Today at the Library of Michigan

Kelly, Riley and I went to the library of Michigan today to see if we could find our sources about the planning of I-496. The reference librarians were quite enthusiastic, but didn't seem to be focused enough helping us. (Printing off sheets about other highways, etc.) Despite a thorough search of the online catalog, the plans were not in the catalog. I found a couple of places in the stacks where they had the evaluation studies and plans for a number of highways (mostly MI state roads and a few about I-96) but had no luck finding what we need. Things I learned today:
1. The Library is not well cataloged.
2. MDOT was called the Department of Highways or something during the period we're researching.
3. Two hours get burned fast when you're skimming documents.

I guess we're going to have to go back there a lot in the near future. My question is: Where else could those planning documents be?

More about the Final Project

Several important questions need to be asked about this project:
Who is the audience?
-The audience will be Cooley Law School students, faculty, staff, and any guests in the so-called Temple building who are at all interested in the history of that structure. Given this audience, the most convenient form for the project to take would be - in my opinion - a plaque in the lobby of the building. This way people can take a glance at the history of the building while they're in it!
What is the issue here?
-There are a number of issues. The first is: Why was a huge Masonic temple built in downtown Lansing and later sold to a law school and gutted to make classrooms and offices? This will involve, at least at a superficial level, the history of Mason activity in the city of Lansing, and the decline evidenced by the abandonment of their huge building. Also, what did the building look like on the inside before it was remodeled?
-Why did Cooley want the building, and how did they change the interior in order to use it as part of their school?
-To some extent: Why is there not yet a plaque or other record of any kind documenting the history of this building? According to the National Register of Historical Places is a historically significant site.
-To a lesser extent: What is the mural on the side of the building, who painted it, and what does it mean?

My Individual Project

What I'm thinking about doing for my final project is to resolve the problem that I discovered earlier in the semester when we were asked to blog about historical buildings. As I mentioned in that blog post, the old Masonic Temple in Lansing is now a part of Cooley Law School, but when I went to investigate there was no mention of this fact anywhere on the building. I was hoping to find a nice informative plaque: My idea is to research the history of the building (including finding some pictures of the inside before it was gutted and turned into a college) and design a plaque for them. With any luck, the people in charge of buildings at Cooley will also think that this is a good idea and maybe even make the plaque! I think it could be pretty cool.

The Grand Question: Focus

I know that I probably should have posted about this sooner, but I took Spring Break off (I went to the Everglades and explored a lot of our wonderful Interstate system on the way there and back.) which probably wasn't wise with all the stuff going on.

In any case, without looking at the availability of sources, I think that the second project option (exploring the I-496 controversy) is a much better project. The difference is this: Controversy is more interesting than nostalgia for a bygone neighborhood because (and I hate to say this) I never lived or even visited this neighborhood. I don't know anyone who lived their, so it's passing doesn't affect me, except for the MANNER of its passing.

Because the racial implications, the now-antiquated but (at the time) insatiable drive toward progress, and still fresh and exciting spread of the internal combustion automobile, these forces that tore apart the only significant black community in Lansing, THAT is what makes this whole thing interesting. I don't care where the laundromat was, or who worked there, or what it looked like so much as how much the owner was compensated, whether they were able to open another successful business, etc.

Some would argue that these topics are above the audience the museum primarily serves. I would argue that no matter how heavy or light the subject matter is, kids won't read the captions for the artifacts: They might read what the object is, but little more, no matter what the topic is. As long as the objects are interesting, the kids will have fun looking at it. However, those that do read the captions (history nerds like me, kids' parents and teachers, that proportion of adult patronage, people on nerdy dates, whatever) are going to be far more intrigued about this subject if there is some DRAMA! They almost certainly won't have lived in this neighborhood (with some exceptions, of course) and a study focused on reconstructing the neighborhood would be, in my opinion, without context. Yes, this neighborhood is interesting and charming, and it's gone now so we can make it live on in a museum. However, the museum already has vignettes of life in the past; it doesn't have a chronicle of the rending effects of motorization, or the potentially darker side of all that "progress" Michigan was producing in her auto factories.

For the sake of our sanity, we need to do the more intriguing, interesting, and applicable topic whether there is more or less evidence for it, as long as it's fairly plausible. I was very encouraged when Dr. K said that we don't have to have it done until the end of the semester, and when he reminded us that we were making a proposal, not the actual exhibit. We can't let the grand conflict be ripped out of this story!