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Title: MERRILL-PALMER INSTITUTE: KRESGE HISTORICAL LIBRARY COLLECTION Genre: Papers, Date : 1911-1980 (Predominantly, 1920-1980) Size : 73.5 linear feet, 24 scrapbooks, 30 drawer card catalog ID #: 1066-d OCLC: ©Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs HEFA.01c.update |
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Scope & Contents
The papers of the Kresge Historical Library were placed in the Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs as part of the papers of the Merrill-Palmer Institute in January of 1982 and were opened for research in April of 1986.
The Kresge Historical Library was first established as the Merrill-Palmer Historical Library. On December 12, 1960, the Merrill-Palmer Institute held a meeting that led to the formation of the Historical Library Committee. This committee, chaired by Dr. Icie Macy Hoobler, was responsible for establishing and administering the Merrill-Palmer Historical Library. The Committee also decided that the primary focus of the Historical Library would be to preserve historical publications concerning research in child development and family life.
The Merrill-Palmer Institute Historical Library in Child Development and Family Life was formally dedicated on October 30, 1961. On this occasion, the Edna Noble White Memorial Lecture was delivered by Dr. Lawrence K. Frank. This was the first in a series of annual Historical Library lectures which featured some of the nation's most prominent scholars in the field of child development.
The initial holdings of the Historical Library consisted of the Ernest R. Groves Collection, purchased by the administration of the Institute for the Library, together with pre-1945 books, periodicals, and other publications which had constituted the Edna Noble White Collection in the Institute's Research Library. The collection was expanded over the years through private donations since the Historical Library Committee did not have a budget allocated by the Institute.
At the outset, the Historical Library was housed in the Institute's Program Building which adjoined the administrative facility, the Charles Freer house. In 1965, Dr. Sibley Hoobler presented the Institute with a gift of money to restore the Gallery, once the famous Peacock Room of the house, for the use of the Historical Library. In May of 1966, Mr. Stanley S. Kresge gave the Institute a grant from the Kresge Foundation to complete the project. The Historical Library was officially re-named and dedicated as the Kresge Historical Library in Child Development and Family Life on May7,1967.
In 1960 the administration of the Institute also approved the establishment of an archives to assemble, catalog, and maintain the Institute's important historical records. Helen Barnes, the librarian of the Historical Library, with the help of Mary Sweeny, former faculty member, collected seventy linear feet of historical records from the files of the Institute's various departments and established the Merrill-Palmer Archives as part of the Historical Library.
The papers of the Kresge Historical Library reflect the administration and operation of the Historical Library which included the Merrill-Palmer Archives. The papers of the Merrill-Palmer Archives reflect the history of the Institute, its educational programs, research, faculty, staff, and students, from the establishment of the Institute in 1920 until its affiliation with Wayne State University in 1981.
Agricultural Missions
Charles Freer House
Child Development
Child Nutrition
Detroit Community Programs
Head Start Program
Marriage and Family Relations
Merrill-Palmer Corporation
Merrill-Palmer Faculty and Staff
Merrill-Palmer History
Merrill-Palmer Nursery School
Merrill-Palmer Students
Merrill-Palmer Summer Camp
Nursery Schools
Parent Education
Publications
Esther McGuinnis
Helen Barnes
Icie Macy Hoobler
J. William Rioux
Lawrence K. Frank
Mary Lou Stewart
Pauline Park Wilson Knapp
Sarah Idell Pyle
William McKee
Several paintings and three dimensional objects, and numerous photographs have been placed in the Archives Audio-Visual Collection.
Merrill-Palmer Institute Collections
148 manuscript boxes
2 storage boxes
Series I, The Merrill-Palmer Archives, 1911-1980, boxes
1-140: To
Series I Box List
Correspondence, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, publications, and reports, relating to the Merrill-Palmer Institute.
Series II, Administrative Files, 1960-1979, boxes 141-144: To Series I Box List
Correspondence, newspaper clippings, reports, pamphlets, and other materials relating to the establishment and operation of the Kresge Historical Library.
Series III, Guest Registers, 1923-1981, boxes 145-147: To Series I Box List
Register ledgers for guests of the Merrill-Palmer Institute.
Series IV, Scrapbooks, 1955-1972, boxes 148-150: To Series IV Box List
Newspaper clippings and press releases relating to the Merrill-Palmer Institute.