SERIES I: Trustees/Board of Governors (1930-2000) is possibly the best place to get the overall picture of the historical development and continuing functioning of the Cranbrook Institute of Science. This series contains a full run of the Annual Reports and Quarterly Meeting Minutes of the CIS Board of Governors. The Board of Governor’s committee activity is documented, with the heaviest concentration of records being in the 1960s-1980s. The formation and early years of CIS are described in the History section of this series. The CIS Board of Governors early involvement in the formation of the Detroit Science Center can be found in this series.

SERIES II: Operations (1930-1996) documents the administrative end of CIS life, encompassing personnel, budget/finance, admissions, building maintenance, and security. Fundraisers and annual events like the Maple Sugar Festival are documented in the Community Relations subseries. Properties that were owned or donated to CIS, including the Beresford farm and the Ward property at Orchard Lake (site of the Cranbrook Nature Sanctuary) can be found in the Properties subseries.

SERIES III: Exhibits (1940-1998) documents the temporary, permanent, and traveling exhibits. This should not be considered an exhaustive list of exhibits, however, as the majority of exhibits in this series are from the 1970s-1990s. For a more complete picture of the range of exhibits over the years, the user should consult the Annual Reports located in the Trustees/Board of Governors series.

SERIES IV: Education (1933-1997) documents CIS’ emphasis on educational programming. Within this series, the user can find class brochures from 1933-1996, field trips, summer camps, educational programming collaboration with area schools and universities, and the funding sources for these programs. Users are also encouraged to consult the Annual Reports located in the Trustees/Board of Governors series for additional information on CIS educational programming.

SERIES V: Research (1930-1994) documents research conducted by CIS directors, staff members, and visiting scholars. The material is primarily in the format of compiled data and subsequent reports. Involvement in inland lakes and Great Lakes research is documented, as is the research holdings in the CIS Library. Drainage and vegetation studies of Kingswood Lake (called Cranbrook Lake during some studies) are in this series, as are manuscripts and published works of directors and staff members. A large section of algae drawings by Stanley Cain can be found. These pencil drawings were intended for publication and are a good example of how scientific research from that era was conducted.

SERIES VI: Renovation and Expansion (1945-1995) documents several building expansions and improvements that have taken place. Materials in this series describe the preparation and planning that accompanied these improvements. Most of the materials in this series cover the major expansion project that spanned the 1980s-1990s. Additional documentation of the building of Edison House, the Woodward entrance, and the Arrival Feature can also be found within the series. See the Oversized Materials series for additional renovation and expansion information.

SERIES VII: Correspondence (1930-1991) spans the 1920s through the 1990s, pre-CIS through present day. Important correspondents in this series include: all CIS Directors, George G. Booth, Henry S. Booth, Robert McMath, Henry Hulbert, Gustavus Pope, members of the Beresford family, Stanley Cain, Lee Dice, Cecil Billington, and Arthur Wittliff. Materials are arranged alphabetically and chronologically. The relationship between CIS and the other Cranbrook institutions can be found in this series.

SERIES VIII: Oversized Materials (1984) contains a facility program report compiled by Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK) in preparation for the 1980s-1990s CIS expansion project.

1930-1934

Victor Cahalane

1934-1935

Lee Dice (acting)

1935-1967

Robert Hatt

1967-1972

Warren Wittry

1972-1973

Robert Bowen (acting)

1973-1980

Robert Bowen

1981-1982

Kathleen Roth (acting)

1982-1986

Dennis Wint

1986-1987

Kathleen Roth (acting)

1987-1991

Robert West

1992-1993

Ellen Jacobowitz (acting)

1993-1998

Daniel Appleman

1998-1999

Elaine Heumann Gurian (acting)

1999-2002

Talbert Spence