Van Tyne, Helen Belfield Bates.

Helen Belfield Bates was born in 1896 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her father, Henry Bates, married her mother, Clara Belfield, in 1894. He served as dean of the University of Michigan Law School from 1910 to 1939.

On September 15, 1933, Helen married Josselyn Van Tyne, curator of birds for the University's Natural History Museum and a professor in the zoology department. Helen Van Tyne was both a scholar and civic activist. She wrote several history-related articles and book reviews in the 1930s, which were published in journals such as the Michigan Alumnus Quarterly Review and the Journal of Modern History .

In the mid-to-late 1940s, Van Tyne began working closely with the American Association of University Women, which eventually led to her interest and involvement in a diverse array of issues affecting women and children. From the late 1940s to the end of the 1960s, Van Tyne was involved with a variety of Ann Arbor area civic organizations: the Michigan Council on Women in Business and Industry, Planned Parenthood, and the James Foster Foundation.

The organization to which Van Tyne devoted greatest time, energy, and intellectual effort was the Citizen's Advisory Council for the Washtenaw County juvenile court system. This organization regularly monitored, analyzed and evaluated the judicial procedures undergone by juvenile offenders and sought a variety of social and legal remedies to improve the process. Van Tyne served as chair of this organization for almost ten years, from about 1955 to 1965. In the course of her involvement with this group, she corresponded and consulted with a diverse group of influential legal, political, and sociological professionals, and studied many facets of the Washtenaw County court system.

Other important aspects of Van Tyne's interests can be seen in this collection. After her husband, Josselyn, died in 1957, she spent twelve years collaborating with his former colleagues and potential publishers to posthumously complete and release the book he had been researching, The Fundamentals of Ornithology . This book became an authoritative text in the field and went through many editions.

Helen Van Tyne was involved many social and historical pursuits. Together with the other members of her family, she left an indelible mark on the academic and social landscape of Ann Arbor in the first half of the twentieth century. Helen Bates Van Tyne died in 1971.

From the guide to the Helen Belfield Bates Van Tyne Papers, 1846-1971, 1950-1966, (Bentley Historical Library University of Michigan)