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Body of Work: Lin-Manuel Miranda
We laughed, we cried, we swooned which is no surprise when you dive into Lin Manuel Miranda's body of work. There also may have been a very strange confession involving George Washington....
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Author Event | Paul Vachon Discusses "Detroit: An Illustrated Timeline"
Let’s take a walk—a long walk, back over three centuries. At the dawn of the eighteenth century Detroit was established as simply an outpost for the French to take advantage of the fur trade while keeping the British at bay. The new book Detroit: An Illustrated Timeline, by Paul Vachon, points out many of the seminal events and noteworthy turning points of Detroit’s long journey, some little known: the city’s fall to the British during the War of 1812, the existence of slavery in Detroit as late as the 1820's, and Mayor Hazen Pingree’s aggressive advocacy for the everyday citizen against corporate interests. Chapters devoted to the twentieth century highlight Detroit’s underappreciated architectural heritage, the development of its notable cultural institutions, as well as the exploits of assorted scoundrels, such as the Black Legion, the Purple Gang, Harry Bennett and Father Charles Coughlin.
Martin Bandyke hosts author Paul Vachon as he discusses and shows images from Detroit: An Illustrated Timeline.
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Genetic Genealogy: Discrepancies in Your Family Tree
Using actual case studies, learn how you can use your DNA test results to detect and solve potential discrepancies in your family tree, such as mis-attributed parentage. The case studies illustrate the use of autosomal DNA, Y DNA and X DNA test results to support or refute your family tree.
Mary Henderson has 45 years of experience with traditional, document-based genealogy, and 6 years of experience with genetic genealogy. She volunteers her services to adoptees seeking their birth parents and is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists.
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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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Martin Bandyke Under Covers for August 2019: Martin talks to David Maraniss about A Good American Family: The Red Scare and My Father.
In a riveting book with powerful resonance today, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Maraniss captures the pervasive fear and paranoia that gripped America during the Red Scare of the 1950s through the chilling yet affirming story of his family’s ordeal, from blacklisting to vindication.
Elliott Maraniss, David’s father, a WWII veteran who had commanded an all-black company in the Pacific, was spied on by the FBI, named as a communist by an informant, called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952, fired from his newspaper job, and blacklisted for five years. Yet he never lost faith in America and emerged on the other side with his family and optimism intact.
In a sweeping drama that moves from the Depression and Spanish Civil War to the HUAC hearings and end of the McCarthy era, Maraniss weaves his father’s story through the lives of his inquisitors and defenders as they struggle with the vital twentieth-century issues of race, fascism, communism, and first amendment freedoms. A Good American Family powerfully evokes the political dysfunctions of the 1950s while underscoring what it really means to be an American. It is an unsparing yet moving tribute from a brilliant writer to his father and the family he protected in dangerous times.
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Shockwaves from Stonewall: Gay Liberation in Michigan
In the first few years following the Stonewall Uprising in New York, Michigan experienced a surge in gay liberation activism, what today might fall under the umbrella of the LGBT movement. Historian Tim Retzloff explores the multiple queer organizations that sprang up in Metro Detroit and elsewhere in the early 1970s and key events from that time that sent political and social shockwaves through the state still felt today.
Tim Retzloff teaches history and LGBTQ studies at Michigan State University. He earned a B.A. in history from the University of Michigan and his Ph.D. in history in from Yale University. His scholarship has appeared in the anthology Creating a Place for Ourselves, the journal GLQ, and the collection Making Suburbia. He is finishing his first book, Metro Gay, about gay and lesbian life and politics in Metro Detroit from 1945 to 1985.
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Russell Doré on "America's Classiest Cars"
Learn about the most luxurious classic cars built by American companies. Find out how the Eckhart Brothers, E.L. Cord, the Duesenberg Brothers, and Harry Stutz built their companies. Follow mergers between some of these companies and how the companies finally ended their production.
This one-hour presentation displays the beauty of these automobiles and confirms that the saying “It’s a Duesy” refers to the very best in a field. Cars of these brands were owned by celebrities and you will see their favorites. Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Ginger Rogers, and John Wayne were original owners of the early classics. Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, and Jay Leno became later collectors.
The presenter is Russell Doré, who has been making historical presentations for over 20 years. He is a Board Member of the Motor Cities National Heritage Area, a member of the Henry Ford Heritage Association, the Northville Historical Society, and holds Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees from Michigan State University and the University of Washington in social sciences.
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The Power of Native Women
Throughout history, women have played an important role in the family and the community. But Native women have also helped shape our nation by fighting alongside warriors, becoming doctors and performing other courageous feats. Learn about the impact of these women from historian Heather Bruegl.
Heather Bruegl, inspired by a trip to Wounded Knee, South Dakota, quickly developed a passion for Native American History. Curiosity for her own heritage led her to Wisconsin, where she has researched the history of the Native American tribes of that region. Heather is a graduate of Madonna University of Michigan and holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in U.S. History. She travels and lectures on Native American history, including policy and activism.
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Author Event | Crazy Horse: The Lakota Warrior's Life and Legacy
Crazy Horse family elder Floyd Clown Sr. joins author William Matson at AADL to discuss their book, "Crazy Horse: The Lakota Warrior's Life and Legacy". The book is based on the Crazy Horse family's oral history, now being told publicly over a century after Crazy Horse's assassination. Floyd Clown Sr., a son to Edward Clown, who was a nephew to Crazy Horse and keeper of the sacred bundle and pipe, represents his family at the discussion.