Learn about the history of southwest Michigan through images that reflect the people and places of this area and document its past.
Browse these collections
“Michigan Manual of Freedmen’s Progress” Book
This PDF version of the 1915 edition of the "Michigan Manual of Freedmen's Progress" book includes photographs, charts and searchable text.
Caroline Bartlett Crane Everyman’s House Collection
This collection includes a mix of blueprints, letters, photos and a book from the nationally recognized home design built in Kalamazoo, Michigan, by Caroline Bartlett Crane.
South Haven Michigan Lighthouse Logs
These journals from the lighthouse in South Haven, Michigan, have detailed entries about daily activities and tasks at the station from 1872 to 1889.
United States Civil War Collection
This collection contains eight diaries and 29 letters written in the mid-1860s by men with connections to Michigan and the Midwest. From musician to a prisoner of war, the writers’ of these items are as diverse as their military experiences.
Ward Morgan Photography Collection
These photographs reflect the people, industries, built environment and commercial activities of the Kalamazoo area from 1939 to 1980. This is just a selection of the nearly 27,000 original black and white photographic negatives that are available at the Zhang Legacy Collection Center.