Historical Society of Greater Lansing

We are excited to announce the upcoming HSGL fundraiser, a tour of the beautiful, historic Potter House. The owner of the home, HSGL member James McClurken, has graciously offered to open his home to the Historical Society for this special event. The evening will include an in-depth architectural tour of the home, led by Lansing architecture professor Jim Perkins. Please note that all of the money raised at the event will go towards our museum fund.

The home, which is truly a Lansing treasure, was built by Ray & Sarah Potter.* Though its Tudor Revival style gives the home a traditional English feel, it is full of “modern” surprises, including the fact that the home is actually constructed of poured concrete! Designed by Harold Childs of East Lansing, the house is a fascinating combination of old-world excellence and modern American engineering.

Perhaps what truly sets the Potter House above her peers are the stunningly beautiful hand painted murals that showcase exotic animals from around the world. These murals will be shown as a part of the house tour. Ray Potter, who commissioned the house in the 1926, is the son of James Potter, who gifted land to the City of Lansing for the establishment of a grand city park, today known as Potter Park Zoo. Like his father, Ray was a generous philanthropist who donated significant amounts of money to Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital, as well as a variety of other institutions.

The generosity of the Potter family to the City of Lansing can be an inspiration to us all. If you would like to follow in their steps, and give a gift that will help establish a new Lansing cultural institution that will be valued for years to come, please consider partnering with the Historical Society of Greater Lansing in our efforts to raise money for a museum by purchasing a ticket to the event or by serving as an event sponsor.

You will find ticket and sponsorship information by opening these links:

Sponsor Form

Ticket Order

Or purchase through PayPal:

*Please note that James Potter was incorrectly named the original owner of the Potter House in the February issue of The History Explorer.

Peter Morris who has authored several books on the history of baseball and has been named “Baseball Historian of the Year” will present “Is Baseball Passé or the National Pastime” at a meeting of the Historical Society of Greater Lansing, 7 p.m., Thursday April 19 at the downtown branch of the Capital Area District Library.

Morris who lives in Haslett Michigan is the author of “A Game of Inches”, “Catcher”, “Level Playing Fields” and “Baseball Fever”. Most recently he authored an e-book “Don’t Kill the Umpire” about violence in baseball. He will make the case that baseball is still the national pastime and it permeates American culture like no other sport.

“Baseball culture is imbedded in everything from our language (“level playing field”, “fair and square” and “not coming out of left field”) to political showcases (every president since William Howard Taft has thrown out a first pitch.)” Morris who spends time each year in Cooperstown, New York at the Baseball Hall of Fame researching topics said “Baseball has taken on the mantel of the national pastime and the American character.”

The event is sponsored by the Historical Society of Greater Lansing and is funded in part by Michigan Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Just in time to get ready for spring training, nationally acclaimed baseball author Peter Morris will present a talk on the history of baseball in Michigan for the Historical Society of Greater Lansing.  Morris, one of the leading baseball historians in the nation, has authored five books about the subject: Baseball Fever: Early Baseball in Michigan, A Game of Inches: The Stories Behind the Innovations That Shaped Baseball, Level Playing Fields: How the Groundskeeping Murphy Brothers Shaped Baseball, But Didn’t We Have Fun, and Catcher: How the Man Behind the Plate Became An American Folk Hero.  
 
When:  Thursday, April 19th, 7:00 pm
Where:  Auditorium, downtown Capitol Area District Library

On Thursday evening, March 15, The Christman Company will host the Historical Society of Greater Lansing at their national headquarters, located at historic landmark Mutual Building on Capitol Avenue.  Society members and other attendees will enjoy a talk by Chad Teeples, who was the Senior Project Manager of the Christman Company’s recent work on the Accident Fund Building.  Teeples will give a talk on the history of the Christman Company, which was founded in South Bend, Indiana in 1894, and has had offices in Lansing since 1915.  He will also discuss Christman’s ongoing work to preserve and restore historic icons across the country, including our own capitol building.

The event begins at 7 pm.

Matt VanAcker, the Co-Chair of Michigan’s Save the Flags project, will speak about the Michigan Capitol Battle Flag collection, including 240 battle flags carried by Michigan soldiers in the Civil War, the Spanish American War and World War I.  Emphasis will be placed upon the Civil War collection, and most specifically, the flags with connections to Lansing.  Approximately 90,000 Michigan soldiers fought in the American Civil War and almost 15,000 made the ultimate sacrifice.  The bullet torn, blood stained battle flags that these men carried and died beneath were their proudest possessions, they stood for the Union, for their loved ones back home and also as the rallying point in combat.

After speaking at the Historical Society of Greater Lansing meeting on Thursday evening, February 16th, Matt will make the flag collection, now held at the Michigan Historical Center, available for viewing by the public Saturday morning, February 18th from 10 am to 12:30 pm.

Join us January 19th in the auditorium of the Downtown Branch of the Capital Area District Library as Lawrence Glazer, author of “Wounded Warrior: The Rise and Fall of Michigan Governor John Swainson” will talk about his award winning biography of the governor.  John Swainson, Michigan’s 42^nd governor, was once a rising star in Michigan politics who served in the State Senate, the Governor’s office, and on the Michigan Supreme Court.  Yet Swainson was no stranger to tragedy.  At the age of 19, while fighting in France during World War II, Swainson lost both legs in a land mine explosion.   Perhaps the greatest tragedy of his life, though, happened many years later, when he was convicted of perjury, disbarred, and removed from the Michigan Supreme Court in 1975.  Glazer charts the rise and fall of Governor Swainson in his book, revealing the truth behind Swainson’s conviction.
The program begins at 7 pm.

Browse the catalogue for our October 8 Silent Auction.

Join us for a tour of J.W. Sexton High School, Tuesday evening, November 15, 2011.  The doors will open at 6:30 pm.  The program will begin at 7 pm in the auditorium, and will be followed by tours of the building.  The evening will close with refreshments in the social room.  HSGL would like to thank Sexton Principal Dr. Reginald T. Bates, Assistant Principal Mr. Steven Lonzo, and the Sexton National Honors Society for their hospitality.

The Michigan Humanities Council has selected Detroit author Kevin Boyle’s Arc of Justice as their 2011-2012 Great Michigan Read book.  The book tells the story of a murder trial that resulted when an African American doctor, Ossian Sweet, moved his family into a white neighborhood in Detroit in 1925.  The trial became a landmark civil rights case, launching the career of future Michigan Governor Frank Murphy and serving as one of the highlights to the brilliant defense career of lawyer Clarence Darrow.  Arc of Justice is the 2004 National Book Award winner for non-fiction, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Price. 

On Tuesday, October 25, Boyle will speak on his book at Thomas Cooley Law School, located at 300 S. Capitol Ave.  Refreshments will be served at 5:30, with the program following at 6:00pm.  Books will be available for purchase and signing. This event is sponsored by the Capital Area District Library.

Thursday, Oct. 20, 7:00 PM
Covenants signed by white homeowners to keep African-Americans from moving into their neighborhoods affected maps created by local officials – maps that defined patterns of segregation for decades. Presented by Matthew Daley, Ph.D., an expert on Detroit’s rapid urban growth from 1915-1945.
Location: CADL Downtown Lansing Auditorium
401 S. Capitol Avenue, Lansing (corner of W. Kalamazoo St.)