Archives and Regional History Collections

These collections consist of letters, diaries, business records, organizational records, photographs, publications, newspapers and other materials documenting the social, business, political and institutional history of southwest Michigan. Publications include an extensive genealogy library and cover the Midwest and beyond. Records on deposit from the Archives of Michigan include the public records of 12 counties in southwest Michigan: Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo, Kent, Muskegon, Ottawa, St. Joseph and Van Buren. Holdings for each county vary and may include tax records, court records and township minutes.

Documenting the history of WMU, this collection includes yearbooks, catalogs, alumni publications, scrapbooks and issues of the Western Herald. It also includes many of the historical records of WMU. Some departmental records require permission from the originating department to access.

Images depicting individuals and the social, institutional and business activities of the region from the 1860s to the 1990s, includes the work of Ward Morgan (Kalamazoo), Adolf Haan (Berrien County), Grace Weeks (Van Buren County), Schiavone Studio (Kalamazoo) and John Lacko (Kalamazoo).

Nearly 27,000 black and white photographic negatives from 1939 to 1980 reflect the people, industries, built environment and commercial activities of the Kalamazoo area.

Images from WMU’s history including views of the campus from the construction phase of the original campus in 1904 through the present, campus athletics, buildings, some faculty and staff, and the 250,000 plus image collection of photographs from the Office of Marketing and Strategic Communications.

Collections that depict the history of southwest Michigan including the Caroline Bartlett Crane Everyman’s House Collection, “Michigan Manual of Freedmen’s Progress” book, South Haven Lighthouse Logs, United States Civil War Collection and more.

Digital copies of past issues of the Western Herald, Focus, Focus News, Kalamazoo News and Augustinian newspapers.

Digital versions of yearbooks, music performances, oral histories, the Western Herald newspapers and websites that document WMU’s history.