Lighthouse Stories: Offshore Outposts with Ric Mixter
2026-01-21 19:00 (America/Detroit) | Copeland Center, 2306 Fourth Street, Wyandotte, Michigan, 48192
Michigan is home to over 120 lighthouses, which not only mark harbors but also guide ships
around underwater obstructions. These beacons are located anywhere that ships may travel,
meaning many of them are in the middle of the Great Lakes, including the most remote
lighthouse in the United States, Stannard Rock. It was here that an explosion ripped through a
machinery building, killing the chief keeper and wounding a young electrician sent to the light
to perform maintenance. In an exclusive interview, Ric Mixter shares an eyewitness account of
the man who was wounded in the the explosion with his story of awaiting rescue on the deck
with two other men.
Ric also shares scientific missions now taking place on these remote outposts, including
Spectacle Reef in the Straits of Mackinac. Stories from Lake Superior’s Huron Island are also a
highlight of this talk, with an interview from a young man whose father was stationed off
L’Anse.
Also featured is the million dollar rehab of DeTour Reef, including stories from the men who
were stationed in the St Mary’s River for several months out of the year.
Ric Mixter is a former three term president of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association,
and a frequent contributor to Beacon magazine. This presentation is a must for lighthouse fans
and people interested in how men survived working on these desolate towers.

Easy as Pie: Using Foreign Language Newspapers in Your Genealogical Research with Karina Robinson
2025-11-19 19:00 - 21:00
Foreign Language Newspapers published in the U.S. and abroad can be wonderful genealogical resources even when you do not know the language they are printed in. We’ll discuss why this resource can be helpful to your research, how to use foreign language newspapers when you aren’t familiar with or fluent in the language, and where to easily access these under overlooked resources online.

Rouge River Revived – How people are bringing their river back to life with John Hartig
2025-10-15 19:00 - 21:00
The Rouge River was long known as one of the most polluted rivers in the United States. A mid-1980s tipping point awakened watershed residents that raw sewage was overwhelming their river. Today, people have overcome apathy and are working together to bring their river back to life.

Fruits of Perseverance: The French Presence in the Detroit River Region 1701-1815 with Dr. Guillaume Teasdale
2025-09-17 19:00 - 21:00
Founded by French military entrepreneur Antoine Laumet de Lamothe Cadillac in 1701, colonial Detroit was occupied by thousands of French settlers who established deep roots on both sides of the river. The city’s unmistakable French past, however, has been long neglected in the historiography of New France and French North America.
Exploring the French colonial presence in Detroit, from its establishment to its dissolution in the early nineteenth century, Fruits of Perseverance explains how a society similar to the rural settlements of the Saint Lawrence valley developed in an isolated place and how it survived well beyond the fall of New France. As Guillaume Teasdale describes, between the 1730s and 1750s, French authorities played a significant role in promoting land occupation along the Detroit River by encouraging settlers to plant orchards and build farms and windmills. After New France’s defeat in 1763, these settlers found themselves living under the British flag in an Aboriginal world shortly before the newly independent United States began its expansion west.
Fruits of Perseverance offers a window into the development of a French community in the borderlands of New France, whose heritage is still celebrated today by tens of thousands of residents of southwest Ontario and southeast Michigan.
This presentation was previously scheduled for October 16, 2024.

Advanced Tips and Tricks for Genealogy Research with Dolores Shearon
2025-06-18 19:00 - 21:00
Whether beginners or experienced genealogists, eager learners can always pick up new information to make their research more efficient — and more enjoyable. Here’s a sample: When you name your family tree on one of the big genealogy websites, don’t get cutesy. Instead, set out some “cousin bait” by titling it with the major surnames you’re researching (e.g. Jones-Miller-Moore-Brown Family Tree). Ready to learn more? This presentation will bring you curated pointers on an array of research topics, with a handout that will get you pumped to go home and try them out!

DRGS Annual Potluck Dinner
2025-06-18 17:30 - 19:00
Dinner will be at 6:00 pm, Program and meeting will follow at 7:00 pm.
Doors open at 5:30 pm

St. Francis Xavier Cemetery with Dale Renaud
2025-05-21 19:00 - 21:00
Member Dale Renaud will speak on St. Francis Xavier Cemetery, Ecorse, Michigan. He will give a little history of the cemetery and stories he found researching it. He has been a genealogist for 30 years, 5th Generation Member of St. Francis Xavier Church, and a proud Ecorse boy.
Find-a-Grave photo by Sherri Czuchra.
The original program scheduled for this date was Detroit in WWII with Dr Gregory Sumner.

Military Collectionwith Scott Galeski
2025-04-16 19:00 - 21:00
Join Scott as he brings many of his relics to the meeting and talks about one of the biggest military collections in Michigan.

Shipwrecks of Wyandotte with Ric Mixter
2025-03-19 19:00 - 21:00
The shipyard at Wyandotte launched the first iron and steel vessels on the lakes, with innovations that included the first icebreaking hull. Ric Mixter shares several of the hulls launched here, but their memory was tarnished by shipwreck. This includes Alvin Clarke, Sport, SR Kirby, Chicora, Sydney Smith, JR and Tashmoo.

Beginning Genealogy with Sherry Huntington and Kathy Clark
2025-02-19 19:00 - 21:00
DRGS President Sherry Huntington and member Kathy Clark teach Beginning Genealogy.

Wyandotte Toys with Daniel Galeski
2025-01-15 19:00 - 21:00
He will have pictures on display of the 3 Toy Factories in Wyandotte plus an office on Eureka.

DNA Sequencing with Kayla Zochowski
2024-11-20 19:00 - 21:00
Join Dr. Zochowski to learn about the basics of next-generation sequencing, or the process by which your DNA can be extracted, sequenced, and assembled into your unique genetic code. Sequencing contributes to our understanding of many different biological systems, including the ability to gain insights into ancestry. Learn about the steps involved from sending your saliva off to interpreting your ancestry results.

The Life and Times of Henry Ford with Richard Gatza
2024-10-16 19:00 - 21:00
He will be showing pictures and talk about the life and times of Henry Ford in Dearborn Michigan from early age until his passing.

Michigan’s Iron Brigade with Michael McCaffery
2024-09-18 19:00 - 21:00
Michael Mccaffery, Director of the Dearborn Heights libraries, recently hosted a program on the Michigan 24th at his library and other local Civil War roundtables. His focus during the program was the 24th’s ties to the community, including a state historical site at which some Civil War veterans were interred. The upcoming presentation will focus on the genesis of the Michigan 24th, why it was unique, and how the unit came to be one of the most decorated units in the Civil War.

A Detroit Fire Fighter's Story and growing up Polish on the West Side of Detroit with Bob Dombrowski
2024-06-19 19:00 - 21:00
3 Books – 38 Years

A Detroit Firefighter’s Story
Paczki Day (being Polish on the West side of Detroit)
1969 (growing up in 1969 and the year of everything that happened)

Irish Handfasting Wedding with Kathy Cannon
2024-05-15 19:00 - 21:00
While planning a long visit to Ireland, Kathy thought back to having seen a “handfasting” wedding ceremony in a movie and wondered whether they did this sort of thing in Ireland today. After some research, she found a celebrant who performed this ceremony and was willing to travel to the Kilcar, Donegal area where Kathy and Dave would be visiting to perform theirs. Kathy will talk a bit about handfasting and its history, and the ceremony that she designed for her and Dave.

Bottled Goodbyes with Ric Mixter
2024-04-17 19:00 - 21:00
Ric Mixter’s book “Bottled Goodbyes” is more than just fantastic stories found from bottles that washed ashore.
The author used genealogy research to track down living relatives of shipwreck victims, hoping to find original copies of the notes he features in his book. From wrecks on the Great Lakes to the Titanic, you’ll enjoy his storytelling!

Michigan POW Camps in WWII with Greg Sumner
2024-03-20 19:00 - 21:00
Dr. Gregory Sumner is Chair of the History Department at the University of Detroit Mercy. He will speak on the little-remembered subject of the 6,000 German and Italian POWs housed in camps across Michigan during WWII. They mostly behaved well, supplied help during the labor shortage, and many later became U.S. Citizens.

Sharing Memory Projects with several DRGS members
2024-02-07 19:00 - 21:00
Please note the date change for this meeting. The Copeland Center is not available on our usual meeting date.
Kathy C, Sherry H, Carol D, Mary P, Rana W, Chris H – Family History – Sharing More Than Just Dates. Kathy & Jeff Clark are working on putting a PowerPoint together for this. 10-15-minute talks. Items will be on display.

100 Wyandotte Soldiers from the Civil War with Marty Bertera and Mary Johns Wien
2024-01-17 19:00 - 21:00
By the war’s end in 1865, nearly 3 million young men and a few hundred women served in the civil war. They left their homes in large cities, towns, and small villages for an adventure of a lifetime; our presenters will look at one of these communities, Wyandotte, Michigan. The soldiers would serve their country in many far-flung locations throughout the United States. Ultimately, some would die, but most returned to civilian life, and a few suffered the traumas from personally experiencing war.
What started for them as a keep me busy project during covid, updating the correct number of soldiers in the city, ended up being over a 260-page book. By using as our foundation earlier books such as Proudly We Record and Historical Society notes that listed as few as 35 to a higher number of 112 soldiers from Wyandotte. The authors have been able to add and correct these numbers up to over 140. Along the way, they corrected the spelling of a few first and last names. They deleted a few names listed as Civil War but were Spanish American War soldiers.
You would be mistaken if you think this is just a civil war history; it’s more than a war story; for those that survived the war, it was a small-time frame of their existence but an important one. These veterans’ lives did not end when they were mustered out and discharged. Through many hours of research online, old newspapers, military books, and state archives, they have brought new information about the soldiers, such as the location of their birth, family members, occupation before and after the war, same with profession, location, and death date.
The authors:
Mary Johna Wein is the President of the Wyandotte Historical Society—director of the Friends of Wyandotte Cemetery and the Webpage of the same name.
Marty Bertera has published several civil war books and has worked in the film industry on historical films and documentaries. He also built the large diorama at Raisin River National Park in Monroe, Michigan, of Frenchtown in 1812, along with dioramas for other local museums

Polish Settlements in Michigan with Valerie Koselka
2023-11-15 19:00 - 21:00
This presentation will identify the Polish communities in Michigan with emphasis on neighborhoods in Detroit, Hamtramck, and Wyandotte. In this talk, we will outline a plan to research our immigrant ancestors in Michigan.

Tattletale Sounds: The Edmund Fitzgerald Investigations with Ric Mixter
2023-10-18 19:00 - 21:00
Tattletale Sounds is the latest book on the Great Lakes most famous shipwreck. Diver/historian Ric Mixter has interviewed dozens of men who built, sailed and explored the wrecksite, visiting the Fitzgerald himself in the Delta submersible in 1994. His book separates legend from fact with 300 pages of photos, diagrams and first person accounts of the largest ship ever lost on the inland seas.

Civil War Women: Soldiers, Spies, and Suffragettes with Joann Kotcher
2023-09-20 19:00 - 21:00
Join us for a special program commemorating Women’s History in the Civil War. Joann Puffer Kotcher, Vietnam War Donut Dolly, one of the first women allowed in a combat zone, will discuss the riveting stories of women in the Civil War. The crash of cannons tore these brave young women out of their China-doll, domestic rolls. Hundreds served incognito as soldiers, and spies. Hundreds more managed businesses and plantations, nursed the wounded and dying, collected donations for soldier relief, and thousands fled the advancing armies. The Civil War brought destruction and upheaval to women’s lives, and, ironically, astounding progress. Come meet these women. From chaos came the seeds of today’s emancipation of women, from the right to vote, to ownership of property, to today’s battlefield and boardroom. Never say, “No good can come from war.” History gives us the power to see the future.

War of 1812 with Ken Shepherd
2023-06-21 19:30 - 21:00
Ken’s presentation on the War of 1812 in the Michigan theatre looks at the Downriver area before and after the surrender of Detroit. There are a couple of battles in the area, and troops passed through what is now Wyandotte, to try to open communications between Detroit and the American-held lands in Ohio. His concentration, however, is usually on the politics; General Hull, the commandant at Detroit, was court martialed for surrendering the city, and a lot of people who were at Detroit spoke up in that trial.

DRGS Annual Potluck Dinner
2023-06-21 17:30 - 19:00
Dinner will be at 6:00 pm, Program and meeting will follow at 7:00 pm.
Doors open at 5:30 pm.

The Works Progress Administration with Elizabeth Clemens
2023-05-17 19:00 - 21:00
Elizabeth Clemens, audiovisual archivist at the Walter P. Reuther Library, will discuss the legacy of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in Southeastern Michigan, a revolutionary facet of the New Deal that sought to positively impact lives both physically and intellectually through the creation of work relief programs. Topics discussed will include the cultural programs of the Federal Arts Project; literacy, health and education initiatives; and improvements to local infrastructure through a massive public building initiatives.

Ecorse Echoes from Kathy Warnes
2023-04-19 19:00 - 21:00
Kathy’s Power Point Presentation featuring photographs by John Duguay and Sandy Blakeman, two Ecorse photographers who recorded Ecorse History and the history of Ecorse. Ecorse People Power. Photos of Ecorse people and their contributions to the city. Ecorse, Downriver and the World. How Ecorse fits into the cosmic scheme of things. Her books include – A Brief History of Ecorse, Ecorse Along the Detroit River, Downriver Prohibition, Downriver Back in the Days, and Granny Godfroy Grows Up. Her email address will be available if anyone wants to buy them she will either send them an email link or mail them a print copy.

Golden Ridge Cemetery Restoration, Taylor Michigan with Krysten Lange & The Taylor Historical Society
2023-03-15 19:00 - 21:00
Taylor Historical Society Cemetery committee members will present on their current preservation project in Taylor’s Goldenridge Cemetery (AKA Taylor Township Cemetery), including their many discoveries, headstone preservation efforts, cemetery record revitalization, and their future plans for Goldenridge, as well as the other two municipal cemeteries in Taylor. Those attending will have the opportunity to learn more about Taylor’s historic cemeteries and how they can participate in future preservation plans.

The Chautauqua Movement: It’s Origins, Impact & Presence in Michigan with Jim Craft
2023-02-15 19:00 - 21:00
The Chautauqua Movement began at Lake Chautauqua in western New York in 1874. Initially, it was a two-week encampment for training Sunday school teachers. Within a few years, it had evolved into a summer long resort community providing the American Protestant Middle Class with a wholesome option for using the emerging phenomenon of summer vacation.
Emulating the “mother” Chautauqua in New York, similar communities spread across the United States. By the 1890s over 100 permanent Chautauquas had been established. While each Chautauqua was unique, they were all modeled after the New York Chautauqua and emphasized religion, education, recreation and the arts.
In addition to the permanent Chautauqua sites, a traveling version of Chautauqua began in 1904 and lasted until the Great Depression. While a pale imitation of the original concept, the “tent” Chautauquas visited thousands of American communities every year for over twenty-five years to bring culture to small communities all across the country.
Inevitably, the educational and religious themes of Chautauqua led them to play an important role as a forum for discussion of public issues. In particular, Chautauqua helped promote the political debates surrounding Progressive Era reforms ranging from women’s suffrage to trust busting to child labor.

How to date your Historic House/Building with Tyler Moll
2023-01-18 19:00 - 21:00
Architectural historian Tyler Moll will present on techniques to use when trying to figure out how old your house or building is. This includes using stylistic evidence, deeds, tax records, maps, and many other available resources to try and nail down a date. Attendees will learn all the places to look and how fun and interesting it can be to research a building
