Collections

Listed below are some of the collections available for research. If you would like to see any of these collections or need help finding something not listed, contact us at rthc09@gmail.com or visit during our open hours.

Redford Family Genealogy
Check out our family binders, full of information on many of our pioneer families, including:

• Houghton Family Genealogy and Research; includes documents and photographs
• James Chavey Scrapbook: James was a long time Redford resident with early Redford ties
• Stuckey Family Photo Collection
• Census records

Photo Collections
Check out the photographs on display and our binders of photos, including:

• Homes
• Businesses
• People

Yearbooks & School Information

• Redford High School yearbooks 1923-2007 (Complete collection)
• Redford Union High School Yearbooks 1946-2001 (missing 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, 61, 62)
• Thurston High School Yearbooks 1957—1986 (missing 61, 66, 67, 68, 69, 74, 87-present)
• Pierce Jr. High Penguin Post 1958–1978
• St. Agatha Yearbooks: High School 88,90, 94, 96, 97, 99, 00, 01, 02, 04; Elementary 1980-2000 (missing 84/85, 86/87)
• Redford Union Elementary School Yearbooks: most elementary schools 1980s-present
• Keeler Elementary School photographs
• Holcomb Elementary Archives: history, photographs saved before the school was demolished
• Burt Elementary archives and artifacts
• Stuckey Elementary pictures and artifacts
• Volney Smith Elementary photos and articles
• Houghten School: photos and artifacts saved before demolition

Redford Cemetery & Death Records

• Redford Cemetery Records, artifacts and history
• Redford Township death registers
• Original funeral home ledgers

Land Information

• Land patents and property abstracts
• Historical maps
  • 1816, 1840, 1854 Township survey
  • 1860, 1876, 1893, 1894, 1915, 1917, 1925, 1936, 1942, 1950, 1960, 1963, 1970, 1975, c. 1980
  • 1914 Village of Redford [Wm Sauer]
  • 1921 Baist Real Estate Atlas
  • 1921 Sanborn (Old Redford)
• Plat maps & zoning districts
• We also have historical maps & atlases covering Livonia, Greenfield, Detroit, Metro Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, U.S. & World

Newspapers & Microfilm
Redford Township News 1946-1990 on microfilm and/or hard copy (not indexed)

• Microfilm, full years: 1964-1966, 1968-1972, 1974-1990.
• Microfilm, partial years: Jul – Dec 1963, Jan-Oct 1967
• Microfilm, missing years: 1946-1962, Jan – June 1963, Nov – Dec 1967, 1973

Redford Record: From 1910 to 1985, Microfilm (some are digitized). Started by Anna Lahser in 1900.

• Full years: 1911-1913, 1923-1934, 1937, 1939-1967, 1970-1985
• Partial years: Aug-Dec 1910, Aug 25, 1922 – December 1922, Jan – July 1938, Jan – May 1968, July – December 1969
• Missing years: 1900 – Jul 1910, 1914-1921, Jan – July 1922, 1935*, 1936*, Aug – Dec 1938*, June – Dec 1968*, Jan – June 1969*
  • *Available at Bentley Historical Library in Ann Arbor
• Digitized: Aug – Dec 1910, 1911-1913, December 1922, 1923-1925

The Brightmoor Journal

• Digitized: 8/25/1922 – 12/29/1922, 1923-1925

Business Directories & Phone Books

• 1925 Polk Directory: Redford, Brightmoor & Rosedale Park
  • Classified business directory & Redford rural route directory
• 1949, 1965-present
  •  1949-present available at Redford Twp Chamber of Commerce

War Archives

• WWII Soldier Profiles: Documents and some photographs of servicemen killed in action from Redford High and Redford Union High Schools
• Civil War Soldiers: Histories of Redford residents who served in the war

Themed Research Binders
Compilations of photographs, newspaper clippings, and general research condensed into a 3-ring binder and created/maintained by the RTHC. (Including but not limited to the following topics)

• Civil War Soldiers, World War II Soldiers, Vietnam Soldiers, VFW 50th Anniversary, War letters, Revolutionary War Soldiers, Redford Comm. War Mem. Association, Ox Roast
• The Redford Library, History Souvenir 1927-1928, Police Department, Civil Defense, DPS, Fire Department, Chamber of Commerce
• Neighborhood Watch, Glenhurst Golf Course, Western Golf Course, Annexation, Veteran’s Park, Housing, Boys’ Club, Roads, Old Homes, Parks & Rec, Recreation, Events, Centennial Homes/Buildings
• Government Buildings, House Field Sheets, People, Detroit & Old Redford, Community Calendars, Redford: Skowronski, Detroit: Silas Farmer, Mary Haney Photograph Collection, Dissertation by Matthew Daley, Michigan Folklore, Black History, Racial Matters, 1892 Record articles, Detroit Diesel 
• Assorted stories, Blog posts, Sand Hill, Masonic Temple, Ann Urben Drawings, Redford Theater, Midget City, Assorted locations, Memories of Redford, Township pictures, Assorted businesses, Postcards, Rosedale Park News, Hustler

MISC

• Lola Valley Garden Club: Scrapbook of activities
• Redford Township Memorial Day Parade Authority
• Fred DesAutels Papers: Redford historian and author collected information from all over the area to write his book on the Township. The collection includes many of these letters, maps, and notes.
• The Sybil & Jack Raeside Papers

Reference Library
Our library consists of books, articles, magazines, and other reference material to assist with historical research and is available for use by visitors. Some of the categories are as follows:

• Local History
  • Redford, Oakland County, Farmington Twp, Clarenceville, Northville, Birmingham, Holly, Livonia, Inkster, Brightmoor, Grand Traverse, Macomb County, Dearborn, etc. 
• Detroit History 
  • General history, “Old Redford”, Detroit directories/almanacs, Detroit sports, Detroit landmarks, Detroit folk tales, Detroit street guides/maps, Redford High School Collection, etc. 
• Michigan History
  • General history, MI railroads, MI pioneers, MI historical markers, MI ghost towns, MI photography, MI archives, MI constitution, MI military history, the Upper Peninsula, etc.
• US History
  • War of 1812, American Indians, Images of America, American Ethnology, Civil War, Abraham Lincoln (Six Volumes), US History (Volumes 1-7) , America’s War for Humanity, History of Ohio, History of Utah, Andersonville, Shiloh, Heartland, etc. 
• World History (Volumes 1-4)
• Ancestry & Genealogy
  • MI Surnames, Genealogy dictionary, Family heirlooms, Ancestor charts, Family interviews, Canadian surnames, Polish surnames, Irish surnames, German surnames, etc.  
  • Farmington Genealogical Society, Detroit Society for Genealogical Records, American genealogy, etc. 
• Magazines
  • MI History Magazine, Historical Society of MI “Chronicle”, West Michigan Genealogical Society Magazine “Michigana”, AASLH “History News”, Detroit Genealogical Research Magazine, etc. 
• MISC.
  • Sears Roebuck Catalogs, Guide to the Burton Collection, Dating old photos, etc. 

Historic/Antique Collection Library
These books are also artifacts in that they have general historical significance and/or significance to Redford Township. Most of these books were donated to the museum, and we recommend using gloves while looking at them as some are quite fragile. Dates are provided when applicable. 

• Genealogy 
  • State of New York (1860), Blue Jackets Manual (1940)
• Business
  • Law of Credit (1957), Office Workers (1947), Robert’s Rules of Order (1951), Business Shortcuts (1935), Typing/Typewriter manuals, Receipt Book (1915), Gregg Shorthand (1919), Occupational Titles,
• Science
  • Darwin Volume III, Geography, US Atlas (1956), Nutritional charts, Science of Plant Life (1923),  
• English Studies
  • Basic Readers, National Readers, School Reader, Language Lessons, Baldwin’s Readers, Common School Speller, Spelling, English History (1897), 
• Math
  • Junior Math, Arithmetic (1917), Stoddard’s Arithmetic, Study Arithmetic (1937), Robinson’s Math Series, Progressive Arithmetic, Iroquois Arithmetic, Arithmetic (1929), 
• Childrens’
  • Little Golden Books, Playtime, Andy Burnett, Children’s Guide to Knowledge (1961), Little Pitchers (1942), Happy Bears, Birds and Bees (1887), Woodland Tales (1921), Animal Folktales, 
• War/Military
  • Nations at War (1917), Risen from Ranks, 
• History 
  • Leopoldville (New York), Michigan History, Michigan Laws (1922), Michigan Manuals (Five Volumes), Township Officials of MI (1963), Lincoln’s Stories (1879), American History, Thirteen Colonies, US History (1884), American History, Illinois (1887), History of the US (1925), State and Local Government, 
• Cookbooks
  • Gold Flour Cookbook, recipes, assorted cookbooks, Local church/organization cookbooks, Cookbook (1933), etc.
• Redford Schoolbooks/Donations
  • Poems by George (1983), Tune Up, Wonder Book, Home Folks,  A New Home, American Red Book, Storyteller (1915), Sacred Songs (First Baptist Church), Our New Friends (Cathedral Reader), Circle of Knowledge (1874), Every Day Problems (1932), Our Environment (1937), Applied Physiology, 
• Schoolbooks from Detroit
  • Blow Away Hat (1946), Famous Pioneers, Beyond Treasure Valley (1958), 20,000 Words (1945), Carols (1935), Tough Winter (1954), Funtime Puppets (1952), 
• Novels/MISC.
  • Popular Monthly (1878), Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1897), Marginal Offspring (2002), Captain’s Courageous (1897), Three Boys (1907), Adventures (1910), Endymion (1884), A Christmas Carol, Stepping Stones (1919), One Thousand Secrets, Bobbsey Twins (1968), Just Folks (1917), It Can Be Done (1921), Golden Leaves, McGuffey’s (1897), Wandering Singer (1898),