spring 2011 newsletter - north berrien historical society

8/7/2019 Spring 2011 Newsletter - North Berrien Historical Society

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When the United Statesentered the Second World War in

late 1941, dozens of young menand women from North Berrienanswered the call to serve thecountry. A number of local sol-diers made the supreme sacri-fice and were lost forever tofamilies and friends. Like manycommunities, Coloma and Wa-tervliet created permanent tributesto their hometown heroes. By1946 granite monuments were dedicated in both citiesto local veterans of the war.

In Coloma, a group called Mothers of WorldWar II held bake sales and other fundraisers includingan event at Crystal Palace to fund a memorial. Themonument built in Baker Park included a five-foottall inscribed boulder, a flag pole, two stone benches,and two pine trees. The memorial was dedicated inAugust 1946, on the first anniversary of V-J Day(Victory over Japan Day) in a ceremony put on by thewar mothers and the Coloma American Legion. Thetop of the boulder shows a gold star encircled by awreath and reads: To honor the men and women ofColoma who served in the armed forces of our coun-try and dedicated to the memory of these who gavetheir lives to win World War II. The names of tenColoma men who died in the war follow: WalterFitch, William Hafer, Floyd Hazen, Leonard Kepil,William OBrien, Robert Saltzman, Luther Shine,Elmer Story, Stanley Suworsky, and Roger Wood-

ward. The flag pole was built byColoma blacksmith Felix Sawatski

and carried a flag given in mem-ory of Robert Saltzman, who diedin Germany and was one of fourbrothers who served in the war.1

Around the same time, theWatervliet Paper Company pre-pared to install a World War IIMemorial east of the paper mill onM-140. Crafted by the Victor E.Ferguson Monument Works in

Benton Harbor, the memorial used a large granite rollretired from a paper machine at the mill. The granitewas suspended between two concrete abutments cov-ered in cobblestones. The memorial reads Dedicateto the honored memory of these paper makers of theWatervliet Paper Company who gave their lives inWorld War II, 1941-1945. The granite roll wasoriginally inscribed with the names of four mill em-ployees who had lost their lives in the war: WalterBarrett, Roland Selter, Paul Stowell, and RichardWood. It was soon discovered that a fifth formerworker, Floyd G. Thompson Jr., was killed at Oki-

Local World War Two Memorials date back to 1946

NORTH BERRIEN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER

Vol. III, No. 1 Hagar Bainbridge Coloma Watervliet Spring 2011

300 Coloma Ave./ P.O. Box 207, Coloma, Michigan 49038 www.NorthBerrienHistory.org

Continued on Page 4

George K. Ferguson of the WatervlietPaper Company delivers a speech at the

memorial dedication on Labor Day 1946.

Opening ReceptionFriday, April 1, 5:30 - 7:30pm

A Few Good Women:

Women in the Military

During the Second World War

NEW EXHIBIT


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North Berrien Historical SocietyBoard of Directors

Scott Young PresidentBennet Leedy 1st Vice President

Kandyce Hays 2nd Vice PresidentCindy Young SecretaryShirley Boone TreasurerRay Mays Assistant TreasurerMarc Hettig DirectorKarin Miller DirectorPauline Morris DirectorSherry Polashak DirectorTom Scheid DirectorSally Williams Director

Staff

Alexander Gates Director / CuratorTracy Gierada Director of EducationGwen Elsner Office Manager

300 Coloma Ave.

P.O. Box 207

Coloma, MI 49038

www.NorthBerrienHistory.org

[email protected]

The mission of the North Berrien HistoricalSociety is to preserve and distribute informationregarding the history of North Berrien County.

We wish to promote, encourage learning,and disseminate knowledge of the areas

cultural and architectural legacy.

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From the Directors DeskBy Alexander Gates

After a long winter I am excited to welcomevisitors back to the museum for our spring and sum-mer exhibitions. We start withA Few Good Women:Women in the Military During the Second World Warfrom April 1 May 27, followed by Women in Base-ball: Bloomer Girls of Berrien County and Beyondfrom June 17 November 11. A new permanent addi-tion to the main gallery is a please touch interactivemap panel. Visitors from near and far will be able toquickly orient themselves to the highlights of NorthBerrien history (details on page 5). Outside the mu-seum, a new sign is planned including lighting and aletter board donated by Honor Credit Union.

Another winter project has been ongoing col-lections management. Clarifying and updating collec-tions records is a major step in increasing efficiencyand public trust in the institution. Many objects thatare hard to differentiate such as clothing and tools arebeing photographed to be more easily matched to theirrecord. Exhibit histories are also being kept up-to-date so future staff and volunteers will know the lasttime objects were displayed to ensure rotation.

New additions continue to fill our collection aswell. In the last year I was pleased to add many mid-20th century images. Contemporary collecting is alsoa priority to ensure that local events, businesses, andpeople are represented in the collection. This meansdocumenting recent events such as ownership changesto Community Hospital or the Hagar Township specialelection. Please remember the museum when you aregoing through old photographs and documents relatedto local history. Growing our archival record remainsa vital part of our mission to preserve local history.

Finally, we understand our members all have apreferred way to stay in touch. If you would like tosave paper and receive our Quarterly Newsletter via e-mail please let us know. Many of our members and

friends also receive a monthly E-newsletter from themuseum. The E-news is free and provides remindersabout upcoming events and programs as well as linksto local history news online. You can sign-up for theE-news at our website, www.NorthBerrienHistory.org,or contact the museum. If you dont have e-mail andwould like to receive a reminder phone call from theoffice before programs, simply phone the mu-seum and ask to be added to the calling list.Our upcoming programs are too good to miss!

Curators Blog:

NorthBerrienHistory.blogspot.com

Twitter: Twitter.com/NBerrienHistory

Connect with NBHS Online!

Become a fan on Facebook


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Mark your Calendars!

Tuesday, March 15,

7pm

The Winter of Our Discontent: The Civil War Gets Started, presentation by Dr.Chris Paine, Professor of History, Lake Michigan College. Dr. Paine will focus onthe southern secessions that started the Civil War in 1861 and President Lincolnsresponse to the problem. Was it a coup? A revolution? Neither?

Friday, April 1,

5:30-7:30pm

Opening Reception, A Few Good Women: Women in the Military During theSecond World War. Join us for a ration of refreshments and socializing.

Opening Remarks by State Senator John Proos at 6pm.

Wednesday, April 6,

1-3pm

World War II Soldier for a Day. During Spring Break, enlistin the military and experience life during the early 1940s with

hands-on activities and demonstrations. All ages welcome.

Saturday, April 16Documentary Screenings.1pm - Free a Man to Fight(54 min.)2pm - Fly Girls (56 min.) Featuring complimentary popcorn.

Tuesday, April 19,

7pm

Local Women Veterans of World War Two. A panel of local femaleveterans will share their service stories from WWII and take questions.

Thursday, April 28,

5:30-7pm

Volunteer Appreciation Night. Volunteers are invited for refreshments andsocializing in recognition of their countless hours of service to the museum.

Thursday, May 12,

5:30-7pm

Book Discussion at the Coloma Public Library Community Room. All are welcometo discuss American Women in a World at War: Contemporary Accounts fromWorld War II(Litoff, ed., SR Books, 1996). Copies will be available at the Colomaand Watervliet Libraries and will be for sale at Lakeside Books in Coloma.

Tuesday, May 17,

7pm

1940s Show & Tell. Visitors are welcome to bring objects, photos, or documents toshare with the group their North Berrien experiences from the 1940s.

Wednesday, March 23,

7pm

Group Tour of Russian Icons Exhibit. The Krasl Art Center in St. Joseph willprovide a tour of the exhibit Windows to Heaven: Treasures from the Museum ofRussian Icons, which features historically significant religious icons from Russiadating from 1500 to the present. All are welcome to meet at the Krasl for this even

Education Update: The new Youth Internship at the

museum has started off wonderfully with nine local

students volunteering for the program. Through MayYouth Interns will work to achieve several goals in-

cluding an Oral History interview and the production

of short videos for YouTube.com to help educate the

public about the museum and our collections. We ar

excited not only to have the help of our Youth Interns

this spring, but especially to have ambassadors for the

historical society among younger generations in the

community. The Youth Interns have received a one-

year NBHS membership for their participation.2011 Youth Interns

All events are at the North Berrien Historical

Museum unless otherwise noted.


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nawa in the Pacific. Thompsons name was added tothe inscription after the dedication ceremony, as werethe following lines on the back of the roll: Againstthe polished surface of this granite roll paper wasmanufactured until 1939. Dedicated as a Memorial

September 2, 1946. In addition to an address byWPC president and general manager George K. Fer-guson, the ceremony featured a ritual by the newly-formed Paw Paw Lake Post of the Veterans of For-eign Wars, and the national anthem played by theWatervliet High School Band.2

Yet even our most beloved memorials can bealtered by the inevitable march of time. In 1992, citi-zens were outraged when the flag pole of the WWIImemorial in Coloma was accidently removed to bereplaced by a flag pole honoring the veterans of De-

sert Storm. Ultimately adjustments were made tohave room for both monuments and flag poles in alater redevelopment of Baker Park. 3

The WWII Memorial erected by the Waterv-liet Paper Company has outlasted the business itself,and in fact, it provides the only written evidence ofthe paper mill near its former site. Watervliet City

has since assumed the responsibility of maintainingthe memorial for the community. With the help ofNBHS, the city was recently awarded a grant of $237from the Berrien County Questers to pay for restora-tion work on the memorial.

By Tracy Gierada1 Memorial Boulder, News-Palladium, Benton Harbor, Aug.

22, 1946, p.22.2 Collection of the North Berrien Historical Society, Watervliet

Paper Co. Friendly Chats, Sept.-Oct. 1946.3 World War II flagpole will be returned to Baker Park site,

The Watervliet Record, March 25, 1992.

Continued from Page 1

The museum will host acaptivating new exhibit fromApril 1 - May 27, 2011, calledA Few Good Women: Women

in the Military During the Sec-ond World War. Created by theMichigan Womens HistoricalCenter in Lansing, the travelingexhibit focuses on the contribu-tions of Michigan women in allphases of the war effort.

American women were recruited by the armed ser-vices in the 1940s, serving in the Army and NavyNurses Corps, Coast Guard SPARS, Marine Corps,Navy WAVES, Womens Army Corps, and Women

Air Force Service Pilots. Several veterans recognizedin the Michigan Womens Hall of Fame are profiled.Uniforms and other artifacts from the North BerrienHistorical Museum, the Van Buren County HistoricalMuseum, and the Elkhart County HistoricalMuseum will also be featured.

Michiganders can be proud of femaleveterans including Nancy Harkness Love(1914-1976), a native of Houghton, Michi-gan, who was the founding director of theWomens Auxiliary Ferry Squadron (WAFS)

in 1942. Love hand-selected the countrystop female pilots to ferry planes from facto-ries to bases nationwide. First Lieutenant

Aleda Lutz (1915-1944) of Saginawvolunteered with the 802nd MedicalAir Evacuation Squadron where sheflew 196 missions evacuating over3500 men, logging the most flighthours of any nurse. Lutz was killedin 1944 when her plane crashed inItaly, making her the first Americanmilitary woman to die in a combatzone during the war. Lutz is one ofthe highest decorated women in U.S. history.

Special events related to this exhibit are freeand for all ages, and include an Opening Reception, aSpring Break activity day and Coloring Contest forkids, a women veterans panel discussion, a book dis-

cussion, and a 1940s Show & Tell program.Full details are listed on page 3, or call themuseum with questions.

Veterans Exhibit Opens April 1 A Few Good Women:Women in the Military


Hours: Tues. - Sat. 10am - 4pm

First Lt. Adela Lutz

Left: In 1942 Lenore Boyer became the first

woman soldier from Watervliet when she joined

the Womens Army Auxiliary Corps, predecessor

to the Womens Army Corps. Boyer had

previously helped organize the Girl Scouts

in her hometown of Watervliet.


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Visitors to the museum are now able toexplore North Berrien using an interactive historicalmap of the area. This new permanent exhibit is a col-orful graphic panel that measures 69 by 77 inches and

is located in a central and visible place in the mu-seums main gallery. The map provides a close-uplook at the lakes, rivers, major roadways, and commu-nities of North Berrien integrated with historic images.Visitors will find eight images from the museumscollection that can be lifted to reveal a detailed expla-nation of the photo (and another copy of the imageshown with the descriptive text). As an introductionto the museum, the display explains the origins of lo-cal place names and gives dates for important eventsand eras in the past.

The Explore North Berrien map display willparticularly benefit school groups and children whovisit the museum. The map will help young peoplegrasp the concept of a local history museum while be-coming familiar with the geography and some land-

marks of the area in a greater regional context. Stu-dents will be asked to recognize the shape of our stateand then of our county, which both conveniently ap-pear on the map. Children studying Michigan history

will gain comprehension from seeing a visual repre-sentation of the places and concepts that are central totheir tour of our exhibits. The display uses bold im-ages and colors to make an impact on visitors whileproviding a useful and highly accurate reference pointfor the North Berrien landscape.

Under the direction of museum staff, graphicdesign for the exhibit was completed by Robin Maxonof Maxon Graphix in St. Joseph. The display wasprinted and installed by Anchor Signs of Benton Har-bor. We are also looking in to having the map made

in to a puzzle as a fundraiser for the museum. Visitorshould make a point of viewing the new ExploreNorth Berrien map exhibit at the Opening Receptionfor our traveling exhibit A Few Good Women on Fri-day, April 1 or at another time this spring.

New North Berrien map exhibit mixes history and geography

Above: Visitors lift up photographs on

hinges in the Explore North Berrien map

exhibit to read more. For example, at the

Watervliet Paper Mill image, the text

description appears below the photograph

only when the hinge is opened.

hinge


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NBHS has worked in recent years to establishthe North Berrien Historical Museum as a year-roundplace for educational and fun events. Attendance hasincreased steadily especially during the cold wintermonths. Members and residents seem eager for good

reasons to get out of the house, which the museum hasdelivered. Learning or doingsomething new is like a blastof warm sunshine amidst adreary and gray season.

The North BerrienHoliday Open House was

another tremendoussuccess in late 2010,with over 500 peoplevisiting the museum.

Our first-ever SeniorDay and Holiday

Tasting Fundraiser eventswere strong and will be re-peated. Local musicians gen-erously performed over theweekend, including The Up-beats with Pete & MargeMannino, pianist Gordon

Krell, Nocturne String Quartet, Serenata Strings, Co-loma Choirs, Coloma Jazz Band, and soloist Debbie

Wise. Annual activities like the Cookie Walk,Santas Workshop crafts, and visits with Santa andMrs. Claus engaged visitors of all ages. We are verygrateful to the volunteers who made this all possible,as well as for the wonderful donations fromGrandpas Cider Mill, Vineyards Gourmet Chocolate,Papa Scotts Market, Bobs Barn and Farm Market,and the Cottage of the Four Seasons.

On December 29 a Winter Break TimeTravelers program for kids and families was heldwith the theme of New Years Fun. Attendees made

their own Times Square Ball Drop magnet craftsand learned the words to Auld Lange Syne, in additionto hands-on lessons about a range of time-honored

traditions for marking the new year. This free eventwas also featured in a nice article on the currentevents website BlueStarHighway.com.

The regular third-Tuesday meeting in Januarysaw a large crowd attend for our History of HagarTownship slide show. The presentation by Directorof Education Tracy Gierada was a broad overview ofHagar history with stories about a few interestingbusinesses, groups and individuals. Many enthusias-tic conversations were sparked among the audience,and several attendees noted that they had images, ob-jects, or knowledge related to this topic to contributeto the museum.

On February 12our annual VictorianValentines Party was

again enjoyed by all.The event welcomes allages to enjoy festivedecorations, refresh-ments, and games at the museum. Visitors enjoyviewing our collection of historic Valentines and thenusing our table of materials to craft beautiful, hand-made Valentines to take home.

The meeting on February 15 also brought afull house to the museum as we looked at the Under-ground Railroad in Southwest Michigan. Carol

Bainbridge, a member of the Underground RailroadSociety of Cass County, provided us with an illus-trated history. She discussed some of the bravestationmasters and conductors who helped guidethousands of escaped slaves towards freedom in Can-ada, and the early African-American settlement atRamptown connected to these efforts. Bainbridgenoted that evidence exists that two major undergroundroutes from Indianaconverged in CassCounty, but freedom

seekers also likely trav-eled through otherplaces in Michigan ontheir secretive and dan-gerous journey north.Learn more about thistopic and the Under-ground Railroad Soci-ety at the groups web-site, www.URSCC.org.

Museum attracts great response from winter programs

The Bonine House was recently

purchased by the Underground

Railroad Society of Cass County.


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Individual ($15)

I may like to

Volunteer

Additional tax-deductible contribution: $________

Name

Address

City, State, ZIP

Phone

New Member

Returning Member

Total Amount Enclosed: $________

Send your completed form along with your check to:

North Berrien Historical SocietyP.O. Box 207, Coloma, MI 49038

Family Donor ($50)

Student ($8)

Senior ($10)

E-mail

North Berrien Historical SocietyMembership Form

Benefits include: Quarterly Newsletter, Advance inviteto special events, and Members-only opportunities

Thank you for your support!

Please check desired annual membership level.

Continuing MembersBarbara Tyler Janet BMargaret Schmieding Marge Du

New Members Anita Hirsch Dick Grau Tayler SnowRita Lynch Patricia Geisler Jenna MillerWade Lynch Susie Page Furda Allison MartinezJudi White Matthew Sweet Alexis KroschelAdolf Pelzer Becca Gagliardo Jesse ScruggsSandra Garland Taylor Beukelman Conor RockhillThomas Allen Family

Baseball Exhibit Opens in June

The museum is gearing up for an exciting sum-

mer of programs and a new exhibit entitled Women in

Baseball: Bloomer Girls of Berrien County and Be-

yond. The exhibits highlight is the story of renowned

pitcher Maud Nelson who lived in Watervliet Town-ship from 1905 to 1917. Nelson was one of the most

influential female baseball players in American history

with a career spanning forty years. In 1911 she be-

came owner-manager of the Watervliet-based Western

Bloomer Girls, a team who traveled the country com-

peting in front of huge crowds.

The exhibits opening will be complemented

by a major Womens Baseball Tournament in Waterv-

liet, June 25-26, which will bring hundreds of visitors.

An Opening Re-ception and walk-

ing tours in June,

and a vintage

baseball game fea-

turing the House

of David Echoes

on July 22 are also

being organized.

DonationsJanet Blair Rita Lynch Charlene Andrews Anita Hirsch Janice Reid Roy Davis Wesley Urch Nadine Deitrich Dale Kaucher Nora Kamberos George Wooley Lois Smith Alma Arent Boots Phebus Dolores Krenek Wes Arent Joyce Van Hattum Margaret Schmieding Lorna vanKomen Donald Misek Debbie Friday Patricia Geisler Amy Hiler SandrCarol Moore, Moore Theaters Kevin Stewart, Linear Electric

In Memory of Jaan Walther- Amy Hiler In Memory of William Chandler - Bud Seabury Family

Watervliets Western Bloomer Girls


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Hagar Bainbridge Coloma Watervliet www.NorthBerrienHistory.or

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Watervliet, MI

Permit No. 29

Newsletter - Spring 2011

P.O. Box 207, Coloma, MI 49038

Return Service Requested

A Few Good Women:

Women in the Military


April 1 - May 27Free Exhibit

A traveling exhibit from the

Michigan Womens Historical

Center in Lansing, Michigan.

Exhibit Hours:Tuesday - Saturday,10am - 4pm

spring 2011 newsletter - north berrien historical society

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