[Historical Society of Michigan virtual presentation] Planting Progress: The Transformation of Michigan’s Agriculture with William Knudson, Michigan State University

Agriculture has played a crucial role in Michigan from the early 19th century territorial days to the present. Two centuries of technological changes have transformed our state’s farming practices. Join us to learn about three technological revolutions that have impacted the evolution of agriculture in Michigan— the mechanical revolution, the biological revolution, and the information revolution.

We'd like to thank the Historical Society of Michigan (HSM), which supports local history organizations, like us! They are continuing to make their History Hounds Lecture Series available online for free to members of HSM’s member organizations. Register for this remote presentation by 3:00pm the previous day. Click here to register. Select “A member of an Organizational Member of HSM” to enjoy this presentation at no charge.

[Historical Society of Michigan virtual presentation] From Cadillac to Traverse City: The Historic Old Indian Trail with Frank Ettawageshik, United Tribes of Michigan

For centuries, the Odawa and other Anishnaabe peoples have traveled between Cadillac and Traverse City. Since the late 1800s, historians have placed markers along this trail. In 1987, former Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Chairman Frank Ettawagheshik led the final phase of trail marking, placing the last markers from Lake Mitchell to Grand Traverse Bay after years of research, planning, and community collaboration. Learn about the history of the trail and its new guide map.

We'd like to thank the Historical Society of Michigan (HSM), which supports local history organizations, like us! They are continuing to make their History Hounds Lecture Series available online for free to members of HSM’s member organizations. Register for this remote presentation by 3:00pm the previous day. Click here to register. Select “A member of an Organizational Member of HSM” to enjoy this presentation at no charge.

[Historical Society of Michigan virtual presentation] Art Adorns the Paths of Life” A Capitol Catalogue with Michigan State Capitol Staff

For eighty years, Detroit’s William Wright Company decorated and furnished the interiors of buildings and boats, from the Michigan State Capitol to Bob-lo Island ferry S.S. Columbia. Explore the Michigan State Capitol's work to document the company's history and create a "new" resource for research, discover, and inspiration.

We'd like to thank the Historical Society of Michigan (HSM), which supports local history organizations, like us! They are continuing to make their History Hounds Lecture Series available online for free to members of HSM’s member organizations. Register for this remote presentation by 3:00pm the previous day. Click here to register. Select “A member of an Organizational Member of HSM” to enjoy this presentation at no charge.

[This program has been canceled and will be rescheduled for the fall]

Join us from home or at the St. Ignace Public Library for the History of the Michigan’s State Ferries, a ZOOM presentation with Les Bagley.

Before the Mackinac Bridge connected Michigan’s peninsulas, only ferryboats crossed the historic Straits of Mackinac. Ice-crushing railroad ferries first appeared in the 1880s. With increased automobile ownership and improved roads, Michigan became the first state to operate a ferry boat as part of its highway department. Researcher and ferry boat fan Les Bagley will discuss the history of Michigan’s State ferries.

This presentation is free to attend. Registration for online attendance is required and must be completed by 5 PM on Monday, August 4, 2025. Registration is recommended for those attending in-person at the library. Register here.

A lifelong ferry fan, Les Bagley has spent over three decades researching the history of Michigan State ferries and has produced previous articles and videos about them.

Learn basic basketmaking techniques to weave the seat of a footstool. The footstool will be assembled so students can create their seat with natural and dyed fleet reed. Students will learn how to warp the frame and then weave a herringbone pattern for the seat. The finished size is 12.5" long x 9.5" wide and 8" tall. The class is limited to 12 students and costs $75 per student. All materials are included, and students will bring home their footstools. 

Registration is required, here. Attendees may pay online with their registration or in person before the workshop.

Cheryl has a lifelong passion for creating art. With that passion, she began teaching art classes over 40 years ago. She has taught at the Midland Center for the Arts, Hessel School House, and Northwestern Michigan – College for Kids. As a mixed media artist, she loves to explore sculpture, weaving, sewing, and oil and acrylic painting. A year ago, she and her husband Dan moved to Cedarville to build their retirement home. She is excited to get involved in the community and share her knowledge and love of art. 

Since its discovery in 1896, the Newberry Tablet has sparked imagination and debate about its origins and meaning. Despite the long-held belief that the tablet is a hoax, new research is being conducted that tests the theory that Minoan explorers made the Tablet. This presentation will examine the history and culture of the Minoans to explain why they may have traveled to North America, as well as the evidence that supports this theory.

This is a free in-person presentation. Register here.

The women of Mackinac were overlooked leaders who ranged from fur traders to midwives, poets, farmers, and educators. Despite their ethnic and class differences, they worked together to achieve common goals. Examples include Jane Schoolcraft, Anna Jameson, and the partnership of Daisy Blodgett and nurse Stella King. Join author and artist, Melissa Croghan to take a look at the dramatic lives of these women, along with their invaluable contributions. 

Register for this FREE program here.

Mackinac Island resident Melissa Croghan is a writer and a multi-media artist of works on paper and canvases. As a writer, she is a poet, novelist, and memoirist. As an artist, she works with India ink, graphite, pastel, and oil paint.  In 2019, she held an exhibit on the 'Unsung Women of Mackinac'. That show spawned her research and book, "Great Women of Mackinac, 1800-1950", published late last spring by Michigan State University Press. 

Join us for an interview with Ellen Airgood. After the interview, the talk will include audience Q & A. Ellen resides in Grand Marais where she discovered her gift for storytelling. Her uplifting novels explore themes of friendship, family, community, and resilience. She is the author of South of Superior, Prairie Evers, The Education of Ivy Blake, and Tin Camp Road. 

Register here for this free in-person presentation.

Learn the traditional art of weaving. Using a frame loom, instructor Cheryl Gordon will assist students in weaving a 12" x 18" rag rug-style placemat. Students must bring approximately 1.5 yards of cotton fabric cut into 1.5" strips; this is enough fabric to make one placemat. Class size is limited to 12 students and costs $95. Price includes a frame loom (which can be taken home) and all other materials. 

This is a 6-hour workshop. Please bring a sack lunch.

Attendees may pay online with their registration or in person before the workshop. Register here.

Cheryl has a lifelong passion for creating art. With that passion, she began teaching art classes over 40 years ago. She has taught at the Midland Center for the Arts, Hessel School House, and Northwestern Michigan – College for Kids. As a mixed media artist, she loves to explore sculpture, weaving, sewing, and oil and acrylic painting. A year ago, she and her husband Dan moved to Cedarville to build their retirement home. She is excited to get involved in the community and share her knowledge and love of art. 

Join the Upper Peninsula Paranormal Research Society’s Tim Ellis and Brad Blair for an evening of spooky history and true stories about ghosts, monsters, and mysteries in the Upper Peninsula and around the Great Lakes. During this two-hour presentation, Ellis and Blair will share selections from their books, Yoopernatural Haunts and Great Lakes Monsters and Mysteries, and then open the floor for the audience to share their paranormal experiences.

This is a free in-person presentation. Register here.

In April 1944, an airplane flown by Tuskegee Airman Lt. Frank H. Moody was lost in Lake Huron. Divers discovered the wreck in 2014, and since 2015 Wayne Lusardi, Michigan state’s maritime archaeologist and artifact conservator with the Department of Natural Resources, has been leading expeditions to document the airplane. Lusardi will discuss his work to recover, conserve and exhibit the aircraft in Detroit.

Register for this FREE program here.

Wayne Lusardi is Michigan’s state maritime archaeologist and artifact conservator with the Department of Natural Resources. For over 20 years, he has participated in the documentation of hundreds of shipwrecks located in state waters. Wayne also investigates historic aircraft wreck sites, both on land and underwater. He has led expeditions to Army and Air Force crash sites, including a Bell P-39 Airacobra flown by Tuskegee Airman Lt. Frank H. Moody. Wayne received his master’s degree in maritime history and nautical archaeology from East Carolina University in 1998 and a bachelor’s in anthropology and archaeology, with a geology minor, from Illinois State University.