The state law allowing drunks and disorderly persons to be whipped was repealed on this day in 1831.
Source : Historical Society of Michigan
The first house in Albion, with a thatched roof of grass from the banks of the nearby Kalamazoo River, was erected by Tenney Peabody, a New Yorker.
Peabody, a courageous New Yorker, used three yoke of oxen and two wagons to bring his wife and seven children to live in this house on March 4, 1833.
He subsequently helped organize a company to build a town near the “Forks of the Kalamazoo”, named Albion, after a town in New York.
Source: Albion Michigan’s Historical Markers : the First Home
On March 4, 1847, Lt. Governor William L. Greenly replaced Governor Alpheus Felch as Michigan Governor, who resigned to take a seat in the U.S. Senate. Born in New York, Greenly moved to Adrian, Michigan, in late 1836. Greenly was elected lt. governor in 1845. After completing Felch’s term, Greenly returned to Adrian where he served as mayor and justice of the peace. He died in 1883.
About two weeks into his term, Greenly signed into law legislation to move the state capital from Detroit into “the township of Lansing, in the county of Ingham.” Legislators feared that Detroit was too close to the border and feared it would be at the mercy of enemy gun in case of way.
Sources :
Michigan is Amazing
Stewards of the State The Governors of Michigan. George Weeks ; edited by Robert D. Kirk ; contributing authors: Paula L. Blanchard, Don Weeks. [Detroit, Mich.] : The Detroit News ; Ann Arbor, Mich. : Historical Society of Michigan, 1987. Basement Center Oversize Collection JK5851 .W443 1987
On March 4, 1853, former Gov. Robert McClelland was appointed U.S. Secretary of Interior by President Franklin Pierce, making him the third Michigan governor in 12 years to resign early in order to go to Washington.
Source: Stewards of the State The Governors of Michigan. George Weeks ; edited by Robert D. Kirk ; contributing authors: Paula L. Blanchard, Don Weeks. [Detroit, Mich.] : The Detroit News ; Ann Arbor, Mich. : Historical Society of Michigan, 1987. Basement Center Oversize Collection JK5851 .W443 1987
Robert Alan Thom (March 4, 1915 – December 31, 1979) was an American illustrator who specialized in the portrayal of historical scenes for commercial patrons. He is perhaps best known for bringing a Rockwellian sensitivity to scenes for his series of 40 paintings depicting the history of pharmacy, and his series of 45 paintings depicting the history of medicine, both commissioned by the Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Company.
Thom was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A student of Robert Brackman, he began his career as a commercial illustrator for General Motors and Detroit Edison in 1939, and set off as an independent artist in 1945. In this role, he produced many series of commissioned paintings for clients such as Kimberly-Clark (scenes from the history of “Graphic Communications Through the Ages”), Illinois Bell (scenes from the history of Illinois), Michigan Bell (scenes from the history of Michigan), and Chevrolet (scenes from the history of baseball). He died in Alma, Michigan.
Thom’s works appear in galleries, museums, and universities worldwide, including the Baseball Hall of Fame and the White House.
The series of 45 paintings devoted to medicine are now archived at the University of Michigan and the series of 40 paintings devoted to pharmacy are said to be archived at Loma Linda University.
“The 45 works, all oil on masonite, range in size up to five feet wide or tall. Thom researched each one meticulously before painting, and traveled to many of the sites depicted. He aimed to show scientific and cultural details as accurately as possible, according to the historical and anthropological knowledge of his day. It is estimated that Thom traveled nearly 250,000 miles through North America and Europe during his research for the series, studying artifacts and locations intently…”
Pfizer made the gift to the University of Michigan, having acquired the paintings when it bought Warner-Lambert, which in turn had purchased Parke-Davis, which at the time was the largest drug company in America and headquartered in Ann Arbor MI, the site of the Medical School.
Jonathan Metzel MD, PhD, Director of their Program in Culture, Health, and Medicine, has written about the paintings in Literature and Medicine.
Where to See
Here’s how to view the collections. I could not find a link at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, but the medical collection is on display at Imgur, complete with annotations from the related book Great Moments in Medicine (text by George Bender) available at the Michigan State University Library and through interlibrary loan.
Hipoocrates – Medicine Becomes a Science
Nor could I find an link at Loma Linda University, but the pharmacy collection can be seen on the archival site celebrating pharmacist Carl F. Hanneman:
“During his nearly six decades as a pharmacist, Carl F. Hanneman got to know a lot of people. He forged good relationships with the many sales reps who called on him at the Mauston Drug Store. Some came to dinner at the Hanneman home, and a few even stayed at the house while in town. One of the long-lasting perks he received from Parke, Davis and Company was a stunning set of lithographs depicting the history of pharmacy. More than 30 prints still exist from Carl’s 1950s collection.”
The Standardization of Pharmaceuticals
Some of the prints can be had at a reasonable price from art.com.
Sources:
Richard DeVos, Sr. and Jay Van Andel are the two co-founders of the Amway Corporation, a pioneer company in network sales of household and personal products. The network sales company sells its products through dealers who in turn recruit second level dealers, second level dealers in turn recruit third level dealers, etc. The final level dealers typically are mainly the consumers of the products distributed by the network.
The two founders knew each other since their high school days, and as adults tried several businesses, including a flying school, a drive-in restaurant and a sales dealership in vitamins and supplements.
It was the latter business that piqued their interest and they started the Amway Corporation in 1959 to sell their own brand of household products. Their first product was a general household cleaner, but they quickly expanded to other household and personal grooming products.
The company expanded quickly. It established its first dealerships in Canada in 1963, and Australia and Europe followed quickly thereafter. The Asia market opened in 1974 with a dealership in Hong Kong. It took some time to move into the China and Japan markets. But in 1992, a joint venture plant was built in China and Amway Japan went public in 1993. In the year 2006, the world-wide annual sales of Amway were estimated at $4.6 billion. A more recent estimate by Forbes Magazine in October 2013 puts Alticor annual sales at $11.3 billion.
The two founders of Amway handed over the reins of the company to their respective sons in the 1990s. DeVos, Sr. turned over the presidency of Amway to his oldest son Richard[Rich] DeVos, Jr. in 1992. Van Andel followed suit by turning over the chairmanship of the company to his son Steve in 1995. The two sons also shared the newly-created position of chief executive of the company. In recent years Dick DeVos, Jr has become interested in a political career and is seeking the 2006 Michigan governorship position. He has been replaced in his Amway management position by his younger brother Douglas [Doug] DeVos. In recent years Amway has become a subsidiary of the Alticor Corporation, a Corporation controlled entirely by the DeVos and Van Andel families.
Richard Devos, Sr., unlike his partner Van Andel, became interested in professional sports in the early 1990s and acquired the Orlando Magic NBA Basketball team. He also became a philanthropist and donated funds to Northwood University and its Business School which is now named the Richard DeVos School of Management. In 2005 Richard’s son in law, Robert [Bob] Vander Weide took control of the Orlando Magic.
DeVos, Sr., like his partner Jay Van Andel also became a significant donor to causes in the Greater Grand Rapids area. DeVos, Sr. donated $20 million to help build the DeVos Place Convention Center in Grand Rapids. He also became a significant donor to conservative political and civic causes largely benefiting the Republican Party. As mentioned above his oldest son, Richard [Rich] DeVos, Jr. ran for the State of Michigan governorship in the 2006 election.
Richard DeVos, Sr., like his partner Jay Van Andel also suffered from medical problems. DeVos, Sr. was the recipient of a heart transplant which took place in England. He was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan from Dutch-American parents. Richard DeVos, Sr. is married to his wife Helen, and they have four children, all at some time active in the Amway Corporation. The children are, Dick and his wife Betsy DeVos, Dan and his wife Pam DeVos, Cheri and her husband Bob Vander Weide, and Doug and his wife Maria DeVos.
Forbes magazine in its October 2013 estimated DeVos’ net worth at $6.8 billion.
Source: Richard DeVos [1926] biography, New Netherland Institute.
On Nov. 4, 1930, Charles Roxborough of Detroit was elected to the Michigan Senate. The Republican became the first African American to serve in the state Legislature’s upper chamber.
His father, also named Charles, moved his family to Detroit in 1899 from New Orleans, La. where he had been active in GOP politics.
Detroit’s Black population numbered at 4,111 in 1900 was only 1.4% of the city’s overall population. It skyrocketed to 120,000 by 1930.
As a 6-foot-tall young adult, Roxborough the younger was a star basketball player at Eastern High School in 1905, and a scholar at the University of Detroit Law School graduating on June 18, 1914. As a young man, he worked as a personal messenger for Gov. Chase S. Osborn.
Fluent in French, Spanish and Polish, Roxborough served clients, both Black and white, in Detroit’s lower east side community where European immigrants were the area’s largest set of residents.
The North End resident wielded two unsuccessful campaigns for a U.S. House of Representatives seat during the 1930s, served on the city of Detroit Planning Commission and was elected president of the body in 1938. He co-founded the Gamma Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
Roxborough was not afraid to challenge his political party if he thought that it was wrong. In fact, in 1948 he blasted GOP leaders for ignoring Blacks. In 1948, he threatened to bolt from the Michigan Republican Party because of its track record on civil rights and equal opportunity issues:
In a letter to Emmett J. Scott of the Republican National Committee, Roxborough declared that 90% of the Negroes of Michigan would vote Democratic because “nothing has been done in Michigan by our Republican Governor or the Republicans locally, to keep the Negro vote in the Republican column,” he wrote. “In all my years of politics I have never seen such a situation as exists today — white Republicans attempting to run Negro Republicans out of the Party and treating other like they do in the State of Mississippi.”
One of his children, playwright Elsie Roxborough, died of a drug overdose in New York City under unclear circumstances in 1949. Her death certificate identified her as white and was under the name Mona Manet. Some suggest that the racially discriminatory environment in America caused Elsie to pass for white. She was the first African American to reside in a University of Michigan dormitory.
Charles Roxborough went into semi-retirement with his wife, Hazel, on their farm near Milford. He died on Oct. 8, 1963, at 75.
Source : Ken Coleman, “On this day in 1930: Charles Roxborough becomes Michigan’s first Black state senator“, Michigan Advance, November 4, 2021.
Check out the Pasty Central Day in History for a connection between FDR and the Grand Hotel!
During the depression President Franklin Roosevelt released numerous radio addresses including the famous “We have nothing to fear but fear itself” speech.
The owner of the Grand Hotel built a special Presidential Suite and let word get out that FDR was going to make a radio address from that very room, garnering lots of free publicity and causing considerable excitement.
But the President never arrived!
On March 4, 1947, WWDT-TV Channel 4, the first TV station in Michigan and sixth in the U.S., begins broadcasting. Owned by the Detroit News, the station’s call letters changed to WWJ-TV a couple months later. Initially, the station only broadcasted only 12 hours a week, Monday through Friday, with all but two hours devoted to test patterns and music. Of course, now the station is known as WDIV-TV Local 4.
Historical Map of White Pine Growth Areas
Young and mature eastern white pine trees; photo by Nicholas A. Tonelli on Flickr (use permitted with attribution).
Michigan designated the towering eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) as the official state tree in March 4, 1955 as a symbol of Michigan’s rich logging history.
Starting in the 1860s and for the next 40 years, Michigan was synonymous with pine lumbering, a dangerous and lucrative business. A vast belt of white pine grew across the Lower Peninsula and parts of the Upper Peninsula — towering cathedrals of Pinus strobus that could grow as tall as 175 feet, with stumps 8 feet in diameter. In addition, Michigan was blessed with a network of rivers and creeks to transport the timbered logs to mills.
A few old growth forests, or virgin stands remain in Michigan : Estivant Pines, Huron Mountains, Porcupine Mountains State Park, and Sylvania Wilderness Area in the Upper Peninsula; and Hartwick Pines State Park in the Lower Peninsula.
For the full article, see Bill Loomis, “Shanty boys, river hogs and the forests of Michigan”, Detroit News, April 8, 2012.
For more information, see Theodore J. Karamanski, Deep woods frontier : a history of logging in northern Michigan. Detroit : Wayne State University Press, 1989.
For those who like historical fiction, consider reading Barkskins by Annie Proulx. Plot: In the late seventeenth century two young Frenchmen, René Sel and Charles Duquet, arrive in New France. Bound to a feudal lord for three years in exchange for land, they become wood-cutters—barkskins. René suffers extraordinary hardship, oppressed by the forest he is charged with clearing. He is forced to marry a native woman and their descendants live trapped between two cultures. But Duquet runs away, becomes a fur trader, then sets up a timber business. Annie Proulx tells the stories of the descendants of Sel and Duquet over three hundred years—their travels across North America, to Europe, China, and New Zealand—the revenge of rivals, accidents, pestilence, Indian attacks, and cultural annihilation. Over and over, they seize what they can of a presumed infinite resource, leaving the modern-day characters face to face with possible ecological collapse. The larger story “Barkskins” has to tell is about arrogant white Christian men coming to subdue the “evil” wilderness, raping the land and culturally annihilating the Native Americans as they march along. It is a novel about human infestation, about greed, about virgin landscapes filled suddenly with “insufferable whiteman stink.” And part of that story includes harvesting the white pine forests of Michigan.
Central to “Barkskins,” Annie Proulx’s new novel, is the Duke family, whose operations take down the great forests from Canada to New England on to Michigan, heedless of waste. Photo Credit: Library of Congress