June 11, 2012
Fish week*: Palmer’s carp
“Some of the blamed things have grown until they are as long as your arm, and they wallow about on the bottom like a lot of hogs until the water is ruined in appearance.”
• • •
June 5, 2012
Fish week: The Belle Isle Aquarium
Why build an aquarium on Belle Isle at all? Where did it get the fish? How adorable is a lake sturgeon? Answer to these questions AND MORE!
• • •
May 31, 2012
Welcome to fish week: Celebrating Detroit history’s unsung animal hero
From sturgeon to shad, pike to pickerel, carp and people who carped about carp, the fish tells us a lot about the way we live in Detroit. Today: the magnificent whitefish.
• • •
May 9, 2012
Detroit history in Washington, D.C.: Alexander Macomb
Visiting the grave of Alexander Macomb, hero of the Battle of Plattsburgh, namesake of Wayne County, painter, playwright, son of a swindler, and decorated early Detroiter.
• • •
May 7, 2012
Happy birthday to this guy
Celebrating General Friend Palmer’s birthday with “whiskey in the gentlemen’s dressing room, and champagne in the supper room.”
• • •
April 25, 2012
Upcoming events: Drunk history at Slows + Reading in Farmington
The Detroit Drunken Historical Society takes over the side room at Slows to talk about the city’s mutable past. And I’m giving a reading at the Farmington Public Library on May 10.
• • •
April 5, 2012
Spring break
A picture book of spring in Detroit. Historical glimpses of weather patterns. A poem about Lake Erie. Plus, it’s Opening Day.
• • •
March 21, 2012
Upcoming events: Chief Pontiac + Nain Rouge
Have a drink, learn about Detroit’s original badass, then get together to banish our little red devil in high historical spirits.
• • •
March 12, 2012
One reason we might be called “Wolverines”
Why are we called “Wolverines”? You’ve heard the stories about the Toledo War and greedy land-grabbing settlers. Here’s one more idea, from an old tavern in Dearborn.
• • •
February 29, 2012
The history of William Webb, composed by himself.
The story of an escaped slave living and working in Detroit.
• • •
February 20, 2012
Drunk history night: Venue change!
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.
• • •
February 20, 2012
Upcoming events: History, drinks and discoveries in Detroit, Dearborn
Get out your calendar! Here’s where I’ll be in the next couple of weeks.
• • •
February 17, 2012
CYCLORAMA! Gigantic Paintings in Detroit, Part 2
Part 2: From Germany, to Milwaukee, to Atlanta, to Detroit: the cyclorama of the Battle of Atlanta.
• • •
February 16, 2012
PANORAMA! Gigantic paintings in Detroit, Part 1
Starting around 1850, Detroiters could pop into Old City Hall or the Firemen’s Hall and, for 25 cents or so, see the latest “greatest painting ever made” — sweeping views of overland route to California, the funeral of Napoleon, Bible scenes, the life of George Washington.
• • •
February 7, 2012
Meditations on a Boat Club
The Detroit Boat Club, founded in 1839, is the oldest in the country. Its home on Belle Isle is crumbling, compelling, and calls home centuries of water sport.
• • •
February 3, 2012
Sharks on Belle Isle and slavery in the Michigan Territory: links for Friday, 2/3/12
The historic Belle Isle Aquarium, closed since 2005, opens for one day only during Shiver on the River.
• • •