Vernon J. Ehlers Collection, 1955-2010 | Heritage Hall, Hekman Library

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Collection Overview

Title: Vernon J. Ehlers Collection, 1955-2010

ID: COLL/525

Primary Creator: Vernon James Ehlers (1934-2017)

Extent: 93.0 Boxes

Arrangement: Folder level description

Abstract

Professor of physics at Calvin College; and a politician (Kent County Board Commissioner, State Representative, State Senator, and Federal Congressman). The collection details Ehlers’ political career including committee service and bills sponsored/co-sponsored, plus his earlier academic career. The collection includes biographical data, resolutions, reports, news releases, memorandums, correspondence, notes, speeches, bills, proclamations, acts, concept papers, house statements, articles, remarks, political campaign material, testimonies, debates, awards, papers, interviews, handouts, studies, appointment books/cards/lists/schedules/sheets, news clippings, videos, cassettes, DVDs, posters, photographs, and artifacts.

Biographical Note

Vernon James Ehlers is the youngest of the four children of Rev. John William Christian and Alice Cornelia (née Doorn) Ehlers, born on 6 Feb 1934 in Pipestone, MN. He suffered from severe asthma as a child and as a consequence was unable to attend school. He was home- and self-schooled and received a diploma from Edgerton (MN) Christian School and did his high school work via correspondence. He attended Calvin College, 1952-1955; and the University of California, Berkeley, from which he received an AB in 1956 and a PhD in 1960; his doctoral dissertation was “The Nuclear Spins and Moments of Several Radioactive Gallium Isotopes.”

He taught and conducted scientific research at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, 1956-1966, and joined the Physics Department of Calvin College in 1966, ultimately serving as department chair. He was a member of the Faculty Organization Study Committee (FOSCO), 1968-1977, that developed a new faculty governance system for the college, whose enrollment had grown from 500 in 1945 to 3,200 when Ehlers joined the faculty. He left the college faculty in 1983 to serve in the Michigan Legislature.

Ehlers was elected to the Kent County Board of Commissioners, 1975-1983; the Michigan House of Representatives, 1983-1985; and the Michigan Senate, 1985-1993. In 1993 he won a special election in Michigan’s 5^th District (later 3^rd), after the death of former fellow faculty member Congress Member Paul B. Henry (Coll. 357) and won a full term in 1994, and subsequent elections, serving until 2011.

Ehlers married Johanna Meulink on 14 Jun 1958; they have four children: Heidi, Brian, Marla, and Todd. The Ehlers were founding members of Faith Fellowship Christian Reformed Church, Walnut Creek, CA, in 1961.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Personal, 1955-2010],
[Series 2: Student Years, 1955-1960],
[Series 3: Post Graduate Correspondence, 1960-1967],
[Series 4: Research, 1962-1968],
[Series 5: Class Lectures, 1967-1979],
[Series 6: Student Evaluations, 1979-1982, n.d.],
[Series 7: Calvin College Faculty, 1963-1983],
[Series 8: Kent County Board of Commissioners, 1878-1982],
[Series 9: Michigan House of Representatives and Senate, 1982-1993],
[Series 10: United States Congress, 1993-2012],
[Series 11: United States Congress, 1993-2012],
[Series 12: Election campaigns],
[Series 13: Legislation],
[Series 14: Reference material],
[Series 15: Invitations],
[Series 16: Awards and Honors],
[Series 17: Subject files],
[Series 18: Photographs],
[Series 19: Media Relations],
[Series 20: Ehlers' Campaigns],
[Series 21: Constituent Gifts],
[Series 22: Aeronautics and Aerospace],
[Series 23: Plaques and Awards],
[Series 24: Certificates],
[Series 25: Photographs],
[Series 26: Republican Party],
[Series 27: Buttons, Decals, Patches, Memorabilia],
[Series 28: Legislation],
[Series 29: Miscellaneous],
[All]

Series 29: Miscellaneous

Box 84

Item 1: Air Force One playing cards
Item 2: Arlington National Cemetery --- undated
Item 3: Celebration on the Grand --- 1980
Item 4: CES patch
Item 5: City of Grand Rapids Medal
Item 6: City of Hasting Brass Key
Item 7: Engineering Societies --- 2010

Box 91

Item 1: Kent County Commission gavel --- 1981
Item 2: Kent County Courthouse dedication gavel --- 2001
Item 3: Paul Henry Thornapple Trail --- undated
Item 4: Pewabic Pottery tile of Bunker Center dedication
Item 5: Schooner painted on oval plastic disk --- 2004
Item 6: 93University of California, Berkeley PhD hood
Item 7: Signed baseballs in holder: Whitey Ford, Wilmer Fielder, Boog Powell
Item 8: Signed baseballs in holder: White Ford, Boog Powell
Item 9: Signed baseballs in holder: Luis Tiant, Tommy Johns, Harmon Killebrew
Item 10: Signed baseballs in holder: Marichal, Graig Nettles, Neil ??