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Local Historian Dale Leslie Discusses Where Notables Lived in A2
Where Notables Lived in A2 is a fascinating photo-lecture where Dale Leslie shares the residences and backgrounds of several well-known writers and poets who lived in Ann Arbor.
Dale R. Leslie is a life-long Ann Arbor resident, former local businessman and U-M alumnus who recalls his mother telling him, "Famous people like visiting Ann Arbor because they can blend with the town's citizens without being noticed."
And Dale adds, "Yes, and some chose to reside here for an extended period."
Included in his talk are:
• Harriet Arnow, author of The Dollmaker (lived on a farm on Nixon Road);
• W.H. Auden, one of the great poets of the 20th Century (lived at 504 Brooklyn);
• Joseph Brodsky, Nobel prize-winning Russian poet and essayist (lived on 308 Wesley);
• Robert Frost, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet (lived on 1223 Pontiac Trail);
• Robert Hayden, the first U.S. Congress African American Poet Laureate (lived at 1201 Gardner);
• Arthur Miller, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (lived at 411 N. State);
• Betty Smith, author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (lived on 1314 Broadway).
Media
Memories of Tubingen
Since 1965, Ann Arbor has established six sister city relationships. Tubingen, the first community invited to be a sister city, was compared to Ann Arbor by someone who had lived in both places “like twins raised in different countries. There is the university, the students, the river, the mills.”
On December 9, 1965, the official charter of the Tubingen and Ann Arbor partnership was presented to City Council, followed by a concert of Christmas carols sung in German by Ann Arbor High School students. Visits between the two areas started as soon as the decision was finalized. This event brought together several participants from both countries in this long-standing partnership to reminisce about the cities' 50-year relationship.
Speakers include:
• Ute Bechdorf, Director of the Deutsch-Amerikan Institute of Tubingen;
• Carolyn Melchers, local resident who, as a young Pioneer High School German teacher went on an early trip to Tubingen and met the man who would become her husband;
• Josie Parker, Library Director;
• Marianne Rauer, who moved to Ann Arbor from Germany after WWII and who has been very involved in the Sister City Program;
• Grace Shackman, local Ann Arbor historian;
• Ingrid Sheldon, Former Mayor of Ann Arbor
Media
Ann Arbor Elections: Exploring Options
The League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area (LWV-AAA) hosted this last of two public conversations on the current process of electing local public officials, with a look at how municipalities around the country elect their public officials.
Panelists include Professor John Chamberlin, Professor Emeritus, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, Lawrence Kestenbaum, Washtenaw County Clerk; and Professor Joseph Ohren, Eastern Michigan University, Political Science Department.
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization and the cosponsor of this event, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
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Ann Arbor Elections: What Works? What Doesn’t?
The League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area (LWV-AAA) hosted this public conversation on the current process of electing local public officials. This session will explored both the strengths and weaknesses of our current system, and discussed such issues as voter turn-out, student participation, and cost in terms of both dollars and effort of running for office, independent candidates, and other related topics.
Panelists included David Askins, former Editor of the Ann Arbor Chronicle; Lou Belcher, former Mayor of Ann Arbor; and Jean Carlberg, former City Council Member.
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ICPJ Podcast: Chuck Warpehoski and Grace Helms-Kotre
Grace Helms-Kotre discusses working at ICPJ with the goal of effecting global change by working locally. She and Chuck Warpehoski talk about being part of an interfaith organization, organizing the CROP Walk, opposing the School of the Americas, and other experiences and initiatives.
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ICPJ Podcast: Jan Wright
ICPJ member Jan Wright discusses her initial involvement volunteering with the organization to becoming an active member, involved with initiatives regarding climate change, local food, and trade agreements.
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Historic Ann Arbor Architecture
Authors Susan Wineberg and Patrick McCauley will discuss their new book Historic Ann Arbor: An Architectural Guide. The book describes over 350 buildings in Ann Arbor, including 40 University of Michigan buildings. Style sections describe those of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries including Mid-Century Modern. Superb examples of this style can be found in many parts of Ann Arbor.
Susan Wineberg has served as President of the Washtenaw County Historical Society (1994-1999), on the Historic District Commission (HDC) three times, as Chair of the Awards Committee of the HDC for 20 years, on numerous committees including the Downtown, Landmark, Individual Historic Properties, Lower Town, Old Fourth Ward and Germantown Historic District Study Committees. She has written extensively on Ann Arbor and published Lost Ann Arbor in 2004, in addition to the second edition of Historic Buildings, Ann Arbor in 1992.
Patrick McCauley has volunteered at both the Kempf House Museum and Cobblestone Farm Museum, and served as Chair of the Fourth and Fifth Ave. Historic District Study Committee. He currently serves on the Ann Arbor Historic District Commission, having held the positions of Chair and Vice Chair, and also on the board of the Ann Arbor Historical Foundation. He has also bought and restored three neglected historic homes in Ann Arbor since 2001, winning a Rehabilitation Award from the Ann Arbor Historic District Commission (HDC) in 2009 for his efforts.
Media
Show & Tell for Grownups
Do you have a special item at home that you would like to share with others? Something that has a particular story that is meaningful to you – or something that reveals a bit about Ann Arbor’s past? We all remember bringing a treasured possession to school and telling our friends why we love it so much. As adults, we have many more treasures today. Consider a photo or letter, a family heirloom, an object from a job or trip, an ancient artifact, a work of art, new or old, that has meaning to you. It’s the story that counts.
Each participant for this event took five minutes to tell the story behind the object. There’s no reading or performing; this is amateur storytelling.
Show & Tell events for adults are sweeping the nation, with recent publicity of the trend in the Wall Street Journal. Described as The Moth Radio Hour meets Antiques Roadshow, these events focus on connecting people through their personal histories.
The local organizers—Janet Ogle-Mater, Chuck Newman, and Stephanie Kadel Taras—are members of the Association of Personal Historians, which promotes Show & Tells in May to celebrate Personal History Awareness Month. Dozens of communities in the U.S., Canada, and Australia hosted Show & Tell events for grown-ups in May.
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Ann Arbor Tales: The History of Beer in Ann Arbor
Host Rich Retyi and local beer historian David Bardallis delve into the history of beer in and around Ann Arbor. From Ann Arbor's German roots to tales of haunted breweries, the two wind their way through a "hoppy history" of our town, including some stories that didn't make it into Bardallis's book, Ann Arbor Beer.
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Go! Ice Cream Presents the Story of Delicious Ingredients!
Rob Hess of Ypsilanti’s Go! Ice Cream shares the story of the ingredients behind your favorite ice cream flavors, from vanilla and its variations around the world to the science of brown butter, learn about delicious flavors!
Go! Ice Cream is a small company that crafts artisanal ice creams in small batches using local ingredients, and delivers them right to your door. Whether it gets to you from the back of their bike or you find it in your favorite grocer’s freezer section, you can be sure you’re eating all-natural products without preservatives, emulsifiers, stabilizers, or other multi-syllabic chemicals.
Go! Ice Cream was founded by Rob Hess on the belief that dessert is a good thing, a sweet enhancement to a life well-lived. His goal is to bring more flavor to life through bold versions of classic ice creams and adventurous new flavor combinations. 2014 SUMMER GAME Code: GOICECREAMGOOOOOO