One hundred and four years ago during the winter of 1918-1919, 5,200 U.S. soldiers – the majority of them from Michigan – were stranded in a sub-arctic region of North Russia, engaged in bitter combat with the Bolshevik Red Army. They had arrived in Archangel, Russia on September 4, 1918, and their battles continued long after the Armistice was signed on November 11th. Eventually, they were withdrawn from this obscure military intervention in June of 1919, but not before 230 men lost their lives. Today the “Polar Bears” are no longer with us, but they and their service to our country have not been forgotten. Their war dead are memorialized with a monument at White Chapel Cemetery in Troy, MI, where they are remembered annually with a Memorial Day service conducted by the Polar Bear Memorial Association. Mike Grobbel, president of the Polar Bear Memorial Association, tells the story of the men of the American North Russia Expeditionary Force. Mike is the grandson of a “Polar Bear” and his presentation will draw on the historical records and experiences of veterans of that campaign, plus his own experiences during a 2018 visit to the former front lines in northern Russia.

This presentation was originally scheduled for October.

History of the Wyandot Tribe with Grand Chief Ted Roll of the Wyandot of Anderdon Nation.

This session replaces a previously scheduled presentation. Suffragists Almost here with Gary Rembixz will be rescheduled.

Do you like stories about booze, cars, cops, and crime? Then join Joe Boggs, the author of a new book called Prohibition’s Proving Ground, as he shares how prohibition enforcement and automobile culture collided on the Toledo-Detroit-Windsor corridor. With a special emphasis on the Downriver area, the presentation will focus on how our region’s automobile boom significantly aided local rumrunners but challenged those responsible for enforcing dry laws.

Joseph Boggs will bring his book to sell & sign for a discounted price of $20.

It is generally recognized by even casual students of Michigan history that many of the state’s early settlers came from western New York. It is rarely appreciated, however, that this region of New York, known as the Burned-over District, played a central role in the great religious revival that swept the country in the first half of the 19th Century. Nor is it recognized that this “Second Great Awakening”, particularly as it evolved in western New York, set the stage for social and political reforms that led directly to six Constitutional Amendments, the Civil War and shaped how much of the country responded to the industrialization and urbanization of America in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. From Jackson Prison to Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and the birth of the Republican Party, ante bellum Michigan was greatly impacted by the events which occurred in Burned-over District in the 1820s and 1830s. Jim Craft will discuss the causes and course of this significant but underappreciated aspect of Michigan and American history.

He will bring his book to sell for $10 and sign

Her book was released in July 2021. It is a non-fiction account of the activities of Wyandotte residents before, during, and after WWII. Over 2,200 of our citizens served in the military and thousands more fought the battle on the home front. Wyandotte lost at least 143 men during the war, and this book chronicles the sacrifice of Wyandotte’s warriors along with the challenges of our hometown heroes.

She will bring her book to sell and sign.

Ireland awoke to the beginning of the Great Hunger in 1845. Experience the heartbreaking stories of the Irish during the 5 long years of the Potato Famine. While it was a time of great injustice when more than 1 million Irish died, it also became a tragic blessing for over 1 million Irish who fled to America and survived. As an Irish storyteller, Mr. O’Leary’s quest is to keep the famine story alive and acquaint modern-day Irish-Americans with the tragic but also the triumphant history of our Irish ancestors.

Terence O’Leary will be bringing and signing his Irish Crossings books.  The books are $12.99 each. Two books are $22.99 and the Irish Crossings Trilogy is $32.99.

Eloise has a long and interesting history spanning more than 130 years. He will be covering the founding of the Wayne County poorhouse and seeing its evolution into an asylum, tuberculosis sanitarium, and general hospital among many other uses. The Wayne County house, later known as Eloise, would become one of the largest facilities of its type in the country. At its peak over 10,000 people lived and worked there, yet within 40 years of this, the Wayne county house would close completely and be abandoned. We will see the rise and fall of Eloise, the Wayne County Poorhouse and Asylum.