The Pulver Collection Has Arrived!

By Mary Wolfram - Tuesday, December 20, 2011

After months of preparation, the John Pulver collection has arrived in Hillsdale.  Mr. Pulver grew up in the Hillsdale area, graduated from Hillsdale High School and Hillsdale College.  His parents were local business owners and Mr. Pulver spent many happy hours as a child at the Mitchell Public Library.  He began his "Michigan collection" approximately fifty years ago and has recently decided to donate this valuable collection as a permanent resource to the City of Hillsdale. The collection consists of over 5,000 books, letters, manuscripts, magazines, postcards, maps and other ephemera either by Michigan authors or set in Michigan.  A large percentage of them are first edtions, some are quite old, and some are rare.  Many are signed by the author or by the subject of a biography. For instance, there are biographies of Gerald R. Ford bearing his signature.  Among the many letters is one dated in the late 1800's from someone attending the Hillsdale County Fair telling of his experiences.   There are postcards showing buildings in Hillsdale at the turn of the century and old ledgers from local businesses.  Mr. Pulver has generously donated this collection to the City of Hillsdale and his request that the non-fiction items be housed in the Mitchell building has helped return the Mitchell building to its original intended use as a library and research center.  The fictional collection will be housed in the Hillsdale Community Library.  The City would like to house this collection on beautiful wooden shelving that will display these materials befitting their value.  Please consider helping the City to properly house this collection by donating to the Pulver Collection, Mitchell Research Center.  Checks may be made out to: City of Hillsdale, with a notation to the Pulver Collection.  Many thanks in advance.