INTERESTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
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Three interests dominated the Kelseys' lives: the church, music, and literature. Musical evenings at home were frequent: Isabelle played the piano, Ruth the violin, and Francis and Charlotte sang. Concerts were a ttended as a matter of course. The children read (the Bible, the Iliad, Shakespeare, for example), and performances of visiting theatrical groups were eagerly awaited.
Kelsey was a devout Presbyterian, attending church regularly with family members and participating in national discussions about the relationship between church and university. Religion was paramount in Kelsey's life, and his Christian beliefs guided him in everything he undertook. His ethical principles were put into practice in his relief work following World War I, both in Belgium and in the Near East.
Beyond their children, religion, music, and literature, Francis and Isabelle shared a deep interest in art, and they visited many museums on their various travels. At Michigan, Kelsey advocated for establishing a Department of Fine Arts, the precursor to the present Department of the History of Art, and for building a museum of art along with structures to house a school of music and an auditorium.
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A Guide to the Exhibition Galleries of the British Museum (1892). F. W. Kelsey's personal copy, Kelsey Museum Library
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Anton Springer, Kunsthistorischen Bilderbogen (Leipzig, 1881) and accompanying textbook. Isabelle Kelsey's personal copies, Kelsey Museum Library
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First Presbyterian Church at Huron and Division, 1930. M. Montoya and R. Hills, First Presbyterian Church and the Larger World (First Presbyterian Church, Ann Arbor, 2005)
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Program for a service at the First Presbyterian Church. Patricia Diel Arthur/Ruth Kelsey Diel Collection
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Two offprints of Kelsey's scholarly writings on Christianity in Roman and modern times. Kelsey Museum Library
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Documents related to Kelsey's work on behalf of the Belgian Children's Relief Fund following World War I. Bentley Historical Library, Patricia Diel Arthur/Ruth Kelsey Diel Collection and Kelsey Museum Archives
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Letter from Kelsey to his daughter Ruth, written from Agrigento, Sicily. Bentley Historical Library, Patricia Diel Arthur/Ruth Kelsey Diel Collection
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Program for the movie Ben Hur, which Kelsey saw in New York with his daughter Charlotte in 1925. From Kelsey's 1925 diary. Bentley Historical Library, Kelsey Museum Papers
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Stock certificate in the name of Isabelle Kelsey for shares in the Hays Mining, Milling and Lumber Company. Bentley Historical Library, Kelsey Museum Papers