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Farm Meals Mentioned in Ypsilanti Farm Diaries
The stories and recollections of Washtenaw County farm women held by the Ypsilanti Historical Society provide a record of daily life in the 19th and 20th centuries. Local author and historian Laura Bien presents research on handwritten diaries that reflect, in their own words, the everyday work farm women performed: gardening, harvesting, butchering, processing, preserving and cooking food for their families, supplementing the family income through the sale of eggs and produce, adapting to technological changes, and organizing work at the homestead.
This event is in partnership with the Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor (CHAA), an organization of scholars, cooks, food writers, nutritionists, collectors, students, and others interested in the study of culinary history and gastronomy. Their mission is to promote the study of culinary history through regular programs open to members and guests, through the quarterly newsletter Repast, and through exchanges of information with other such organizations.
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League of Women Voters Forum: Line 5 and Other Challenges Impacting the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes Committee of the Ann Arbor chapter of the League of Women Voters hosts a panel discussion on challenges facing the Great Lakes, with an update on the Line 5 oil pipeline. A panel of experts, including Dr. Eric Anderson (NOAA) and Liz Kirkwood (Executive Director, FLOW), presents and discusses the issues.
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, 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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Martin Bandyke Under Covers: Martin talks to Howard Markel, author of The Kelloggs: The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek
John Harvey Kellogg was one of America’s most beloved physicians; a best-selling author, lecturer, and health-magazine publisher; founder of the Battle Creek Sanitarium; and patron saint of the pursuit of wellness. His youngest brother, Will, was the founder of the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, which revolutionized the mass production of food and what we eat for breakfast.
In The Kelloggs, Howard Markel tells the sweeping saga of these two extraordinary men, whose lifelong competition and enmity toward one another changed America’s notion of health and wellness from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries, and who helped change the course of American medicine, nutrition, wellness, and diet.
As Markel chronicles the Kelloggs’ fascinating, Magnificent Ambersons–like ascent into the pantheon of American industrialists, we see the vast changes in American social mores that took shape in diet, health, medicine, philanthropy, and food manufacturing during seven decades—changing the lives of millions and helping to shape our industrial age.
Martin’s interview with Howard Markel was recorded on August 23, 2017.
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Howard Markel Discusses His Book: "The Kelloggs: The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek"
University of Michigan Professor Howard Markel, medical historian, and author, discusses his critically-acclaimed new book The Kelloggs: The Battling Brothers of Battle Creek as well as John and Will Kellogg, brothers whose lifelong competition and enmity toward one another changed America’s notion of health and wellness.
John Harvey Kellogg was one of America’s most beloved physicians; a best-selling author, lecturer, and health-magazine publisher; founder of the Battle Creek Sanitarium; and patron saint of the pursuit of wellness. His youngest brother, Will founded the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company which revolutionized the mass production of food and what we eat for breakfast.
Howard Markel, M.D., Ph.D. is the George E. Wantz Distinguished Professor of the History of Medicine, director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan, and editor in chief of The Milbank Quarterly. His books include "Quarantine!: East European Jewish Immigrants and the New York City Epidemics of 1892," When Germs Travel: Six Major Epidemics That Have Invaded America Since 1900 and the Fears They Have Unleashed, and An Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the Miracle Drug Cocaine. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Journal of the American Medical Association, and The New England Journal of Medicine. Markel is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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Author Maureen Dunphy Discusses Her Michigan Notable Book "Great Lakes Island Escapes: Ferries and Bridges to Adventure"
The Great Lakes Basin is the largest surface freshwater system on Earth and there are more than 30,000 islands dotted throughout. A surprising number of islands—each with its own character and often harboring more than a bit of intrigue in its history—can be reached by merely taking a ferry ride, or crossing a bridge, offering everyone the chance to experience a variety of island adventures.
Author Maureen Dunphy made numerous trips to a total of 135 islands that are accessible by ferry or bridge in the Great Lakes Basin. On each trip, Dunphy was accompanied by a different friend or relative who provided her another adventurer’s perspective through which to view the island experience. Her book, Great Lakes Island Escapes: Ferries and Bridges to Adventure, explores over 30 of these islands.
This 2017 Michigan Notable Book covers islands on both sides of the international border between the United States and Canada and features islands in both the lakes and the waterways that connect them. Anyone interested in island travel or learning more about the Great Lakes will delight in this comprehensive collection.
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Building Matters: Black Architects in Michigan
In honor of Black History Month, local experts discuss the contributions of black architects, architectural designers, and landscape architects to the built environment of Michigan. They touch on Michigan's first black-owned architectural firm, Detroit's historic Black Bottom neighborhood, and Detroit's connection to the rise of hip-hop architecture.
This video includes talks from Jessica A.S. Letaw, Karen AD Burton, Saundra Little, and Emily Kutil. Burton and Little's project, the Noir Design Parti, is a 2016 Knight Arts Challenge winner. The project documents the professional journeys and creative works of Detroit’s black architects through a series of videos, photographs, maps, and tours. Kutil's project, Black Bottom Street View aims to connect Detroit residents with the Burton Historic Collection’s photographs of the former Black Bottom neighborhood, and is also a 2016 Knight Arts Challenge winner.
Saundra Little is a registered architect and founder and principal of Centric Design Studio, an architecture firm based in midtown Detroit. Her firm specializes in office, retail, healthcare, and multifamily design. She holds a bachelors and masters degree from Lawrence Technological University, is a past president of the National Organization of Minority Architects - Detroit Chapter [NOMA-D], a board member of the Detroit Creative Corridor Center, and past board member of the AIA Detroit.
Karen Burton is a marketing consultant to architects, engineers, and artists who combines her architectural design and entrepreneurial experience to help businesses grow to their full potential. She is also founder and president of SpaceLab Detroit, a new coworking space opening soon in downtown Detroit. Karen has a bachelor of science degree in architecture from the Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning at the University of Michigan, studied business administration at Wayne State University, and is a board member of the Detroit Chapters of the National Association of Minority Architects and National Association of Women in Construction.
Emily Kutil is a designer, adjunct professor of architecture at the University of Detroit Mercy, and a member of the We the People of Detroit Community Research Collective.
The program is moderated by Jessica A.S. Letaw, who enjoys working on, thinking over, and telling stories about architecture. Jessica's past day jobs included design/build and construction firms. She lives in Ann Arbor with her rescue hound, Henry, and keeps herself out of trouble by volunteering for the Ann Arbor Summer Festival and other local events. She enjoys reading, gardening, and well-made White Russians.
Don't miss this opportunity to explore the history and continuing legacy of local black architects in Michigan and beyond.
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Diego Rivera and the Detroit Industry Murals
In this fascinating presentation, Detroit Institute of Arts docent Ken Szmigiel discusses the art, history, and importance of the Detroit Industry Murals.
These famous murals, painted by noted Mexican artist, Diego Rivera in 1932-33 and on display at the DIA, provide an opportunity to consider both the working conditions within a major automobile factory of the era and a glimpse of social and political issues of the times as interpreted by the Marxist muralist. Commissioned by the DIA and funded by Edsel Ford, the project to cover two walls of the museum's Garden Court soon expanded as Rivera researched his subject and chose a broader theme of the evolution of technology.
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Author Tom Stanton Discusses His New York Times Bestseller: “Terror in the City of Champions: Murder, Baseball, and the Secret Society that Shocked Depression-era Detroit”
Award-winning author Tom Stanton weaves a stunning tale of history, crime, and sports. Richly portraying 1930s America, "Terror in the City of Champions" features a pageant of colorful figures: iconic athletes, sanctimonious criminals, scheming industrial titans, a bigoted radio priest, a love-smitten celebrity couple, J. Edgar Hoover, and two future presidents, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. It is a rollicking true story set at the confluence of hard luck, hope, victory, and violence.
Detroit, mid-1930s: In a city abuzz over its unrivaled sports success, gun-loving baseball fan Dayton Dean became ensnared in the nefarious and deadly Black Legion. The secretive, Klan-like group was executing a wicked plan of terror, murdering enemies, flogging associates, and contemplating armed rebellion. The Legion boasted tens of thousands of members across the Midwest, among them politicians and prominent citizens—even, possibly, a beloved athlete.
The book opens with the arrival of Mickey Cochrane, a fiery baseball star who roused the Clutch Plague’s hardest-hit city by leading the Tigers to the 1934 pennant. A year later he guided the team to its first championship. Within seven months the Lions and Red Wings follow in football and hockey—all while Joe Louis chased boxing’s heavyweight crown.
Amidst such glory, the Legion’s dreadful toll grew unchecked: staged “suicides,” bodies dumped along roadsides, high-profile assassination plots. Talkative Dayton Dean’s involvement would deepen as heroic Mickey Cochrane’s reputation would rise. But the ballplayer had his own demons, including a close friendship with Harry Bennett, Henry Ford’s brutal union buster.
Tom Stanton’s other books include the critically acclaimed Tiger Stadium memoir "The Final Season" and the Quill Award finalist Ty and The Babe. A professor of journalism at the University of Detroit Mercy, he is a former Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan.
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League of Women Voters Forum: Taxes: Is the State Legislature Playing Fair with Local Governments?
Total revenue sharing payments sent by the state of Michigan to local governments have decreased by 45% since 2001. How have our local governments met this challenge? What can be done to reverse this trend?
League of Women Voters of Michigan Board Secretary Harvey Somers will moderates a panel which includes representatives from county, city, and township levels of government, and discusses how the Michigan Legislature’s revenue sharing policies and budgets have affected local governments and how local governments are meeting these challenges.
The program is co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of the Ann Arbor Area.
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Bright Nights Community Forum: An Opioid Crisis in Washtenaw County: What Can We Do?
The U.S. Surgeon General recently sent a call out to health practitioners and public health leaders to ask for help in addressing what he describes as “an urgent health crisis facing America”—the prescription opioid crisis.
Washtenaw County is not immune. As the rest of the country, our community is the midst of an opioid epidemic, with dramatic increases in the number of opioid-related overdoses and deaths from prescription medications and heroin. In fact, between 2000 and 2014, the number of opioid related overdose deaths in Washtenaw County increased 1525%, from 4 deaths in 2000 to 65 deaths in 2014.
The Washtenaw Health Initiative (WHI) Opioid Project was formed as a community-based, volunteer organization to help address this problem in Washtenaw County. The success of this initiative depends on community knowledge, support, and involvement.
To learn more about the WHI Opioid Project, the University of Michigan Depression Center and the Ann Arbor District Library present this Bright Nights community forum. Dr. Stephen Strobbe, Clinical Associate Professor, University of Michigan School of Nursing, and Department of Psychiatry, will give a brief presentation, followed by a panel discussion, to raise and respond to the following questions:
· Is there really an opioid epidemic in Washtenaw County?
· What is the Washtenaw Health Initiative (WHI) Opioid Project?
· What can I do in my own home—and community—to help?
For more information on the U-M Depression Center, visit the Depression Center website at www.depressioncenter.org , or contact Stephanie Salazar, 232-0330, or sawaters@umich.edu.