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#18 Ann Arbor Stories: Riot at the Star Theater
On St. Patrick’s Day, 1908, The Star was the site of the largest riot in Ann Arbor’s history. Why did an isolated beatdown incite 3,000 students and townies to destroy one of Ann Arbor's few theaters at the time?
Music by Frontier Ruckus
Media
The Ann Arbor City Tennis Tournament: 97 Years & Counting
To celebrate the historic 97th edition of the annual Ann Arbor City Tennis Tournament, presented by Ann Arbor Area Community Tennis Association (AAACTA), this event looks back over the history of the event.
The panel discussion includes historians, participants and organizers from tournaments past, including Bill Godfrey, Jo Darlington, Barbara Wasneski, Jason Kerst, Kai McKenney, and Wes Dunnick, and is moderated by Michael G. Nastos.
The Ann Arbor City Tennis Tournament is one of the oldest city tennis tournaments in the country, established in 1919, and run by AAACTA since 2000. The USTA named the AAACTA and the tournament one of the “Best In The Midwest,” and its history goes back further than many major ITA, WTA or ATP Pro events, including Wimbledon. Hundreds of athletes from the Ann Arbor area, Metro Detroit and Midwestern states participate.
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#17 Ann Arbor Stories: Ann Arbor Mallet Murders
Listener discretion advised. This episode contains content that might not be suitable for all listeners. It does have the word murder in the title.
Why did three teenagers from good homes bash nurse Pauline Campbell's brains out of her head one cool fall evening in 1951?
Music by Alexander Mathias and Geoff White, made possible by GhoLicense.
Media
#16 Ann Arbor Stories: The Girls in the Band
Being a member of the University of Michigan Marching Band is hard work. Not only do you need to be a great musician, but you need to be able to march in tight formation, high-step and run around a football field in front of 100,000 people without missing a note. Attributes only men were fortunate enough to possess until 1972—when women were finally allowed to try out for the band without fear that they'd expect to be dismissed from rehearsals due to "female problems."
Here's the story of how the girls got into the band and how women continue to make inroads in the traditionally male-dominated Ann Arbor institution.
Music by the 1972, 1997 and 2016 University of Michigan Marching Band, and David Rose & His Orchestra.
AADL LINKS
General Articles:
Band protests
UM Women Form Band in Protest
Coeds Formed All Women 'Band' To Protest Discriminatory Policies
Media
#15 Ann Arbor Stories: The Pig Bowl
1969 was a rough year in Ann Arbor. So the city cops and the county cops decided to play a full-contact game of football to raise money for Christmas presents for needy kids. They called it The Pig Bowl.
Music by All Star Collegians and Park St Trio.
AADL Links
1st Annual Pig Bowl Newspaper Coverage
Trophy Up For Grabs In "Pig Bowl" Fundraiser To Aid Needy Children, December 1969
Sheriff's Department Officers Count Contributions From First Annual Pig Bowl, December 1969
3 Yards, Gasp For Breath; Police Ready For 'Pig Bowl'
Pigs And Goats Poised For Superclassic
After Bowl Is Over ~ Aw Come On, 'Fuzz'
Looks Like Happy Christmas - Goats 19, Pigs 0
Trophy Awarded to Ann Arbor Police Department In First Annual Pig Bowl, December 1969
Pig Bowl "Go Blue" Banner on Washtenaw County Jail, December 1969
2nd Annual Pig Bowl Newspaper Coverage
'Goats' Ready for Bowl Game
Ann Arbor Police and Washtenaw County Sheriffs' Officer Prepare for 2nd Annual "Pig Bowl," October 1970
Santa Makes A Visit
Sheriff's 'Pigs' Snort To 7-6 Victory
Ann Arbor Police Department Goat Mascot Greets Spectators at the Second Annual Pig Bowl, November 1970
Teams Gather on the Field at the Second Annual Pig Bowl, November 1970
Washtenaw County Sheriff Douglas J. Harvey Accepts Trophy at the Second Annual Pig Bowl, November 1970
Media
Participatory Budgeting
The League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area, A2Ethics, and the CivCity Initiative hosted an informative session on participatory budgeting, one of the fastest growing democratic innovations occurring in the U.S. and Canada today. It is a new way for residents to have direct involvement in government by deciding how designated parts of a city budget will be spent.
There are 60 cities in the U.S. and Canada with participatory budgeting initiatives, however, the movement has both proponents and critics. This program introduces and discusses the concept through an objective forum.
Jeana Franconi and Michelle Monsegur, directors of the Participatory Budgeting Initiative in Cambridge, Massachusetts conduct this session. They describe the Cambridge Participatory Budgeting project; outline how it works; what it funds; their experiences; and what has worked and what has not. The Cambridge project includes youth and noncitizens in the process and also has a very strong evaluation component. For more information on Participatory Budgeting from A2 Ethics, visit their website.
Media
#14 Ann Arbor Stories: The Naked Mile
What began as a fun way to celebrate the last day of classes transformed into an internationally live-streamed event. Crowds of 10,000 or more shouting, cheering, pushing and watching 1,000 coed runners in the buff take part in the University of Michigan's famous Naked Mile. Where did it start? How did it end? Learn all about the last time streaking was cool in Ann Arbor.
Music by Zach Shipps & FAWNN
Learn more in Old News
Media
#13 Ann Arbor Stories: A Brief History of Poop
Ann Arborites haven't always pooped in their pristine flush toilets and private privvys, no sir m'am. Things were gross and disgusting for a long time. Learn about the arrival of the earth closet, the sealing of the privvy vaults, and the story of the very first flush toilet in Ann Arbor. And hear the word poop, like 411 times.
Music by Tunde Olaniran.
Links (a bunch of them):
Strike The Iron While It's Hot!
The number of earth closets in Ann Arbor homes.
The second page has info about sewers and sewage in Ann Arbor.
The first column towards bottom, entitled Closets
How To Induce Feeble Health And Early Death
Fined For Working On A Shed In Fire Limits
Renewal Project Wins Favor
The President’s House
U-M President's Home, Built 113 Years Ago, Stands As Oldest Campus Structure
Kempf House dig: Privy to the past
More Earth Closets
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#12 Ann Arbor Stories: The Ballad of Shakey Jake
Legendary streetsman, bluesman and raconteur, Shakey Jake told so many tales to so many people that sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between fact and fiction. We do our best in this episode of Ann Arbor Stories.
Music by Ben Benjamin, made possible by Gholicense.
AADL Links
See articles and photos on Old News.
Shakey Jake's first blues performance in Ann Arbor on YouTube.
Media
#11 Ann Arbor Stories: The Great Meteorite Heist
It's a story 50,000 years old. Sort of. A 60-pound meteorite is stolen from the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History. There are no signs of a break-in. No clues to follow. No video cameras to catch the robbers in the act. How did Detective Kevin McNulty of the University of Michigan Department of Public Safety crack the case?
Music by Mux Mool, made possible by Gholicense.