thanks to the following speakers for sharing their love of history with us.

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 Sharon Carlson 
Will Present 
Andrew Carnegie's Michigan Libraries

Michigan communities were the recipients of $1,655,950 awarded by the Carnegie Corporation from 1900 to 1918, resulting in 61 funded Carnegie libraries. There were eight grant applications that failed.  Interestingly, there are no Carnegie libraries in Kalamazoo County and the possible reason will be revealed during this program! Sharon Carlson will provide an overview of the Carnegie program and describe how it evolved in Michigan.  Sharon retired as head of the Zhang Legacy Collection Center at Western Michigan University. Her research interests include the role of women’s organizations in supporting public libraries. 


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They Built This City
Presented by 
​Lynn Houghton

November 5, 2018
Portage District Library
7 pm


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Tom Dietz Presented "Where People are Buried in Kalamazoo."
November 6, 2017
Kalamazoo and Kalamazoo County feature a range of cemeteries including a pioneer cemetery and park-like inspired Mountain Home Cemetery.  The township cemeteries are smaller and provide documentation of Kalamazoo's earliest settlers.  In this post-Halloween program, Tom Dietz will provide an updated look at the history of several cemeteries in Kalamazoo and Kalamazoo County.
 



Kalamazoo's Extraordinary Inventor
J. B. Rhodes, 1865-1931


October 2, 2017
Portage District Library
7 pm

Kalamazoo is known for many areas of invention and innovation, but you may not know of the contributions made by J.B. Rhodes.  Beginning in the late 1800s through the mid 1900s, J. B. Rhodes created some major inventions connected with automobiles and railroad cars used in the building of the Panama Canal, as well as many other extraordinary inventions.  Join Cynthia Jeffrey for a new in depth look at her discoveries of his remarkable life and history in Kalamazoo and around the world.​

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Thomas Schippers: An American Story

William Braaksma

April 3, 2017
Thomas Schipper's life is a truly American story.  He came from ancestors who emigrated from the rul Netherlands in the late 1800s to become celery farmers in Kalamazoo County.  Schippers rose from a middle class background to become an internationally known orchestral and operatic conductor.  He conducted the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera, for divas such as Beverly Sills, Maria Callas and Eileen Farrel, and at opera houses all over Europe. Thomas Schippers is one of the most accomplished and yet least known Kalamazooan in the history of the area. 

History of the Oakwood Neighborhood
Keith Howard
March 6, 2017

Engaging the Wisdom
Bruce Mills, Kalamazoo College, and Donna Odom, SHARE
February 6, 2017

Yeggs and Other Bank Robbers of Kalamazoo County
December 5, 2016
7:00 pm
Portage District Library 

 The Thirteenth Michigan Memorial Association
Michael Culp
November 7, 2016


Monday, October 3, 7pm, Portage District Library
"The Library Ladies of Kalamazoo"
"T​he Library Ladies of Kalamazoo, their Home and History" is a newly published 208 page full color pictorial guide to the art, architecture and history of the beautiful, historic, Ladies' Library Association and building. 
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​Why Michigan Is So Square, presented by Tom Dietz, on April 4, 2016


March meeting
The Underground Railroad in Kalamazoo County, presented by Sharon Carlson on February 1, 2016

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  • Home
  • History
  • Contact
  • Officers
  • Former Speakers
  • County Programs
  • Lincoln Project
  • Walking Tours