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If you’re planning to join in the drunk lecture on Wednesday, please note a venue change! We had so much interest that Foran’s won’t fit all of us.
We’re moving to St. Cece’s in Corktown. There’s a fireplace, and plenty of parking. You’ll love it.
Hope to see you there this Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 8:00 p.m.! Here’re the Meetup and Facebook pages once more for good measure.
Detroit Drunken Historical Society — Inaugural Lecture — Feb. 22 (UPDATED: NEW VENUE!)
FINALLY! This is a dream I’ve been hoping to bring to life for years.
Part lyceum, part drunk history — you’ll learn something, and you might have a headache the next day. Join us at Foran’s St. Cece’s on Wednesday, Feb. 22, around 8 p.m., for Michigan craft beers, mingling with other people who love history, and an entertaining, off-the-cuff lecture about Detroit history. This month, I’m giving the talk. Yes, I’ll be drunk. (A little.)
We’re hoping to make this a monthly gathering, and we’ll be looking for speakers. (You don’t have to drink to give a talk, but of course we encourage it.) Join us on Meetup or Facebook to keep up with our tipsy (yet educational!) engagements.
Palmer Park Winter Festival — Feb. 25
I won’t be speaking at this event, but I will be enjoying snow shoe rentals and ice skating (weather permitting), horse-drawn carriage rides, bonfires and toasted marshmallows, and — oh my gosh,yes! — a dog fashion show! Come out for free, festive family fun in one of the best parks in the city. If I see you there I’ll introduce you to Mona.
Dearborn Historical Museum — March 7
I’ll be talking about Hidden History of Detroit at the Dearborn Historical Museum‘s Ross-McFadden House. Starts at 7:30! Tell your friends!
Discover Detroit — Detroit Historical Museum — March 9
Food from local restaurants, talks from local smart folks, representatives from lots of local organizations, all under one roof. It’s a crash-course in Detroit! Only fun and delicious. I’ll be speaking around 7 p.m.; the event is from 6 to 10 p.m.
More info and tickets ($10) available here.
Hope to see some of you around town this late winter/early spring!
Tags: dearbon historical museum, detroit drunken historical society, discover detroit, events, palmer park
Just a friendly reminder: I will be reading tomorrow (Wednesday) night as part of Wednesday Night Sessions. Vievee Francis and Jeff Kass are also reading. It will be great.
About Wednesday Night Sessions:
Wednesday Night Sessions is a monthly reading series based in Farmington, Michigan, that features talented local authors and poets. The series is sponsored by five Michigan-based publishers: Absinthe: New European Writing, Black Coffee Press, The Collagist, Dzanc Books and Midwestern Gothic.
Meet me at Mentobe Cafe on Grand River at 7:00 p.m for fancy literary fun!
See you there,
- THE NIGHT TRAIN
… and sail to Milwaukee to come see me talk at Sugar Maple on Jan. 12, 2012!
(Who am I kidding? They’ll be there for the dance party.)
Oh my gosh, how great is this poster? My friend dwellephant made it. You should send him $5 immediately. (Or maybe you need some love letters? Valentine’s Day!)
See you (if you live near Milwaukee) at the Sugar Maple! (More details on Facebook.) We’re going to shake it Gabriel Richard in wooden shoes after a few glasses of wine he bought from Joseph Campau.
Tags: antoine cadillac, Art, gabriel richard, lewis cass
I was so nervous when I gave my first tour of Elmwood back in October. I wasn’t sure that my habit of spending leisure time in the cemetery, hunting for my favorite obscure historical figures and talking to myself, gave me any sort of authority to lecture other people about it.
But! It was so much fun. Basically, I just did what I always do in Elmwood, only some really nice people tagged along and I talked to them instead of my imaginary/dead friends. Plus, Elmwood is beautiful, and a 90-minute walk was a great way to get the blood moving on a bleary Saturday morning.
You guys must like my style. The tour sold out, and the League of Adventurous Detroiters wanted to give waiting-listers from last time a second chance. So I’m giving a reprise tour this Saturday, Dec. 17, at 11 a.m. You can sign up here.
Rebecca from LoAD and I tried to find a way to spin this for the holidays, but cholera just doesn’t make anyone feel merry. But I DO think that this would be a great early gift for the history lover in your life. Make a day of it and grab brunch, hit up a museum or visit some independent Detroit shops afterward!
A note about the weather: The first time I visited Elmwood was in the winter, and while it is challenging to see a historic cemetery in the midst of snow drifts, it is also very pretty. And I finally own some winter boots. And if you bring a thermos full of something warm you might even feel pretty resilient. And jolly. And proud of yourself.
Other upcoming events
I will be in Milwaukee on January 12, reading at the Sugar Maple in Bay View around 7:30 pm. On the off-chance that you’ll be in the neighborhood, come out for American craft beers, a nerdy talk about the rich history that Milwaukee and Detroit share, and a soul dance party. Yep, it is going to be great.
On January 25, at 7 pm, I will be at Mentobe Cafe in downtown Farmington as part of the Wednesday Night Sessions series. Save the date and stay tuned for more details!
I’ll be at Leopold’s tonight (that’s Thursday, Dec. 1), reading and signing. And I am thrilled that John Carlisle, author of 313: Life in the Motor City (and the man behind detroitblog) will be there too, reading and signing.
You’ll get two wildly different takes on Detroit and double the Detroit stories you don’t hear very often. Mine are of the French pony cart / grog shop variety. John’s are of the strip club in a guy’s living room / Mr. Bow Tie variety. We’re both pretty fun to be around.
Or as John says: “Two local authors! One local bookstore! Anything goes!”
Stop by! And while you’re at it, drop in to the grand opening of NEST, the new enterprise of the siblings Linn of City Bird. Stylish home goods, even more stylish patrons.
Learning! Reading! Shopping! Mingling! DETROIT!
xo,
The Night Train
Tags: readings
The taverns are not generally under the best regulations, although they were crowded to overflowing. I stopped at the Steamboat Hotel, and I thought enough grog was sold at that bar to satisfy any reasonable demand for a whole village.
- A. A. Parker, 1835
It was absolutely impossible to get a drink in Detroit unless you walked at least ten feet and told the busy bartender what you wanted in a voice loud enough for him to hear you above the uproar.
- Malcolm Bingay, writing about Detroit under Prohibition in Detroit is My Own Home Town, 1946
Friends, this is going to be a good one.
You know that I love stories of drinking and disorder in early Detroit, right? And that I myself love a stiff (but well-made!) drink, and the pleasures of boisterous company? If you’ve been reading the book you may have noticed that I included not one but TWO chapters about liquor, parties, dancing, overindulgence and miscellaneous dissipation.
Since its founding in 1701, Detroit’s history has been thoroughly wet — rough, bloody, and dissolute, but uninterrupted, despite the best efforts of Jesuits, Yankee Puritans, preachers, Temperance activists, and two legal Prohibitions. (Yes, two. More on Michigan during the Maine Law years – 1855-1875 – later this week.)
On Monday, December 5 — the anniversary of the repeal of the 18th amendment, which ended 13 years of Prohibition in the United States — we celebrate this drenched legacy in style at The Sugar House. Former Free Press columnist Bill McGraw and I will deliver some favorite episodes from Detroit’s drinking history, and there will be classic cocktails aplenty, plus Dixie jazz from the D-Town Get Down Brass Band.
We’ll kick off with a ceremonial cask-tapping at 5:30 p.m. Doors at 3:00 if you want to get an early start. Period dress encouraged.
Hope to see you there!
(Amazing poster art by Perfect Laughter. More info at repealdaydetroit.com.)
Tags: detroit drinking history, events, parties, repeal day detroit, sugar house detroit
Who’s celebrating his bicentennial tomorrow?
THIS GUY!
Stevens Thomson Mason is one of my all-time favorite characters from Detroit history. Determined! Dreamy! Stubborn! Stylish! Triumphant! Tragic! The boy governor had it all.
This time last year we were re-interring Stevens T. Mason for the FOURTH time. Buried first in New York City after his death in 1843, his remains were moved to Detroit with great fanfare in 1905, then disinterred and moved across the park during a bus station improvement project, then lost, and found again, in 2010 during Capitol Park’s renovation. Here is what I wrote about him in the closing chapter of my book:
Every time Detroit feels young again, we turn to the Boy Governor. Just nineteen when President Andrew Jackson appointed him secretary of the Michigan Territory and only twenty-five when he became acting governor, Stevens Thomson Mason is a handsome touchstone for anyone in a youthful, voracious mood. And he was the perfect first governor for a capital city perpetually on the brink of a massive shift.
Every generation dredges up his memory. Most generations have also dredged up his casket.
Please enjoy these posts about Stevens T. Mason as a celebration of America’s youngest-ever (and studliest-ever? And certainly most frequently unearthed) Governor.
Settlers beware (June 10, 2011)
Scenes from Stevens T. Masons Reburial (October 28, 2010)
Walking with Stevens T. Mason to Capitol Park (June 30, 2010)
173 Years of Michigan Statehood (Jan. 26, 2010)
You might also want to join the Michigan Historical Commission and the Detroit Recreation Department at Capitol Park tomorrow —that is Thursday, 10/27, at 12:00 p.m. — for a 200th birthday bash. The commission will unveil a new state historical marker at the site. More info at boyguv.com!
See you there!
Tags: birthdays, boy governor, hidden history of detroit, stevens t mason
EDIT (as of 10/24/11): Thanks to those of you who joined us for the tour on Saturday! We had a lovely time meeting lots of new people, telling historical tales and reveling in the perfect fall weather. If you are looking for the historical photos of the old Log Cabin that I mentioned, you can find them here.
Hi pals. I have some neat posts in the hopper for you. Less “book book book!” and more of the old-timey, ramble-y, nerdy stuff you come here for. Next week is going to be a good week for reading, so clear some space on your calendar.
Meanwhile: Housekeeping!
1. FRIENDLY REMINDER: Palmer Park tour tomorrow
I had my tour orientation last weekend and let me tell you: this tour is pretty special. I will be stationed at the first tour stop, the Log Cabin, talking about Senator Thomas W. Palmer, his wife Lizzie, and the history of the park itself. But then the tour moves on to the historic apartment district that winds along the perimeter of the park, and especially if you are an architecture lover, it is a fantastic neighborhood to see on foot, first-hand.
Back in the 1920s, the Palmer Park district was located right on the interurban railway, running from the riverfront all the way to Pontiac. Full of cafes and bars, restaurants and theaters, Palmer Park attracted a diverse, vibrant, and often wealthy array of residents. The apartments, mostly commissioned between the 1920s and 1960s, display a variety of architectural styles, from an imposing Harry Potter-y English Tudor lodge to blocks of ostentatious Moorish designs and sleek, modern Art Deco lines. There’s a beautiful former Jewish temple back there and a sneaky Albert Kahn apartment building, commissioned by Walter Owen Briggs for Briggs Manufacturing Company workers who were having trouble finding apartments that would allow children.
Maybe you had relatives who lived in this neighborhood. Maybe YOU lived in this neighborhood! My dad had premarital counseling with his Rabbi in this neighborhood. It’s living history and it’s well-worth seeing.
Register here or in person tomorrow. (Tours run every 15 minutes between 12 and 2 p.m.) The tour fee includes a beautiful souvenir book, cider and donuts, and afterward there are hayrides and a bonfire.
2. THE RELEASE PARTY
These people aren’t invited.*
But you are! I made a whole page about it over here that you can share with your mom, your friends, and your favorite media personalities.
There’s a Facebook page, too. So it’s officially official. It’s free, it’s November 9, it’s at the Historical Museum, and all you have to do is show up. For cake. And hilarity.
*Clockwise from top left: Gabriel Richard; Emily Virginia Mason; Silas Farmer; Hiram Walker; Hazen Pingree; Clara Ward.
3. THIS VIDEO
Thanks for making it through the housekeeping. Now take 15 minutes to nerd out with Brian Mulloy of Michigan Essay who gave this talk about Chief Pontiac, “Detroit’s Original Badass,” at the TEDx Detroit conference last month.
Minutes after Brian started speaking, someone tweeted at me: “Uh, this guy is the boy version of you.”
To be frank I am kind of jealous that I didn’t come up with a talk like this first. It’s great. Enjoy it.
Tags: chief pontiac, detroit historical society, hidden history of detroit, my book, palmer park, palmer park apartment, tours
If you’ve ever longed for the chance to hang out with me while I blog at you in person, the time has come!
This month, I will be traipsing around Detroit telling all sorts of long-winded stories about the city, its people, and its past.
October 15: Elmwood Cemetery
In collusion with the League of Adventurous Detroiters and Atlas Obscura, join me as I introduce you to some of my favorite permanent residents of one of Michigan’s oldest and most historic cemeteries.
We’ll talk about the Battle of Bloody Run, then meet some politicians, brewers, soldiers, sailors, fur traders, frontiersmen and one hysterical Victorian actress. Maybe also a cursed cholera victim.
You can sign up here. (PLEASE NOTE: As of 10/9/11, the map that accompanies the event listing is incorrect. We will work on a correction; meanwhile, here is a correct map.)
October 22: Palmer Park
The wonderful People for Palmer Park are hosting this event to raise funds to winterize Senator Palmer’s Log Cabin. Why winterize? So restoration can begin apace in the spring, of course!
But even if this were just for kicks, I’d be honored to help share the history of this tremendous park with the world. Learn more about the log cabin, the old Spanish bell, Merrill Fountain, and the stunningly beautiful apartment district, which is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. Afterward there are HAYRIDES! Yay, fall!
You can register here.
Still working on that book release party! Details soon!
Tags: elmwood cemetery, log cabin, palmer park, tours
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