1 WINTER 2014 Out on the Town highlights New Exhibitions Coming in 2014 Marking the first substantial changes in temporary exhibits at the Detroit Historical Museum since the Grand Re-Opening in November 2012, look for five new exhibits and displays opening throughout the Museum in the first months of 2014. Highlighting the new offerings is Out on the Town: Drinking and Dining in Detroit Since 1920, which opens to the public on Saturday, February 1 in the Booth Wilkinson Gallery. During the 20th century, Detroit offered drinking and dining places that reflected contemporary economic and social norms of the time. From prohibition era speakeasies, working man’s watering holes of the 1930s/40s, jazz clubs of the 1940s/50s, A 1960s party at The Roostertail (photo courtesy of The Roostertail) nightclubs of the 1950s/60s and businessmen’s restaurants of the 1970s, this exhibit will highlight many unique venues that were — and in some cases — continue to be, the places where relationships formed, deals were made and life happened. The Center Stage section of the Allesee Gallery of Culture will see the debut of Detroit Decides: Our Most Celebrated Skyscrapers, which will feature the Fisher Building, the Guardian Building and the Penobscot Building. Our popular Automotive Showplace replaces the 1963 Ford Mustang II Concept with a 1916 Packard Twin Six Touring Car owned by Henry B. Joy, who was president of the Packard Motor Car Company in Detroit. Finally, the latest installments of New to the Collection and Detroit Artists Showcase round out the Museum’s Katherine and Manya at Abick’s in Detroit latest displays. For a complete look at everything that’s new in 2014 at the Detroit Historical Museum, go to pages 4 and 5 of this issue of Making History. FEATURES 4–5 Detroit Historical Museum Exhibits 6–7 Behind the Scenes Tours 10–11 Dossin Great Lakes Museum Exhibits & Events (photo courtesy of Manya Abick Soviak & Eric Lakeman) 14 Membership News 2 Letter from the Executive Director Bob Bury History Doesn’t Take a Holiday This time of year can be so busy, as the holidays MAKING HISTORY is the official quarterly newsletter approach and collide with one of the most hectic parts of of the Detroit Historical Society, published each winter, spring, summer and fall. Questions and the Detroit Historical Society calendar. Nevertheless, it is comments may be submitted to Bob Sadler at a “good busy-ness,” and it also reminds us to appreciate [email protected]. all of the positives we’ve experienced in 2013. STAFF 2013 has been an amazing year. More than 125,000 Robert Bury Executive Director & CEO visitors have passed through the doors of the Detroit Tobi Voigt Chief Curatorial Officer Historical Museum in the year since our Grand Re-Opening. Kate Baker Managing Director Tracy Irwin Director of Exhibitions Attendance at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle has also & Collections been very strong increasing over 30 percent since we re-opened after Alease Johnson Director of Operations renovations last Spring. With the transition of Belle Isle to a State of & Administration Michigan-operated park, we look forward to providing you with an even Kate MacEwen Director of Development Bob Sadler Director of Marketing & Sales better experience at the Dossin — starting this holiday season when we Joel Stone Senior Curator will be open every day from Thursday, December 26 through Sunday, January 5th (except for New Year’s Day). This year, you, your family and OFFICERS friends can enjoy extended hours at both the Detroit Historical Museum Thomas C. Buhl President and the Dossin and enjoy all that Midtown Detroit and Belle Isle have Francis W. McMillan II Immediate Past President to offer during this wonderful time of the year. As always, we offer free Vice Presidents admission at both locations and welcome your donations. Admission to Mark J. Albrecht Robert R. Lubera Belle Isle remains free. We will keep you advised of any changes you can Lawrence N. Bluth Kenneth J. Svoboda expect when Belle Isle officially becomes a State park in mid-February. James Deutchman Jeffrey Zaleski Dennis Levasseur Secretary As you are reading this, our hard-working Society staff has just Jeffrey Zaleski Treasurer completed our busiest day of the year — December 7 — when half of our staff welcomes more than 10,000 guests every year during Midtown’s Sheila Stone Historian annual Noel Night and the other half of our team makes the annual TRUSTEES Detroit Historical Society Ball happen, this year, at the beautiful Fillmore David A. Anderson John P. Moylan Detroit. The Ball is our biggest single day fundraiser and this year will Akosua Barthwell Evans Joseph S. Moynihan bring in more than $200,000 in support of our work. Gary Brown David Nicholson John C. Carter Gregory A. Nowak Visit us soon to experience some great new exhibits coming to the Detroit Gregory Cheesewright Linda Paullin-Hebden Historical Museum. Details of those exhibits are found on our cover and Judith Knudsen Christie Dr. John Popovich on pages 4–5. It’s also a great time to be a Society member, with three John P. Decker Leslye Rosenbaum Bernadette M. Dennehy Rick Ruffner new special interest groups — the Friends of the Glancy Trains, Friends Douglas Dossin Jeffrey J. Schostak of Detroit’s Black History and Detroit 313 — that join our Dossin Maritime Diane Farber Lawrence Shaevsky Group as additional ways to get more involved in the areas of Detroit Stephanie Germack-Kerzic Lois Shaevsky history that interest you most. Learn more about them on page 14. Robert W. Gillette, Jr. Thomas Shea Nicholas B. Gorga Frederick E. Shell Enjoy the Winter issue of Making History. Thank you for your continued Ann Greenstone Andre L. Spivey support. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season that includes a visit Frederick E. Hall Ned Staebler to one of our museums! Scott J. Hamerink Matthew A. Swegles Robert E. Hoban Frank Taylor Sincerely, Kenneth Katz Susan Tukel Michael Kosonog Pamela Wyett Martin A. Krall Kimberly Youngblood Kristin A. Lusn Robert A. Bury ADVisory COMMITTEE Executive Director & CEO Maggie Allesee Sean P. Cotton Charles Bayer, Jr. Bob Gillette, Sr. Joanne D. Brodie Christa M. Schwartz Kevin P.A. Broderick Honorable Robert P. Young, Jr. Judy Christian 3 DETROIT HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEWS African American History Day Home Schoolers can have a “Field Day” returns February 1 at the Detroit Historical Museum The Detroit Historical Museum is a great place to kick Home school students and their families are invited to a special program off Black History Month as we celebrate our annual day at the Detroit Historical Museum on Wednesday, February 12 from African American History Day on Saturday, February 1 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This free event celebrates African Students explore Detroit’s history through a series of 30-minute hands- American history and culture with activities on all three on workshops that will have them attending school in Detroit during levels of the Museum. the 19th century, handling and interacting with items from the fur trade, Find a variety of gifts or pamper yourself with items from comparing and contrasting automobile hand-assembly versus the our Artists Market throughout the museum; learn from assembly line and more. Students can choose which workshops they many of the historical organizations in the area, including will attend and record their participation on a Field Day Scorecard. the Tuskegee Airmen and neighborhood groups; and The cost for the event is $5 per student or chaperone. To register for this bring the kids to enjoy entertainment and a caricature program, please call a Marketing & Sales Specialist at 313.833.1733 artist all afternoon. Refreshments will be available for or email [email protected]. purchase throughout the event. Visit detroithistorical.org for more details. Tobi Voigt named to national council The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) announced the election of the Society’s Chief Curatorial Officer Tobi Voigt to its governing council in September at its Annual Meeting in Birmingham, Alabama. Voigt joins three other new council members, including: • Janet Gallimore, Executive Director, Idaho State Historical Society, Boise, Idaho • Jane Lindsey, Director, Juneau-Douglas City Museum, Juneau, Alaska • Kenneth C. Turino, Manager of Community Engagement and Exhibitions, Historic New England, Boston, Massachusetts. AASLH Council is comprised of 16 individuals and four officers, representing a diversity of institutions and professions in the field of history. Each council member serves one four-year term. AASLH is a nonprofit professional organization of individuals and Black Historic Sites Committee Chair Kimberly Simmons institutions working to preserve and promote history. From its (left) and member Ashley Richardson welcome guests at headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, AASLH works to advance last year’s African American History Day. knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of local history in America. Border Crossings book receives statewide award The Detroit Historical Society’s 2012 book “Border Crossings: The Detroit River Region in the War of 1812,” edited by Denver Brunsman, Joel Stone, and Douglas Fisher, was honored with a State History Award in September in the category of Publications: Private Printing. The Historical Society of Michigan presented the 2013 State History Awards at their annual meeting and State History Conference in Kalamazoo in September. The State History Awards are the highest recognition given by the state’s official historical society. “Border Crossings” was the result of a year-long community history project conducted by the Detroit Historical Society and history graduate students at Wayne State University. The book’s contents focused on subjects often ignored by 1812 historians, namely the lives and interactions of the American citizens, British subjects, French settlers, Native Americans, and African Americans living in the Detroit River region before, during, and after the war.