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Legacies Project Oral History: Richard Nowland
Richard Nowland was born in Ann Arbor in 1932. He grew up on Eighth Street. He recalls family stories about Lower Town, including his Irish ancestor Andrew Nowland who settled in Ann Arbor in the 1820s. After serving as a social worker in the U.S. Army, Nowland returned to Michigan and got his master’s degree. He was a counselor at Washtenaw Community College and a principal at Clague Middle School for twenty years.
Richard Nowland was interviewed by students from Skyline High School in Ann Arbor in 2018 as part of the Legacies Project.
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Legacies Project Oral History: Shirley (Rusty) Schumacher
Shirley (Rusty) Schumacher was born in 1930 in Detroit. She remembers war bonds, scrap drives, and special manufacturing during World War II. She attended William and Mary College and received two master’s degrees in speech and education from the University of Michigan. Schumacher spent most of her career as a teacher at Clague Middle School. In 1985 she founded a student exchange program with Ann Arbor’s sister city, Hikone, Japan. She led a year-long stay there in 1992-93.
Shirley (Rusty) Schumacher was interviewed by students from Skyline High School in Ann Arbor in 2018 as part of the Legacies Project.
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Legacies Project Oral History: Alma Wheeler Smith
Alma Wheeler Smith was born in 1941. She recalls attending Civil Rights meetings in Ann Arbor with her parents. Her father Albert H. Wheeler was the first African American mayor of Ann Arbor (1975-78). Smith worked for nearly a decade as a TV producer before becoming a politician. Smith (D) served in the U.S. House of Representatives as part of the Michigan delegation from 2005-2010 representing the 54th District. Prior to her tenure in the U.S. House, Smith served in the Michigan Senate representing the 18th District from 1995-2002.
Alma Wheeler Smith was interviewed by students from Skyline High School in Ann Arbor in 2018 as part of the Legacies Project.
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Legacies Project Oral History: Ruth Zweifler
Ruth Zweifler was born 1929 in Palisades, New Jersey. She graduated from Bryn Mawr College, and converted from Judaism to Quakerism. Since the 1960s, she has been active in Civil Rights, anti-war, and anti-Zionist protests, including a sit-in at Ann Arbor City Hall protesting residential segregation. In 1975, Zweifler co-founded the Student Advocacy Center of Michigan, and she was Executive Director for nearly 30 years.
Ruth Zweifler was interviewed by students from Skyline High School in Ann Arbor in 2018 as part of the Legacies Project.
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Author Event | Vanishing Ann Arbor
What restaurant did Car & Driver magazine rank as one of the best places for ribs?
When did we finally get a professional fire department?
What was special about the downtown Denny's franchise?
Which longtime business got a Centennial Award even though it wasn't quite 100 years old?
And who exactly was the man whose name is still inscribed at Fourth Avenue and Ann Streets?!
Join Vanishing Ann Arbor authors Patti Smith and Britain Woodman as they take you on a tour of our city’s past, from Bach & Abel’s dry goods store to Aunt Agatha’s bookstore. Learn about the history of public schools in Ann Arbor beginning with the log cabin built at the corner of Main and Ann Streets, through the ward schools, and to Ann Arbor High. Find out how folks passed time in the 1880s, from ice skating to bowling to socials. Trace the history of bookstores from Wahr’s and Sheehan’s to Common Language and the Wooden Spoon. Walk the streets with school principal Mary Clark, philanthropist Elizabeth Dean, and publisher Alvin Chase.
Come along to reminisce about the places you remember—Maude’s, Fiegel’s, Drake’s—and learn about the places you don’t.
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Sustainable Ann Arbor Forum | Race and Class Equity in Washtenaw County
Ann Arbor is the eighth most socioeconomically segregated metro area in the U.S.; the second most segregated city in the nation in service class segregation; and the fifth in working class segregation. In 2010, Census data shows white residents accounted for 73% of Ann Arbor's population, just under Michigan's average of 79%, while African American residents accounted for just 8% of residents—nearly half of the state average of 14%. Ypsilanti, on the other hand, is made up of 62% white residents and 29% African American residents: a dramatic imbalance for two closely tied cities. Housing is a social determinant of health so where you live matters. Join local experts as we delve into the issues and opportunities surrounding race and class equity throughout Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County.
Panelists include:
- Dr. Tony Reames (Assistant Professor, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan),
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Who Holds the Power: Policing in Ann Arbor
Who holds the power in Ann Arbor when it comes to law enforcement? What does that mean for those who are not in power? How has this all changed over time? A panel of local experts discuss the role of police around the city and on the University of Michigan campus.
This was the second of a series series of discussions addressing the question: Who holds the power in Ann Arbor? The series, a partnership with the Michigan Daily, was made possible by the Poynter College Media Project.
Media
"Back Page": A Super Colossal Production (1936)
This film was made by the Display Advertising Department of the Ann Arbor News in 1936. It's a humorous look at a day in the life of the advertising staff as they work to secure an advertisement from a local merchant and get it to press in time for the daily run. 1936 marks the year the Ann Arbor News building was completed at 340 E. Huron and the year the News acquired its new printing press, both of which are featured in the film. There's also a tantalizing glimpse of the Bell Tower under construction on the University of Michigan campus. The Library received this 16 mm film along with the clipping files and photo negatives from the Ann Arbor News.
Original: 16mm film, silent, 00:21:41, 1936
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"Back Page": A Super Colossal Production (1936), with live accompaniment by Steven Ball
On Tuesday, June 28, 2011, the Ann Arbor District Library and the Michigan Theater presented the WORLD PREMIERE of "Back Page: A Super Colossal Production," a silent film made in 1936 by Ann Arbor News staff and recently unearthed from the archives of the Ann Arbor News.
This film was made by the Display Advertising Department of the Ann Arbor News in 1936. It's a humorous look at a day in the life of the advertising staff as they work to secure an advertisement from a local merchant and get it to press in time for the daily run. 1936 marks the year the Ann Arbor News building was completed at 340 E. Huron and the year the News acquired its new printing press, both of which are featured in the film. There's also a tantalizing glimpse of the Bell Tower under construction on the University of Michigan campus. The Library received this 16 mm film along with the clipping files and photo negatives from the Ann Arbor News.
Original: 16mm film, silent, 00:21:41, 1936