Today, we call it Memorial Day. However, in the days immediately following the Civil War, the annual May remembrance of the soldiers who died saving the Union and ending slavery, was known as Decoration Day. Not surprisingly, one of the most-recognized annual ceremonies to honor these valiant dead occurs at Arlington National Cemetery on the [...]
Before mechanical air conditioning, U.S. presidents often left Washington, DC during the hot and steamy summers for cooler locations in the Appalachian Mountains or along the Atlantic Ocean. By the early twentieth century, Michiganians began promoting Mackinac Island as an ideal place for the summer White House.After having received a variety of Michigan appeals and [...]
Lightship Huron by Darryl Wattenberg
Another view of the Lightship Huron
Lighthouses don't move ... unless they are lightships. Lightships were used in places where it was too difficult or expensive to build a lighthouse. A lightship had a bright light at the top of the mast and carried a foghorn to alert sailors when the [...]
The Dark Side of White Lake by mellowhummer
(has additional info on the haunting!)
When Karen McDonnell is alone she sometimes hears footsteps on the stairway of the former White River Light. But she isn't afraid. She says, "I like the comfort it gives me. It's like a watchman, just making sure everything is okay before it's [...]
In most cases, being a lightkeeper was a man's job. Yet, at least 19 women, including Elizabeth Whitney Williams, kept Michigan lighthouse beacons burning bright.
As a child, Elizabeth was friends with the lighthouse keeper's children at Beaver Island Harbor Point Light on Lake Michigan. When the lighthouse keeper left, she and her husband Clement took [...]
By farlane
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Also posted in Articles, Attractions, Books, Music & Video, Community, Destinations, History & Libraries, Lodging & Travel, Media, Michigan, NW, Parks, Recreation & Sports, Technology & Internet Media
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March is Women’s History month--a perfect time to recognize one of the state’s earliest multi-cultural authors. Jane Schoolcraft was a skilled 19th century writer, whose accomplishments are overshadowed by her more-famous husband, Henry.
Born in 1800 at Sault Ste Marie, Jane was the third child of the union of an Ojibwa woman and an Irish father. [...]
February 26, 2007 – 10:07 am
He has one of the most recognizable voices in the entertainment business and it all began with a grapefruit and a dedicated teacher. James Earl Jones was born in Mississippi in 1931. His parents separated before his birth and his grandparents raised him. When Jones was five, his family moved to Michigan and settled in [...]
By michiganhistory
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Also posted in Articles, Arts & Entertainment, Bands, Entertainers & Labels, Books & Magazines, Community, History & Libraries, Media, Movies, NW, Technology & Internet Media, Television & Internet Video, The Michigan Pages, The Michigan Pages: History: Black History
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February 12, 2007 – 10:55 am
During the mid-nineteenth century, Michigan’s African American population was quite small in number. In 1860, about 7,000 blacks lived in Michigan-less than 1 percent of the state’s population. Although white Michiganians supported the destruction of slavery that came with the end of the Civil War, most were unenthusiastic about giving blacks equal rights. Three years [...]
February 5, 2007 – 7:28 am
For years, February has been recognized as Black History Month. In nearly 250 years of living in Michigan, African Americans have made many important-and often overlooked–contributions to our state's past. One of the earliest records of African Americans living in Michigan came in the early 1760s when the British replaced the French at Detroit. [...]
January 25, 2007 – 8:41 am
fountain in the woods by catzinahat
Las Vegas boasts that it is America's "wedding capital." Yet, in the early years of the twentieth century, Michigan, especially the Lake Michigan town of St. Joseph, was the "wedding capital of the Midwest." Michigan marriage laws did not require residency, allowed people to marry at the age of 18 [...]
By michiganhistory
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Also posted in Articles, Books & Magazines, Churches & Religious Organizations, Community, History & Libraries, Michigan, Offbeat, Organizations, Publications, SW, Wedding & Event Services
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