Michigan History Magazine

Michigan History Magazine Published since 1917, Michigan History is about-and a part of-Michigan's fascinating past. To learn more about the Society, visit www.hsmichigan.org.

Michigan History magazine was first published in 1917 as a journal and evolved into its current magazine format in 1978. The publication is part of the non-profit Historical Society of Michigan, the state's oldest cultural organization. Is there a story that you would like to see published in Michigan History? Send your idea to [email protected]. All subscription inquiries can be directed to [email protected].

Calling all boating enthusiasts! This feature article from the March/April issue of Michigan History—“Fair Winds and Fol...
04/28/2025

Calling all boating enthusiasts! This feature article from the March/April issue of Michigan History—“Fair Winds and Following Seas: The NM Sloop”—is just for you! Have you raced an NM sloop or seen the fleet on Little Traverse Bay?

Designed to be affordable and versatile, the Northern Michigan (NM) Class of sloop—a one-masted sailboat—recently celebrated its ninetieth anniversary. Prompted by the economic depression of the late 1920s and early 1930s, the creators of the NM sloop wanted to design a sailboat that could function both as a competitive racing vessel and as a leisure craft that could be enjoyed by friends and family. After a brief lull in popularity, the NM sloop was revived in the 1960s thanks to passionate sailing enthusiasts who saw the value of the NM Class. Even after nine decades, the NM Sloop continues to be a vibrant and unique piece of Michigan history.

If you’re dreaming of summer and afternoons on the water, check out the full article in Michigan History at https://hsmichigan.org/read/michigan-history

It’s time to “spring” into Michigan History—and not a moment too soon! For a very limited time, get a full year’s worth ...
04/25/2025

It’s time to “spring” into Michigan History—and not a moment too soon! For a very limited time, get a full year’s worth of reading material to enjoy in the sunshine for just $19.95.

A subscription of Michigan History magazine includes six full-color, collectible issues bursting with all types of historical content—and there’s something for everyone, whether you’re into shipwrecks and automobiles, culture and politics, or whatever type of history you love! Receive our most recent issue when you take advantage of this deal today and explore the May/June cover story on the geological history of one of Michigan’s most unique features: Pictured Rocks. Other featured articles in the May/June issue cover topics such as the J.W. Wescott Company, the history of “Boy Governor” Stevens T. Mason, the 126th Infantry in World War II, and more. Each issue of Michigan History handles different topics from various time periods, niche interests, and areas of the state—you never know what topic we will cover next!

Don’t miss this deal! Learn more at https://hsmichigan.app.neoncrm.com/forms/spring-sale.

Exciting news for East Lansing historians! Michigan State University (MSU) Libraries recently completed a massive renova...
04/24/2025

Exciting news for East Lansing historians! Michigan State University (MSU) Libraries recently completed a massive renovation project on a space to house the Stephen O. Murray and Keelung Hong Special Collection.

The collection, which contains over 500,000 items, includes a cookbook with plates engraved by Paul Revere, an ancient cuneiform tablet, and the world’s largest library collection of comic books. Some of the most notable collections include Some of our notable collections include the Africana Collection, Comic Art Collection, Cookery and Food Collection, European History and Culture Collection, José F. Treviño Chicanx/Latinx Activism Collection, LGBTQ+ Collection, Radicalism Collection, Russel B. Nye Popular Culture Collection, and Veterinary Medicine Collection. The renovations covered more than 26,000 square feet and included relocating the collections from the basement to the third floor of the main library, increasing the size of the rare materials vault by 50 percent, and creating more than 12,000 linear feet of storage space.

There are always exciting historical happenings in “Michigan News” in each issue of Michigan History. Get the magazine when you become a member today at https://hsmichigan.org/join/household-memberships

The name Richard W. Ingalls may not immediately “ring a bell,” but if you have ever listened to the song “The Wreck of t...
04/22/2025

The name Richard W. Ingalls may not immediately “ring a bell,” but if you have ever listened to the song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot, you have likely heard of him inadvertently. The final verse of the beloved song states:

“In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral
The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald”

The man behind the 29 bell chimes, the rector of the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral—Richard W. Ingalls—did not intend for his tribute to the victims to become so well known, rather, he considered it a private requiem that happened to be observed by a gathering of reporters.

Born in 1926 in Iowa, Ingalls served in the U.S. Army in World War II and went on to receive a bachelor’s degree from Olivet Nazarene College in Illinois, where he met his wife, Wilma. Ingalls became the sixteenth rector of Mariners’ Church in 1965, during a time it was poorly funded and sparsely attended. Richard and Wilma immediately began working tirelessly to revitalize the congregation. Ingalls was consecrated as a bishop in 2004 and retired in 2006, shortly before he passed away at the age of 79. Thanks to Gordon Lightfoot’s classic ballad, listeners are still drawn to Ingall’s heartfelt tribute to the 29 victims of the Edmund Fitzgerald disaster.

Check out more “Profiles” in Michigan History magazine at https://hsmichigan.org/read/michigan-history

Are you a fan of true crime? If so, you may be intrigued by a question that Michiganders have been wondering about for n...
04/18/2025

Are you a fan of true crime? If so, you may be intrigued by a question that Michiganders have been wondering about for nearly 100 years—who killed Jerry Buckley?

Born Gerald Emmett Buckley in Detroit in 1891, Jerry Buckley stumbled into radio broadcasting at WMBC in 1929 almost by accident. His conversational handling of current events in a crime-ridden Detroit—fostered primarily by Prohibition, then in its 9th year— made him one of the most popular broadcasters on the radio at the time. Buckley was outspoken on some social issues as well, advocating for pensions for seniors and, notably, criticizing Detroit Mayor Charles Bowles, who loudly ignored the blatant corruption within the city. Mayor Bowles soon became the target of Jerry Buckley’s nightly broadcasts, and Buckley was soon promoting a call for a recall election slated for July 22, 1930. On July 18, 1930, WMBC received a call stating that Buckley would “go for a long ride” if he spoke out in favor of a recall election that evening. The recall election succeeded, with nearly 121,000 voters demanding Bowles removal as mayor. No one knows exactly how it happened, but one thing is certain: while Buckley was sitting in the La Salle Hotel lobby reading the newspaper on the evening of July 22, three men approached him and shot him. It happened so quickly that most witnesses could barely describe it.

To find out what happened next—a whirlwind trial associated with gang violence and political blackmail, a problematic verdict, and many lingering questions—read “An Enduring Mystery: The Murder of Jerry Buckley” by Michael Landry at https://hsmichigan.org/read/michigan-history

Are you interested in learning more about our great state’s complex and diverse history? If you love Michigan History ma...
04/16/2025

Are you interested in learning more about our great state’s complex and diverse history? If you love Michigan History magazine, the Historical Society of Michigan has so much more engaging content for you!

When you become a member, you gain access to everything HSM has to offer, including 4 issues of Chronicle per year, FREE access to our weekly History Hounds Lecture Series—which includes live lectures on a variety of history topics and an expansive digital library of recorded content—, discounts for our History Skills Workshops and our three annual conferences, exclusive digital content on our website, and more!

And if that is still not enough Michigan history for you, our Enhanced Household Membership also gets you two semiannual issues of the Michigan Historical Review, the only academic journal dedicated to our state’s history.

Become a member of HSM today at https://hsmichigan.org/join/household-memberships

Sometimes, an artifact donation is so important that it warrants a new museum just to house it. Such was the case for th...
04/14/2025

Sometimes, an artifact donation is so important that it warrants a new museum just to house it. Such was the case for the Menominee Range Historical Museum in Iron Mountain, Michigan, in 2005. At that time, the Anderson family of Dickinson County donated its rather unusual “hunting camp”—a fuselage frame for a CG-4A glider. The local community rallied around the new acquisition, and enough funds were raised to not only restore the glider, but also to build a museum to exhibit the unique artifact.

Waco CG-4A gliders were used in World War II. Lightweight and relatively small compared to the other aircraft of the time, the gliders could transport troops and supplies to areas with little landing space in the days before helicopters. In Kingsford, Michigan, the Ford Motor Company’s plant produced CG-4A gliders at less cost than anywhere else in the United States. The plant’s 4,500 workers produced eight gliders a day, each at the cost of $14,891. From 1942 to 1945, the plant produced 4,190 gliders for the war effort. After the war, the government sold unused gliders as surplus. They were often disassembled, and the wood used to build something new. However, sometimes folks converted the gliders into cabins or, as the Andersons did, into hunting camps. Today, only a handful of restored CG-4A gliders exist in the world. Visitors can view the glider at the World War II Glider and Military Museum in Iron Mountain, along with other aircraft and World War II–era artifacts.

If you love artifacts, keep up with “Facts & Finds” in Michigan History Magazine when you subscribe today at https://hsmichigan.org/join/subscribe-michigan-history

Attention baseball fans! The March/April issue of Michigan History magazine features a cover story you won’t want to mis...
04/10/2025

Attention baseball fans! The March/April issue of Michigan History magazine features a cover story you won’t want to miss: a piece detailing the life and legacy of the Detroit Tiger’s first African-American superstar, Detroit’s own Willie Horton.

Born William Wattison Horton in 1942 in the Appalachian coal town of Arno, Virginia, Horton moved to Detroit, Michigan, around age 9 with his family, who settled in the Jeffries Housing Projects. Horton demonstrated incredible skill in baseball from a young age and was a star member of Detroit’s Northwestern High School’s championship team. He signed his first professional contract with the Detroit Tigers in 1961 and made his major league debut in September 1963, wearing a number 23 jersey. The article details Horton’s experiences with racism in the Jim Crow south during off-season training, and the tragedy of losing both of his parents in an automobile accident near Battle Creek, Michigan, while Willie was playing baseball in Puerto Rico in the winter of 1965. It also chronicles Horton’s experiences during the 1967 Detroit Rebellion and goes into detail about some of his most iconic moments on the field in the aftermath of that event. Willie Horton’s legacy is tied intricately into the legacy of Detroit during the 1960s, and today, at 82 years old, he lives comfortably in Bloomfield Hills with his wife Gloria, surrounded by their seven children, 47 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren, and three great-great grandchildren!

To read “Hometown Hero: Detroit’s Own Willie Horton” by Chuck Stokes, get your copy of Michigan History magazine today at https://hsmichigan.org/read/michigan-history

For lovers of military history on the east side of the state, this “History Hot Spot” is a must see! Have you been to th...
04/07/2025

For lovers of military history on the east side of the state, this “History Hot Spot” is a must see! Have you been to the Iosco County Historical Museum?

A house built in 1903 by the first president of the Detroit and Mackinac Railway now serves as the Iosco County Historical Museum. James D. Hawks built the house for his daughter and son-in-law, who lived there until 1912. For the next 60 years, it was the home of Lloyd G. McKay and family. In 1977, the county purchased the house and donated it to the Iosco County Historical Society. Joseph Barkman donated $10,000 and antique pieces from his private collection to help establish the museum. His brother, Harris Barkman, served as the museum’s director for many years. Exhibits today include class pictures, a Victorian parlor, an early kitchen, medical displays, and military items from the Spanish-American War, Civil War, World War I, and World War II.

To find historical hot spots all over the state, check out our special section in Michigan History magazine at https://hsmichigan.org/read/michigan-history

Can you identify these Michigan islands? Here are a couple of hints to help you get started: 1. This island is known fo...
04/04/2025

Can you identify these Michigan islands? Here are a couple of hints to help you get started:

1. This island is known for at one time having a king.
2. These islands are part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
3. This island is part of the ancestral homeland of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians.
4. This island's name is French for "white wood."
5. This island is Michigan's northernmost outpost.

How many do you know? Let us know in the comments!

For more information about our latest issue of Michigan History magazine, go to https://hsmichigan.org/read/michigan-history

Upper Peninsula history buffs, entomologists, and fans of mining history, we have some exciting news for you! Michigan T...
04/02/2025

Upper Peninsula history buffs, entomologists, and fans of mining history, we have some exciting news for you!

Michigan Technological University is planning to digitize two of its historically significant collections. The university has plans to digitize and preserve the Michigan Tech Insect Collection. The historic entomology collection contains over 10,000 specimens, the oldest of which date back to the 1930s. The specimens primarily come from Houghton and Baraga counties in Michigan, offering valuable insight into the ecology and history of the Upper Peninsula. Researchers at the university are also working to digitize historic copper mining records. Titled “Preservation, Indexing, and Enhanced Utility of Historic Copper Mining,” the digitization project aims to preserve historic data and make information about twentieth-century copper mining accessible to the public. The records in the collection date from 1899 to 1970 and cover more than 650 drill holes. The project has received $118,898 in matching funds from the National Park Service through the Save America’s Treasures Grant Program.

Keep up with more Michigan News in each issue of Michigan History magazine at https://hsmichigan.org/read/michigan-history

Do you know the origins of the distinct pale-yellow mansion in Port Sanilac, Michigan? Dr. Joseph Miller Loop, who serve...
03/31/2025

Do you know the origins of the distinct pale-yellow mansion in Port Sanilac, Michigan? Dr. Joseph Miller Loop, who served the village of Port Sanilac and the surrounding communities as a physician in the mid-1800s, treated patients in their homes and traveled from place to place in a horse-drawn buggy. In the 1870s, Loop and his wife, Jane, began constructing a house to serve as both a family residence and medical office.

Construction began in 1872 and took around three years to complete. The resulting home was a two-and-a-half story mansion constructed of pale-yellow brick— which needed to be shipped across Lake Huron from Canada—and topped by a French-inspired mansard roof. The mansion also had distinctive chimneys, which— according to oral tradition—were installed by a traveling Irish mason. In total, the house cost $11,000 to construct. Loop and his wife resided in the home until their deaths. The house was then passed to their daughter, Ada, and her husband, Reverend Julius Harrison. The Harrisons also lived in the mansion until their deaths. In 1964, the Harrisons’ son, Stanley, deeded the house and the surrounding property to the Sanilac County Historical Society. Today, the restored mansion functions as a museum, and its first two floors are open to the public for tours. The original pale-yellow brick is difficult to maintain and tends to blacken over time, so the house is regularly repainted, preserving the mansion’s cheerful facade. The ten acres of the Loop-Harrison estate are now home to a historical village operated by the Sanilac County Historical Society.

Interested in seeing how historical buildings and other sites change over time? Check out the “Then & Now” section in Michigan History magazine! Learn more at https://hsmichigan.org/read/michigan-history

It’s time to focus on a “History Hot Spot!” Have you ever experienced the Waterloo Farm Museum & Dewey School Museum in ...
03/27/2025

It’s time to focus on a “History Hot Spot!” Have you ever experienced the Waterloo Farm Museum & Dewey School Museum in Grass Lake, Michigan?

Whether you have a passion for local history, agriculture, or education, the Waterloo Farm Museum and Dewey School Museum offer an opportunity to connect with the lives of early settlers and the community they established. The nineteenth-century farmstead highlights the region’s agricultural legacy. The 1850s farmhouse features period furnishings and artifacts. Outbuildings—such as a bakehouse, icehouse, Perkins windmill, and a woodworking and blacksmith’s workshop with working forge—illustrate the story of an 1800s homestead. Located three miles north of the farm, the one-room Dewey School was built in the mid-1880s. The nineteenth-century schoolhouse features the original desks, chalkboards, and teaching tools.

There are two featured “History Hot Spots” in every issue of Michigan History magazine! Learn more at https://hsmichigan.org/read/michigan-history

Have you ever been interested in subscribing to Michigan History magazine, but wanted a sneak peek at the content before...
03/25/2025

Have you ever been interested in subscribing to Michigan History magazine, but wanted a sneak peek at the content before committing? Here’s your chance to read a full feature article for FREE. Here is the abstract for “The Buried and the Bereaved: The Barnes-Hecker Mine Disaster” by James R. Paquette.

“The Barnes-Hecker iron mine was located in the Marquette Iron Range, buried under a thick layer of waterlogged glacial sand and gravel. Men from nearby communities worked in the mine, extracting iron ore from the land. On November 3, 1926, the Barnes-Hecker iron mine collapsed, killing 51 men in a matter of minutes and leaving behind hundreds of grieving loved ones. Today, the tragedy is remembered as the deadliest mining disaster in Michigan history.”

To read the full article for free, go tohttps://hsmichigan.org/sites/default/files/2025-02/PUB-MHM-Sample%20MHM%20Story-MarApr25_0.pdf

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Michigan History Magazine

Published since 1917, Michigan History is about—and a part of—Michigan's fascinating past. Every issue tells the exciting stories of all of Michigan’s peoples and their impact on their communities, nation and world. The magazine covers a variety of history topics ranging from military history to historical Native American recipes and everything in between. It is published by the Historical Society of Michigan.

The Historical Society of Michigan, the state’s oldest cultural organization, helps to connect Michigan’s past to students, educators, historical organizations, and the public through education programs, conferences, publications, awards, workshops, referral services, networking opportunities, and support for local history organizations. It is a 501(c) nonprofit.

To learn more about Michigan History or the Historical Society of Michigan, visit www.hsmichigan.org.