History
- Recent History Articles
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Vets recall Battle of the Bulge
Clifford Merrick knew something big was happening when they issued him a rifle.
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Traverse Corridor: A prehistoric crossroads
Anthropologist Charles Cleland and his students found a string of prehistoric villages
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Cleland helped cement tribes' fishing rights
A mention in Charles Cleland’s dissertation caught the eye of a tribal attorney. Archaeological evidence of prehistoric gill nets was cited in the 1970s paper — and launched a side career for the Michigan State University professor and museum curator. Cleland, an anthropologist, became an expert witness in several Great Lakes Indian treaty fishing court cases from 1974-2008. The decisions significantly changed perceptions of Indian tribes and their fishing, hunting and gathering rights, Cleland said.
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Terry Wooten: Christmas past and present
I was terribly miscast as one of the three wise men. It was a fifth grade Christmas pageant at the Methodist Church in Marion. I wore my Grandpa's bathrobe, the closest I could come to a wise man's costume in a nativity scene. There was a piece of tinfoil shaped like a star on the church wall. I had one line. I was supposed to step out from the other two wise men, point at the star and say, "Look! It's getting brighter, much brighter!" I practiced those words for two weeks. The night of the play my saliva turned into paste. I was trembling like a melting icicle. I stepped out, looked at the audience and froze. I forgot my line and pointed at the tinfoil star. It was pretty obvious. Everybody could see it fine. The homemade symbol of a cosmic astrological event was glowing like a prism from all the church Christmas lights.
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WWI legend's father was national, local hero
Capt. George Holliday lost a son to war, but he was a World War I hero in his own right.
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Loraine Anderson: Story comes full circle
The story of local World War I heroes Harry and George Holliday, published in a two-part series Sunday and today, focused on the past. It is incomplete without bringing it to the present.
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Hero's Death: TC's most-honored WWI soldier
Harry Holliday had everything going for him in 1917. Then, on April 6, the United States declared war on Germany.
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Trees, boulders memorialize dead warriors
Trees signify life and granite strength and longevity. Grand Traverse County’s Confederation of Womens Clubs used both in 1923 and 1924 to create three memorials for the area’s sons and daughters who died in wars.
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Record-Eagle series to focus on WWI vet
World War I was a meat grinder. It ended on Nov. 11, 1918, and is the original reason we celebrate Veterans Day today.
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Lifelines: A 'thank you' to Glenn Ruggles
An award-winning teacher, Glenn Ruggles' magnum opus has been collecting oral histories around the state and Elk Rapids area. I met Glenn in 1983 when Stone Circle was just getting started. He became our advocate.
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TC hosts state historical society
The Historical Society of Michigan had never held its annual state conference here before, so Traverse City had a lot to show — and tell — the 250 people who attended the 137th yearly gathering over the weekend. For some, the conference started on Friday with a morning walking tour through Traverse City's historic neighborhoods, followed by another one in the afternoon through the 64-acre Village at Grand Traverse Commons redevelopment of the old Northern Michigan Asylum buildings that opened in 1885 and shut down in 1989.
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Society presents 2011 State History Awards
An Elk Rapids native son, a Northport historian and a Petoskey writer are among the 17 winners of 2011 State History Awards. Glenn Ruggles, a 1948 graduate of Elk Rapids Rural Agricultural High School, received the Historical Society of Michigan's 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award State History Award, which honors men and women who have dedicated themselves to preserving Michigan's history over a significant amount of time.
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Lifelines: Thinking creatively again
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Loraine Anderson: TC's dark past
A night of Ku Klux Klan terror in Traverse City 87 years ago this month earned the city a mention and footnotes in a new book.
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Readers identify baseball players
Several readers identified the men in the History Center of Traverse City archive photo that appeared in the Aug. 15 Community section. Kim Couturier said the baseball player without a ball cap in the middle of the photo is his father, Walter Couturier. He said his father was a standout pitcher who played on independent league baseball teams and the Boston Red Sox farm system. He thought this photo was a summer league baseball team during the early 1940s.
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