Letter from Jennie Benster to Henry Van Riper, March 24, 1865

Letter from Jennie Benster to Henry Van Riper thanking him for his letter and updating him on her family.

An American map: essays

"This title features meditative travel essays by Michigan author Anne-Marie Oomen that explore new landscapes across America. In "An American Map", Anne-Marie Oomen, award-winning writer and self-confessed northern Michigan homebody, chronicles her recent travels across America, in essays that span rediscovered landscapes, wild back roads, vital cities, and everything in between. Oomen takes both a wide and narrow lens to her destinations, giving readers a vivid sense of each locale while findin…

Letter from Mary Van Riper to Henry Van Riper, March 22, 1865

Letter from Mary Van Riper to Henry Van Riper discussing school life and acquaintances.

The iron hunter

Originally published in 1919, The Iron Hunter is the autobiography of one of Michigan's most influential and flamboyant historical figures: the reporter, publisher, explorer, politician, and twenty-seventh governor of Michigan, Chase Salmon Osborn (1860-1949). Making unprecedented use of the automobile in his 1910 campaign, Osborn ran a memorable campaign that was followed by an even more remarkable term as governor. In two years he eliminated Michigan's deficit, ended corruption, and produced t…

Trespassing: dirt stories & field notes

The electronic version of this item was provided by the Wayne State University Press.

The women were leaving the men: stories

The electronic version of this item was provided by the Wayne State University Press.

The lost tiki palaces of Detroit: stories

From the Publisher: A quirky and compelling collection of short stories set in and around Detroit, by award-winning local writer Michael Zadoorian.

Voices of the lost and found: stories

The electronic version of this item was provided by the Wayne State University Press.

Love/imperfect

The electronic version of this item was provided by the Wayne State University Press.

In which brief stories are told

The electronic version of this item was provided by the Wayne State University Press.

Maurice Sugar: law, labor, and the left in Detroit, 1912-1950

It was Maurice Sugar, labor activist and lawyer for the United Auto Workers, who played a key role in guiding the newly-formed union through the treacherous legal terrain obstructing its development in the 1930s. He orchestrated the injunction hearings on the Dodge Main strike and defended the legality of the sit-down tactic. As the UAW's General Council, he wrote the union's constitution in 1939, a model of democratic thinking. Sugar worked with George Addes, UAW Secretary-Treasurer, to nurture…

Ghost writers: us haunting them : contemporary Michigan literature

The electronic version of this item was provided by the Wayne State University Press.

As if we were prey: stories

The electronic version of this item was provided by the Wayne State University Press.

Detroit on stage: the Players Club, 1910-2005

Founded in 1910, Detroit’s Players Club is an all-male club devoted to the production of theater by members for other members’ enjoyment. Called simply "The Players," members of the club design, direct, and act in the shows, including playing the female roles. In Detroit on Stage, Marijean Levering takes readers behind the scenes of the club’s private "frolics" to explore the unique history of The Players, discover what traditions they still hold dear, and examine why they have survived relat…

All-American anarchist: Joseph A. Labadie and the labor movement

All-American Anarchist chronicles the life and work of Joseph A. Labadie (1850-1933), Detroit's prominent labor organizer and one of early labor's most influential activists. A dynamic participant in the major social reform movements of the Gilded Age, Labadie was a central figure in the pervasive struggle for a new social order as the American Midwest underwent rapid industrialization at the end of the nineteenth century.

This engaging biography follows Labadie's colorful career from …

American salvage: stories

The electronic version of this item was provided by the Wayne State University Press.

Independent man: the life of Senator James Couzens

First published in 1958 by Charles Scribner’s Sons, Independent Man is the only book-length biography of one of Michigan’s most remarkable men. His many careers embraced both the business and political spheres.

Dudley Randall's Cash Book

This handwritten ledger contain notes written by Dudley Randall including shopping lists, book lists, journal entries, and poetry. The entries were primarily written between 1937 and 1949, with some additional entries added in the 1980s. Approximately 30 of the 88 pages contain writing.

Toast of the town: the life and times of Sunnie Wilson

As part of the great migration of southern blacks to the north, Sunnie Wilson came to Detroit from South Carolina after graduating from college, and soon became a pillar of the local music industry. He started out as a song and dance performer but found his niche as a local promoter of boxing, which allowed him to make friends and business connections quickly in the thriving industrial city of Detroit. Part oral history, memoir, and biography, Toast of the Town draws from hundreds of hours of ta…

Wide awake in someone else's dream: poems

The electronic version of this item was provided by the Wayne State University Press.