Formed in 1901 by U.S. Steel Corporation, the Pittsburgh Steamship Company became the largest commercial fleet in the world and assumed a dominant role in Great Lakes shipping and the American steel industry. Tin Stackers tells its story: the ships, the men who sailed them, and the conditions that shaped their times. Drawing on company records and interviews with officials and sailors, Miller tells how the fleet kept organized labor off Great Lakes ships while leading the way in efficient operation, technological advancement, and employee safety. He emphasizes the human element in the...

In the port city of Manistee on the coast of Lake Michigan lives a girl named Mary. Mary's father is a sailor who works on a lake freighter called the Big Laker. The Big Laker delivers iron, stone, and coal to the many cities along the Great Lakes. Mary's father will not be home this year for his birthday and Mary wants to send him a card. But Mary's card can't be delivered by a mail carrier like other letters. Her father gets his mail by a pail
This is a delightful story that illustrates the mail delivery system for Great Lakes freighters. The J. W. Westcott Company operates the...

Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, schooner trade was a well-developed system of maritime transport for commodities such as grain, lumber, and iron. The schooner trade was as critical to the development of the Great Lakes region as covered wagons were to the Far West and paddle wheel steamers were to the South.
Schooners sailed the Great Lakes in large
numbers and played a formative role in the
shaping of pioneer life throughout the region. The schooners that traveled the Lake Michigan basin succeeded in bringing a range of shoreline communities and four...

This Is Detroit tells the story in more than 400 pictures of the growth of the oldest city of interior America. Founded in July 1701, Detroit was destined before its birth to be a city of outstanding commercial and political importance, and of talented men and women.

In Detroit's long history, its flag changed three times. Twice it yielded to conquering armies. Twice it underwent the horrors of an Indian siege. And once it was consumed by fire. Yet it has overcome disasters to take its place as the world's most advanced industrial center.

This pictorial account of Detroit's 250 years...

In Looking Beyond Race, Otis Milton Smith (1922-94) recounts his life as an African American who overcame poverty and prejudice to become a successful politician, going on to become the first black vice president and general counsel of General Motors.

Born in the slums of Memphis, Tennessee, Smith was the illegitimate son of a black domestic worker and her prominent white employer. Although he identified with his mother's blackness, he inherited his father's white complexion. This left him open to racism from whites, who resented his African American heritage, and blacks, who resented...

The tale of the Reuther brothers-Walter, Roy, and Victor-is more than a story of how one of America's great unions was created. It is also a powerful example of how teamwork, dedication, and concern for others can improve the lives of many people. This book portrays the brothers' lifelong commitment to each other and to workers' rights, while charting the career paths that ultimately led each one to his involvement with the United Automobile Workers (UAW).

In a clear, lively narration that explains many important concepts to young readers, this book describes a string of fascinating...

The Boys and Girls Republic of Farmington Hills, Michigan, came to life as the Boys Republic during the Progressive Era, when the combined stresses of urbanization, immigration, and poverty left an unprecedented number of children on the streets. It was a time marked both by social change and new thinking about the welfare of children, especially the neglected, delinquent, or abused. Here Gay Zieger tells the story of the remarkable humanitarians and reformers in the Detroit area who offered such children shelter, food, and comfort. Their efforts ultimately evolved into one of the most...

Most people recognize Michigan by its mitten-shaped Lower Peninsula and the Great Lakes embracing the state. Underneath the earth's surface, however, is equally distinctive evidence of an exciting history. Michigan rests on sedimentary rocks that reach down into the earth's crust more than fourteen thousand feet-a depth three-and-a-half times deeper than the Grand Canyon. Within these layers of rock rest all sorts of ancient fossils and minerals that date back to the eras when tropical seas spread across Michigan and hot volcanoes flung molten rock into its skies-long before mile-thick...