Explore Michigan’s Past & Present: Seek family histories. Discover something new. Look at Michigan’s stories.

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Search the archives of the State of Michigan for photographs, maps, spoken histories, and documents. You can narrow your search by checking the checkboxes next to each type of media.

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Civil War Manuscripts

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The Civil War Manuscripts collection consists of letters and diaries from the Civil War period (1861-1865).  The letters and diaries document Michigan soldiers' experiences while serving the Union in various units.  Most of the collection consists of personal narratives with a few official records concerning the war and later pensions.

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Saving Pictures of History

Russell Leavenworth founded Leavenworth Photography in 1895. To ensure that his valuable negatives will not degrade, the Archives of Michigan has begun to preserve them.

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