Clarke Historical Library

08/28/2026

On this day in 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

But that August day, 63 years ago, was not the first time that Dr. King said those notable words. Two months earlier at the Walk to Freedom, in front of 25,000 people at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Dr. King delivered a speech with the line, "I have a dream."

Image of the official program of the Detroit Council for Human Rights' "Walk to Freedom."

08/26/2026

We are pleased to announce a new resource all about the history of Mt. Pleasant -- the "Historical Mount Pleasant in Postcards" site.

https://clarke.omeka.net/exhibits/show/mt-pleasant-postcards/mt-pleasant-postcards

This web exhibit, providing researchers with free access to over 100 Postcards, is in memory of J. Hudson "Hud" Keenan, a Mount Pleasant native, CMU alum, accomplished historian, and an avid lover of postcards. After his passing earlier this year, many who held Hud near and dear honored his legacy with generous donations to CMU in his memory, and those donations supported scanning the postcards and creating this website.

With ample descriptions providing historical context about each snapshot, this site will be invaluable for those curious about Michigan's Oil Capital!

Pictured is a postcard, scanned as part of the Hud Keenan Memorial Postcard Project, depicting passengers and carriages waiting at the Mount Pleasant Railroad Station, a stop on the Ann Arbor Railroad. Since 1996, the building has operated as the privately-owned Mountain Town Station restaurant.

Central Michigan University Alumni Association Mt. Pleasant Area Convention and Visitors Bureau

08/11/2026

It has been a little while since we posted something... we got stuck in a rabbit hole of curious and interesting research on the Michiganology site from our friends at the Archives of Michigan! If you haven't checked it out, you should take a look -- there are thousands of digitized historical records including maps, surveyors records, WWI records, death certificates, and more.

For instance, we found the 1837 Survey of Union Township in Isabella County by Clark, Hodgson, and Whitcomb... little did they know that, 189 years later, in Section 22 of this map, there would be an archives and special collections library where researchers would be on a computer looking at a scanned version of the map they created?!?!?!

https://michigan.access.preservica.com/

07/19/2026

Isaac Fancher is ready for game time. After 39 days, the Word Cup championship game is finally here!

Fancher is wearing his hat. And we don't know it for a fact, but we think he just went out a bought a 72 inch TV and made a big bowl of his famous gameday guacamole.

07/17/2026

Mike Federspiel recently joined our friends at WCMU Public Media as part of their "Central Focus" series. Federspiel, a former CMU professor and an expert on Ernest Hemingway's time in Michigan, talked about his book, "Picturing Hemingway's Michigan." Wayne State University Press re-released the book and it is now available in paperback format. Check out the interview on the WCMU webpage:
https://www.wcmu.org/local-regional-news/2026-07-16/breaking-down-hemmingways-summers-in-northern-michigan

And visit the Clarke's website (http://clarke.cmich.edu) for more information about Hemingway in Michigan.

Photos: Mike Federspiel's book and the Clarke's 2019 exhibit about the Hemingway Collection at the Clarke, sharing the stories of how the collection came to be.

07/16/2026

As excitement continues around the FIFA World Cup, here's a fun piece of CMU history you may not know.

In 1912, President Charles T. Grawn, the namesake of Grawn Hall, returned from a four-month trip through Scandinavia, where soccer was already one of the region's most popular sports. That same year, after a disastrous football season, Central discontinued football and introduced soccer.

While football was on its way out one way or another, historians believe Grawn's travels, and his enthusiasm for Scandinavian culture, may have helped inspire the switch.

Football returned in 1916, but for a brief chapter in CMU history, soccer took center stage.

Many thanks to the Clarke Historical Library for helping uncover this piece of university history.

07/16/2026

07/16/2026

Central Michigan Athletics, Central Michigan University, and Central Michigan Baseball mourn the loss of Central Michigan legend, family man, ballplayer, coach, athletic director, and community leader Dave Keilitz.

Our condolences to his family and many friends.

https://cmuchippewas.com/news/2026/7/15/general-dave-keilitz-central-michigan-legend-family-man-ballplayer-coach-and-athletic-director

07/15/2026

Boy, it is hot out there!!! For generations of Michiganders, hot summer days are an indelible part of their memories at beaches and lakes across Michigan's "Sunrise Coast" -- in places like Hillman, Glennie, and Tawas.

Photos:
-Alpena Boys Camp, Hillman, circa 1930s-40s
-Vouehn Lake, Glennie, ca. 1930s-40s
-U.S. Life Saving Station, Tawas Point, circa 1910s-20s

Check out hundred of postcard photos from northeastern , along the coast of on the "Michigan's Sunrise Coast" digital exhibit -
https://clarke.omeka.net/exhibits/show/sunrisecoast/

07/10/2026

in 1856, James Jesse Strang died of wounds he sustained when assassins shots and pistol-whipped him on the dock at the harbor of St. James in Beaver Island. Thus, the life of the King of Beaver Island ended.

Learn more about Strang from the Clarke's 2020 conversation with author Miles Harvey -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXn93l5a2fE

Pictured is a daguerreotype of James Jesse Strang from the Clarke's holdings.