Rapids Historical Society
Volume 35, number 8!
May 2014
Grand River Times The Newsletter of the Grand Rapids Historical Society
Inside this issue: Cover Story: May program: The Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon Letter from our President, page 2 Program Presenter, Cindy Laug, page 4 New Local History Books, page 5 2014 Baxter Award Winners, page 6 Happening in History, page 7 Photo Sleuth, page 7
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Next Program: Fulton Street Cemetery Tour with Tom Dilley Save the date (tentative): September 6/7, 2014, 10:00 a.m., at Fulton Street Cemetery. Up-to-date details will be in the September edition of this newsletter.
The Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon by Cindy Laug At the 2014 Banquet of the Grand Rapids Historical Society
Thursday, May 8, 2014 Reception: 6:00 p.m. Dinner: 6:45 p.m. Program follows Location: Women’s City Club “Martha,” the last known passenger pigeon, passed away September 1, 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoological Gardens. The year 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the extinction of the legendary Passenger Pigeon. Not to be confused with the common rock pigeon or messenger pigeon, the wild pigeon, as they were often referred to, were thought to have numbered between 3-5 billion, and be 25-40% of the total bird population in what is now known as North America. James John Audubon estimated the species could travel 60 miles per hour and flew in such enormous numbers to darken the sky as if the sun was hidden for days! The thunderous approach of a flight would terrorize both animals and humans alike causing mass havoc as they approached. The traditional migration of these colonies of birds ran as far north as northern Ontario, Quebec Canada; westward to eastern Montana; and southward to Florida and Texas. The northern migration of this species would occur in early spring before the snow had completely melted. As you can imagine, when 1-2 million birds flocking together, traveling at that speed, decide to take up residence in your hometown the impact is enormous. One pioneer stated that one could feel the direction of the wind change as their odor permeated the air. Pigeons feasted on the mast of the hardwoods, devouring every morsel in sight. With their daily intake estimated at ½ pint per bird per day, one can only imagine the results to the surrounding vegetation and crops. Because these gregarious passenger pigeons could only breed in large bird communities, a large nesting in the hardwood forests were known to be 3 miles long to 40 miles wide bringing both devastation and economic stability to the local communities. Continued on page 4
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GRAND RAPIDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Dear GRHS Members,
The Grand River Times is the newsletter of the Grand Rapids Historical Society, published six times annually. Established in 1894, the Grand Rapids Historical Society is dedicated to exploring the history of West Michigan; to discover its romance and tragedy, its heroes and scoundrels, its leaders and its ordinary citizens. The Society collects and preserves our heritage, passing it on to new generations through books, lectures, and education projects.
Executive Committee: Gina Bivins, president Matthew Daley, vice president John Gelderloos, treasurer Board members: Alan Bennett Charles Bocskey Thomas Dilley W.D. Frankforter, emeritus Tim Gleisner Marilyn Hamill Chris Kaupa Gordon Olson, emeritus Nan Schichtel Wilhelm Seeger Jeff Sytsma Jim Winslow John Morrison, editor
Grand Rapids Historical Society c/o Grand Rapids Public Library 111 Library St NE Grand Rapids, MI 49503 Web site: www.grhistory.org Email: grhs.local@gmail.com
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May brings us to the end of our program year which includes the annual meeting, Baxter Award presentation and a speaker to end the evening. I hope you are as intrigued by the demise of the passenger pigeon as I am. As concerned as we are today about endangered wildlife, it seems out of the realm of possibility that humans could bring to extinction a bird that once so filled the skies they blocked out the sun. Our speaker, Cindy Laug, has a passion for local history, particularly women’s history in the Grand Rapids area. Through her research about Etta Smith Wilson, the first full time paid female newspaper reporter in Grand Rapids, she has become involved in Gina Bivins Project Passenger Pigeon (http://passengerpigeon.org). GRHS President Ms. Laug learned that after a sudden life threatening illness prevented Ms. Smith Wilson from continuing work as a reporter, she turned her focus to her hobby of song birds, including the passenger pigeon. Cindy will share historical data on the life and demise of the passenger pigeons, and reflect on what we now know. This topic made me think about what other human endeavors have compromised wildlife in the area. I have lots of questions that perhaps others have answers to. What effect did the quarrying of limestone out of the river have? What effect did filling in the east bank of the Grand River to the island have? What about the power canals? It seems very probable that the rapids will be put back in the river in the not too distant Continued on page 3 About the Grand Rapids Historical Society. The Grand Rapids Historical Society sponsors eight programs each year, beginning in September and running through May, including lectures, audio/video presentations, demonstrations, collections, or special tours. Programs are co-sponsored by the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. Membership. Membership is open to all interested persons with annual dues of $30 per family, $20 for seniors and students, or $400 for a lifetime membership. The membership year runs from May to the following May. Members of the Grand Rapids Historical Society receive eight newsletters each year and a subscription to our annual magazine, Grand River Valley History. Members also receive a 20 percent discount on books published by the society as well as books published by the Grand Rapids Historical Commission. Change of Address. If you will be permanently or temporarily moving to a new address, please notify GRHS before your change occurs. Let us know your new address and the date you plan to leave and plan to return. Email to grhs.local@gmail.com, or mail to Grand Rapids Historical Society, c/o Grand Rapids Public Library, 111 Library Street NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503.
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GRAND RAPIDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
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future. (http://grandrapidswhitewater.org/) There are concerns about invasive species like the lamprey eel finding their way upstream. There is hope that sturgeon will once again spawn in the river. It was front page news in 2009 when an angler landed a five foot sturgeon, and rather than release it, kept it. Last summer I saw biologist poking around the downtown bridges for evidence of a mussel or clam that may have to be moved to a more protected location. I perused the U.S. Fish and Wildlife website when I began thinking about what I would write about this month (http://www.fws.gov/) and found a list of endangered and extinct species in Kent County. At the end of the presentation on May 8 perhaps we all will take a look at the list and make sure that we do not behave in a manner that puts another animal on the list with the passenger pigeon. Have a relaxing, safe summer. See you in September (which makes me think of the song with the same name that came out the year I graduated from Catholic Central High School. It reached #3 on the charts. I am sure that more than a few of you remember the song too.)
Welcome to new members of the Grand Rapids Historical Society Peter Armstrong Edgar & Wendy Marty Charles C. Brown Caroline Cook
Special Summer Tours for Members of the Grand Rapids Historical Society The Grand Rapids Historical Society is working to line up tours of historic Grand Rapids buildings limited to our members. If you would like to learn more about the tours as details become available, please let us know your name and email address at grhs.local@gmail.com. We will communicate directly with members for these tours through email as we don’t publish a newsletter in the summer months. We will not use your email address for other purposes than to communicate business related to Grand Rapids Historical Society, nor will we share your email address with any other organization.
Join the Grand Rapids Historical Society or Give a Membership as a Gift The Grand Rapids Historical Society sponsors eight lectures each year, which are co-sponsored by the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. Members of the society enjoy these benefits:
• Lifetime memberships: 71
The Grand River Times is the newsletter of the Grand Rapids Historical Society. Published and mailed to members eight times a year, it includes current items of historical interest, details of upcoming lectures, historically relevant activities, and short articles. The Grand River Valley History is the society’s annual magazine. Featured are illustrated articles by local history researchers and contributions from the Grand Rapids Public Museum, the City Archivist, the Grand Rapids Public Library, and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. 20% Discount on all books and other items published by the society.
• Annual memberships: 272
Please enroll me as a member of the Grand Rapids Historical Society: ___ New ___ Renewal ___ Gift
• Organizations: 41
____ Individual/Family Membership: $30.00 per year ____ Senior Citizen or Student: $20.00 per year ____ Lifetime: $400.00 one-time fee
Members of the Grand Rapids Historical Society:
• Baxter Award winners: 19
Name: Address: City/State/Zip Email: Please make check payable to the Grand Rapids Historical Society and mail it with this form to: Grand Rapids Historical Society, c/o Grand Rapids Public Library, 111 Library Street NE, Grand Rapids MI 49503 Grand River Times!
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GRAND RAPIDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
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Unfortunately for this species, they were quite tasty. Their abundant numbers were the cheapest terrestrial protein then available so they became a commodity sold in local and national markets to help feed the growing human population of Canada and the United States. They were both a mainstay of the poor and frequent offering in some of the fanciest venues of the 19th century. This docile bird was also captured alive as the competitive sport of the wealthy, known as trap shooting, became popular in the big cities. The recent expansion of the rail system throughout the Midwest enabled hunters, commonly known as pigeoners or netters, to transport their goods, dead or alive, not only by boat, but railcars as well. So by the 1850s the mass slaughters began as the number of pigeoners grew from 100 to 800 and altered what had once been a way to feed one’s family to become a lucrative business. By the late 1880’s the large nestings in Michigan, and surrounding states, were a rare sight. By the 1900s, the species was almost non-existent. Was it human exploitation that plunged this species into extinction over the course of just a few decades in the late 1800’s? Were there other factors that played into this? What role, if any, did Grand Rapids play in its demise? Find out more about this amazing species, its habitat, and final elimination, as we examine the world’s first documented extinction.
M or e ab ou t P r ogr am P r es en t er Ci n d y Lau g Cindy Laug lives in Spring Lake and has held a variety of positions at GVSU, currently working in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences for the dean, Fred Antczak. At GVSU Cindy has stretched beyond her work duties to contribute to local history efforts. She organizes Women's History Month events at GVSU and recently a grandparents/ grandkids camp for which she partnered with GGRWHC to produce a series of bookmarks featuring 18 area women. The camp re-enacted a historical Ladies Literary Club meeting where hats and corsets were a big hit with the kids. Cindy has continued several ongoing projects resulting in photo essays for the Grand Rapids Historical Commission website. For example: The Women of the Ridge, on whom she also did a program, http:// www.historygrandrapids.org/photoessay/1691/women-onthe-ridge/. Cindy has contributed at least eight photo essays, each researched, with lots of supporting materials.
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As a volunteer for the Coopersville Historical Society, Cindy sought local history programming to celebrate Women’s History Month, an outgrowth of her earlier organization of a community-wide celebration. Cindy has expanded her role as an organizer into the serious research, programming, and publishing activities that aid the broader effort to fill out the picture of our cultural legacy by rescuing long forgotten local women. In the process, Cindy has also helped expose the common misconception that the story of women's achievements is a tale of linear progression. Her work on area women in science, art, journalism, and agriculture illustrates that women’s accomplishments in the 1890s were in some cases achieved more easily than in the 1950s—and that the local can be “national,” especially in women’s history, where local researchers are elaborating and changing the record from which professional historians work.
Grand River Times
GRAND RAPIDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Th e Not or iou s Isaac Ear l an d H is Sc ou t s b y Gor d on Ol s on A little-known Civil War story of courage, intrigue, and romance While large armies engaged in epic battles in the eastern theater of the Civil War, a largely unchronicled story was unfolding along the Mississippi River. Thirty "Special Scouts" under the command of Lieutenant Isaac Newton Earl patrolled the river, gathering information about Confederate troop activity, arresting Rebel smugglers and guerillas, and opposing anti-Union insurrection. Gordon Olson gives this special unit full book-length treatment for the first time in The Notorious Isaac Earl and His Scouts. Olson uses new research in assembling his detailed yet very readable account of Earl, a dynamic leader who rose quickly through Union Army ranks to command this elite group. He himself was captured by the Confederates three times and escaped three times, and he developed a strategic — and later romantic — relationship with a Southern woman, Jane O'Neal, who became one of his spies. In keeping the river open for Union Army movement of men and supplies to New Orleans, Earl's Scouts played an important, heretofore unheralded, role in the Union's war effort. Available May 9, 2014. Go to eerdmans.com for more information.
Th e Ar t of M em or y: H i s t or i c Cem et er i es of Gr an d R ap i d s , M i c h i gan b y Th om as R . D illey In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, the look and feel of cemeteries in the United States changed dramatically, from utilitarian burial grounds to the serene park-like spaces that we know today. The so-called park cemetery was innovative not only for its distinctive landscape architecture but also because, for the first time, its staff took on the tasks of designing, running, and maintaining the cemetery itself, leading to a very consistent appearance. By the mid-1800s, the influence of park cemeteries began to spread from big cities on the east coast to the Midwest —eventually producing fifteen transitional examples in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In The Art of Memory: Historic Cemeteries of Grand Rapids, Michigan Thomas R. Dilley details the history of Grand Rapids’ park cemeteries, finding that their development mimicked national trends and changing cultural beliefs about honoring the dead. Available in September 2014. Grand River Times!
Thomas Dilley has led numerous cemetery tours for the Grand Rapids Historical Society. Watch for the September issue of Grand River Times for details on how you can get your copy of his book. 5
GRAND RAPIDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
An n ou n c i n g the 2014 Albert Baxter Award Winners The Albert Baxter Award was created by the Grand Rapids Historical Society in 1980 to honor persons who have made significant contributions to the preservation and interpretation of Grand River Valley History. The 2014 recipients of the Albert Baxter Award are Henry and Loekie Boersma, a retired couple living in Marne. Historical Society board trustee, Tim Gleisner, has known the Boersmas for 13 years and first met them when he worked at the Herrick District Library in Holland, Michigan. The Boersmas often stop off at each of the west Michigan libraries between Grand Haven and Grand Rapids to drop off each new publication or index they have created. In the past 20 years they have produced more than 27 different indexes and publications, The Tallmadge Charter Township Historical Collection, on the township ranging from indexing the records of the website, is possible because of the work of Henry and Loekie Boersma. Ottawa County Infirmary to the indexes of numerous cemeteries and compilations of obituaries of the Coopersville Observer. We hope you’ll join us in honoring them at our On top of all of this indexing and compiling, the annual banquet, held this year on May 8 at the Women’s Boersmas also created and maintained the Tallmadge City Club. Township archives. They have gained the confidence and trust of the township and saved the records of the community. They have cataloged every historical record of Tallmadge and saved the materials from being thrown away - thus becoming the archivists of this west Michigan town. The Boersmas have also been involved in the saving and restoration of numerous small cemeteries, such as the Ottawa County Poor Farm Cemetery on Eastmanville Farm. They research the men and women buried in these forgotten cemeteries and are hands-on when it comes to restoring the grounds and markers. Henry and Loekie Boersma have made a life of keeping themselves busy, and continued that tradition in their retirement with an unwavering dedication to preserving history in places that so often get overlooked. This is why it was the unanimous choice of the Grand Albert Baxter, the inspiration for the Albert Rapids Historical Society to honor them with the 2014 Baxter Award. Albert Baxter Award.
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Happening in History: March 2014 If you have history-related events you would like included in our calendar, please let us know at grhs.local@gmail.com. Reading the Great Lakes Thursday, May 1, 2014, 7:00 p.m. Main Library – 111 Library St NE May’s selection is Coop by Michael Perry. Family History vs. Genealogy Saturday, May 3, 2014, 1:30 p.m. Presenter: Donna Odom Grand Rapids Public Library, Ryerson Auditorium Anxious to document your family’s past, but not sure whether you want to do genealogy or a family history? In this presentation Ms. Odom will review the difference between the two and offer suggestions to help you make your decision. This presentation was originally scheduled for February 1 but was canceled due to winter weather warnings. 100 Years of Grand Haven History in Postcards Dr. Wallace Ewing Monday, May 12, 2014, 7:00 p.m. Faith United Methodist Church, 2600 7th St NW, Grand Rapids
Some people collect picture postcards for their images, others for their humor, and a few, like Dr. Wallace Ewing, for the historical narrative they tell. Ewing will present a hundred years of Grand Haven history unveiled through the vehicle of postcards. Dr. Ewing has been researching and writing about genealogy and local history, and is the author of more than a dozen books. Alpine Antique Tractor Show Sunday, May 18, 2014, 9:00 a.m. Alpine Community Building, 2015 Seven Mile Road See a collection of restored farm tractors and enjoy entertainment and refreshments. Free admission. 784-1261 for more information. Grand Rapids Civil War Round Table Wednesday, May 21, 2014, 7:30 p.m. DeWitt Student Center, Kuyper College 3333 East Beltline NE George Wilinson comes to the Grand Rapids Civil War Round Table in May to present, The Fourth Michigan Infantry.
Grand Rapids Public Library Photo Sleuth This image comes from the Robinson Studio Collection (#125). The photo shows seven men in a wallpaper store in 1936. According to the 1936 city directory, there were 24 wallpaper retailers and three wallpaper wholesalers listed. If you can identify any of the men in this photo, please let us know by emailing your information to khazlew@grpl.org, or call 616 988-5402, extension 5497. Since the beginning of the year, the Grand Rapids Public Library has been able to add 25 names to its photo index with help from the public, including Grand Rapids Historical Society members. Thank you! Each month the local history department of the Grand Rapids Public Library posts a different photo on a web page called Photo Sleuth to enlist the public’s help in identifying individuals in the photos. To find the photo on GRPL’s website, go to www.grpl.org/history and click on “Archives and Photos.”
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Grand Rapids Historical Society, Inc.
Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Grand Rapids, MI Permit No. 234
c/o Grand Rapids Public Library 111 Library St NE Grand Rapids, MI 49503
GRAND RAPIDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon by Cindy Laug At the 2014 Banquet of the Grand Rapids Historical Society Thursday, May 8, 2014
Details inside!
Inside this issue: Cover Story: May program: The Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon Letter from our President, page 2 Program Presenter, Cindy Laug, page 4 New Local History Books, page 5 2014 Baxter Award Winners, page 6 Happening in History, page 7 Photo Sleuth, page 7
For more information on Historical Society programs, visit www.grhistory.org
