We at the Clarke Historical Library have returned from the winter break and, along with the entire CMU community, are back at it. During the spring semester of 2012, our hours will be will be Mon. to Fri. 8 am - 5 pm and Sat. 9 am - 1 pm. Note that we will be closed on Sat., March 3 and Sat., March 10 for spring break. And to start the new year off right, we have a post relating to cataloging in the Clarke. Have a great 2012 from the staff of the Clarke Historical Library.

Cataloging at the Clarke
by Tanya Fox

I am very lucky to be the catalog database specialist at the Clarke Historical Library. My position allows me to work with a large majority of the acquisitions of our library. I have the privilege of holding the items in my hands, whether they are recently published or are decades old. My job affords me the opportunity to look through each item and discern minute details about it. Who wrote it? Where was it published? When was it printed? Did it win any awards? Did the author or illustrator sign it? I have to match an exact record with the item, if one exists. If not, I do original cataloging of the item.

I marvel at the variety of items we acquire. Some books are fragile with torn pages or loose bindings. Some are brand new with beautiful illustrations and funny stories. Some smell old and musty after being boxed up sitting in basements or attics. Others are fresh off the printing press with a wonderful new book smell.

There is a uniqueness to each item. They are tangible reminders of thoughts, people, events, places, and history. My job allows me to wonder about the authors and their motives in writing. It allows me to glimpse photographs or artwork and imagine myself within the idyllic scenes. Each item has a story to tell, not just literally but in its very existence. Cataloging the items gives me the opportunity to briefly touch that existence. How lucky I am!

The Digmanns Talk About Life with MS

by Christa Clare

In October, I attended the Network for Women luncheon held on the campus of Central Michigan University. This is a group of women that meet periodically with a featured speaker while we eat lunch and network with each other.

At this particular luncheon, I had the privilege of listening to Dan and Jennifer Digmann, a married couple who are living and thriving with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a chronic disease that attacks the central nervous system.

According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, more than 400,000 Americans have MS. Knowing these numbers makes it much more amazing that these two people found each other in Michigan and continue to defy the odds they face together. Jennifer was diagnosed in 1997 and Dan was diagnosed in 2000.

Dan and Jennifer recently published a book together, Despite MS, to Spite MS: One couple facing the challenges of life and Multiple Sclerosis. Through their writing, public speaking and advocacy work, the Digmann’s have inspired countless people with their amazing love story and passion for life. The Clarke is pleased to offer this book to our patrons and wishes the Digmann’s the best of luck in the future.

Aladdin Home Featured in the Zonta Home Walk

The Zonta Club of Midland is hosting their Holiday Homewalk this weekend - December 3^rd and 4^th. Among the homes featured is an Aladdin Kit Home - the Cottage Tudor at 114 West Carpenter Street. This home has been extensively researched using the historic Aladdin Company Records, which can be found at the Clarke Historical Library. We were very happy to help research this historic home and we are delighted that this great piece of Michigan history can be shared with all thanks to the Zonta Club of Michigan. For further information about the homewalk, please click on this link for the Zonta Club of Midland's website or click on this link for a Midland Daily News article about the event.

Image taken from the Zonta Club of Midland Holiday Howewalk webpage.

Holiday Baking with Merry Cookie

by Christa Clare

We recently purchased a cookbook called Merry Cookie! The cookbook compiled and edited by Judith Bosley boasts that it has “one hundred, old, new, luscious, rich, plain, fancy, pretty, buttery Christmas cookies.” Mmmm.. . Just in time for holiday baking!

Did you know that the Clarke Historical Library has over 1300 cookbooks? We have an extensive collection and most of them are from Michigan authors. In 2004, we received a generous collection of cookbooks from a private collector, and we have been actively collecting them ever since.

Stop in the Clarke some time and take a look at some of these wonderful cookbooks.

Setting the Stage for the War of 1812

by Frank Boles

On November 1 the William L. Clements Library’s curator of maps Brian Dunnigan spoke about Michigan on the eve of the War of 1812. In a wonderfully illustrated presentation he shared with his audience the physical characteristics and lifestyle of Michigan’s non-Native American residents. The few settlers who lived in Michigan were primarily found in three settlements: Detroit, “Frenchtown,” (today’s Monroe) and on Mackinac Island. Detroit was the oldest and largest of the settlements. As the territorial capitol it also had the largest concentration of English-speaking “American” residents.

Curiously, Detroit also had the newest buildings and the most unusual of street plans; the result of a devastating fire in 1805 that virtually destroyed the entire village. The resulting void allowed government officials to impose a new street plan that, unlike virtually every other settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains, featured extraordinarily wide boulevards radiating from great circles. Dunnigan noted in a sly aside that although the plan looked wonderful on paper, after about twenty years of residents constantly complaining about oddly shaped lots and streets consuming vast amounts of space that could otherwise be put to good use, the plan was abandoned.

Frenchtown, located to the south of Detroit, retained the vernacular architecture and the largely French character that Detroit was beginning to lose. Indeed, one reason for the settlement was simply that some Francophones were not happy living in increasingly English-oriented Detroit.

Then as now Mackinac Island was a seasonal community. During the summer upwards of 2,000 individuals would come to the island, which was a center of the fur trading industry. But as winter approached the population rapidly dwindled and only a few hundred souls remained on the island. Among them was a small garrison of U.S. Army soldiers, serving in what was considered at the time one of the most remote and isolated outposts maintained by the military.

Dunnigan portrayed in images and words a world long lost and yet somehow strangely familiar. A remote country that nevertheless had a certain semblance of the home we know. It was a wonderful discussion of what was which hinted at what would emerge.

"Mitchell Map" image from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchell_Map)