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Willard Library Digital Collections

Collection available to view online contains 17,000 photographs from 19th and 20th century Battle Creek, Michigan. There are three parts: The "Battle Creek Homes and Buildings, c. 1940" portion provides a catalog, street by street, of all of the buildings within the 1940 boundaries of Battle Creek. The "Photographs from Battle Creek's History" section provides a searchable selection of 5,500 photographs selected from the files of Willard Library. The "Dorothy Martich Black History Photo Archive" represents many years of research by local historians Dorothy and Michael Martich, whose work toward documenting the history of the Battle Creek African American community was painstakingly accomplished in the 1980s and 1990s. In addition, the library also offers a local newspaper collection. Ross Coller worked for 47 years as a journalist in Battle Creek and spent much of his lifetime chronicling our area's past. After his death, his family donated his notes and work to the library.