eBooks are accessible online, and many are available for download or 2 week check out.
"History Is Bunk": Assembling the Past at Henry Ford's Greenfield Village by
In 1916 a clearly agitated Henry Ford famously proclaimed that "history is more or less bunk." Thirteen years later, however, he opened the outdoor history museum Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. It was written history's focus on politicians and military heroes that was bunk, he explained. Greenfield Village would correct this error by celebrating farmers and inventors. The village eventually included a replica of Thomas Edison's Menlo Park, New Jersey, laboratory, the Wright brothers' cycle shop and home from Dayton, Ohio, and Ford's own Michigan birthplace. But not all of the structures were associated with famous men. Craft and artisan shops, a Cotswold cottage from England, and two brick slave cabins also populated the village landscape. Ford mixed replicas, preserved buildings, and whole-cloth constructions that together celebrated his personal worldview. Greenfield Village was immediately popular. But that only ensured that the history it portrayed would be interpreted not only by Ford but also by throngs of visitors and the guides and publicity materials they encountered. After Ford's death in 1947, administrators altered the village in response to shifts in the museum profession at large, demographic changes in the Detroit metropolitan area, and the demands of their customers. Jessie Swigger analyzes the dialogue between museum administrators and their audiences by considering the many contexts that have shaped Greenfield Village. The result is a book that simultaneously provides the most complete extant history of the site and an intimate look at how the past is assembled and constructed at history museums.
100 Things Michigan Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die by
With traditions, records, and Wolverines lore, this lively, detailed book explores the personalities, events, and facts every Michigan fan should know. It contains crucial information such as important dates, player nicknames, memorable moments, and outstanding achievements by singular players. This guide to all things Michigan covers the story behind the Wolverine's winged helmets, the history of the team's colors, the 1997 undefeated and national championship season, and how to properly tailgate in Ann Arbor. This revised edition includes Brady Hoke's first season as head coach in Ann Arbor, featuring quarterback Denard Robinson, and the Wolverines' 2012 Sugar Bowl triumph.
100 Things Michigan State Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die by
Most Michigan State Spartans fans have taken in a game or two at Spartan Stadium or Jack Breslin Student Events Center, have seen highlights of Magic Johnson, and have heard the story of the famous Game of the Century. But only real fans know the history of the Walk, how many Zeke the Wonder Dogs there have been, the origins of Sparty, or all the lyrics to MSU Shadows. 100 Things Michigan State Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die is the ultimate resource guide for true fans of Michigan State football and men's basketball. Whether a die-hard booster from the days of Jumpin' Johnny Green or a new supporter of football coach Mark Dantonio, fans will value these essential pieces of Michigan State football and basketball knowledge and trivia, as well as all the must-do activities, that have been ranked from 1 to 100, providing an entertaining and easy-to-follow checklist for Spartan supporters to progress on their way to fan superstardom.
Minong: The Good Place--Ojibwe and Isle Royale by
"Minong" (the Ojibwe name for Isle Royale) is the search for the history of the Ojibwe people's relationship with this unique island in the midst of Lake Superior. Cochrane uses a variety of sources: Ojibwe oral narratives, recently rediscovered Jesuit records and diaries, reports of the Hudson's Bay post at Fort William, newspaper accounts, and numerous records from archives in the United States and Canada, to understand this relationship to a place. What emerges is a richly detailed account of Ojibwe activities on Minong and their slow waning in the latter third of the nineteenth century. Piece by piece, Cochrane has assembled a narrative of a people, an island, and a way of life that transcends borders, governments, documentation, and tidy categories. His account reveals an authentic 'history': the missing details, contradictions, deviations from the conventions of historical narrative the living entity at the intersection of documentation by those long dead and the narratives of those still living in the area. Significantly, it also documents how non-natives symbolically and legally appropriated Isle Royale by presenting it to fellow non-natives as an island that was uninhabited and unused."
Women Lighthouse Keepers of Lake Michigan: Heroic Tales of Courage and Resourcefulness by
This book focuses on the fascinating careers of the women who tended lighthouses on Lake Michigan in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It explores with great acuity how a number of special women gained their lighthouse positions and dealt with unique challenges of their time and place.
Books from the reference section are available for in library use, or are available for online viewing.
Michigan Historical Markers by
In 1953, a growing interest in historical marking in other states inspired Governor G. Mennen Williams to appoint a committee to study methods by which Michigan’s historical resources could receive greater attention. The committee consisted of Willis F. Dunbar, Lewis Beeson, and Arthur Wilcox. Based by the committee's research, the commission drew up a bill to provide authority to mark historic sites. On October 14, 1955, the Legislature responded positively. Act 10 of that year provided for the registration of historic sites and the display at the site of “a suitable numbered marker, approved by the commission as to text and construction, indicating that the site is a registered state historic site.” The modern Michigan Historical Marker program was born.
Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than 5000 Past and Present Michigan Communities by
From Aabec in Antrim County to Zutphen in Ottawa County, from Hell to Hooker, Michigan Place Names is a compendium of information on the origins of the state's geographical names. With alphabetically arranged thumb-nail sketches, Walter Romig introduces readers to a host of colorful personalities and episodes which have achieved notoriety, though sometimes short-lived, by devising or lending their names to the state's settlements. For the curious, the librarian, the genealogist, or the historian, his book is an indispensable resource. Michigan Place Names is another "Michigan classic" reissued as a Great Lakes Book.
Circulating books may be checked out in 3 week intervals.
The (Even) Greater, Great Lakes Trivia Test by
The (even) Greater, Great Lakes Trivia Test is about the people, places and history of Michigan and the Great Lakes. Who was the first millionaire in Detroit, What Michiganian could juggle four balls while riding a unicycle and is called the father of the digital age, where is Michigan's first historical marker, and why can Michigan Catholics eat muskrat on meatless days days? Learn the Who, What, Where, When and Why of Michigan. Take the test, let's see what you know.
Brewed in Michigan: The New Golden Age of Brewing in the Great Beer State by
Brewed in Michigan: The New Golden Age of Brewing in the Great Beer State is William Rapai's "Ode on a Grecian Urn"--a discussion of art and art's audience. The art in this case is beer. Craft beer. Michigan craft beer, to be exact. Like the Great Lakes and the automobile, beer has become a part of Michigan's identity. In 2016, Michigan ranked fifth in the number of craft breweries in the nation and tenth in the nation in craft beer production. Craft brewing now contributes more than $1.8 billion annually to the state's economy and is proving to be an economic catalyst, helping to revive declining cities and invigorate neighborhoods. This book is not a beer-tasting guide. Instead, Rapai aims to highlight the unique forces behind and exceptional attributes of the leading craft breweries in Michigan. Through a series of interviews with brew masters over an eighteenth-month sojourn to microbreweries around the state, the author argues that Michigan craft beer is brewed by individuals with a passion for excellence who refuse to be process drones. It is brewed by people who have created a culture that values quality over quantity and measures tradition and innovation in equal parts. Similarly, the taprooms associated with these craft breweries have become a conduit for conversation--places for people to gather and discuss current events, raise money for charities, and search for ways to improve their communities. They're places where strangers become friends, friends fall in love, and lovers get married. These brewpubs and taprooms are an example in resourcefulness--renovating old churches and abandoned auto dealerships in Michigan's biggest cities, tiny suburbs, working-class neighborhoods, and farm towns. Beer, as it turns out, can be the lifeblood of a community. Brewed in Michigan is a book for beer enthusiasts and for people who want a better understanding of what makes Michigan beer special. Cheers!
Guardian of the Great Lakes: The U.S. Paddle Frigate Michigan by
Guardian of the Great Lakes is the saga of the USS Michigan, an archetype iron-hulled war steamer launched in 1843. Its mission was to patrol the ofttimes volatile Great Lakes region, quelling port town civil disturbances, while at the same time rescuing both Canadian and American ships in distress. The Michigan found itself unavoidably attracted to calamity, leaving in its wake a collection of eyewitness accounts to these momentous yet largely forgotten occurrences. Incidents such as the timber rebellion of the 1850s, which occurred in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan, are documented for the first time. Other episodes such as the assassination of "king" Strang on Beaver Island and the destruction of the community there are studied under the light of newly discovered sources. Still other chapters reveal the chaos created by the Civil War on the lakes, the destructive mining strikes of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and the tragic, bloody, Fenian invasion of Canada. Between major calamities lay the vagaries of maritime life on the Great Lakes detailed in the records of the Michigan's crew. From their social and community life in Erie, Pennsylvania to storms, shipwrecks, and sickness, the records kept by the men and officers of the USS Michigan have helped to produce in this book an accurate and detailed narrative of naval and maritime life on the Great Lakes during this important period. Bradley A. Rodgers is Assistant Professor, Program in Maritime History and Nautical Archaeology, East Carolina University.
Main Street: A Portrait of Small-Town Michigan by
Descriptions and photos of the customs and social life in different small towns and cities across the state.
Michigan by
Concise history and full-color guide to the cultural, geographic, and historical riches of Michigan.
Mysterious Islands: Forgotten Tales of the Great Lakes by
A collection of Great Lakes legends and lore from a team of writer photographers.
Settling in Michigan and Other True Pioneer Stories by
Tales of life on the Michigan frontier.
