2010 Program Flyer

Thursdays at Courthouse Square

The History Center’s popular summer evening program
series returns this year with a little help from our friends at the
Greater Berrien Springs Community Endowment. A $2,000
grant from the Foundation has funded the presenters, along with
a new projector screen and advertising costs to make this year’s
program series the best one yet.
All programs are on Thursday evenings at 6:30 p.m. at
the History Center. Admission is free!

June 24: “In Michigan’s Past,” by best-selling Michigan
author Larry Massie. Historian and dynamic storyteller Larry
Massie has written eighteen books presenting tales of southwest
Michigan. His program will focus on Great Lakes sailors,
Potawatomi warriors, French explorers and pioneer settlers. His
performance combines true stories with humor, and he entertains
anyone who has ever felt the lure of glorious Lake Michigan.

July 1: “Riding the Rails: Streetcars & Interurbans.”
History Center curator Bob Myers traces the 50-year history of
Berrien County’s electric railroad system. Originating with a
horse-drawn streetcar line in St. Joseph and Benton Harbor,
Berrien County’s early mass transit system eventually spread
throughout the county. The PowerPoint presentation covers the
full span of the railway’s operation until its demise in the Great
Depression of the 1930s.

July 8: “Icebound Found! The Ordeal of the S. S. Michi-
gan.” Award-winning author/historian Valerie van Heest tells the
story of the 1885 wreck of the S. S. Michigan. Capt. Redmond
Prindeville and his crew became icebound on Lake Michigan
during one of the worst winter storms in history. After forty
days, the ice crushed and sank the Michigan. Ms. van Heest
tells the story of the Michigan’s ordeal and the Michigan
Shipwreck Research Associate’s successful search for the wreck.

July 15: “Michigan in the Civil War.” Documentary film-
makers Al & David Eicher examine Michigan’s role in the War
Between the States. Their presentation includes visits to many
historic sites relating to the Civil War, plus Michigan sites and
historic photographs of locations where Michigan recruits joined
the Union cause. The Eichers also add materials relevant to local
events and people in Michigan Civil War history.

July 22: “It’s Daylight in the Swamps.” Escanaba-based film-
maker and song writer Bill Jamerson presents a musical program
about Michigan’s logging era. As Jamerson notes, the only thing
bigger than the lumberjacks’ appetites were the tall tales they told
in the bunkhouse. Bill shares many of these bigger-than-life stories
along with songs about the lives of men who worked in the woods.

July 29: “Uncle Sam Wants You! The Use of Propaganda
Posters During World War II ” Museum director Francie Porter
Snyder showcases the posters that encouraged enlistments, indus-
trial production, security and much more. She also includes the
history of the posters and biographies of some of the artists who
produced them, plus local responses to the propaganda efforts.