Historical Society of Greater Lansing Celebrates 75 Years of Lansing History
In honor of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Lansing Historical Society, the Historical Society of Greater Lansing will assemble seven former presidents in a panel discussion on the importance of studying and saving local history for future generations at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 11, Lake Erie Room, Library of Michigan, 702 West Kalamazoo, Lansing MI.
The event is free and cake and ice cream will be served. A small display of HSGL historical pamphlets and ephemera will also be on display.
Seven past presidents will participate in a panel discussion on the evolution of the HSGL and will answer the question “why is local history important?”
Current president Bill Castanier said, “We are honored by their lifetime commitment to the study and the saving of our local history. During a time when the study of history is under attack, high school test scores in history are plummeting and the study of history is seen as nostalgia it is important to reflect on why local history matters.”
LHS and its successor HSGL, have been preserving and sharing Lansing history for 75 years (1947-2022). This year marks 75 years since the first annual meeting of the Lansing Historical Society in 1948. The LHS was short lived, operating for around five years. However, in 1955, the Historical Society of Greater Lansing picked up where they left off. The program will begin with a brief introduction on LHS and HSGL early history, then transition into a panel discussion of past presidents.
Those participating are Geneva Wiskemann (1960-1961, 1974-1976, 1978-1980), Eugene G. Wanger (1970-1971), Eric Satterlee (1984), Linda R. Peckham (1988-1999), Craig A. Whitford (2001-2005, 2007-2009), Doug Johnson (2009-2010), and Valerie R. Marvin (2010-2016). Wiskemann is the final surviving charter member of the HSGL and has been involved in local and Michigan history for more than 70 years.
Current and youngest HSGL Trustee Jacob McCormick said “The participating past presidents have a combined presidencies of more than 30 years spanning almost six decades. They will reminisce on their involvement in local history, achievements with the HSGL, memories of events, research, programming, and offer a perspective on why local history is important.”
George N. Fuller, secretary of the Michigan State Historical Society, writing in the Lansing State Journal in 1948 on the occasion of the first annual meeting of the Lansing Historical Society said “Many used to think of local history as largely a matter of sentiment or as a pleasant way for a select few to pass the time. Or it was regarded as a matter of satisfying one’s curiosity or of gaining facts which might be useful in conversation.
It is the work of the local historical society, then, to gather facts on those local persons. Institutions and events which have played an important role in our community’s development, that a later historian may relate these facts of local history to the larger story of our nation as a whole translating to us our American ideals of democracy in terms of our personal and community experience. In this way local historical work can be a tool of great importance in welding that national spirit so much needed as we face the challenge to our American way of life and try to help in the reconstruction of a disordered world.”
He went on: “All history is local somewhere.” And “American local history gains importance from the fact it illustrates in miniature the American way of life with its freedom and tolerance and individual opportunity. It pictures at close range the war on hunger, poverty, disease and ignorance.”
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author Jon Meacham said in 2022, “To know what has come before is to be armed against despair. If the men and women of the past, with all their flaws and limitations and ambitions and appetites, could press on through ignorance and superstition, racism and sexism, selfishness and greed, to create a freer, stronger nation, then perhaps we, too, can right wrongs and take another step toward that most enchanting and elusive of destinations: a more perfect Union.”
On a lighter note, author and lecturer Mark Twain said, “history doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes.”
