Elizabeth Sparks Adams
Elizabeth (Betty) Sparks Adams, the first curator of the Michigan Historical Collections, died Oct. 11 in Waterford, Mich. She was 95.
Adams graduated as valedictorian from Pontiac High School in 1930 and received a bachelor’s degree in 1934 from Eastern Michigan University. She then earned a master’s degree in history in 1935 from U-M through a State College Fellowship.
While at the University, she assisted History Professor Lewis Vander Velde in his project to establish a home for University archives and to organize a collection of books and manuscripts relating to the history of the State of Michigan. The project was located in a basement room of the Clements Library. Adams subsequently became the first curator of the Michigan Historical Collections working in that position from 1938-39.
Shortly after her departure, the collections moved into the basement of the newly constructed Rackham Building, then in 1974 moved to the Bentley Historical Library on the North Campus.
She was active in the Democratic Party on the local and state level, elected in 1943 as a justice of the peace in Waterford Township and elected in 1954 for two terms on the Waterford Township Board of Education, where she served as president for two years. On March 20, 1941, Gov. Murray Van Wagoner appointed her as the first woman member of the Michigan Historical Commission. She was reappointed every six years by succeeding governors and stepped down in 1995 after 54 years of service. During her time on the commission, she was president for 14 years and vice president for two years.
Adams also served as president of the Historical Society of Michigan, Oakland County Pioneer and Historical Society, and the Pontiac YWCA. She was an active member of the Oakland County Historical Society, Pontiac Historical Commission, Waterford Township Recreation Board, Commins Restoration Association, Oakland County Chapter of the Michigan Society for Mental Health, Lawyers Wives of Michigan, Oakland County Bar Association Auxiliary, Daughters of the American Revolution and the Navy League. Since her departure from U-M, she remained a lifelong benefactor to the Bentley Historical Library.
Adams lived 70 of her 95 years in Waterford with her husband, Donald, on land purchased by his great-grandfather in 1836.
— Submitted by Francis Blouin Jr., director, Bentley Historical Library
