Great Lakes Books

The only book-length biography of a major Michigan figure who served as Detroit's mayor and contributed to the early success of the Ford Motor Company. First published in 1958 by Charles Scribner's Sons, Independent Man is the only book-length biography of one of Michigan's most remarkable men. His many careers embraced both the business and political spheres. Couzens was a prominent businessman who helped shape Ford Motor Company, but he left the company when he and Henry Ford clashed over politics. Upon leaving Ford, Couzens began his political career, first serving as Detroit's police commissioner. He went on to a controversial term as mayor of Detroit and then represented Michigan in the U.S. Senate. This book reveals the life of a truly unique and inspirational man.

Eyewitness account of the civil disorder in Detroit in the summer of 1967. During the last days of July 1967, Detroit experienced a week of devastating urban collapse—one of the worst civil disorders in twentieth-century America. Forty-three people were killed, over $50 million in property was destroyed, and the city itself was left in a state of panic and confusion, the scars of which are still present today. Now for the first time in paperback and with a new reflective essay that examines the events a half-century later, The Detroit Riot of 1967 (originally published in 1969) is the story of that terrible experience as told from the perspective of Hubert G. Locke, then administrative aide to Detroit's police commissioner. The book covers the week between the riot's outbreak and the aftermath thereof. An hour-by-hour account is given of the looting, arson, and sniping, as well as the problems faced by the police, National Guard, and federal troops who struggled to restore order. Locke goes on to address the situation as outlined by the courts, and the response of the community—including the media, social and religious agencies, and civic and political leadership. Finally, Locke looks at the attempt of white leadership to forge a new alliance with a rising, militant black population; the shifts in political perspectives within the black community itself; and the growing polarization of black and white sentiment in a city that had previously received national recognition as a "model community in race relations." The Detroit Riot of 1967 explores many of the critical questions that confront contemporary urban America and offers observations on the problems of the police system and substantive suggestions on redefining urban law enforcement in American society. Locke argues that Detroit, and every other city in America, is in a race with time—and thus far losing the battle. It has been fifty years since the riot and federal policies are needed now more than ever that will help to protect the future of urban America.

Beginning with the legacy of the Ku Klux Klan and the industrial tyranny of the early twentieth century, Detroit: City of Race and Class Violence charts Detroit’s bitter history through the birth of industrial unionism, war time, the 1967 riots, and their effect on the city today. This revised edition pays particular attention to events since 1967: city politics, unemployment, and the creation of suburban boomtowns.

Bruce Catton, whose name is identified with Civil War history, grew up in Benzonia, Michigan, probably the only town within two hundred miles, he says, not founded to cash in on the lumber boom. In this memoir, Catton remembers his youth, his family, his home town, and his coming of age. With nostalgia, warmth, and humor, Catton recalls it all with a wealth of detail: the logging industry and its tremendous effect on the face of the state, the veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic who first sparked his interest in the Civil War, the overnight train trips on long-gone "sleepers," the days of great resort hotels, and fishing in once clear lakes. Although he writes of a time and place that are no more, his observations have implications that both underline the past and touch the future.

John Bartlow Martin, a freelance writer who had spent long weeks in northern Wisconsin and Michigan, was struck with the idea of a book on Michigan's Upper Peninsula when he was there on his wedding trip. Returning each summer to the area, Martin discovered the region's diverse history, full of colorful and interesting personalities and events. The territory has been wilderness, a haunt of the Chippewas and the Hurons, copper country, iron country, lumber country, and lastly, a vacation land. Filled with stories of adventure and daring, Call It North Country recounts the lives of miners, hunters, trappers, and lumberjacks― the hardy breeds who first populated the harsh land of the Upper Peninsula.

Reaffirming the wonder and glory of individual rights, Robert Traver's Hungry Hollow tales recount the mischievous escapades of Danny and his "boys." Setting themselves up in a logging shack near the iron-mining town of Chippewa in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Danny and his cronies spend their time fishing and hunting, story-telling, moonshining, and rampaging through the Chippewa saloons and the local "hotel." Traver has caught the genuine flavor of backwoods life. Beyond the diverse schemes and pranks, he masterfully portrays a group of men who live as they do because they choose to. Although written as fiction, Danny and the Boys is true Americana.

Joe Grimm of the Detroit Free Press has combined a fascinating collection of old family letters, diaries, journals, photos, and other memorabilia in this rare glimpse at Michigan's past. Based on a series of articles that appeared in the "Chronicles" column of the Detroit Free Press Sunday magazine from 1985 to 1987, Michigan Voices introduces the reader to a more personal side of the state's history. Excerpts from historical documents include Cadillac's proposal of 1700 to establish Detroit and Roger Andrews' crusade for an independent Upper Peninsula in 1916. Among the chronicles Grimm has uncovered are humorous letters from a World War I recruit, an engaging series of correspondences between a Flint schoolgirl and Detroit Mayor Frank Murphy during the Great Depression, and an interview with Kenneth C. Welch, the revolutionary architect and planner who developed the mall/shopping center concept in 1946.

Seasons of Grace is a history of the Catholic Church and community in southern lower Michigan from the 1830s through the 1950s. Seasons of Grace is a history of the Catholic Church and community in southern lower Michigan from the 1830s through the 1950s. More than a chronicle of clerical successions and institutional expansion, the book also examines those social and cultural influences that affected the development of the Catholic community. To document the course of institutional growth in the diocese, Tentler devotes a portion of the book to tracing the evolution of administrative structures at the Chancery and the founding of parishes, parochial schools, and social welfare organizations. Substantial attention is also given to the social history of the Catholic community, reflected in changes in religious practice, parish life and governance, and the role of women in church organizations and in devotional activities. Tentler also discusses the issue of Catholics in state and local politics and Catholic practice with regard to abortion, contraception, and intermarriage.

The period from 1920 to the early post World War II years remains the greatest in the long history of the Detroit Tigers baseball club.

Biography of John Jacob Astor's life and his career as a merchant, fur trader, and land speculator as vehicles for examining several important themes and issues in American economic and urban development between 1790 and 1860. John Jacob Astor was the best-known and most important American businessman for more than a half-century. His career encompassed the country's formative economic years from the precarious days following the American Revolution to the emergence of an urban-centered manufacturing economy in the late 1840s. Change was the dominant motif of the period, and Astor either exemplified the varied economic, social, and political changes in his business career or he directly affected the course of events. In this biography of John Jacob Astor, John Denis Haeger uses Astor's life and his career as a merchant, fur trader, and land speculator as vehicles for examining several important themes and issues in American economic and urban development between 1790 and 1860. Haeger addresses, in fascinating detail, the complexity of Astor's business endeavors, his extensive connections with the country's dominant political figures, and the "modern" business strategies and managerial techniques that he used to build his business empire. Astor was clearly not a business revolutionary who radically altered an existing system. He was, however, an entrepreneur who exerted a profound change on an industry. He fascinated his contemporaries precisely because he so mirrored his age and its changing business and economic patterns. He grasped the greater size and complexity of an emerging commercial economy in post-Revolutionary America and adopted strategies and structures that transformed the fur and China trades. His investment in city real estate, stocks, bonds, and even a western city made him part of America's evolution into an urbanindustrial society. For his era, John Astor's career was remarkable for its modernity, vision, and reflection of American economic and political values. More than just a personal biography, John Jacob Astor combines economic theories with a fascinating narrative that demonstrates, like no other book has, Astor's impact on the early republic.

Queen of the Lakes , perfect for coffee tables, lakefront cabins, and boat lovers' bookshelves, tells the story of each of the ships that has been honored with the title "Queen of the Great Lakes." This book is an account of ships that have borne the name "Queen of the Lakes," an honorary title indicating that, at the time of its launching, a ship is the longest on the Great Lakes. In one of the most comprehensive books ever written on the maritime history of the lakes, Mark Thompson presents a vignette of each of the dozens of ships that has held the title, chronicling the dates the ship sailed, its dimensions, the derivation of its name, its role in the economic development of the region, and its sailing history. Through the stories of the individual ships, Thompson also describes the growth of ship design on the Great Lakes and the changing nature of the shipping industry on the lakes. The launching of the fist ship on Lake Ontario in 1678 — the diminutive Frontenac , a small, two-masted vessel of only about ten tons and no more than forty or forty-five feet long — set in motion an evolutionary process that has continued for more than three hundred years. That ship is the direct ancestor of all the ships that ever have operated on the Great Lakes, from the Str. Onoko , launched in February 1882 and the first ship to bear the name Queen of the Lakes; to the Str. W. D. Rees, which held its title only for a few weeks, to today's Queen, the Tregurtha , the longest ship on the lakes since its launching in 1981. Although the ships on the Great Lakes may be surpassed in size and efficiency by many of the modern ocean freighters, Thompson notes that the ships now sailing on the great freshwater seas of North America have achieved a level of operating mastery that is unrivaled anywhere in the world, considering the inherent limitations of the Great Lakes system. The Tregurtha reigns as a model of unsurpassed maritime craftsmanship and as heir to a long and glorious tradition of excellence. Every magnificent ship that has borne the title in the past has contributed in some part to the greatness embodied in the Tregurtha . In time, her title as Queen of the Lakes will pass to another monumental freighter that will carry the art and science of shipbuilding and operation to even greater heights. [Back Cover] The name "Queen" is bestowed upon ships that become, at the time of their launching, the longest ship sailing on the Great Lakes. Queen of the Lakes , perfect for coffee tables, lakefront cabins, and boat lovers' bookshelves, tells the story of each of the ships that has been honored with the title. From the earliest ships launched in the late 1600s; to the "palace steamers" outfitted with stained glass, rare woods, fine carpets, and silk curtains; to today's mammoth ore carriers, Thompson describes each great ship, recalling its dimensions, name derivation, accidents, and sailing history. Ship by ship, era by era, he constructs a chronicle of ship design and the changing role and nature of the shipping industry on the Great Lakes. Queen of the Lakes is a Great Lake Books publication.

In recalling the early part of this century in baseball history, casual fans tend to glorify legends like Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth. While these remarkable players dazzled fans and grabbed headlines, black players who were every bit as good went unnoticed outside the Negro leagues. Because a "gentleman's agreement" among the white owners of organized baseball banned blacks from the major and minor leagues from the 1880s through 1946, the Negro National League provided black players the sole opportunity to display their talent. In Turkey Stearnes and the Detroit Stars, Richard Bak documents the extraordinary history of Detroit's first and foremost black professional baseball team. This groundbreaking analysis of Detroit's entry in the Negro National League brings to life a fascinating story of skill, pride, and perseverance. As a charter member of Andrew "Rube" Foster's National Negro League, the Detroit Stars quickly evolved into an integral part of black culture. From the team's beginning in 1919 to its demise in 1933, the Stars offered Detroit's black community entertainment and a short respite from the hardships of daily life. Moreover, the Detroit Stars represented a rare example of successful black entrepreneurship. The greatest Star of them all was Norman "Turkey" Stearnes, the brilliant longball-hitting center fielder. Stearnes established virtually all of the team's individual and career records during his nine seasons with Detroit.

Symbols of safety, reassurance, and guidance, lighthouses hold a special fascination for many people. On the Great Lakes, lighthouses―"northern lights"―helped to open the region to settlement and support the growth of commercial trade. Charles K. Hyde describes the histories of more than 160 individual lighthouses that still exist on Lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Superior and the straits of Mackinac. As the shipping industry flourished, so too did the necessity for lighthouses. With their proliferation came a demand for more sophisticated structures. Hyde describes the changing design of lighthouses and the equipment that produces their beacons. Featuring over two hundred color photographs, The Northern Lights captures the beauty, history, and significance of lighthouses on the Great Lakes and illuminates the rich maritime history of the region.

In the decades following World War II, professional city planners in Detroit made a concerted effort to halt the city's physical and economic decline. Their successes included an award-winning master plan, a number of laudable redevelopment projects, and exemplary planning leadership in the city and the nation. Yet despite their efforts, Detroit was rapidly transforming into a notorious symbol of urban decay. In Redevelopment and Race: Planning a Finer City in Postwar Detroit, June Manning Thomas takes a look at what went wrong, demonstrating how and why government programs were ineffective and even destructive to community needs. In confronting issues like housing shortages, blight in older areas, and changing economic conditions, Detroit's city planners worked during the urban renewal era without much consideration for low-income and African American residents, and their efforts to stabilize racially mixed neighborhoods faltered as well. Steady declines in industrial prowess and the constant decentralization of white residents counteracted planners' efforts to rebuild the city. Among the issues Thomas discusses in this volume are the harmful impacts of Detroit's highways, the mixed record of urban renewal projects like Lafayette Park, the effects of the 1967 riots on Detroit's ability to plan, the city-building strategies of Coleman Young (the city's first black mayor) and his mayoral successors, and the evolution of Detroit's federally designated Empowerment Zone. Examining the city she knew first as an undergraduate student at Michigan State University and later as a scholar and planner, Thomas ultimately argues for a different approach to traditional planning that places social justice, equity, and community ahead of purely physical and economic objectives. Redevelopment and Race was originally published in 1997 and was given the Paul Davidoff Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning in 1999. Students and teachers of urban planning will be grateful for this re-release. A new postscript offers insights into changes since 1997.

A reprint of the 1941 novel by Newton G. Thomas, The Long Winter Ends tells the story of a year in the life of a young emigrant miner who leaves Cornwall in the southwest of England to work in the copper mines of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Through Jim's story, The Long Winter Ends offers a glimpse into the lives of an often neglected emigrant group that played an important role in the development of the Great Lake and American mining industries since the 1840s. Drawing on his own experiences as a young Cornish immigrant in the mining communities of the Upper Peninsula, Thomas incorporated firsthand knowledge of the work routines and vocabulary of underground mining into this novel. With an introduction providing information about the cultural history of the Cornish, this narrative traces the Cornish emigrant experience from the failure of the mines in Cornwall, their hopes to preserve Cornish traditions in America, and then finally the acceptance of a future in America.

All-American Anarchist chronicles the life and work of Joseph A. Labadie (1850-1933), Detroit's prominent labor organizer and one of early labor's most influential activists. All-American Anarchist chronicles the life and work of Joseph A. Labadie (1850—1933), Detroit's prominent labor organizer and one of early labor's most influential activists. A dynamic participant in the major social reform movements of the Gilded Age, Labadie was a central figure in the pervasive struggle for a new social order as the American Midwest underwent rapid industrialization at the end of the nineteenth century. This engaging biography follows Labadie's colorful career from a childhood among a Pottawatomie tribe in the Michigan woods through his local and national involvement in a maze of late nineteenth-century labor and reform activities, including participation in the Socialist Labor party, Knights of Labor, Greenback movement, trades councils, typographical union, eight-hour-day campaigns, and the rise of the American Federation of Labor. Although he received almost no formal education, Labadie was a critical thinker and writer, contributing a column titled "Cranky Notions" to Benjamin Tucker's Liberty, the most important journal of American anarchism. He interacted with such influential rebels and reformers as Eugene V. Debs, Emma Goldman, Henry George, Samuel Gompers, and Terence V. Powderly, and was also a poet of both protest and sentiment, composing more than five hundred poems between 1900 and 1920. Affectionately known as Detroit's "Gentle Anarchist," Labadie's flamboyant and amiable personality counteracted his caustic writings, making him one of the city's most popular figures throughout his long life despite his dissident ideals. His individualistic anarchist philosophy was also balanced by his conventional personal life - he was married to a devout Catholic and even worked for the city's water commission to make ends meet. In writing this biography of her grandfather, Carlotta R. Anderson consulted the renowned Labadie Collection at the University of Michigan, a unique collection of protest literature which extensively documents pivotal times in American labor history and radical history. She also had available a large collection of family scrapbooks, letters, photographs, and Labadie's personal account book. Including passages from Labadie's vast writings, poems, and letters, All-American Anarchist traces America's recurring anti-anarchist and anti-radical frenzy and repression, from the 1886 Haymarket bombing backlash to the Red Scares of the twentieth century.

Part oral history, memoir, and biography, Toast of the Town draws from hundreds of hours of taped conversations between Sunnie Wilson and John Cohassey, as Wilson reflected on the changes in Detroit over the last sixty years. As part of the great migration of southern blacks to the north, Sunnie Wilson came to Detroit from South Carolina after graduating from college, and soon became a pillar of the local music industry. He started out as a song and dance performer but found his niche as a local promoter of boxing, which allowed him to make friends and business connections quickly in the thriving industrial city of Detroit. Part oral history, memoir, and biography, Toast of the Town draws from hundreds of hours of taped conversations between Sunnie Wilson and John Cohassey, as Wilson reflected on the changes in Detroit over the last sixty years. Supported by extensive research, Wilson's reminiscences are complemented by photographs from his own collection, which capture the spirit of the times. Through Sunnie Wilson's narrative, Detroit's glory comes alive, bringing back nights at the hopping Forest Club on Hastings Street, which hosted music greats like Nat King Cole and boasted the longest bar in Michigan, and sunny afternoons at Lake Idlewild, the largest black resort in the United States that attracted thousands every weekend from all over the Midwest. An influential insider's perspective, Toast of the Town fills a void in the documented history of Detroit's black and entertainment community from the 1920s to the present.

The Civil War was the largest and bloodiest conflict ever waged upon American soil, and while no fighting took place in Michigan, both the hardship of the war effort and the heroism of Michigan men at war touched residents deeply. In Father Abraham's Children: Michigan Episodes in the Civil War, Frank Woodford collects personal remembrances of the war from many sources. Originally published in 1961 and reissued in 1999, this volume is not a formal account of Michigan's part in the conflict or an analysis of military strategy and wartime politics, but instead presents stories of Michigan soldiers, both as individuals and as units, and their actions, thoughts, and aspirations, presented for the first time in a paperback edition. Among the episodes Woodford recounts with a wealth of colorful detail are Michigan's participation in the Underground Railroad; the strange tale of Sarah Emma Edmonds, alias Private Franklin Thompson; the ill-fated strategy that led to the slaughter at the Crater; an odyssey of escape from Danville and from Libby Prison; the bizarre Confederate plot to capture a Federal sloop-of-war on Lake Erie; the Michigan Cavalry Brigade's exploits under George Custer; the chance encounter with a Michigan soldier that brought death to the gallant Jeb Stuart; impressions and descriptions of camp life and the ordinary routine of a soldier from the diary of Private Frank Lane; the disaster of the First Michigan at Bull Run; the story of Michigan's medical services and the origin of Harper Hospital; the Detroit Riot of 1863; and the nightmare explosion of the steamer Sultana with a death toll of over 1,200 soldiers on their way home from Confederate prisons. Civil War buffs and readers interested in Michigan history will be grateful for the paperback edition of Father Abraham's Children.

Napier Shelton takes us on a journey as he spends a year at his family's cottage on the lake. Having visited Lake Huron for over thirty years, Shelton weaves family memories into his evocative and informed account of the seasons on this great lake. In 1995, Shelton spent a year at the cottage more fully exploring Lake Huron and its varied shores. He writes about Native American fishing rights, small towns, the fearsome ice, and the migration of birds. He follows the seasonal changes of life in the water. We accompany him on commercial fishing boats, a research vessel studying lake trout, and a Coast Guard icebreaker. We experience the travels and tragedies of venturers on Lake Huron over the past four centuries. Huron is pleasurable reading for any student of natural history or the Great Lakes region, or for anyone who has ever spent time at a summer cottage or wished to do so.

In this firsthand account of life aboard the ships of the Great Lakes, Mark Thompson weaves together the threads of a story that relives a centuries-old tradition. Thompson began his logbook after he reported for duty aboard the Calcite II at Fraser Shipyard in Superior, Wisconsin, for the 1996 shipping season. A Sailor's Logbook is the first such book to chronicle a sailor's life at the end of the twentieth century. Not just a detailing of weather, cargo, and crew relations, A Sailor's Logbook is also an account of the daily lives of a diverse group of crewmembers as they share their sailing knowledge, "sea stories," and the many memories that accompany the pictures. Although there are ample resources in museums, archival collections, and company files regarding statistical logbook information, A Sailor's Logbook details the intricacies of daily life on a Great Lakes freighter. Thompson navigates the reader through the waters of the Great Lakes and his own life in this very special narrative.

Expanding the Frontiers of Civil Rights documents an important shift in state level policy to make clear that civil rights in Michigan embraced all people. Although historians have devoted a great deal of attention to the development of federal government policy regarding civil rights in the quarter century following World War II, little attention has been paid to the equally important developments at the state level. Few states underwent a more dramatic transformation with regard to civil rights than Michigan did. In 1948, the Michigan Committee on Civil Rights characterized the state of civil rights in Michigan as presenting "an ugly picture." Twenty years later, Michigan was a leader among the states in civil rights legislation. Expanding the Frontiers of Civil Rights documents this important shift in state level policy and makes clear that civil rights in Michigan embraced not only blacks but women, the elderly, native Americans, migrant workers, and the physically handicapped.

For the first time, a historian and seasoned mariner looks beyond the specific circumstances of individual shipwrecks in an effort to reach a clearer understanding of the economic, political, and psychological factors that have influenced the 25,000 wrecks on the Great Lakes over the past 300 years. Looking at the entire tragic history of shipwrecks on North America's expansive inland seas, from the 1679 loss of the Griffon to the mysterious sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975, Mark L. Thompson concludes that a wreck is not an isolated event. In Graveyard of the Lakes, Thompson suggests that most of the accidents and deaths on the lakes have been the result of human error, ranging from simple mistakes to gross incompetence. In addition to his compelling analysis of the causes of shipwrecks, Thompson includes factual accounts of more than one hundred wrecks. Graveyard of the Lakes will forever change the reader's perspective on shipwrecks.

Great Lakes Journey is a follow-up to William Ashworth's earlier book The Late, Great Lakes, published in 1986. Fifteen years after his first trip, Ashworth journeys to many of the same places and talks to many of the same people to examine the changes that have taken place along the Great Lakes since the 1980s. Through personal observation, research, and numerous interviews with scientists, activists, and government agencies, Ashworth creates a detailed picture of the status of the Great Lakes at the end of the twentieth century. Among the most prominent changes he finds are the arrival of the zebra mussel and other exotic species, the rise and fall of the RAP process for pollution cleanup, a growing public mistrust of government action, a substantial loss of habitat and biodiversity, and an explosion of urban sprawl along the shores of the Lakes. Great Lakes Journey is a welcome update on the latest issues affecting the Great Lakes region.

Michigan's Upper Peninsula was a major destination for Finns during the peak years of migration in the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth century. Several Upper Peninsula communities had large Finnish populations and Finnish churches, lodges, cooperative stores, and temperance societies. Ishpeming and Hancock, especially, were important nationally as Finnish cultural centers. Originally published in Finnish in 1967 by Armas K. E. Holmio, History of the Finns in Michigan, translated into English by Ellen M. Ryynanen, brings the story of the contribution of Finnish immigrants into the mainstream of Michigan history. Holmio combines firsthand experience and personal contact with the first generation of Finnish immigrants with research in Finnish-language sources to create an important and compelling story of an immigrant group and its role in the development of Michigan.

Examines the historical, cultural, and social history of the Canadian portion of the Detroit River community in the first half of the nineteenth century. Uppermost Canada examines the historical, cultural, and social history of the Canadian portion of the Detroit River community in the first half of the nineteenth century. The phrase "Uppermost Canada," denoting the western frontier of Upper Canada (modern Ontario), was applied to the Canadian shore of the Detroit River during the War of 1812 by a British officer, who attributed it to President James Madison. The Western District was one of the partly-judicial, partly-governmental municipal units combining contradictory arisocratic and democratic traditions into which the province was divided until 1850. With its substantial French-Canadian population and its veneer of British officialdom, in close proximity to a newly American outpost, the Western District was potentially the most unstable. Despite all however, Alan Douglas demonstrates that the Western District endured without apparent change longer than any of the others.

White-winged schooners once dominated commerce and culture on the Great Lakes, and songs relieved the hours on board, but that way of life and its music ended when steam-driven mechanical boats swept schooners from the inland seas. Recognizing in the late 1930s, almost too late, that this rich oral tradition was going to the grave along with the last generation of schoonermen, Ivan H. Walton undertook a quest to save the songs of the Great Lakes sailors. Racing time and its ravages, he searched out ancient mariners in lakefront hospitals, hangouts, and watering holes. Walton reconstructed songs from one of the most colorful periods in American history, discovering melodies and lyrics to more than a hundred songs. With its stories, lyrics, musical scores by folksinger/historian Lee Murdock, and accompanying CD, Windjammers ensures that sailing chanteys that have not been heard for over one hundred years can be heard again and again far into the future.

Michigan has long been proud of its military service, but many of its early accomplishments are unknown to most of the state's residents. This book fills the void in our knowledge by bringing together an impressive array of information on Michigan's armed forces from 1775 to 1860. Here we find the name rank, unit, and dates of service for all known Michigan men who served in the Revolutionary War, Indian Wars, War of 1812, Black Hawk War, Toledo War, Patriot War, and the Mexican-American War. Accompanying histories explain the reasons behind the conflicts and include maps showing all theaters of operations for Michigan troops. The in-depth accounts of the state's role in these hostilities often serve as the first serious and comprehensive studies of the contributions made by its citizens in these events. Ultimately, this book stands as a fitting memorial to the many men who took up arms on behalf of Michigan.

Most information regarding the French Canadians in Michigan concerns those who settled during the French period. However, another significant migration occurred during the industrial period of the nineteenth century, when many French Canadians settled in the Saginaw Valley and on the Keweenaw Peninsula-two regions characteristic of Michigan's economic development in the nineteenth century. The lumber industry of the Saginaw Valley and the copper mines of the Keweenaw Peninsula provided very different challenges to French Canadian settlers as they tried to find ways to adapt to changing environments and industrial realities. The French Canadians of Michigan looks at the factors behind the French Canadian immigration by providing a statistical profile of the migratory movement as well as analysis of the strategies used by French Canadians to cope with and adapt to new environments. Using federal manuscript censuses, parochial archives, and government reports, Jean Lamarre closely examines who the immigrants were, the causes of their migration, their social and geographical itinerary, and the reasons they chose Michigan as their destination. Besides comparing the different settlements in the Saginaw Valley and the Keweenaw Peninsula, Lamarre also compares the Michigan French Canadians to the French Canadians who settled in New England during the same period. This book is a major contribution to the study of the French Canadian migration to the Midwest and will be valuable to researchers of both Michigan and French Canadian history.

Beyond the Windswept Dunes takes the reader into a world of maritime adventure as it was experienced by the sailors, passengers, rescue workers, shipping magnates, industrialists, and many other people whose livelihoods revolved around Michigan's port city of Muskegon. At one time the leading edge of westward expansion, Muskegon was a place where lumbering and lakers merged and where rails met decks, a place situated midway along the coast of a great and sometimes stormy inland sea. Here Elizabeth Sherman offers both a shipping history and a portrait of the city. The events covered range from the visit by the British sloop H.M.S. Felicity in 1779 through Muskegon's boom years as "Lumber Queen of the World," from the city's revitalization with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway to its recent establishment of a floating museum complex for historic naval vessels. The book's focus is on the ships themselves-such as the Lyman M. Davis, Salvor, Highway 16, and Milwaukee Clipper-vessels that were noteworthy for being the first of their kind or for their popularity, unusual and distinctive careers, or tragic losses. A number of ships were lost in Lake Michigan near Muskegon Harbor, and the stories of some of the most notable wrecks and rescue missions appear in this book, including the psychic intervention that led the William Nelson to the exciting rescue of the crew aboard the sinking Our Son. The book offers many first-hand statements of shipwreck survivors and other witnesses, lending an authentic voice to the accounts.

Now back in print, this is the only biography devoted to the life and career of Roy D. Chapin—one of the foremost figures in the history of Detroit's independent automotive industry. "John Cuthbert Long's Roy D. Chapin is a thorough and detailed biography of a remarkable, but little-known Detroit automobile industry pioneer. Historians should include Roy Dikeman Chapin (February 23, 1880–February 16, 1936) in any listing of significant American auto industry pioneers, along with the Duryea brothers, Ransom E. Olds, Henry Leland, Henry Ford, William C. Durant, and the Dodge brothers. Outside the cloister of automotive historians, Roy Chapin is an unknown. This is in part because no company or car bore his name. Unlike many contemporary auto pioneers, Roy Chapin was a modest man who did not promote himself. Even Long's superb biography of Chapin is not well-known because it was privately printed in 1945 with a small press run. In reprinting this volume, Wayne State University Press is making an important contribution to automotive history." —From the introduction by Charles K. Hyde, Department of History, Wayne State University

Pulling Down the Barn eloquently recalls author Anne-Marie Oomen’s personal journey as she discovers herself an outsider on her family farm located in western Michigan’s Oceana County, in the township of Elbridge—a couple hundred acres in the middle of rural America. Written as a series of heartfelt interlocking narratives, this collection of essays portrays the realities of farm life: haying, picking asparagus and cherries, the machinery of tractors and pickers; but each chapter also touches upon the more ethereal and rarely articulated: the stoic love that permeates a family, the farmer’s struggle with identity, and the way land can shape a childhood. With its rich language and style, Pulling Down the Barn engrosses the reader in Oomen’s memories—setting beauty and wonder against work and loss—and paints a poignant portrait of growing up in rural Michigan.

Set on South Manitou Island in Lake Michigan during the fall of 1871, To Keep the South Manitou Light tells the fictional tale of a twelve-year-old girl named Jessie, whose family has been taking care of the lighthouse on the island for generations. Jessie's mother has kept the light by herself since Jessie's grandfather died of a heart attack ten days before the story begins. Afraid her family will lose the lighthouse, Jessie decides not to mail her mother's letter informing the Lighthouse Service of her grandfather's death and instead puts it in one of her mother's canning jars and tosses it into the lake. Later, as a fierce November ice storm hits the island, the repercussions of this action will not only teach Jessie about honor and responsibility but will also give her hard-earned insight into what it means to be brave. Written for children between the ages of 8 and 12, To Keep the South Manitou Light provides regional history along with everyday lessons, all while engrossing young readers in an exciting story.

In 1862 at the age of thirty-two, Centreville, Michigan, physician John Bennitt joined the 19th Michigan Infantry Regiment as an assistant surgeon and remained in military service for the rest of the war. During this time Bennitt wrote more than two hundred letters home to his wife and daughters sharing his careful and detailed observations of army life, his medical trials in the field and army hospitals, dramatic battles, and character sketches of the many people he encountered, including his regimental comrades, captured Confederates, and local citizens in southern towns. Bennitt writes about the war’s progress on both the battlefield and the home front, and also reveals his changing view of slavery and race. Bennitt traces the history of the 19th Michigan Infantry, from its mustering in Dowagiac in August 1862, its duty in Kentucky and Tennessee, its capture and imprisonment by Confederate forces, its subsequent exchange and reorganization, its participation in the Atlanta and the Carolinas campaigns, its place in the Grand Review in Washington, and the final mustering out in Detroit in June 1865. John Bennitt’s significant collection of letters sheds light not only on the Civil War but on the many aspects of life in a small Michigan town. Although a number of memoirs from Civil War surgeons have been published in the last decade, “I Hope to Do My Country Service” is the first of its kind from a Michigan regimental surgeon to appear in more than a century.

Biography of John and Horace Dodge and the history of their company. At the start of the Ford Motor Company in 1903, the Dodge Brothers supplied nearly every car part needed by the up-and-coming auto giant. After fifteen years of operating a successful automotive supplier company, John and Horace Dodge again changed the face of the automotive market in 1914 by introducing their own car. The Dodge Brothers automobile carried on their names even after their untimely deaths in 1920, which led to its sale in 1925 to New York bankers and subsequent purchase in 1928 by Walter Chrysler. Hyde not only details the brothers' lives and influence on automotive manufacturing and marketing trends in the early part of the twentieth century but also their civic contributions to Detroit, their hiring of African Americans and women, and their often anonymous charitable contributions to local organizations. Despite their achievements and their critical role in the early success of Henry Ford, John and Horace Dodge are usually overlooked in histories of the early automotive industry, but Hyde has put them front and center again to appropriately credit their lasting legacy.

Ivan H. Walton was a pioneering folklorist who collected the songs and stories of aging sailors living along the shores of the Great Lakes in the 1930s. His collection is unique in the annals of Great Lakes folklore. It began as a search for songs but broadened into a collection of weather signs, shipboard beliefs, greenhorn tales, and stories of the intense rivalry between sailors and the steamboat men who replaced them. Edited by Joe Grimm, Songquest: The Journals of Great Lakes Folklorist Ivan H. Walton is a selection from the daily journals Walton wrote during his travels as a folklore collector. It is clear that Walton, a professor of English at the University of Michigan, both admired the sailors of the Great Lakes for what they had done during their working years and worried about them as they entered the twilight of their lives. Walton went beyond the songs he set out to find and captured the pitch and roll of the Great Lakes alive with white-winged schooners. His writings provide a clear picture of the colorful individuals he met and interviewed―captains, cabin boys, tugmen, chandlers, boardinghouse owners, dredgers, and light keepers. Walton also documented the methods he used and recorded his personal thoughts about his nomadic life and the events going on around him during the 1930s, including the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt's election, and the end of Prohibition.

In My Forty Years with Ford, Charles Sorensen—sometimes known as “Henry Ford’s man,” sometimes as “Cast-iron Charlie”—tells his own story, and it is as challenging as it is historic. He emerges as a man who was not only one of the great production geniuses of the world but also a man who called the plays as he saw them. He was the only man who was able to stay with Ford for almost the full history of his empire, yet he never hesitated to go against Ford when he felt the interests of the company demanded it. When labor difficulties mounted and Edsel’s fatal illness was upon him, Sorensen sided with Edsel against Henry Ford and Harry Bennett, and he insisted that Henry Ford II be brought in to direct the company despite the aging founder’s determination that no one but he hold the presidential reins. First published in 1956, My Forty Years with Ford has now been reissued in paperback for the first time. The Ford story has often been discussed in print but has rarely been articulated by someone who was there. Here Sorensen provides an eyewitness account of the birth of the Model T, the early conflicts with the Dodge brothers, the revolutionary announcement of the five-dollar day, and Sorensen’s development of the moving assembly line—a concept that changed our world. Although Sorensen conceived, designed, and built the giant Willow Run plant in nineteen months and then proceeded to turn out eight thousand giant bombers, his life’s major work was to make possible the vision of Henry Ford and to postpone the personal misfortune with which it ended. My Forty Years with Ford is both a personal history of a business empire and a revelation that moves with excitement and the power of tragedy.

Anne-Marie Oomen uses a wealth of vivid language and personal details to bring scenes from her childhood on a family farm to life in House of Fields. Yet the focus of this book shifts away from the daily activities of the farm, which Oomen presented in Pulling Down the Barn, to life outside its boundaries, as she explores the complex meaning of “education” in all of its rural forms. From reading lessons to shattered windows, from dynamite to first kisses, from lost underwear to confirmation names, these stories depict the spiritual and emotional journey of being educated by family, fields, and church—as well as by traditional schools. Oomen’s description of the farmhouse where she grew up becomes the central image for this collection of essays. This once-grand home, filled with memories and the physical wear of family life, is the soul of her family’s farm, and its sense of nurturing and protection is reflected in the author’s relationships to her mother, her teachers, and her mentors. Within this context, Oomen examines memories from her formal education, which began during the final years of the one-room school era then shifted to the “consolidated” schools of the late 1950s and 1960s and to a parochial school system. Struggles with reading, first friendships, early loves, and contradictory educational models are coupled with the challenges of coming of age and the ups and downs of an emotional education between mother and daughter. Fans and teachers of creative nonfiction, as well as anyone with roots in a rural community, will enjoy this lyrical and revealing volume.

A Pocketful of Passage is based on the memories of Annie Bowen Hoge, whose father was a lighthouse keeper on the Great Lakes for many years. Every summer until she was nine, Annie went with her brother, sister, and mother to live at Passage Island, where her father tended the signal that guided ships through an important shipping lane between Passage Island and Isle Royale in Lake Superior. A Pocketful of Passage is told from the point of view of nine-year-old Annie, who loved living in the old, secluded lighthouse amid the breathtaking scenery of northern Michigan. Her surroundings provide a wonderland of places to play and explore. Annie’s stories include boat trips to nearby Isle Royale (“the big island”), tales of mischief with visiting children, and a visit from the crew of a fishing boat lost in the lake. She also describes the day-to-day life of the lighthouse keepers, giving simple explanations about the purpose and the procedure of her father’s job. Yet Annie’s parents see beyond the adventures of Passage Island to recognize the danger for their young children, living isolated from doctors, stores, churches, and schools. When they tell Annie that this will be their final summer at Passage Island, her stories take on a new significance. Loraine Campbell has combined Annie’s recollections with extensive research about lighthouse keeping to present an informative and enjoyable account of Michigan history for young readers. Maps are also included to illustrate the locations mentioned in the book.

Detroit on Stage traces the extraordinary history of Detroit's The Players Club from its beginnings in 1910 until present. Founded in 1910, Detroit's Players Club is an all-male club devoted to the production of theater by members for other members' enjoyment. Called simply "The Players," members of the club design, direct, and act in the shows, including playing the female roles. In Detroit on Stage , Marijean Levering takes readers behind the scenes of the club's private "frolics" to explore the unique history of The Players, discover what traditions they still hold dear, and examine why they have survived relatively unscathed through changes that have shuttered older and more venerable institutions. The Players developed during a nationwide vogue for community and art theater and also as Detroit's auto elites were in the midst of forming new private clubs to add to their own sense of prestige. By the 1920s, The Players had built their own playhouse and established most of their significant traditions, including the monthly frolics, at which the members perform for each other. At the frolics, members in the audience would wear tuxedos and drink beer out of personalized mugs, customs that remain to this day. Prominent Detroiters have always been among the ranks of the Players, and several well-known auto industry figures were members from the beginning, including banker Henry B. Joy, Oldsmobile sales manager Roy D. Chapin, and Ford executives James Couzens and Edsel Ford. Over the decades that followed the club's founding, its membership and traditions have remained strong despite major world events that shook Detroit such as Prohibition, the Great Depression, and World War II. In looking at The Players of today, Levering explores the camaraderie and sense of history that has kept the club together and relatively unchanged throughout the years. She also examines the club's notable members and its unique place in Detroit history. Detroit on Stage places The Players club in the broader contexts of social clubs, explaining how these organizations originate and function. Readers interested in Detroit cultural history and theater studies will enjoy this rare glimpse inside a long-standing Detroit cultural institution.

Chauncey H. Cooke enlisted in the Union army in 1862 at only sixteen, after lying about his age. Like many soldiers, Cooke saw only limited action in battle, but his letters to family members paint a realistic and compelling picture of daily life in the Civil War. Alongside dramatic descriptions of encounters with Indians, comrades, rebel prisoners, slaves, and Southern whites, Cooke also describes the boredom of camp, the chaos of battle, and the suffering caused by illness. Cooke’s emotional closeness to his family, especially his mother, also comes across strongly in his letters, and readers will feel an instant connection to the young soldier through his words. Among other collections of Civil War writings, A Badger Boy in Blue stands out because of the wealth of rich detail included in Cooke’s letters. Readers are presented with an accurate picture of a soldier’s daily life through Cooke’s commentary on everything from the food he ate, to the weather, to the kind of paper that he used for writing. In addition, Cooke’s descriptions of battle are valuable in offering fresh insight into the often-overlooked midwestern armies and campaigns. His descriptions of the siege of Vicksburg and the Atlanta Campaign are especially thoughtful and unique. The letters also present empathetic and colorful portraits of the frightened, defiant, and curious civilians that the army encountered along the way. William Mulligan, Jr., provides an introduction and annotations in A Badger Boy in Blue to add expert commentary and context for Cooke’s letters. Four maps are also included to clarify locations mentioned in the text. History buffs, scholars, and general readers interested in the Civil War will appreciate this thorough volume.

In Life with Mae, the late Neal Shine combines an engaging memoir of his family life in prewar Detroit with a biography of his mother, Mae, whose vibrant spirit and fierce affection left an indelible mark on her three sons and their friends and neighbors. Mae was born in 1909 in the small town of Carrick-on-Shannon, Ireland, where her father ran the depot that distributed Guiness Stout. Going into service as a housekeeper at fourteen, Mae quickly saw that the only future she had in Ireland was as a servant. By the time she was eighteen, she had saved enough money from her housekeeping job for a one-way ticket to the United States, where she eventually settled in Detroit. Shine, longtime editor and former publisher of the Detroit Free Press, tells his story in a series of entertaining interconnected vignettes, reflecting on his mother, his family life in Detroit, and later his journey to visit family in Ireland. Whether recounting Mae’s feud with a local tavern owner, her distrust of the food sold by local grocers, or her standoff with a department store deliveryman who had come to repossess their furniture, Shine lovingly conveys his mother’s fierce protective streak, her effervescent personality, and her outspoken identification with the poor. For fans of Shine’s insightful and humorous storytelling, as well as fellow Detroiters and readers with Irish roots, Life with Mae will be an entertaining and satisfying read.

Robert E. Quirk and his future wife, Marianne, were both Wayne State University students when they met and fell in love in 1941, but they were quickly parted when Quirk was drafted. Decades after their marriage and the end of the war, Quirk shares the letters they exchanged during World War II. The letters in When You Come Home paint a vivid picture of the couple’s growing personal relationship alongside the politics of wartime, both overseas and on the homefront. As Quirk writes of combat in France and details reactions abroad to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Marianne describes the impact of these events back in Detroit. When You Come Home also reveals personal glimpses of life in the 1940s, as the two exchange everyday stories about their families and the cities they live in and visit, about their studies at Wayne State, and about their jobs. Quirk’s letters are presented along with commentary about his experiences at the time, giving the letters additional context and meaning. This volume also includes a foreword by former Detroit Free Press publisher Neal Shine. For readers curious about day-to-day life during World War II, When You Come Home will be a fascinating and personal glimpse into the time period.

With roots extending back to the first decade of the twentieth century, Nash Motor Company and the Hudson Motor Car Company managed to compete and even prosper as independent producers until they merged in 1954 to form the American Motors Company, which itself remained independent until it was bought in 1987 by the Chrysler Corporation. In Storied Independent Automakers, renowned automotive scholar Charles K. Hyde argues that these companies, while so far neglected by auto history scholars, made notable contributions to automotive engineering and styling and were an important part of the American automobile industry. Hyde investigates how the relatively small corporations struggled in a postwar marketplace increasingly dominated by the giant firms of Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler, which benefited from economies of scale in styling, engineering, tooling, marketing, and sales. He examines the innovations that kept the independents' products distinctive from those of the Big Three and allowed them to survive and sometimes prosper against their larger competitors. Hyde also focuses on the visionary leaders who managed the companies, including Charles Nash, Roy D. Chapin, Howard Coffin, George Mason, George Romney, and Roy D. Chapin Jr., who have been largely unexamined by other scholars. Finally, Hyde analyzes the ultimate failure of the American Motors Company and the legacy it left for carmakers and consumers today. Storied Independent Automakers is based on extensive research in archival collections generated by the three companies. Residing in large part in the DaimlerChrysler Corporate Collection, these sources have been seldom tapped by other scholars before this volume. Auto historians and readers interested in business history will enjoy Storied Independent Automakers.

Though usually regarded as a footnote in automotive history, Maxwell Motor was one of the leading automobile producers in the United States during the first quarter of the twentieth century, and its cars offered several innovations to buyers of the time. For instance, Maxwell's was the first popular car with its engine in front instead of under the body, the first to be designed with three-point suspension and shaft drive, and one of the earliest cars to feature thermo-syphon cooling. In Maxwell Motor and the Making of the Chrysler Corporation, Anthony J. Yanik examines the machines, the process, and the men behind Maxwell, describing both the vehicle engineering and the backroom wheeling and dealing that characterized the emergence and disappearance of the early auto companies. In this detailed history, Yanik charts the company's evolution through the early Maxwell-Briscoe years, 1903-1912; the Maxwell Motor Company years, 1913-1920; and finally the Maxwell Motor Corporation years, 1921-1925. He considers the influential leaders, including Jonathan Maxwell, Benjamin Briscoe, Walter Flanders, and Walter P. Chrysler, who executed the business decisions and corporate mergers that shaped each tumultuous era, concluding with Chrysler's eventual deal to transfer all Maxwell assets to form a new Chrysler Corporation in 1925. Yanik also discusses the aftermath of Maxwell's dissolution and the fate of its famous corporate leaders. For this study, Yanik draws on a wealth of primary sources including old automotive trade journals, the writings of Ben Briscoe and William Durant, and company records in the Chrysler archives. Maxwell Motor and the Making of the Chrysler Corporation fills a gap in existing automotive scholarship and proves that the Maxwell story is an excellent resource for documenting the development of the automobile industry in the early twentieth century. Auto buffs and local historians will appreciate Yanik's thorough and engaging look at this slice of automotive history.

In a working life that spanned half a century, Ernie Goodman was one of the nation’s preeminent defense attorneys for workers and the militant poor. His remarkable career put him at the center of the struggle for social justice in the twentieth century, from the sit-down strikes of the 1930s to the Red Scare of the 1950s to the freedom struggles, anti-war demonstrations, and ghetto rebellions of the 1960s and 1970s. The Color of Law: Ernie Goodman, Detroit, and the Struggle for Labor and Civil Rights traces Goodman’s journey through these tumultuous events and highlights the many moments when changing perceptions of social justice clashed with legal precedent. Authors Steve Babson, Dave Riddle, and David Elsila tell Goodman’s life story, beginning with his formative years as the son of immigrant parents in Detroit’s Jewish ghetto, to his early ambitions as a corporate lawyer, and his conversion to socialism and labor law during the Great Depression. From Detroit to Mississippi, Goodman saw police and other officials giving the “color of law” to actions that stifled freedom of speech and nullified the rights of workers and minorities. The authors highlight Goodman’s landmark cases in defense of labor and civil rights and examine the complex relationships he developed along the way with individuals like Supreme Court Justice and former Michigan governor Frank Murphy, UAW president Walter Reuther, Detroit mayor Coleman Young, and congressman George Crockett. Drawing from a rich collection of letters, oral histories, court records, and press accounts, the authors re-create the compelling story of Goodman’s life. The Color of Law demonstrates that the abuse of power is non-partisan and that individuals who oppose injustice can change the course of events. For additional information, reviews, photos, and events, please see erniegoodman.com.

In 1895, visionary Rochester, New York, attorney George B. Selden was granted a patent for a “road-carriage” that he had designed but not built. In anticipation of a burgeoning American auto industry, Selden had filed a series of amendments to his application, delaying the process for sixteen years in order to stretch his claim out as long as possible. As a result, the Selden patent covered all gasoline-powered vehicles designed since 1879 and manufactured, sold, or used in the United States during a seventeen-year period ending in 1912. Selden’s ally, the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers, granted licenses and collected royalties on cars made by other manufacturers until 1903, when the patent was challenged by a coalition of automakers led by Henry Ford. In this classic study of the Selden patent case, author William Greenleaf argues that Ford’s defiance of the patent was considered heroic and that his victory in court after a contentious eight-year trade war was historic. Based on Greenleaf’s extensive research in the Ford corporate archives, Monopoly on Wheels shows that the real issue at stake in the Selden patent case was the democratization of the automobile as a mass-produced, low-priced commodity as opposed to its former status as the exclusive property of the wealthy elite. Greenleaf shows that the suit was a foundation stone, along with the Model T, mass production methods, and the five-dollar day, upon which Ford’s reputation as a rugged individualist was built. Greenleaf also investigates implications that the legal battle had beyond the auto industry for inventions, patents, and technological progress in general. Monopoly on Wheels vividly illustrates how the Selden patent battle became a landmark in the social and technological revolution of the early twentieth century. On the one-hundredth anniversary of the Selden patent case and fifty years after it was first published, this volume will be a welcome addition to any auto historian’s library. This reprinted edition also includes a new introduction by David L. Lewis.