Set on South Manitou Island in Lake Michigan during the fall of 1871, To Keep the South Manitou Light tells the fictional tale of a twelve-year-old girl named Jessie, whose family has been taking care of the lighthouse on the island for generations. Jessie's mother has kept the light by herself since Jessie's grandfather died of a heart attack ten days before the story begins. Afraid her family will lose the lighthouse, Jessie decides not to mail her mother's letter informing the Lighthouse Service of her grandfather's death and instead puts it in one of her mother's canning jars and tosses...
Set on South Manitou Island in Lake Michigan during the fall of 1871, To Keep the South Manitou Light tells the fictional tale of a twelve-year-old gi...
At the start of the Ford Motor Company in 1903, the Dodge Brothers supplied nearly every car part needed by the up-and-coming auto giant. After fifteen years of operating a successful automotive supplier company, much to Ford's advantage, John and Horace Dodge again changed the face of the automotive market in 1914 by introducing their own car. The Dodge Brothers automobile carried on their names even after their untimely deaths in 1920, with the company then remaining in the hands of their widows until its sale in 1925 to New York bankers and subsequent purchase in 1928 by Walter...
At the start of the Ford Motor Company in 1903, the Dodge Brothers supplied nearly every car part needed by the up-and-coming auto giant. After fif...
Part biography and part corporate history, In the Shadow of Detroit investigates the life and career of Gordon M. McGregor, who founded and led Ford of Canada during the first two decades of the twentieth century. With no automotive background, minimal technical expertise, and only a few years of experience in business, McGregor came to Ford in 1904 from a failing wagon-building firm. David Roberts draws from diverse public and private historical sources to chronicle McGregor's swift ascension to corporate leader, including how McGregor attached himself to Henry Ford's meteoric rise,...
Part biography and part corporate history, In the Shadow of Detroit investigates the life and career of Gordon M. McGregor, who founded and led For...
As volunteer engineers for the Union army, the First Michigan Engineers and Mechanics regiment was made up of skilled artisans, craftsmen, railroad men, and engineers whose behind-the-scenes work was crucial to the Union victory. Charged with maintaining the Union supply line in the western theater, the engineers constructed and repaired a staggering number of bridges, blockhouses, fortifications, railroads, and telegraph lines to keep the Union army functioning in the aftermath of battle. "My Brave Mechanics" traces the history of this little-known unit, revealing their substantial...
As volunteer engineers for the Union army, the First Michigan Engineers and Mechanics regiment was made up of skilled artisans, craftsmen, railroad...
In Life with Mae, the late Neal Shine combines an engaging memoir of his family life in prewar Detroit with a biography of his mother, Mae, whose vibrant spirit and fierce affection left an indelible mark on her three sons and their friends and neighbors.
Mae was born in 1909 in the small town of Carrick-on-Shannon, Ireland, where her father ran the depot that distributed Guiness Stout. Going into service as a housekeeper at fourteen, Mae quickly saw that the only future she had in Ireland was as a servant. By the time she was eighteen, she had saved enough money from her housekeeping...
In Life with Mae, the late Neal Shine combines an engaging memoir of his family life in prewar Detroit with a biography of his mother, Mae, whose v...
From the era of European exploration to the beginning of the Civil War, the Straits of Mackinac were a crucial link in the westward water transportation system of the United States. As the primary route to Lake Michigan and the Mississippi Valley, the Straits were a highway for the fur trade, a hotbed of military outposts, and one of the first settled areas of Michigan. Later, the natural beauty of the Straits, and particularly of Mackinac Island, led to the popularity of the area as a nineteenth-century tourist destination. "A Picturesque Situation" uses documents, maps, drawings, and...
From the era of European exploration to the beginning of the Civil War, the Straits of Mackinac were a crucial link in the westward water transport...
In the turbulent era from 1890 to the late 1930s, Detroit emerged as a leading industrial and urban center and endured the crushing social and economic challenges of the Great Depression. It was during these years that Tracy W. McGregor, with the assistance of his wife, Katherine Whitney McGregor, established himself as a philanthropist and community leader. Though public buildings and a charitable foundation bear their names, relatively little is known about the private-minded McGregors, who avoided newspaper interviews or public exposure whenever possible.
In Tracy W. McGregor, Philip...
In the turbulent era from 1890 to the late 1930s, Detroit emerged as a leading industrial and urban center and endured the crushing social and econ...
With roots extending back to the first decade of the twentieth century, Nash Motor Company and the Hudson Motor Car Company managed to compete and even prosper as independent producers until they merged in 1954 to form the American Motors Company, which itself remained independent until it was bought in 1987 by the Chrysler Corporation. In "Storied Independent Automakers, " renowned automotive scholar Charles K. Hyde argues that these companies, while so far neglected by auto history scholars, made notable contributions to automotive engineering and styling and were an important part of...
With roots extending back to the first decade of the twentieth century, Nash Motor Company and the Hudson Motor Car Company managed to compete and ...
In a working life that spanned half a century, Ernie Goodman was one of the nation's preeminent defense attorneys for workers and the militant poor. His remarkable career put him at the center of the struggle for social justice in the twentieth century, from the sit-down strikes of the 1930s to the Red Scare of the 1950s to the freedom struggles, anti-war demonstrations, and ghetto rebellions of the 1960s and 1970s. The Color of Law: Ernie Goodman, Detroit, and the Struggle for Labor and Civil Rights traces Goodman's journey through these tumultuous events and highlights the many moments...
In a working life that spanned half a century, Ernie Goodman was one of the nation's preeminent defense attorneys for workers and the militant poor...
The focus of the opening campaign of the War of 1812 was Detroit, a location the War Department considered one of the significant launching points for the invasion of Canada. Detroit's surrender only two months after the declaration of war shocked the nation and led to the court-martial of Brigadier General William Hull. Hull was sentenced to death-the only commanding general ever to receive such a sentence in U.S. military history-and has been vilified by many historians to the present day for his decision to surrender. In The Fall and Recapture of Detroit in the War of 1812: In Defense...
The focus of the opening campaign of the War of 1812 was Detroit, a location the War Department considered one of the significant launching points ...
