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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.
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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.
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Becoming American: A History of Native American Boarding Schools
In the 1800's, assimilation was the government's policy to work Native Americans into mainstream society. One of the methods used was to take Native children from their homes and ship them to boarding schools. "Save the man, Kill the Indian" was the motto used by these schools as they stripped Native children of their language, culture, and identity.
Learn how these schools operated and what was done to help overcome this abuse.
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 currently travels and lectures on Native American history, including policy and activism.
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Of Chinese Cheese and Curds
Nowadays, the Chinese are famous for their food — but not for their cheeses or for their dairy products. Scholarly and popular accounts explain this through biological and cultural factors — the prevalence of lactose intolerance and xenophobia, for example. Miranda Brown, Professor of Chinese Studies, U-M Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, challenges the popular and scholarly view through a mouthwatering tour of dishes composed of curds. Dr. Brown traces the long history of curds in China, demonstrating that such foods were regarded as delicacies by the elite, and accounts for their sudden and belated disappearance from the modern Chinese diet. The talk concludes by exploring the modern legacies of the Chinese fascination with curds.
A native of San Francisco, Miranda Brown is Professor of Chinese Studies in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan, where she has taught since finishing her degree in History at UC Berkeley in 2002. She recently worked on the premodern history of dairy in China, a topic that has received little scholarly or popular attention. Her article, on the history of cheese in South China, appeared in Gastronomica: The Journal of Critical Food Studies (2019). Having been raised by a Southern Chinese mother, Brown is fascinated with all Chinese food and considers herself a serious amateur cook.
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Kwanzaa: Elizabeth James
What is Kwanzaa? Kwanzaa is a holiday in the U.S. and other nations of the African diaspora that celebrates Pan-African heritage in African-American culture. It occurs every year from December 26 - January 1.
Elizabeth James from the U-M Afroamerican and African Studies Department presents an interactive discussion on the history and current celebration of the holiday. In her position with DAAS, James assists with the department's many programs and objectives and performs as its outreach coordinator. James was named a 2014 Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award recipient, Advisor of the Year by the Office of Student Affairs and has been awarded the Cornerstone Award from the Black Celebratory.
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Author Event | Barbara Barton and "Manoomin : the Story of Wild Rice in Michigan"
Manoomin: The Story of Wild Rice in Michigan is the first book of its kind to bring forward the rich tradition of wild rice in Michigan, and its importance to the Anishinaabek people who live here. The book received the 2018 Michigan History Award and 2019 Michigan Notable Book Award.
Join author Barbara Barton as she follows the threads that connect the history, culture, biology, economics, and spirituality of this sacred plant. Learn about the vast wild rice beds that once existed in Michigan, why many disappeared, and the efforts of tribal and nontribal people working to return and protect Manoomin across the landscape.
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Author Event | Guardians of Detroit
Due to a fortunate confluence of water, geography and entrepreneurial vision, Detroit at the end of the 19th century was poised to experience unprecedented growth. Even before the Ford Motor Company was established in 1903, Detroit was a major industrial center and transportation hub. All this commercial activity and prosperity led to a building boom of incredible proportions at a time when the most popular architectural styles were Beaux Arts, Gothic Revival, Classical Revival, and Art Deco. Each of these styles typically required extensive ornamentation and because of this, Detroit became a treasure trove of architectural sculpture.
Jeff Morrison’s new book Guardians of Detroit: Architectural Sculpture in the Motor City documents these incredible features in a city that began as a small frontier fort and quickly grew to become a major metropolis and industrial titan. Jeff shares more than 100 spectacular close-up pictures of architectural sculpture from throughout the city of Detroit. You also learn about the symbolism behind the ornamentation and hear some of the untold stories of the artists, artisans, and architects involved in its creation, all drawn from the book.
Jeff Morrison is a historian and photographer who has been taking pictures since his parents gave him his first camera at age nine. He has a bachelor’s degree in history and art from Eastern Michigan University and over thirty years’ experience as a graphic artist. Jeff lives in Oxford, Michigan, with his lovely wife, Susie, and their wonder dog, Manfred.
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Archivist Bill McNitt on President Gerald R. Ford
Join us as archivist and President Gerald R. Ford specialist Bill McNitt discusses Ford and his legacy.
In 1965, U. S. Representative Gerald R. Ford began donating his papers to the Bentley Historical Library. After President Richard Nixon appointed Congressman Ford as Vice President in 1973, the Library created a new staff position to arrange, rehouse, and describe the Ford Congressional Papers and selected Bill to fill it. When President Ford left the White House in 1977, Bill (and the Congressional Papers) moved to the Ford Presidential Papers Project, a precursor of the Ford Presidential Library. He spent much of his career there processing the extensive records of the Ford presidency, while also assisting researchers in using the collections, managing a major database indexing the holdings, and helping to launch a digitization project to make key documents available online.
Bill McNitt is a retired archivist whose career at the University of Michigan’s Bentley Historical Library and then the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library of the National Archives and Records Administration spanned more than 40 years. He grew up in western Michigan and was quite familiar with the career of Gerald R. Ford from a very young age as the family lived in Ford’s congressional district and Bill’s father James had attended junior high school and high school with Ford. Bill majored in history as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan and began working as a student employee of the Michigan Historical Collections (now housed in the Bentley Historical Library) in 1969. He then earned master’s degrees from the University in both history and library science.
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MLK Day Event | A Conversation with Veterans for Peace
Should we have a military mainly for defense, or should we use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests? Before Dr. King’s tragic death, he spoke out more and more against government use of military over diplomacy and the use of armed forces in the routine policy of the state. For such actions, Dr. King was criticized heavily and to this day his thoughts on war still make people uncomfortable.
Veterans For Peace will discuss Dr. King's speeches relating to defense versus militarism, showing that they are as relevant today as they were 50 years ago.
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Legacies Project Oral History: Former U.S. Congressman John Dingell
John Dingell Jr. (D) served in the U.S. House of Representatives as part of the Michigan delegation from 1955-2015. His 60 years in office make him the longest serving member in the history of the House. A long-time member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, including 16 years as Chairman, Dingell was an advocate for environmental issues and a supporter of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Dingell was also the longest serving Dean of the House of Representatives. He passed away on February 7, 2019.
John Dingell was interviewed by students from Skyline High School in Ann Arbor in 2015-2016 as part of the Legacies Project.