Library.
See also New Bethel Baptist Church (Detroit, Mich.) 1979- at Bentley Historical Library.

Mattachine Society Records, 1957. (The collection contains primarily administrative materials surrounding the daily business of the Mattachine Society's Regional Council of Detroit, founded in 1957, which sought to actively organize Michigan homosexuals. Includes budget information, meeting minutes, membership information, workshop materials, notes, correspondence, articles, flyers, newsletters, typescripts, and press releases.)
Unpublished finding aid available in the Joseph Labadie Collection.

John and Leni Sinclair papers, 1957-1999. (Papers and photographs relating to all phases of their careers, including participation in the Artists' Workshop in Detroit, the Rainbow Multi-Media Corporation, the White Panther Party and its offshoot, the Rainbow Peoples Party; also materials concerning the legalization of marijuana, radical politics, and prison reform.)
Finding aid online at the Bentley Historical Library

Wallace C. Williams papers, 1958- (Director of the Michigan Division of Minority Business Enterprise within the Michigan Department of Commerce, 1959-1978.
Finding aid online at Bentley Historical Library.

Philip A. Hart papers, 1960-1976. (Documents the legislative issues of the 1960s and 1970s, especially civil rights, environmental protection, and the Vietnam War).
Finding aid in the Bentley Historical Library.

Detroit chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality 1960- (Leon DeMeunier papers 1960-1964 and 1971)
Finding aid online at Bentley Historical Library. See also Ralph Rosenfeld papers, 1965-1966 at the Bentley Historical Library and Gloria Brown papers, 1964-1967 at the Bentley Historical Library.

The Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement, 1960-
Nearly 100 in-depth oral histories and a collection of unique archival materials documenting the disability rights and independent living movement are now available online through a new website hosted by the Bancroft Library’s Regional Oral History Office at UC Berkeley.

Patricia A. Irwin oral history interview, 1961-2001. 3 videocassettes (VHS). (Public health nurse in Detroit, Mich. Interview conducted by Elizabeth J. Miller regarding Irwin's life and career. A transcript of the interview is found in Miller's thesis, "Patricia A. Irwin, forty years working a public health nurse life" )
Videocassettes in the Bentley Historical Library, Call Number 02132 Aa 2.

Dav-Joy-Lin-Dex Community Council, 1961-1989. ( Dorothy McCauley papers, 1961-1989 document a Detroit network of neighborhood block organizations; community activist concerned with neighborhood youth and senior citizen programs, and with interest in matters of zoning, health, housing, and police-community relations).
Finding aid in the Bentley Historical Library.

George Romney gubernatorial subgroup, 1963-1969. (Many of the issues dealt with by the Romney administration concerned the city of Detroit, including the riot of 1967).
Finding aid online at the Bentley Historical Library.

Rose P. Kleinman papers, 1964-1977. (Detroit social activist and reformer. Correspondence and subject files relating to her interest in cooperatives, especially organizations concerned with low-income, open housing projects; also photographs and audiotapes).
Finding aid online at the Bentley Historical Library.

Detroit (Mich.) Detroit riot scrapbooks, 1967.
Scrapbook at Bentley Historical Library.

FBI and Justice Department files relating to the 1967 Detroit riot. (Sidney Fine papers, ca. 1900-ca. 1970).
Finding aid in the Bentley Historical Library.

University of Michigan. Institute of Public Policy Studies 1967-1971. (Aberbach-Walker Detroit riot studies)
Finding aid in the Bentley Historical Library.

Detroit Riot Oral History Project Transcripts, 1967 - (1984-1985).
Collection at Bentley Historical Library.

Spaulding for Children 1968- (Press Releases online and at Main Office; Annual Report 1999 and Annual Report 2000 online; earlier annual reports at Main Office)

Latin Americans for Social and Economic Development 1969-
Finding aid online at Bentley Historical Library.

Michigan Federation of Private and Family Agencies 1969-

Parents Association for Jewish Residential Care (PAJRC) 1969 - & Jewish Association For Retarded Citizens (JARC) 1980-
Finding aid for the late 1960s through the 1990s online at Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor
and Urban Affairs

Selected Local Records by Historical Eras:
Pre and Post Civil War Era | Progressive Era
Depression Era | Post-WWII Boom| Post-Modern Era
A. Digital archives | B. Archival Repositories
Part I: General Library Sources for the Literature Review
Part II: Subject-Specific Databases for the Literature Review

Selected Local Records by Historical Eras were based on:

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  Document Custodian: Sally Haines
 Last revised: 14 February 2005