The 1961-1962 constitutional convention produced Michigan’s fourth constitution, notable for its advancements in public education, the formal abolishment of the death penalty, and commitment to maintaining the civil rights of all Michigan citizens. The convention opened in Lansing on October 3, 1961, and adjourned on August 1,1962, after almost 500 hours of general and committee sessions.
The archival collections available online include session audio recordings, delegate interviews, official delegate portraits, convention photographs, and a film documenting the convention process.
The digitization of these collections was supported by a Recordings at Risk grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR).
Learn more about the convention and the digitization project in the 2026 issue of TRACE.
The convention captured its proceedings on almost 500 hours of quarter-inch magnetic tape audio recordings. These recordings represent Michigan’s only audio documentation of a state constitutional convention and are a supplement to the published journals of convention proceedings.
Each audio recording is accompanied by a transcript. The transcriptions were created through an automated process. Note that there may be errors or misspelling of names.
The General Session was the central body where all committee recommendations were brought for discussion and potential adoption. The recordings are arranged chronologically from October 3, 1961, to August 1, 1962.
Convention delegates organized into standing committees to hold meetings and public hearings on specific themes.
The recordings are arranged by committee name and then chronologically by date. Nine of the convention’s fourteen standing committees created audio recordings. These are:
This series includes interviews with forty-nine convention delegates and officers, dated from February 2, 1962, to May 11, 1962. Each interview runs approximately three minutes. The interviewer was William Sorrells.
"Michigan Can Lead the Way" is a 16mm black-and-white film with sound created by Wayne State University and Michigan State University. The film runs 26:26 minutes and is an edit of more than twenty hours of film taken at the convention.
These photographs are the official portraits of convention delegates, officers, and staff. They are arranged alphabetically by last name.
This series includes photographs of and related to the constitutional convention from the Archives of Michigan’s General Photograph Collection.
There are a total of six state constitutions - four ratified and two unratified. The constitutions, including the most recent and active 1963 constitution, can be accessed online.
You order a certified copy of the four ratified Michigan constitutions through the online store of the Archives. This product can only be mailed, not emailed.
