Urban youth

Merrill-Palmer Institute Records

drice — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:18:00 -0500

The collection illustrates the Institute’s commitment to research, education, and outreach through documentation of its programs, projects, and administration. It includes research and studies the Institute undertook, course information, nursery school, camp and club information, correspondence with students, individuals and organizations, presidential and faculty files, and day to day operational information.

Merrill-Palmer Institute: Dr. Esther McGinnis Records

drice — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:39:14 -0400

Dr. Esther McGinnis was the Director of the Merrill-Palmer Institute from 1947-1951.
Prior to her appointment as Assistant Director in the 1930s, McGinnis was a professor of
Family Life at the Child Welfare Institute at the University of Minnesota and at State
Teaching College at Columbia University. Throughout her career at Merrill-Palmer she
did consulting work for other universities as well as government committees. Dr.
McGinnis’ records span her career both before and during her time at Merrill-Palmer and
reflect her varied activities and committee work, as well as both professional and
personal contacts.

Merrill-Palmer Institute: Dr. Francis H. Palmer Records

drice — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:20:21 -0400

Dr. Francis H. Palmer was president of Merrill-Palmer from 1978-1981, prior to which he
worked at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He received his education
at the University of Pittsburg, published widely, mainly on preschool and early
educational child development and was very active in the Headstart program. Palmer’s
records reflect his emphasis on the psychology of preschool and elementary age children
and his direction of institutional focus to research.

Merrill-Palmer Institute: Dr. J. William Rioux Records

drice — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 13:23:36 -0400

J. William Rioux was the president of the Merrill-Palmer Institute from 1967-1973, prior
to which he worked for the U.S. Department of Education. He was a native of Detroit
and received his Ed. D. at Wayne State University. During his time at Merrill-Palmer he
worked to diversify the student body, establish a graduate degree program, work with
urban youth, and bring more students into the program. He also emphasized
dissemination and publication of research by Merrill-Palmer faculty and staff.

The J. William Rioux Records contain mainly administrative files, which emphasize
Rioux’s commitment to urban and low-income youth and his push to bring in more
students and get them involved with the local Detroit community.

Merrill-Palmer Institute: Dr. Michael D. Usdan Records

drice — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:12:09 -0400

Dr. Michael D. Usdan was president of the Merrill-Palmer Institute from 1974-1977.
Educated at Brown University and Teachers College at Columbia University, Usdan
worked as a professor at City University of New York before joining Merrill-Palmer. He
published widely, writing mainly on educational politics. His records document his work
on urban and lower income youth in the Detroit area, as well as research and conferences
focusing on urban poor, parent-child relationships and the impact of unemployment on
families.

Merrill-Palmer Institute: Dr. Pauline Park Wilson Knapp Records

drice — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 13:47:04 -0400

Dr. Pauline Park Wilson Knapp was the president and director of the Merrill-Palmer
Institute from 1952-1967. Knapp received her B.S. in Home Economics from the
University of Kentucky and M.A. and Ph. D in Psychology from Columbia University.
She established the first Child Development Center in Georgia in 1928, was head of the
Department of Family and Life at the University of Alabama from 1941-45 and the Dean
of the School of Home Economics at the University of Georgia from 1946-52. In 1952
she rejoined the Merrill-Palmer Institute as president, returning to the school where she
was previously a student (1920s) and a staff member (1932-41). During her years as
president, Knapp broadened the school’s emphasis on parent education to incorporate
research on human development and increased research on applied child and family
issues. Under her leadership she increased the schools scope, built two new facilities,
The Program Center and the Skillman Center, and oversaw the largest increase in student
enrollment and faculty appointments in the history of the institute.

Knapp’s records cover day-to-day activities and long range programs, as well as the shift
in emphasis the institute underwent during Knapp’s tenure. Included are programs and
correspondence which highlight Knapp’s close relationship with students and supporters
through which she increased the influence of Merrill-Palmer and ensured continued
student enrollment. The collection also covers committees and boards Knapp served on,
as well as research conducted by the Institute, as a whole.

Merrill-Palmer Institute: Dr.William McKee Records

drice — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:00:56 -0400

Dr. William Wakefield McKee was with the Merrill-Palmer Institute for 30 years in a variety of roles. He began as a faculty member in 1953, became Vice-President in 1957 and served as Acting-President during the 1973-73 school year, eventually retiring in 1983. McKee received his B. A. from the University of North Carolina, his B. D. from Yale Divinity School, a S. T. M. from Union Theological Seminary, NY, and his Ph. D. from Yale. Prior to coming to Merrill-Palmer he worked for the YMCA, the American Friends Service Commission, and the Edward W. Hagen Foundation. In addition to his work at the institute McKee was also active on many Detroit area boards of directors and trustees including the Highland Park School District, Girl Scouts of Metropolitan Detroit, Homemaker Service of Detroit, and Michigan Adult Education.

The collection covers his years at Merrill-Palmer and highlights his flexibility to work for four different presidents, each with their own visions for the institute. It documents his teaching and advising duties of both graduate and undergraduate students, his work on various institute committees and boards, his responsibilities as Chairman of the Teaching Area of the institute as well as his administrative duties as Vice-President.

Merrill-Palmer Institute: Photographs and Audio-Visual Materials

drice — Fri, 19 Jul 2019 15:20:39 -0400

The Merrill-Palmer Institute was founded in 1920 by an endowment
from Lizzie Merrill Palmer. Throughout its 61 years of independent
operation, the Institute was greatly respected and internationally
known as one of the top institutions for education, training and
research in Child Development. Merrill-Palmer staff conducted and
published studies on families and children, operated a nursery school,
children's camps and clubs, offered marriage and family counseling,
and performed community service work. The Institute accepted
undergraduate and graduate students from the U. S. and internationally
and taught courses and provided research and laboratory experience
unavailable elsewhere. In 1981, the Institute came under the auspices
of Wayne State University, merging in 2005 with the Skillman
Center for Children to become the Merrill-Palmer Skillman Institute
for Child and Family Development. The Merrill-Palmer Institute:
Photographs and Audio-Visual Materials reflect the main functions of
the institute throughout its history as an independent entity and almost
twenty years into its relationship with Wayne State University. The
bulk of the materials center on the operation of the Early Childhood
Center (formerly the Merrill-Palmer Nursery School), but also cover
its programs and services, teaching and research missions, and the
Institute's physical environment.

Fresh Air Society, Camp Tamarack, Belle Isle, 1902

teller — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 10:24:57 -0400

Detroit children participating in a summer camp, probably on Belle Isle, organized by the Fresh Air Society, circa 1902. Records from the Fresh Air Society and Camp Tamarack are included in the JCA Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit Records.