aergas's blog

Note: This text includes language that is outdated and may be offensive. Titles of events and writings are included in their original language circa 1963.

A little-known collection in the Wayne State University Archives documents an event that took place at the university in 1963, 60 years ago this year, but commemorating a historic event 100 years before that. The year-long observance — the centennial of the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation — was marked by celebrations, lectures, symposia, performances, and the granting of honorary degrees. The small collection of the Wayne State University Emancipation Centennial Committee, which resides at the Walter P. Reuther Library, contains a wealth of correspondence, texts of speeches, and academic papers.  read more »

The newest addition to the Michigan Dance Archives is now open to researchers: Cecchetti Council of America Records. The CCA is a membership-based dance education organization, established in 1939, dedicated to maintaining the standards and methods of ballet training established by Cavalier Enrico Cecchetti (1850-1928).  read more »

The Reuther Library marks with sadness the death on February 4, 2022, of the honorable Avern Cohn. Cohn served as Senior United States District Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan for forty years, retiring in 2019. His professional and personal papers, Avern L. Cohn Papers, have been part of the Reuther’s collections for several years and represent his wide-ranging interests and activities, from legal opinions and writings, to Michigan, Detroit and Jewish history, and to family matters, philanthropy and leisure travel.  read more »

The Michigan Dance Archives (MDA) at the Reuther Library notes with sadness the passing of Denise Szykula, whose papers became part of the MDA in 2018.  read more »