Mini-Lectures

Before the Civil War, The Victorian Era had a custom for every aspect of the daily life in America. Death and dying was no exception. We will examine the concept of a “Good Death,” and what that meant including where and how people were buried and the evolution of cemeteries from the Puritans to Victorian cemeteries to the rural cemetery movement. While the Victorian Era was a regimented period, some

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"The History of Pop-Up Books"February 18th 2:00 PM- Mini Lecture by Maureen Young Have you ever opened a book and literally had the story jump up off the page at you? Maureen will guide us though a history of how these delightful tomes came to be, with many examples from her own collection. Admission $7 ~ Light refreshments served.

John WiIkes Booth Escape Route Bill is a fascinating speaker with many credentials. He takes us on the Journey an assassin took in the hopes of escape. Through a series of unfortunate omissions and mishaps, John Wilkes Booth was able to get close enough to Lincoln to raise a small, single shot derringer and shoot him at point blank range. The confusion that followed allowed Booth to escape the theater.

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Captain Furlong in World War I Presented by Larry Hathcock Harold Arthur Furlong (August 25, 1895 – July 27, 1987) was a United States Army First Lieutenant and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in France during World War I. After earning the Medal of Honor, he joined the Michigan National Guard, retiring in May 1946.

Two Hundred Years of Agricultural Progress Tom examines how we moved from a lot of back-breaking manual work on the farm to modern industrialization. He talks about what was required to bring a crop to harvest in 1818 to the same harvest of today. Specifically how wheat is and was grown to become the bread we eat. Admission $7 Light refreshments provided

In October of 1818, five men spent twelve days exploring Oakland County’s lakes area. When they returned, they wrote a newspaper article describing what they found in glowing terms. When it was received in Detroit and New York, the article kicked off the settlement of Pontiac and the creation of Oakland County. Why did they go? What did they see? What did they do when they returned? As with all

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Join us at Pine Grove to hear from Leslie Pielack about her new book, "The Saginaw Trail: From Native American Path to Woodward Avenue", get your copy and have it signed by Leslie, and enjoy some light refreshments as we continue to celebrate Pontiac's bicentennial week! From: 6-8 PM in the Carriage House. Admission is free, donations are happily accepted.  

Confederate Postage in the Civil War Presented by Tom Nelson, Adjunct Professor at MCCC - Tom will be presenting a slide show of the history of the Confederate States postal system during the Civil War. At first the South used pre-war postage stamps and local provisionals. By June 1861 the System had become centralized in Richmond for the duration of the war. Tom will present the postage In chronological order as

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Elizabeth Dennison Forth - Emancipated Woman Presented by Rosie Richardson Lisette Denison Forth was born a slave near Detroit, worked as a maid, became a Pontiac landowner, and philanthropist. Celebrating Black History Month, Rosie Richardson will speak on Lisette’s early life, freedom, and her contribution in the building of St James Episcopal Church in Grosse Ile. Her life story has been documented by Michigan Historic Site Markers, the National Register

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