This collection consists of 14.5 cubic feet of materials. A vast majority of the materials are 8.5 x 10 inches in size, but there are some oversized Bronson publications and smaller photographs. The Vander Molen collection mostly consist of employee, nursing, and retiree newsletters, along with other hospital publications, informational handout, and photographs. Included in the collection are some School of Nursing White Caps (yearbooks), a patch of the 40th anniversary of the School of Nursing, some newspaper clippings, and other miscellaneous documents. Most the materials date from Richard Vander Molen’s time at the Bronson beginning in 1945, but a hand full of materials date back to the 1910s and 1920s.

Overall, the collection’s materials are in great condition, but some the papers, publications, newspaper clippings and photographs have begun to fade away or yellow in color due to natural light or the passage of time. A few of the newsletters and publications were collected over a span of many years and even decades. We have kept duplicates of many of those items when possible, but in a few cases a bi-weekly or monthly publication is missing altogether. There are a couple of years missing for the series of School of Nursing White Caps (yearbooks) as well. Some of the newspaper clippings are beginning to deteriorate and have been photocopied to preserve the information in the articles from being lost. Most the photographs in the collection were not labelled properly and labels had to be created during the processing of the collection. A few of the photographs were photocopied from the original onto plain paper, but for the most part the photographs are in good condition. The black and white photographs in the collection are the most delicate. They have experiencing some fading and should be handled with gloves and extreme care. Whenever possible the collection’s materials have been organized by chronological order. Also, because of size issues with some of the materials, three legal-sized folder are included in box 8, but should be included in box 4 with the other The Catalyst newsletters.

The collection is divided into five subgroups: 1) Bronson Methodist Hospital History and General Information, 2) School of Nursing and Nursing Department, 3) Bronson Employees, 4) Bronson Retirees, and 5) Photographs.

The materials in Subgroup A (Bronson Methodist Hospital History/General Information) are all contained of box 1. It contains materials such as Bronson history/timeline handouts, multiple types of Bronson publications, some annual reports, staff directories (1994-1995, 2000-2011), hospital handouts for patients and visitors, and materials on Bronson’s growth overtime. Some of the materials date back to the 1920s, but most of the items date from Richard Vander Molen’s involvement with the hospital.

The materials in Subgroup B (School of Nursing and the Nursing Department) are contained in boxes 2-3. It contains information on the Bronson School of Nursing, the program’s curriculum, School of Nursing White Caps (yearbooks), a Nursing Department organizational structure from 1956, materials on the School of Nursing Alumni Association, the Bronson Bulletin newsletter produced by the School of Nursing Alumni Association, and other miscellaneous items.

The materials in Subgroup C (Bronson Employees) are contained in box 4-6. It contains materials like The Catalyst (1963-1987), Bronson Healthlines (1988-2014), and Bronson Milestones (2014-2015), all employee newsletters. Included in this subgroup are 1960’s employee hand books, an employee code of ethics, information on employee benefits, and other miscellaneous items. The majority of this subgroup’s materials are newsletters and most of the publications are in the collection, but there a few missing here and there. Some over-sized special editions of The Catalyst are contained in box 8, since boxes 4-6 are full of letter size materials.

The materials in Subgroup D (Bronson Retirees) are contained in box 7. It includes information on the Bronson Retiree Association, retiree benefits, and other miscellaneous materials. Most of this subgroup is made up of Bronson Retiree’s Newsletter (1986-2014).

The materials in Subgroup E (Photographs and Press Clippings) are contained in box 8. The photographs date from throughout the history of Bronson Methodist Hospital. A good portion of the photographs date back to before Richard Vander Molen’s time at Bronson. The oldest photographs in the collection date from the 1910s. Included in this subgroup is a folder of press clippings relating to Bronson Methodist Hospital.