Abstract The AFSCME Program Development Department was created in January of 1973 to deal with matters such as health care, the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, employee protections, career development, and sex discrimination. It was funded by federal grant money until 1975 when the funds ran out, the department was disbanded, and its several functions were taken over by other AFSCME departments. The records in Part I reflect the Department's concerns with women's issues, sex...

Abstract Part 1 of the AFSCME Public Policy Analysis Department Records focuses on Deinstitutionalization, particularly at Wayne County General Hospital (WCGH). The hospital complex was located in western Wayne County, Michigan, approximately 16 miles west of downtown Detroit. Deinstitutionalization represented a major change in philosophy for mental health treatment delivery and was the term given to the process whereby mentally ill patients were moved out of large public hospitals and into smaller...

Abstract Common Ground is an organization designed to help those in crisis and to try and prevent them from occurring in the first place. Started by some young adults, it has become an organization with a large volunteer base and a paid staff. Along with counseling, free legal and medical assistance, education, and social activities were made available to the community through Common Ground. This collection documents Common Ground from its inception in 1970 to 1987 and covers the administration,...

Abstract The Folklore Archive, established in 1939 by WSU English professors Emlyn Gardner and Thelma James, contains the oldest and largest record of urban folk traditions in the United States. To document these traditions, Wayne State University students conducted field research projects that included oral history interviews. Collection consists of audio recordings of 55 interviews (or aggregations of multiple interviews on a single topic) conducted by student interviewer-collectors, some of which,...