Searching collections:
Learn
During World War II, America looked to the Michigan auto industry to provide for its manufacturing needs. Auto makers responded, transitioning their factories in order to create complicated machinery and weapons. Chrysler and Ford turned to productions of tanks and bombers, respectively.
In the 1950s, throwaway bottles became popular, and in turn caused massive pollution problems. By voting in a referendum, Michigan citizens banned these bottles and instated the bottle and can deposit system that remains in place today. Since the bill went into effect, roadside litter has been reduced by 80 percent.
Shortly after the Civil War, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg of Battle Creek began experimenting with healthy breakfast foods at the Sanitarium in Battle Creek. The cereal company invented wheat and corn flakes, and were at the cutting edge of advertising at the time. William Post, a former patient at the Sanitarium, formed Post Cereal, and both companies are still in operation today.
By the second year of the Civil War, the Union Army began accepting African Americans as soldiers. Michigan organized a regiment of black soldiers in August of 1862, the First Michigan Colored Infantry. This edition of the Mitten follows the progress of this unit, as well as detailing the battle at Fort Wagner with the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, one of the African American regiments in the war.
In 1893, Chicago hosted the Columbian Exposition, a huge fair attracting a world wide audience. Michigan contributed elaborate exhibits to the fair, including a massive wooden house, a ladies parlor, agricultural samples, and examples from the mining and lumbering industries. Future auto manufacturers were inspired by what they saw at the fair, and which gave rise to the auto industry in Michigan.
Douglass Houghton, the state geologist of Michigan, discovered copper in the Keweenaw Peninsula in 1841. Despite the many difficulties Michiganians encountered, copper was soon being mined commercially with great success. The harsh conditions eventually led miners to go on strike, and then leave for the better pay and conditions of the auto industry. Features an article on Big Annie and the mining strikes ending with the Italian Hall tragedy.
Martin Luther King Jr. first gave his “I Have A Dream” speech in Detroit in 1963, during the Walk to Freedom. This civil rights demonstration included about 125,000 people marching down Woodward Avenue. This edition includes features on several Civil Rights fighters including Rosa Parks.
The Great Depression hit Michigan especially hard, because of the impact on the auto industry. There was no unemployment insurance, so people turned to charities and soup kitchens, which could not keep up with the demand. When FDR was elected, the New Deal was introduced to help the country get back on its feet. This edition features a letter to Eleanor Roosevelt from a Michigan girl, and pictures from the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Father Jacques Marquette began his journey in Canada, as a missionary sent to convert native people to Christianity. He worked in Sault Ste. Marie with Odawa and Ojibway Indians, and then was sent farther west, eventually being sent to explore what is now the Mississippi River. Although he died during his return to St. Ignace on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, he left a legacy of exploration.
George Romney came to Michigan in 1940, and by 1954 was president of the American Motor Company. He founded a group that wanted a new constitution for Michigan, and was a delegate at the Constitutional Convention in 1963. He was the governor of Michigan for eight years, and was widely regarded as a very charismatic man. This edition features an interview with his former press secretary.
