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COUNTY ROADS HIGHLY PRAISED: Delegates From American Cement Manufacturers’ Assn. Convention on Inspection Tour. MAY SOLVE PROBLEM OF HIGH COST OF LIVING Government Road Official Says Similarly Constructed Highways Should Connect All Cities.

Detroit Free Press, May 11, 1912, p. 14.

Note : The Main Library now provides the MSU community online access to the historical Detroit Free Press from 1858 through 1922.

During World War I, around 7000 U.S. and Canadian women telephone operators volunteered, but only 447 were selected, to serve with the Army Signal Corps in France and England, becoming the Army’s first female combat unit.

Although they received military training and were issued dog tags and gas masks, the women had to buy their own uniforms and were expected to follow the same rules and regulations as their male counterparts. They even underwent inspections by General Pershing, who stated:

“The part played by women in winning the war has been an important one,” he wrote in General Orders No. 73, April 30, 1919. “Whether ministering to the sick or wounded, or engaged in the innumerable activities requiring your aid, the cheerfulness, loyalty and efficiency which have characterized your efforts deserve the highest praise.”

In March, 1918, the first contingent of 33 Hello Girls were sent to France and, like the other Hello Girls that were to follow, they were sent to numerous locations throughout the war. A small group of six operators (Esther Fresnel, Helen Hill, Berthe Hunt, Marie Large and Suzanne Prevot) led by Chief Operator Grace Banker was sent forward to the front and assigned to the First American Army headquarters. They arrived just in time to be part of the Sept. 12, 1918, push in the Battle of St. Mihiel. For eight days, these six Hello Girls worked around the clock handling communications on eight lines. On Sept. 26, 1918, they were chosen for a new offensive and reassigned to the front, which at that time, was northwest of Verdun, according to the “Stars and Stripes” account of the events.

During their time at the front, the Hello Girls took on incoming fire like many others soldiers. Their barracks caught fire from a bombardment and they were threatened from Chaumont headquarters, via the telephones line they were connecting to the front, with court martial for disobeying orders to leave their switchboards immediately. They left, but came back within an hour to man the remaining one third of the switchboards still operational from the attack, according to a recount of the events from Oleda Christides daughter, Michelle. Many of the Hello Girls, including Grace Banker, worked long after the Armistice, serving at the Paris Peace Commission and even in occupied German territories.. Only one actually died while on duty — Cora H. Bartlett from Hillsdale, Michigan — who came down with the Spanish Influenza in the Spring of 1919 and failed to recover. She was buried with full military honors in France.

When the Hello Girls call to duty ended in the “war to end all wars,” they returned to the states. Upon returning, they requested their veteran’s status, honorable discharges and WW I Victory Medals. But they were turned down because regulations addressed males, not females, and there was a consensus that the Hello Girls were more civilian volunteers then military members.

This slight was rectified 60 years later when Jimmy Carter signed S. Bill 1414 recognizing their service. Unfortunately by then, only about 50 of the women were still alive. Those that were received Honorable discharges and World War I Victory Medals.

For more information, see:

If you have access to a university campus, Proquest Congressional, provides information about the Hello Girls in a May 25, 1977 Congressional Hearing on Recognition for Purposes of VA Benefits, including an excerpt from ‘I was a “hello Girl” by Grace Bannek Paddock, the highest ranking member.

Senior Master Sgt. Jerry Hanes, “Hello girls set stage for women in the military”, March 2, 2007.

Elizabeth M. Collins, “World War I’s Hello Girls: Paving the way for women in the U.S. Army”, Soldiers magazine.

Also see Dennis Skupinski, “Michigan’s WW1 Centennial November 2013 “Hello Girls”“, via YouTube, November 18, 2013.

Margaret Brewer, a native of Durand in Shiawassee County, became the Marine Corps’ first female brigadier general on May 11, 1978.

She was inspired to join the Marines when, in high school, she heard a speech by the men who raised the American flag at Iwo Jima. After graduating from the University of Michigan, she joined the Corps as a second lieutenant.

In 1966, she was promoted to lieutenant colonel, the most senior rank women could hold at the time. In 1973, she was named the seventh — and last — director of the Women Marines.

After President Jimmy Carter successfully nominated her for appointment to brigadier general, she became director of public affairs, a job she held until her 1980s retirement.

For the full article, see Zlati Meyer, “This Week in Michigan History: Marine Corps names first female brigadier general”, Detroit Free Press, May 11, 2014.

Gov. Rick Snyder followed up on a pledge to see how Michigan prisons are being run, becoming the first Michigan governor in more than 50 years to tour a state prison.

He visited the Charles E. Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson Friday afternoon.

Snyder spokeswoman Geralyn Lasher says Snyder “wanted to see how a typical day might be” in a state prison. She says the last governor to tour a prison was G. Mennen “Soapy” Williams, who served from 1949-1960.

Source : “Gov. Rick Snyder tours prison in Jackson complex”, MLive, May 11, 2012.

On May 11, 1930, the Detroit Stars kicked off their inaugural season at Hamtramck Stadium. That year, thanks in large part to the heroics of center fielder Norman “Turkey” Stearnes, the Stars won the Negro National League second-half title, only to lose the league championship in a grueling seven-game series against the St. Louis Stars.

Here, recently retired Detroit Tigers star Ty Cobb throws out the first pitch at Hamtramck Stadium’s grand opening.

Even though Detroit Tiger Ty Cobb was a known racist, he was a good friend of John Roesink, owner of the Detroit Stars, so agreed to throw out the first pitch.

Source:

Historic Hamtramck Stadium Facebook Page, May 11, 2017.

On May 12, 1781, the Ojibwe tribe sold Mackinac Island to the British for five-thousand pounds…

The transaction was completed with the commander of Fort Michilimackinac, Lt. Patrick Sinclair, and the chiefs of several bands of Ojibwe.

The Ojibwe were given a dozen canoes filled with gifts worth 5,000 English pounds, which when converted to current U.S. dollars is the equivalent of more than $15 million.

John Lindstrom, “Before You Head To The Island, Mark Today For The Island’s Sale“, Gongwer Blog, May 12, 2014.

Deed to Mackinac Island; Chippewa Chief to George III [Mackinac Island], May 12, 1781, Native American History at the Clements Library, University of Michigan.

The Quarto, 1st Series, No. 37, February 1957, contains an article “Mackinac Island Deed is returned to Michigan” telling an interesting tale of how one of two copies of the original deed was purchased from a book dealer in Scotland for the Bentley Library. The other copy is available in the Dominion Archives in Ottawa, Canada.

In April of 1891, local transit workers struck the Detroit Street Railway and the smaller independent Grand River Railway companies, resulting in a bloody and violent 3-day riot. A move by the transit workers to fight for a 10-hour work day, as opposed to a 12-hour day, sparked the move to unionize among a number of the workers between the two companies. Shortly afterward, a number of veteran employees were discharged—it was assumed—for affiliating themselves with a new street railway employee’s union that was being organized in the city. This in turn touched off a strike on April 21, which erupted into a riot after sympathizers joined in support of the striking streetcar workers. Non-striking employees, who pulled-out their cars, were attacked by mobs and a number of streetcars were overturned and burned. Finally, after Mayor Hazen Pingree had intervened, an arbitration committee was formed to resolve the issue. On May 12, 1891, an agreement was reached and the new union would be recognized by the city’s street railway companies. After an agreement to recognize the union; a wage increase, a 10-hour work day, and the granting of one guaranteed day off duty each fortnight (every fourteen days) soon followed. The following year the new union would send delegates to the founding convention of the Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employees of America—founded on September 15, 1892. The new local would return to Detroit as AASREA Local #3, today known as Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local #26.

Source : The Streetcar Companies vs. Mayor Pingree (1890—1900), Detroit Transit History, Part Two.

Also see Barbara and Keith Hines, “The Great Trolley Riot of 1891 : The First Detroit Uprising Against Privatization”, Voice of Detroit : The City’s Independent Newspaper, Unbossed and Unbought, October 27, 2011.

Also see pages 14 and 15 of Working Detroit, the Making of a Union Town / Steve Babson. New York : Adama Books, c1984.