Historic Pictures of Muskegon

Want to see historic pictures of Muskegon?  Check out our flickr page.  We just added 201 pictures from our archives.

Sweet Justice Reception

 

Michigan Humanities Council invites you for a taste of the 1920s with 2011-2012 Great Michigan Read Arc of Justice Author Kevin Boyle. Receptions are taking place in Grand Rapids, Lansing and Detroit. Tickets are available for $35 and can be purchased online through Eventbrite or by contacting the Michigan Humanities Council at (517) 372-7770. Grand Rapids Monday, October 24 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Purchase Tickets Lansing Tuesday, October 25 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. Purchase Tickets Detroit Thursday, October 27 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Purchase Tickets Receptions will be followed by the Great Michigan Read Author's Night Author's Night is open to the public and locally hosted by the Grand Rapids Public Library, Capital Area District Library and Cooley Law School (Lansing), and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History (Detroit), in partnership with the Michigan Humanities Council. For more information, please visit the Great Michigan Read Website In 1921, Dr. Ossian Sweet moved to Detroit, setting up his medical practice in the back of Palace Drug Company, a small pharmacy located at 1712 St. Aubin Street in the Black Bottom district. Dr. Sweet later purchased the Garafalo's Drugstore, also located in Black Bottom. In the 1920s, many drugstores featured soda fountains and sandwich counters in addition to selling medical remedies. In fact, soda fountains trace their history to 19th century pharmacies, which embraced soda water and flavored syrup to disguise the bitter taste of prescribed treatments. Proceeds from this benefit reception are tax deductible and will support Great Michigan Read and Prime Time Family Reading Time®, community-based reading programs funded by the Michigan Humanities Council. To learn more, visit www.michiganhumanities.org.

Great Michigan Read

Hackley Public Library is a proud partner with the Michigan Humanities Council in bringing you this year's Great Michigan Read.

This year's book is Arc of Justice.   

Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age is a masterful recounting of a landmark historical event, culminating in an epic legal battle that helped lay the foundation of the civil rights movement. In 1925, African American physician Ossian Sweet purchased a home in a white neighborhood in Detroit. Determined to protect his family and property, Sweet chose to defend himself from the mob organized to drive him out. Arc of Justice provides essential historical background as Americans continue to confront issues of tolerance and equality.

Stop by HPL to check out this book!  We will be hosting a discussion of the book on November 14 at 6:30 pm, led by Clayton Hardiman and Joe Schulze.  

Constitution Day!

Happy Constitution Day! We The People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our  posterity, do ordain and establish this, Constitution for the United States of America. Celebrate Constitution Day on September 17!  You can read the Constitution online at http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html, or stop by Hackley Public Library today and pick up your own copy.  They are free, first come-first served, while supplies last. The National Archives site (http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution.html) recounts how the Constitution was created and ratified. Interactive Constitution(http://www.constitutioncenter.org/constitution/) lets you search the Constitution. Centuries of Citizenship: A Constitutional Timeline(http://www.constitutioncenter.org/timeline/) is an interactive timeline of events The Federalist Papers(http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fedpapers.html) offers the 85 essays urging New Yorkers to ratify the proposed Constitution. Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention Broadsides (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/bdsds/bdsdhome.html) provides 274 documents related to Congress (1774 to 1788) and the drafting and ratification of the Constitution. You can also read up on some of the signers of the Constitution:

George Washington

Washington's God: Religion, Liberty, and the Father of Our Country By Novak, Michael Author Novak, Jana 2006-03 - Basic Books 9780465051267 Check Our Catalog A leading conservative thinker offers the first in-depth look at the religious life of America's greatest founding father, George Washington. …More

Valley Forge: George Washington and the Crucible of Victory By Gingrich, Newt Author Forstchen, William R. Author Hanser, Albert S. 2010-11 - Thomas Dunne Books 9780312591076 Check Our Catalog In "To Try Men's Souls, New York Times"-bestselling authors Gingrich and Forstchen cast a new light on the year 1776 and the man who would become the father of our nation, George Washington. "Valley Forge" picks up the narrative a year after Washington's triumphant surprise attack on Trenton. Much has changed since then. …More

Washington: A Life By Chernow, Ron 2010-10 - Penguin Press 9781594202667 Check Our Catalog 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Biography Winner BookPage Notable Title From National Book Award-winner Chernow comes a landmark biography of George Washington--a richly nuanced portrait of the father of the nation featuring a breadth and depth unmatched by any other narrative. …More

Amer Pres: Washington: The American Presidents Series: The 1st President, 1789-1797 By Dunn, Susan Author Burns, James MacGregor Editor Schlesinger, Arthur Meier, Jr. 2004-01 - Times Books 0805069364 Check Our Catalog A premier leadership scholar and an 18th century expert define the special contributions of the first president--revolutionary hero, founding president, and first citizen of the young republic. …More

Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington By Brookhiser, Richard 1996-02 - Free Press 0684822911 Check Our Catalog Brookhiser recaptures the real George Washington in this against-the-grain biographical study that chronicles a remarkable quarter-century career in public life--a record of achievements that is virtually unmatched by any modern leader. Brookhiser recounts Washington's heroic deeds as general and president, his temperament and training, and reflects upon his legacy. …More

His Excellency: George Washington By Ellis, Joseph J. 2004-10 - Knopf Publishing Group 1400040310 Check Our Catalog A BookPage Notable Title The author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Founding Brothers and the National Book Award-winning American Sphinx comes a landmark biography that brings to life in all his complexity the most important and perhaps least understood figure in American history--George Washington. 16 pages of photos. …More

Benjamin Franklin

Compleated Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin By Franklin, Benjamin Editor Skousen, Mark 2005-11 - Regnery Publishing 9780895260338 Check Our Catalog Readers and historians have long lamented that Benjamin Franklin failed to finish his ""Autobiography."" Now, in honor of the 300th anniversary of Franklin's birth, Mark Skousen has accomplished what the old philosopher was unable to complete: He has finished the "Autobiography" completely in Franklin's own words. …More

Benjamin Franklin By Gaustad, Edwin S. 2006-02 - Oxford University Press 9780195305357 Check Our Catalog Written by a leading authority on colonial America, this compact biography captures in a remarkably small space one of the most protean lives in the nation's history--that of inventor, publisher, and statesman Benjamin Franklin. Illustrations. …More

The First Scientific American: Benjamin Franklin and the Pursuit of Genius By Chaplin, Joyce 2006-04 - Perseus Books Group 9780465009558 Check Our Catalog Statesman, diplomat, Founding Father--Benjamin Franklin was all of these things, but, according to Chaplin, it is his status as a scientific genius that is the key to understanding him and his world. Illustrations. …More

Inventing America: The Life of Benjamin Franklin By Essig, Mark Regan 2006-03 - Rutledge Hill Press 1401602371 Check Our Catalog Using the same "Museum in a Book" format as the popular "Lewis and Clark on the Trail of Discovery," this biography brings Benjamin Franklin to life through words and such removable documents as portions of "Poor Richard's Almanack" and Franklin's edits to the Declaration of Independence. …More

Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World By Talbott, Page Editor Dunn, Richard S. Editor Van Horne, John C. 2005-11 - Yale University Press 0300107994 Check Our Catalog Designed to accompany the traveling Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary exhibition celebrating Franklin's 300th birthday, this volume includes essays that offer an overview of Franklin's life and achievements, illustrated by more than 250 color images--portraits, manuscripts, drawings, maps, paintings, engravings, and a plethora of Franklin possessions. …More

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton By Chernow, Ron 2004-04 - Penguin Press 1594200092 Check Our Catalog Winner - 2005 ALA Notable Non-Fiction Selection A BookPage Notable Title From National Book Award winner Ron Chernow comes a landmark biography of Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father who galvanized, inspired, scandalized, and shaped the newborn nation. …More

Hamilton's Curse: How Jefferson's Archenemy Betrayed the American Revolution--And What It Means for Americans Today By Dilorenzo, Thomas J. 2008-10 - Crown Forum 9780307382849 Check Our Catalog In refreshing contrast to the many biographies that credit Alexander Hamiltonwith turning America into an economic power, the author of "The Real Lincoln"clarifies how Hamilton's ideas are actually a betrayal of the very principlesof the American Revolution. …More

Citizen Hamilton: The Wit and Wisdom of an American Founder By Hickey, Donald R. Editor Clark, Connie D. 2005-11 - Rowman & Littlefield Publishers 0742549755 Check Our Catalog In this elegant collection, Donald R. Hickey and Connie D. Clark bring together enlightening, important, and amusing selections from Hamilton's speeches, published writings and personal letters. As we come to understand his thoughts on subjects as diverse as the Constitution, love, war, liberty and honor, we find that his words are often as applicable in our own time as they were in his. …More

Alexander Hamilton By Chernow, Ron 2005-04 - Penguin Books 0143034758 Check Our Catalog The renowned author of "Titan," whom the "New York Times" has called "as elegant an architect of monumental histories as we've seen in decades," vividly recreates the whole sweep of Alexander Hamilton's turbulent life. …More

James Madison

Madison and Jefferson By Burstein, Andrew Author Isenberg, Nancy 2010-09 - Random House 9781400067282 Check Our Catalog Esteemed historians Burstein and Isenberg join forces to reveal the crucial partnership of two extraordinary founders, creating a superb dual biography that is a thrilling and unprecedented account of early America. …More

The Activist: John Marshall, Marbury V. Madison, and the Myth of Judicial Review By Goldstone, Lawrence 2008-09 - Walker & Company 9780802714886 Check Our Catalog …More

James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights By Labunski, Richard E. 2006-07 - Oxford University Press 9780195181050 Check Our Catalog Labunski offers a dramatic account of a time when the entire American experiment hung in the balance, only to be saved by the most unlikely of heroes--the diminutive and exceedingly shy James Madison. …More

Young Patriots: The Remarkable Story of Two Men, Their Impossible Plan, and the Revolution That Created the Constitution By Cerami, Charles 2005-05 - Sourcebooks 1402202350 Check Our Catalog From "New York Times" bestselling author Cerami comes the great underdog story of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, who envisioned a plan that no one else thought could happen--a truly United States. …More

Franklin, Jefferson, and Madison: On Religion and the State By Schaaf, Gregory 2004-07 - Center for Indigenous Arts & Cultures (C I A 0966694899 Check Our Catalog The product of twenty years of careful research in the National Archives, Library of Congress, and other libraries, this book presents views on a national theme, "Religion and the State." The ideas of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison on Church-State issues, as well as their personal religious views, reflect the roots of religion in America. The Founders' ideas on the "free exercise of religion" illuminate their original intent regarding our First Amendment rights. See display ad in New York Times Book Review (July 4, 2004), p. 3. …More

Declaration of Independence

From the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription

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IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

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The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:
Column 1
Georgia:
   Button Gwinnett
   Lyman Hall
   George Walton
Column 2
North Carolina:
   William Hooper
   Joseph Hewes
   John Penn
South Carolina:
   Edward Rutledge
   Thomas Heyward, Jr.
   Thomas Lynch, Jr.
   Arthur Middleton
Column 3
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Column 4
Pennsylvania:
   Robert Morris
   Benjamin Rush
   Benjamin Franklin
   John Morton
   George Clymer
   James Smith
   George Taylor
   James Wilson
   George Ross
Delaware:
   Caesar Rodney
   George Read
   Thomas McKean
Column 5
New York:
   William Floyd
   Philip Livingston
   Francis Lewis
   Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
   Richard Stockton
   John Witherspoon
   Francis Hopkinson
   John Hart
   Abraham Clark
Column 6
New Hampshire:
   Josiah Bartlett
   William Whipple
Massachusetts:
   Samuel Adams
   John Adams
   Robert Treat Paine
   Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
   Stephen Hopkins
   William Ellery
Connecticut:
   Roger Sherman
   Samuel Huntington
   William Williams
   Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
   Matthew Thornton

Independence Day

This is from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA):

Did You Know…Independence Day Should Actually Be July 2?

And Other Little Known Facts About The Declaration Of Independence

Washington, DC… America's revolutionary Charter of Freedom, the Declaration of Independence is a document upon which our nation's founding principles were established. The National Archives will celebrate the 229th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence with its traditional Fourth of July program. The theme of this year's annual program is "Declaration Days: National Archives Family Weekend 4th of July Celebration." The two day-long program will include patriotic music, a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence by Operation Iraqi Freedom wounded veterans from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and exciting free family activities and entertainment for all ages. History lovers young and old can view the newly-restored Declaration of Independence, and speak with actors playing those who signed this important document! All programs are free, open to the public, and take place at the National Archives Building on Constitution Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets, NW.
The Declaration of Independence set the course for our nation on a journey of freedom, which also led this historic document on its own journey. For example, did you know….:
Who Authored the Declaration of Independence? Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, which was then edited by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. Jefferson took their edits and incorporated them into what would become the version finally adopted.
Independence Day Should Have Been July 2 –July 2, 1776 is the day that the Continental Congress actually voted for independence. John Adams, in his writings, even noted that July 2 would be remembered in the annals of American history and would be marked with fireworks and celebrations. The written Declaration of Independence was dated July 4 but wasn't actually signed until August 2. Fifty-six delegates eventually signed the document, although all were not present on that day in August.
Who Signed and In What Order? –John Hancock signed first, with a large hand right in the middle because he was the President of the Congress. The others signed by state delegation, beginning in the upper right in one column, and then proceeding in five other columns, arranged from the northernmost state (New Hampshire) to the southernmost (Georgia).
Who Signed Last? It is believed Thomas McKean of Delaware was the last person to sign. When Congress authorized the printing of an official copy with the names attached in January 1777, McKean's name was not included. He signed after that date, or the printer made a mistake by omitting him.
On The Road Again – The Declaration of Independence spent many years on the road. After the signing ceremony on August 2, it was most likely filed in Philadelphia. On December 12, threatened by the British, Congress adjourned and reconvened 8 days later in Baltimore, MD, where the document remained until its return to Philadelphia in March of 1777. In the years to follow, it traveled widely with the Continental Congress throughout the Northeast, then moving to Washington, DC in 1800. In 1814, again threatened by war, it was moved to an unused gristmill in Virginia for protection. On August 24, as the British burned the White House, it was moved to Leesburg, VA until September, when it returned to the nation's capital. With the exception of a trip to Philadelphia for the Centennial and to Fort Knox during World War II, it has remained there ever since.
If By Land or By Sea – The document has also experienced many modes of travel. Initially, like other parchment documents of the time, the Declaration was probably stored in a rolled format. Each time the document was used, it would have been unrolled and re-rolled. It likely traveled by light wagon and by horseback with the Continental Congress it its early years. When it was first brought to Washington, it traveled by boat, down the Delaware River and Bay, out into the ocean, into the Chesapeake Bay, and up the Potomac to the new capital city. During World War II, it was moved by Pullman train to Louisville, KY and transferred under armed guard to Fort Knox for safety and protection.
Line of Descent – Actress Reese Witherspoon is a direct descendant of John Witherspoon, one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. John Witherspoon is pictured in a Barry Faulkner Mural, entitled "The Declaration of Independence," which illustrates 28 delegates to the Continental Congress of 1776. This newly restored mural is hanging in the Rotunda of the National Archives.
Visit www.archives.gov for a complete schedule and updated information on all National Archives public programs.

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For more information, contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at 202-501-5526.
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