Upcoming Events & Exhibits

Dec
14

Holiday Open House / Shirley Temple Exhibit

Featuring a SPECIAL EXHIBIT OF DOLLS from the SHIRLEY TEMPLE COLLECTION of long time Lincoln Park resident Kathleen Bitzer Seitz.

Holiday Decorations & Music & Refreshments ~ Quilt Raffle Drawing held at 4:00 P.M.

Unique Holiday cards made on our Printing Press by professional printer Garry Summers, a society member.

 
 
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The Shirley Temple Exhibit runs through Wednesday, December 31, with the classic 1937 Shirley Temple movie “Heidi” showing continuously during our regular hours Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday 1PM-5PM (Open Dec. 24, Closed Christmas Day.)

Download our event flier HERE.

Remember admission is always free!

Update on the Shirley Temple Exhibit 2015

A TREASURED GIFT

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Marlene Bitzer is shown (at left) with the Shirley Temple collection of dolls that she has donated to the museum’s permanent collection following their exhibit over the holidays.

The dolls were from her mother Kathleen Bitzer Seitz’s vast Shirley Temple collection gathered over many decades while residing in Lincoln Park. Kathleen’s husband Arlo Seitz has also donated two life-size Shirley Temple dolls from her collection.

We are grateful to both of these good friends for their generous gifts in memory of mother and wife.

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Oct
18
to Nov 15

Max Schiebold: Public Servant

Max Schiebold, whose family emigrated from Dresden, Germany in 1926, served Lincoln Park as mayor from 1971 to 1975.

Though Max passed away in June (2014) at the age of 93, his legacy as a public servant, spanning six decades, will always serve to inspire us.

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Max Schiebold

  • Mayor of Lincoln Park 1971-1975

  • City Councilman 1963-1971 (six years as president)

  • Lincoln Park Planning Commission 1955-1963

It was during Mayor Schiebold’s tenure that the Historical Museum opened in 1972 with his encouraging support. He continued to be involved in the city - and with the museum - for decades after leaving office.

So some years before, when Max and Ethel Schiebold were moving out of their Lincoln Park home on Ford Blvd., the family made a gift to the museum of an extensive collection of materials related to Max’s years of service in city government, where he began as chairman of the Planning Commission, followed by 4 terms as councilman, and serving as 2-term mayor from 1971 to 1975.

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Max is shown here in sailor suit, age 6, with his family: mother Caecelia, baby sister Ruth, and father Theodore (far right with glasses), arriving at Ellis Island aboard the ‘SS Deutschland’, June 28, 1926.

We are honored to place a number of personal memorabilia along with family photographs in an exhibit to pay tribute to Max Schiebold and his service to Lincoln Park. This special exhibit will be on display from October 18th through November 15th.

Also, a public reception with the Schiebold Family will be held at the museum on Saturday, November 8th at 2:00 P.M.

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Sep
13

200th Birthday Party for our National Anthem

On Saturday September 13th, the Historical Museum is holding a 200th birthday party as we participate in the nation-wide commemoration of “The Star Spangled Banner,” our National Anthem.

IN CELEBRATION
… Of our nation’s heritage and the National Anthem’s Bicentennial we are offering our members and the public a special opportunity to see displayed the oldest flag from our collection: the 38-star U.S. flag from 1877. This historic flag was a gift from Richard and Esther Davis in 1976, the year of the U.S. Bicentennial.

NOTE:The 1877 flag, featuring distinctive gold fringe, will ONLY be displayed completely unfurled for TWO DAYS: on Saturday, September 13 , between 1PM and 5PM, with special hours on Sunday, September 14, also 1PM to 5PM.

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19th Century sheet music of our beloved National Anthem, 'The Star Spangled Banner.'

1814-2014 “The Star Spangled Banner”

Originating as ‘The Defence of Ft. McHenry’, Francis Scott Key’s 4-stanza poem was an ode to the fort’s enduring flag, which lasted through the night in the Battle of Baltimore on September 13th-14th, 1814 during the waning months of the War of 1812. (It appeared the British had the upper hand after the attack of Washington D.C. and the burning of the White House and Capitol building just weeks prior.)

Key’s stirring poem was soon set to the tune of a popular British pub song, ‘To Anacreon in Heaven’, and renamed “The Star Spangled Banner”. The song became the most well-loved and oft-performed patriotic song in the country and as we know was eventually named our National Anthem, in 1931.

For generation after generation, most every school student learned to sing the National Anthem from memory. The flag which inspired Key’s poetic tribute still exists. It was given to the Smithsonian Institute in 1908 and has been restored three times in its life time. We can see the flag on exhibit today at the Smithsonian, although it hasn’t flown free since that historic morning 200 years ago.

The amazing story of our country’s flag and the National Anthem inspired by it is a rich part of our national heritage.

The “Star Spangled Banner” on public display for its Centennial, in September, 1914 at Baltimore, Maryland

The “Star Spangled Banner” on public display for its Centennial, in September, 1914 at Baltimore, Maryland

Download our event flyer HERE.

For further reading, check the following websites:
http://amhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/


Also, Smithsonian Magazine’s own story on the flag restoration:http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/star-spangled-banner-back-on-display-83229098/.


And, even Wikipedia has some very neat audio and video clips that are worth catching, to help get us in the spirit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Star-Spangled_Banner.

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Jun
4

Wallace Hayden – “Images and Ancestors: Adventures in Local History”

The Lincoln Park Historical Society & Museum will host Wyandotte Wallace Hayden
“Images and Ancestors: Adventures in Local History.” on Wednesday June 4, 2014 at 7:00pm. The program features Mr. Hayden speaking on his 2013 book, Wallace Hayden “Images and Ancestors: Adventures in Local History.”

A native of Ann Arbor, Wally has lived in Wyandotte since 1981 when he began work at the library. For 32 years he was Local History Librarian and is now part-time reference librarian. He is a past president of the Wyandotte Historical Society and presently serves on their board. For the last six years Wally has written a series of articles on history for the News Herald.

The book contains 60 articles and almost 100 historical photographs of Downriver. They are written like a story, essentially explaining the stories behind the photographs and each brings out a facet of Downriver's fascinating past. Copies of the book will be available for purchase, at $15.

This event is part of Lincoln Park Historical Society’s ongoing series of public programs. The Lincoln Park Historical Society Programs are free and open to the public.

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Mar
19

Don Wallace – “Growing Up in Simpler Times: Memories of Lincoln Park”

The Lincoln Park Historical Society & Museum will host writer Don Wallace on Wednesday March 19, 2014 at 7:00pm. The program features Mr. Wallace speaking on his book,"Growing Up in Simpler Times: Memories of Lincoln Park."

A few years ago writer, Don Wallace, began writing down his memories of growing up in Lincoln Park during the 1930s and 40s. Wallace’s son, Don, had given him a laptop computer, and he quickly began writing and publishing online a number of down-to-earth, true reflections of his childhood. He soon gained a following of current and ex-Lincoln Parkers as well as other Downriver residents who read his stories and kept asking for more.

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Due to this growing popularity and the unique gift of making you feel like you are right there with him, he was encouraged to compile his stories into book form, with the help of his son Bruce. Their end result, a book entitled, “Growing up in Simpler Times: Memories of Lincoln Park”, was published in 2013.

Wallace graduated from Lincoln Park High School in 1949 and at age 18 was wounded in combat during the Korean Conflict. He settled in Lincoln Park to raise a family, eventually serving his community as a police office before retirement and a move to Tennessee.

Don Wallace's book is available for purchase at the museum for $10.

This event is part of Lincoln Park Historical Society’s ongoing series of public programs. The Lincoln Park Historical Society Programs are free and open to the public.

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Feb
15
to Apr 30

Clemente’s Family Restaurant Exhibit and Reception

First opening in 1930 as a billiard hall at 2180 Fort Park, Clemente’s became a beloved Lincoln Park institution for 80 years, from billiard hall to bar following Prohibition, to the ‘Italian Village’ restaurant. The “new” location on Fort Street at Lincoln opened as a full service restaurant in 1947 and the six lane bowling alley was added two years later. Clemente’s closed in June of 2010.

More of the story...

After settling in the new and rapidly growing downriver city of Lincoln Park in 1930, Giuseppe “Joe, Sr.” and Natalina Clemente, who had earlier emigrated to the U.S. from the Italian Apennines mountain village of Rocco Pia, opened their first business. It was during the Depression, a time when locals were looking for inexpensive entertainment, that Joe and Natalina opened a billiard hall at 2180 Fort Park at Garfield.

Clementes Pizza Box

By 1932, thirsty Americans sought to end the experiment of ‘Prohibition’, now considered a social and economic disaster by both “wets” and “drys”, and efforts began toward repeal of the 18th Amendment. Michigan voters in particular were so eager to end the long dry spell that in an election held on April 10, 1933, Michigan became the first state in the country to vote to ratify to ratify the new 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition. Beer could soon be legally sold in Michigan.

The Clemente’s were granted the first beer license in Lincoln Park and Clemente’s Bar opened later that year. (The repeal of Prohibition was finalized with official ratification of the 21st Amendment on December 5, 1933 - a date that many folks still celebrate.)

Joe and Natalina were parents of three children, Ettore (Ed), Rosa (Rose) and Joseph Jr., all of whom would grow up to work in and eventually operate the family business. Prior to World War II, the name “Italian Village” was added in the 1930s. As war broke out and Italy joined the enemy axis against the U.S. and its allies, city officials asked the family to change the name.

After World War II, Clemente’s moved to its Fort Street location, soon adding a full-service restaurant and later a six-lane bowling alley. Eighty years is testament to the legacy of an immigrant family who came here to achieve the American Dream and succeeded. Well done!

The Clemente family is loaning us a number of materials, photos and memorabilia for a display that will remain up through the end of April 2014.

The exhibit officially opens Saturday, February 15 with a reception held for the Clemente family here at the museum from 1:00 to 4:00 P.M.

An oral history videotaped presentation on the family’s long Lincoln Park association is also being prepared in conjunction with the special exhibit.

This program honoring the Clementes was the first in a new series of “Legends of Lincoln Park” to be hosted by the historical museum in 2014. These programs are free and open to the public.

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 Past Events & Exhibits