Publications
There have been hundreds of books written on all facets of Michigan history, Ingham County history, and Lansing history, including general histories, neighborhood histories, organizational histories, biographies, autobiographies, historical fiction, and more. This page assembles a noncomprehensive listing of works on local history. We welcome additions to this list, please contact us with suggestions. Immediately below is a list of the key titles to read if you are interested in Lansing history, followed by a more in-depth list. The publications list is arranged alphabetically by author’s last name.
Underlined entries in the list below are links to the digitized publication.
Local History Publications
Lansing History Primers & Must-Reads
Bolded below, there are a handful of titles on Lansing history which are widely considered the go-to reliable primers on local history to give you an introduction to most facets of the general heritage of Lansing and the mid-Michigan area. Several of these authors are past board members of the HSGL, professors of history, and highly regarded collectors and researchers of local history.
The Bicentennial History of Ingham County, Michigan
By Ford Stevens Ceasar
1976
City in the Forest: The Story of Lansing
By Birt Darling
1950
Out of a Wilderness: An Illustrated History of Greater Lansing
By Justin L. Kestenbaum
1981
Lansing: City on the Grand, 1836-1939
By James MacLean and Craig A. Whitford
2003
Through the Years, 1847-1997: A Pictorial History of Greater Lansing
By Linda R. Peckham and Ray Walsh
1997
Books on Lansing History
Mrs. Franc L. Adams (1923), Pioneer History of Ingham County
L.B. Baker with Foreward by Craig A. Whitford (2015), Assassination of Abraham Lincoln; The Flight, Pursuit, Capture, Death and Burial of J. Wilkes Booth, His Assassin; A Thrilling Story
Susan J. Bandes (2016), Mid-Michigan Modern: From Frank Lloyd Wright to Googie
F.N. Bovee (1912), Lansing: Michigan’s Commercial Center
Ezra B. Breithaupt, edited by Loy B. LaSalle (1977), Young Men’s Christian Association of Lansing, Michigan, Serving Clinton, Ingham, and Eaton Counties, 1877-1977, One Hundred Years of Service to Youth, Adults and Families
Ann Carlson (1988), The Lansing Poetry Club: The First Fifty Years, A History and Anthology
Ford Stevens Ceasar (1976), The Bicentennial History of Ingham County, Michigan
Ford Stevens Ceasar (1978), Forgotten Communities of Central Michgian
Ford Stevens Ceasar (1979), Laying of the Cornerstone of Michigan’s Capitol: A Facsimile Reprint and Additional Relevant Materials
Ford Stevens Ceasar (1983), The Great Northern Ghost
Dale A. Carlson & Einar E. Kvaran (2020), Corrado Parducci: A Field Guide to Detroit’s Architectural Sculptor
Jenn Carpenter (2015), Haunted Lansing
Chapman Bros. (1891), Portrait and Biographical Album of Ingham and Livingston Counties, Michigan
Robert J. Coleman (1970), To a Goodly Heritage: A History of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
J.S. Conover (1889), Lansing, Mich. Illustrated
Sarah Morlok Cotton (2016), The Morlok Quadruplets: The Alphabet Sisters
Albert E. Cowles (1905), Past and Present of the City of Lansing and Ingham County, Michigan
Jack T. Crosby, Sr. (1968), The State Capitol of Michigan
Birt Darling (1950), City in the Forest: The Story of Lansing
Joseph L. Druse (1959), Pulpit and Prayer in Earliest Lansing
Samuel W. Durant (1880), History of Ingham and Eaton Counties, Michigan
Helen J. Earley and James R. Walkinshaw (1997), Oldsmobile: A War Years Pictorial
Helen J. Earley and James R. Walkinshaw (2004), Oldsmobile: The Last Chapter, 1997-2004
Helen Jones Earley and James R. Walkinshaw (1997), Setting the Pace: Oldsmobile’s First 100 Years
Robert R. Ebert, James R. Neal, and Timothy R. Fijalkovich (2006), The World’s Toughest Truck: The REO/Diamond REO Story
J.P. Edmonds (1944), Early Lansing History
Lisa M. Fine (2004), The Story of REO Joe
Lille Foster, editor (2018), U.S. Army Life 1941-1945: In the Letters of Theodore Pattengill Foster
Fox Publishing Company (1890), Lansing Illustrated
Jean Frazier (1996), A Century of Caring: Edward W. Sparrow Hospital Centennial History 1896-1996
Richard Frazier, ed. David Thomas (1997), Let the Record Show: A Legal History of Ingham County, Michigan
Helen E. Grainger (1976), Pictorial Lansing Great City on the Grand
Milton L. Greenbaum (1958), Michigan, Michigan
Gilbert L. Haley & Janet Goodell Haley (n.d.), Memories of 1939
Ellen C. Hathaway (1953), Your Capitol and Mine: A Story of Michigan’s Government for Young Readers
Fay L. Hendry (1980), Outdoor Sculpture in Lansing
Patricia E. Heyden (1991), Behind the Badge: The History of the Lansing Police Department
Patricia E. Heyden (1997), Metta and R.E. Olds, Loves Lives Labors
Kevin Hile (2008), Little Zoo by the Red Cedar: The Story of Potter Park Zoo
Elizabeth A. Homer (2014), Pioneers, Reformers, & Millionaires
Jim Hough (1985), The Onlooker Looks Back on the best of 25 years of columns from the Lansing State Journal
Virginia B. Hutcheson, editor, John L. DeLong, producer, Michigan DMB (1986), Michigan’s State Capitol: History Art & Architecture
Ingham County Historical Commission (1987), A Michigan Sesquicentennial History of Ingham County
Helen Elizabeth Jacobson & Jane Wilson (1975), Lansing: A Look to the Past
Earvin “Magic” Johnson with William Novak (1992), My Life
Justin L. Kestenbaum (1981), Out of a Wilderness: An Illustrated History of Greater Lansing
Lansing 150 Celebration (2008), Voices of Lansing: Memories of the City
Lansing Historic District Committee (1976), Memorandum ‘76: Historic Lansing: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
The Lansing Journal (1902), The Lansing Journal Twentieth Century Edition
The Lansing Journal (1906), Greater Lansing, Michigan, 1859-1906
Lansing State Journal (2004), Journal of Our Times: 150 Years in the Life of Greater Lansing
Arthur Russell Lauder (1947), Lansing Unlimited
John H. Lorenz as told by Steve Purdy and Margaret Hehr (2011), Cows to Cars: A family history of automotive sales and service from the heartland of American motoring
James MacLean (2015), Darius B. Moon: The History of a Michigan Architect, 1880-1910
James MacLean (2019), Lansing’s Young Architects: William Appleyard, R. Arthur Bailey, Frederick Thoman
James MacLean & Craig A. Whitford (2003), Lansing: City on the Grand, 1836-1939
Sallie M. Manassah, David A. Thomas, & James E. Wallington (1986), Lansing: Capital, Campus And Cars
Paul Manderschied (1993), Lansing’s Money: A Survey of Lansing, Michigan Tokens and Paper Money
Marie S. Manson (n.d.), To Grow an Architect
George S. May (1975), R.E. Olds: Auto Industry Pioneer
Ruth McKim (1979), Shining Through
Hilda Menger (1967), History of the Lansing Elementary School Principals Organization
Daniel S. Mevis (1911), Pioneer Recollections Semi-Historic Side Lights on the Early Days of Lansing
Jeff Morrison (2022), Guardians of Michigan: Architectural Sculpture of the Pleasant Peninsulas
Marcy Murninghan (2001), Flower Power: Lucile Belen and the Politics of Integrity
Margaret O’Rourke, James Billings, Thomas Rasmusson (1983), Barnes’ Castle, 1877-1957, Lansing, Michigan, Victorian Paradigm
Linda R. Peckham (1997), Lansing Capital Sesquicentennial, Lansing, Michgian, 1847-1997
Linda R. Peckham and Lori Ellen Heuft (1999), Saw Mills and Sleigh Bells: Stories of Mid-Michigan Settlers
Linda Peckham and Ray Walsh (1997), Through the Years, 1847-1997: A Pictorial History of Greater Lansing
Stewart B. Powell (2004), Jewels from My Pocket
Hazel Proctor, editor (1980), Old Lansing Town
J. Gottlieb Reutter with foreward by J.W. Sexton (1947), Memories of J. Gottlieb Reutter
Michael Rodriguez (2004), R.E. Olds and Industrial Lansing
Rotary Club of Lansing (2016), History of the Rotary Club of Lansing: One Hundred Years of Service Above Self, 1916-2016
Bob Roth (1996), Our Lugnuts Year One!
Jessica Russell (2021), The Life of Louise Norton Little, An Extraordinary Woman, Mother of Malcolm X and His 7 Siblings
Marion “Babe” Weyant Ruth (2003), Airport Kid: Learning to Fly
Barbara Darling Saxena (2012), Souviens [Fictionalized account of the 1934 Kerns Hotel fire]
John Schneider (1983), Kin, Too: Columns from the Lansing State Journal
William Seale (1995), Michigan’s Capitol: Construction, Restoration
Philip Alan Siebert (1966), The ‘Bracketed Tower’ Style of Architecture in Mid-Michigan
Edward W. Sparrow Hospital School of Nursing (1961), Sparrow Tales: Memories from the Graduates, 1899-1961
The State Journal (1930), Lansing and It’s Yesterdays: A Compilation of a Portion of the Historical Material Published in the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Edition of The State Journal
Rebecca Stimson, William A. Atkinson, and Roni Sionakides (2009), Shopkeepers, Soldiers, Statesmen, and One Naked Lady: Stories of Lansing, Michigan Families
Rajee Tobia (1965), R.E. Olds… Benefactor to the Holy Lands
Frank N. Turner (1924), An Account of Ingham County from its Organization
Eugene G. Wanger (1981), A Brief History of the Ingham County Historical Commission, 1971-1981
Eugene G. Wanger (2003), Discovering Ingham County: A Descriptive Bibliography
Eugene G. Wanger (1977), Ingham County Histories: An Annotated Bibliography for Students, Buffs and Collectors
Mary Jane McClintock Wilson (2012), In His Words: The Freeman H. McClintock Story
Mary Jane McClintock Wilson (1992), Pills n’ Things: Health Care Beginnings in Greater Lansing
Mary Jane McClintock Wilson (2021), The Lansing I Knew
Mary Jane McClintock Wilson (1979), The Watch of the Capitol
Mary Jane Wilson & Marilyn Culpepper (2003), The Junior League of Lansing, 1948-2003
Craig A. Whitford and David L. Mackey (1987), Postmarked: Michigan, Mich. 1847-1848
Louise J. Wribel (1988), A College for All Seasons: A History of Lansing Community College, 1957-1987
Duane Yarnell (1949), Auto Pioneering: A Remarkable Story of Ransom E. Olds
Non-HSGL Historical Walking Tours of Lansing
Cherry Hill Neighborhood Historic District
Prepared by the City of Lansing, 2012
View tour booklet
Lansing’s Westside Neighborhood Historic Tour
Prepared by the Westside Commercial Association, 2010
View tour booklet
Special thanks to Timothy Bowman for digitizing these tour booklets from Lansing neighborhoods, which were not prepared by the Historical Society of Greater Lansing.