Current Programs

2012 Winter Lecture Series

Beat the winter blues! Join your friends for an evening informal winter lecture and experience the fascinating history of the place we call home--Cheboygan County.

Only $3.00 for Members and $4.00 for Non-Members**

All lectures will be presented at the Cheboygan Area Public Library.

February13, 2012
"Mackinac and the War of 1812"

Presenter:  Phil Porter, Director, Mackinac State Historic Parks

2012 marks the Bicentennial Celebration of the War of 1812.  Mackinac Island, a strategic fur trade depot and home to Fort Mackinac, was the site of two significant military engagements during the War of 1812.  In this illustrated presentation Phil Porter describes how British, Native American and United States forces fought for control of this important post as part of the larger conflict that has sometimes been called the "Second American Revolution"

February 27, 2012
"Wood, Steel, and Ice
A History of the Straits of Mackinac Railway Ferries"

Presenter: Brian S. Jaeschke, Registrar, Mackinac State Historic Parks

By 1881, three railroads were completed to the Straits of Mackinac.  The Mackinac Transportation Company was formed to transport cargo across the Straits using ferries.  The ferries ran year round and were built not only to carry railroad cars, they also had to be icebreakers.  The railway ferries became the models for icebreaker construction around the world.  The most famous of these ships was the S.S. Chief Wawatam which ran from 1911 to 1984.  With the construction of the Mackinac Bridge and the Coast Guard icebreaker Mackinac, the ferries' service at the Straits and around the Great Lakes diminished.  This presentation will discuss the history of these revoluntionary railway ferries.

March 12, 2012
"The Straits of Mackinac: Water Highway and Watery Grave"

Presenter: Keith A Knecht, Historic Interpreter and Trustee of
   The Cheboygan County History Center

From canoes to lake freighters and passangers liners, the Straits of Mackinac has been a vital link in the development of our area from a strategic part of the fur trade to a tourist destination.  Join Keith Knecht on this illustrated journey of discovery as he illustrates the importnce of this great water highway.  He will also take you on a fascinating underwater tour of those ships who found in the Straits their watery graves--ships such as the William Young, the Cedarville, the St. Andrew, the Newell Eddy and others.

March 26, 2012
"Northern Michigan Before 1492—The Anishnaabek and Their History Before the European Arrival

Presenter: Eric Hemenway, Historical and Cultural Researcher, Little Traverse Band of Odawa Indians, Member of NAGPRA Review Committee, Emmett County Historical Commission and the Harbor Spring Historical Society.

Join Eric Hemenway as he discuss some of the pre-contact activities of the Odawa in what was to become northern Michigan. Learn about the trade the Odawa carried out on the Great Lakes with other tribes and how those trade routes played a major role in Odawa political and economic development during the French era.  Activities include; fishing, trapping, maple sugar, agriculture of corn and partnerships with other tribes. Eric will also share a little about NAGPRA and how Odawa beliefs carry over in repatriating ancient human remains.

** On the first night, Members will be able to purchase a "Winter Lecture Pass" for $10.00 making each lecture just $2.50.  The Non-Member "Winter Lecture Pass" is $13.00 making each lecure $3.25.