This Saturday, we will be hosting a beading workshop at the St. Ignace Public Library. The event is $75 to participate, and you must register to attend. The class size is limited, with few slots available. If you are interested, visit our event page at michmackhs.org/events.
Join Michigan author David Wedge for a book talk and signing on Historic Forts of Michigan. The book explores how Michigan’s military forts shaped the Great Lakes frontier as European and then American settlers and explorers moved westward. When La Salle’s crew reached the mouth of the St. Joseph River, they built Fort Miami, the first European military post on Michigan soil. Following a humiliating betrayal, Chief Pontiac laid vengeful siege to Fort Detroit for five months, during which he let neither supplies nor man pass through the siege lines intact. Stationed at Fort Gratiot, a young Lieutenant Robert E. Lee had a sweet tooth that forced him to hide in a closet to avoid a local baker demanding Lee pay his past-due bill. A mosquito helped to force the closing of Fort Saginaw.
Join us on August 18th for an evening of history.
This is a free event, and registration is not required, but it helps us plan our events in the future. If you are interested in the event, you can register at the link on our Calendar of Events.
Author and Illustrator Diana Magnuson will be signing her book, Garden Sleeping, Garden Growing, as well as answering questions at the St. Ignace Public Library on August 4th. This is a free event, and registration is not required, but it helps us plan our events in the future. If you are interested in the event, you can register at the link on our Calendar of Events.
Ben Traverse will be performing at the Boardwalk Hotel this Friday as part of America 250.
To register for this program, visit our registration page: The Revolution at Mackinac.
To register for this program, visit our registration page: A Natural History of Wild Foods in the Straits Area.
The Mackinac Bridge Tower Tour is offered by certificate which is in general not sold to the public. A limited number is distributed each year, with many being given to VIP visits. An auction will be held at the Bridging History Event to one of these exclusive certificates. Each certificate is authorized for two persons, a winner and a guest, to travel to the top of the tower. Only event guests are eligible for auction participation. Tickets to the Bridging History Event are available here.
The Historic 100 is open. The MHS is in need of a final push to open the Straits Cultural Center on schedule for this summer season. To reach our goal, we are seeking 100 individuals, businesses, or groups to donate $10,000. We have a goal of 50 donors by April 15th. It has been a dream to open this world-class museum to showcase our history, and with this initiative, that dream can finally become a reality. If you would like to become a donor in this initiative, visit the campaign’s homepage, our donation page, or mail to: Michilimackinac Historical Society
PO Box 735, St. Ignace, MI 49781.
The March E-News is out!
This month, we have featured Michigan companies, Native history and building updates. Be sure to check it out!
You can subscribe on our front page, and all back issues can be found by clicking a link in the table on our previous post and pressing past issues at the top.
It is the Michilimackinac Historical Society’s distinct honor to announce the 2026 recipients of the Michilimackinac Historical Society’s Bridge Award for Historical Impact: the Timmons and Rearick families. The Timmons, Clayton (Tim) and Anna (Ann), who passed away in 2019 and 2017, respectively) were the first to donate a most generous gift toward the development and construction of the new Straits Cultural Center, with the Rearick family (Carol and Doug) picking up where their parents left off.
The Straits Cultural Center will be hosting over 120 of the Thomas McKenney portraits in a gallery titled the McKenney Hall. The portraits were painted beginning in 1830 as a means to document the native tribes of the time through individual portraits of chiefs, tradesmen, warriors, and craftsmen. They were originally published in a “McKenney and Hall Indian Tribes of North America” with accompanying descriptions.
The Straits Cultural Center is asking for support to bring this gallery to life. For $1000, a donor’s name will be featured in the gallery as a patron as well as aiding us in our quest to preserve and share our history with the public. Please consider donating with our Sponsor a Chief program.
Tribute to Janis Holle
A tribute film to Janis Holle, who was honored at this year’s Bridging History Award and who has done so much for MHS, St. Ignace, the township of Moran, Gros Cap, and to preserve the history of the Straits. Thank you, Janis, for all you do.
Our newsletter is released on the first week of each month, and you can sign up for it on our main page. We also have a feed below from all of our previous newsletters, which are made public later in the month.
Check Past E-Newsletters
Visit Our Archives of Older News & Notes
The main page of our News and Notes will feature all the news from the current year. If you would like to see entries from further back you can find them in our archive at the bottom link.
This Event is free to attend at the St.Ignace Public Library. To Register for the Event on our Website: Go to the Trailblazing Women of Mackinac page
This Event will be presented by Richard Deitering, PHDc and is free to attend at the St.Ignace Public Library. To Register for the Event on our Website: Go to The Newberry Tablet: Its History and New Research page
Registration is Required to attend this event. To Register for the Event on our Website: Go to the Footstool Workshop Event page
NEWS RELEASE
June 12, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY AWARDED GRANT
The Michilimackinac Historical Society has been notified it has been awarded a $614,400 grant from the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) for the Straits Cultural Center project.
$9 million was awarded statewide to strengthen and sustain Michigan museums through LEO’s Community Museum Grant funding which will support museums and nonprofit foundations across Michigan operating educational programs that foster artistic, scientific, technological or cultural exhibitions.
“Museums are an essential part of Michigan’s cultural and economic fabric,” said Susan Corbin, LEO director. “They spark learning, fuel creativity and strengthen communities – all of which support economic growth. This funding shows our commitment to helping museums not just stay open but grow as vital spaces for lifelong learning and connection.”
141 museums applied for grants totaling over $80 million. Only 20 awards were given, totaling the $9 million available. Only those applicants scoring 97.5% or higher in the grant criteria were considered.
Recipients are receiving funding to support projects that stabilize, grow or enable museums to thrive in their educational and programmatic missions. The grant period spans from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2029.
“Michigan is home to over 650 museums, large and small, in every corner of the state. Each one serves as a hub for curiosity, discovery, and community connection,” said Lisa Craig Brisson, Executive Director of the Michigan Museums Association. “Public funding helps these institutions expand access, engage more people, and deliver high-quality programs, while also attracting private investment that multiplies their impact. The grants awarded through his program will strengthen museums across Michigan and deepen their ability to serve their communities.”
Funding for these grants was made available through an appropriation in the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s FY 25 budget.
“Michilimackinac Historical Society is very grateful to have been recognized by LEO through this highly competitive grant process,” said Molly M. Paquin, Executive Director. “Our grant writing team worked very hard, made sure every I was dotted and every T was crossed. We had to demonstrate our local efforts to stabilize, grow, and/or thrive within our exhibits and educational programs. We especially focused on how we will expand our mission impact and programmatic reach through our Straits Cultural Center initiative that grows internal capacity and sustainability,” she added.
“Receiving this grant positively impacts our ability to make considerable progress on the Straits Cultural Center,” Paquin said. “Because the competition was so great, we feel humbled that we were chosen and believe this shows our community how credible our project is and how dedicated our board, volunteers, staff and donors are to seeing this project move toward completion,” she added.
“I want to publicly thank those who worked with me on the grant writing team, Jill Eyre (lead), Susan Massaway and Jim Draze, for their commitment to crafting an excellent grant proposal and for their patience with me and multiple edits,” Paquin said. It was definitely a team effort of people who all believed passionately it would be successful,” she added.
The Historical Society continues to seek individual and corporate donations, foundation allocations, grants, and dollars from fundraising events. Anyone wishing to contribute may contact MHS through its website michmackhs.org for more information.
Awardees included:
Michilimackinac Historical Society $614,400
Detroit Zoological Society $819,200
Ford Piquette Avenue Plant $819,200
Michigan Humanities Council $819,200
The Great Lakes Children’s Museum $345,526
The Henry Ford $819,200
John Ball Zoo $409,600
Flint Children’s Museum $106,862
Flint Institute of Science and History $217,088
IQhub $98,468
Charter Township of Fenton $136,806
Detroit Public Schools Foundation $819,200
Ionia County Historical Society $108,954
Michigan Military Technical and Historical Society $36,277
Troy Historic Village $399,770
Air Zoo Aerospace and Science Center $819,200
Barry County $819,200
Dexter Area Historical Society $491,520
Hamtramck Historical Museum $95,558
The War Memorial $204,771
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Our archives have hundreds of photographs - professional portraits, and amateur photographs of people, events, and places. As is the case at many historical societies, museums, and archives, we often don’t have the names of the people in the photographs. Sometimes we will have a name but no information about who they were as a person, how they lived, and how they died. In these situations, I often wonder about their lives. What kind of work did they do? What local, national, and world events did they witness or experience? Did they grow up and live their lives here or did they come here as adults? And especially with late 19th-century photographs of children, I wonder if they survived to adulthood. Grim, I know, but the reality was many children died from pneumonia, typhoid fever, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, and influenza; not to mention unfortunate accidents such as drowning.
Sometimes, the stars align. Sometimes, like in the picture below, I will have a name on the photograph and the name and place of the studio where the photo was taken. From there, I can use MHS’s Mallett & Walker funeral records, the wonderful resources at the St. Ignace Public Library, and Michigan death certificates to create a more complete picture (if you will excuse the pun) of that person’s life.
James La Fever was born on February 6, 1874. The photograph was taken at Chas. G. Agrell’s studio in St. Ignace around 1884 to 1890. Agrell owned a studio in St. Ignace from 1884 to 1907. James grew up to become a printer, an occupation he worked in until August 15, 1932. His obituary in the St. Ignace Enterprise stated that he was employed at the newspaper offices for many years and a "printer of the old school and one of the best." He lived in St. Ignace for many years before moving to Union City, Michigan just a few years before his death. One week before his death, on October 12, he had surgery to remove stones from his bladder and urinary tract. He was recovering well when he relapsed. He died at 3 A.M. on Wednesday, October 19, 1932, at the Leila Hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan from chronic myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle caused by viral, bacterial, or parasitic infections, autoimmune disorders, and some medications, or may have an unknown cause). He was 58 years old. His body arrived in St. Ignace at 9:40 A.M. Friday, October 21, 1932, and was taken directly to Lakeside Cemetery, where he was buried next to his mother.
Erin Vanier, Curator/Collections Manager
