Michigan Civil War Blog

The Civil War in "Our Town"

Though Wilder's play Our Town is not an unfamiliar experience here, it was surprising to hear two separate instances of the Civil War being cited. The first was both pleasant and amusing; the second was poignant:

Mrs. Gibbs:  … it might make him discontented with Grovers Corners to go traipsin' about Europe; better let well enough alone, he says. Every two years he makes a trip to the battlefields of the Civil War and that's enough treat for anybody, he says.

Mrs. Webb: Well, Mr. Webb just admires the way Doctor Gibbs knows everything about the Civil War. Mr. Webb's a good mind to give up Napoleon and move over to the Civil War, only Doctor Gibbs being one of the greatest experts in the country just makes him despair.

Mrs. Gibbs: It's a fact, Doctor Gibbs is never so happy as when he's at Antietam or Gettysburg. The times I've walked over those hills, Myrtle, stopping at every bush and pacing it out, like we was going to buy it.

...

Stage Manager: … Over there (down L.C.) are some Civil War veterans. Iron flags on their graves – New Hampshire boys – had a notion that the Union ought to be kept together, though they'd never seen more than fifty miles of it themselves. All they knew was the name, friends – the United States of America. And they went and died about it.

Taking a break

After the technical difficulty episodes lately, and due to personal plans, this blog is expressing its desire to go silent for a couple weeks or so. But it ain't going away, so we'll be back in mid-September, as events unfold about the history program and the State budget that is needed by October 1, Civil War Sesquicentennial planning, and other items that might be of interest to the one and a half readers who turn in here every so often....

See you then!

What a day...

When business necessitates a trip to downtown Detroit, the location where this laptop sits is typically a small conference room on the 40th floor of our office near the foot of Woodward. Today, the space available was a large conference room, still perched high above the city on the 40th floor, but with a viewscape much larger than usual. It was amazing.

The wide view was southwest, overlooking the Detroit River as it flows underneath the Ambassador Bridge and makes a turn to the left (south) toward the downriver communities, Grosse Ile, and eventually Lake Erie. The water was a spectacular blue, with small craft plying up and down the waterway leaving a temporary footprint in what was just an amazing azure pathway. The sky was sky blue (surprise) with wisps of bright clouds. In the near ground stood the Riverfront Apartments, followed by the green space where the Detroit Free Press printing plant once hulked, then the few remaining train tracks that not long ago were used as an embarkation point for travel across the river on barges, and then the bridge. Beyond it, around the bend, stood the stacks and other accoutrement of the downriver industrial spaces. A freighter with its rouge red hull was tied up at one of these sites, near to the Rouge River entry to Ford's complex. Another was parked across on the Windsor side. Mid-morning a flotilla of five small craft lined up in formation made their way east, leaving behind five v-shaped wakes. The mail boat joined up with an southbound freighter just west of the bridge and made its delivery before heading back to shore. Traffic climbed the bridge and then descended toward land in each direction.

In the foreground out these windows waved the American flag on the top of the Guardian Building, standing out strong toward the southeast in a regular breeze.

To the north, Comerica Park in its ballfield beauty, marked by the brilliant checkerboard green grass of the infield and outfield and foul ground, attracted attention. Next door, Ford Field's rooftop logo stood out in the sunshine. The view all the way up Woodward toward the Mackinac Bridge and all the way out Grand River Avenue toward Lake Michigan was amazing. Actually, the horizon cut off the eventual ending of these thoroughfares, but it was fun to imagine.

What a great day from 400 feet up.

Odds and ends

An article in the July/August AAA Michigan Living magazine on how downtown Detroit has made a comeback prominently features a photo of the Underground Railroad monument on the Riverwalk at Hart Plaza, properly linking the Detroit River with freedom.

At the Freedom Museum in Chicago's McCormick Tower -- itself the repository of historic artifacts from around the world embedded in three of its walls -- of all events that could re recounted in the section on African-Americans is the visit by Michigander Sojourner Truth to President Lincoln in October '64 [http://www.freedommuseum.us/html/freedomforall.php?section=1&part=1].

At a concert in Millenium Park's Pritzker Pavilion last week, part of a program on American music during the freedom holiday week, a work by William Grant Still entitled "In Memoriam: The Colored Soldiers Who Died For Democracy" was played by the Grant Park Orchestra. Composed in 1930, some seven decades after the Civil War, its title evokes the unfulfilled promise of the new birth of freedom. Still attended Oberlin College (among several post-secondary institutions) -- was he there when Bruce Catton was (1916-17)?

Hiatus over

We're back after two weeks elsewhere. Where is not important. What is? That there's no place like home (thanks, Dorothy).

To prove the point, here's a view from tens of thousands of feet over the beautiful blue sandy line that marks the western edge of Michigan, where it meets the lake of the same name down in the southwestern corner:

How about one over Lake St. Clair, defined by the Michigan Legislature as a Great Lake (meaning we do border on five):

Since we did the lake, why not the river of the same name, with a prototypical ocean-going freighter to boot:

Finally, one on the return, again of Lake Michigan with Ludington State Park jutting out as if to say 'I can't get enough blue', and one of the many Portage Lakes in the foreground:

Tomorrow, refreshed, renewed by seeing the State closer to the viewpoint of a gracious Providence, let's start talking about Michigan and the American Civil War again...

Hiatus

Due to a sabbatical, this space will have no postings for a couple weeks.

In the meantime, perhaps those who read this blog (a big thank you!) can ponder a question that's been on my mind. It occurred to me recently when in downtown Detroit I noticed an enclosure around the 'Spirit of Detroit' statue in front of the City/County Building, due to repairs. It made me wonder...

What is the 'Spirit of Michigan'?

Be seeing you.

Spiritual journey

From today's Freep on the first page of the "Life" section come two Civil War era stories.

One by the title of this blog entry describes a performance this coming weekend of Sing Jubilee by the Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit. "The play tells the remarkable story of the Fisk Jubilee Singers who, facing brutal social conditions and segregation, introduced white audiences to Negro spirituals, the religious folk songs of African-American slaves." Great story about how their singing soothed the savage beast. You may have read that Detroit high schools have an atrocious graduation rate. So you'd be delighted to know that 95% of Mosaic members graduate. Beautiful sepia-tone picture of the Singers ca.1875 with the story. Here's a link: Mosaic

Next to it was a column by Desiree Cooper, a delightful writer, entitled "Club's name is its goal for 110 years." About the Detroit Study Club, a group of African-American women who have discussed books, traded books, loved books for over a century. Limited to 45 members, by invitation only, it originated with "a group of affluent black women after the Civil War who did what other affluent women did in those days. They studied issues, literature and music." Here's a link: Cooper

Two side-by-side accounts that demonstrate the powerful outcome for good of a terrible Civil War.

A (positive) message

After attending an event there, I asked the director of the "Michigan's Fight for Freedom" seminar at the Lorenzo Center at Macomb Community College why the choice of this topic. Especially for a 40-some series. After all, many others could have been chosen. The Civil War, after all?!

Here was her answer:

"The college conducted a detailed marketing survey, including focus groups, 2 years prior to the opening of the cultural center. The information we gleaned from that process gave us a fairly robust list of our community's areas of interest. The Civil War was a major area of interest within our community."

Now, doesn't that make the hair on the back of your neck stand up with electric delight! Macomb County has a population nearly that of the City of Detroit and larger than Grand Rapids, the State's second largest city. It's a growth area. And the Civil War is a "major area of interest" there.

From people in Michigan comes word that the Civil War is not consigned to the dustbin of history.

Shame and honor

Today, the mayor of our largest city--the one by which Michigan gets much of its identity beyond the borders, the metropolis that so often is used by its supporters as instrumental to the State's success, the city so full of great history--was charged with multiple counts of violating the law, including felonies punishable by 15 years imprisonment. The defendant/s have a presumption of innocence. Since the investigation has, according to the prosecutor, been impeded, today's event is not necessarily the final shoe to drop. A sad day in Michigan history in many ways.

At the same time, as the prosecutor said, it would have been "a sadder day to ignore true justice." Her remarks explaining the decision to charge should be used in every 1L first-day class to instruct on the fundamental basis upon which our American system of justice is based. The justice system is now responsible for guilt or innocence.

Prior to today, cynics believed the prosecutor would not charge because politically it would be better for her. Others claimed she would charge because politically she had to; indeed, the deputy mayor said this morning it would be political if she did charge. In this environment, it's refreshing that she went forward based on what she felt was integral to maintaining and upholding the administration of justice, rather than to take the easy way out.

To be sure, any shame is neither Detroit's nor Michigan's. It is personal to those who have been charged. If convicted, more than dishonor will be involved. Honor belongs to public officials who have sought to uphold the sanctity of their oaths of office. And for that demonstration of integrity, all of this State can be grateful and proud.

"Time sets all things right. Error lives but a day. Truth is eternal." -- James Longstreet, Southern Historical Society Papers, Vol. V., No. 6, Richmond, Va., June, 1878, p. 270

Spring's arrival

After a couple days of persistent clouds and rain here, tomorrow will come with the promise of the official return of Spring. Can't be very much later before life starts returning to the garden, Tigers return to Comerica Park, and commuting returns to a different look.

Here are fair-weather photos of one person's route to work last year, including a vintage barn, school, houses, and signage demonstrating that Michigan has a lot of history lying around everywhere. The last predates Michigan becoming a state and three decades before the end of the War.

And my personal favorite, the location of which you'd never suspect:

Come on, Spring!