Dedication of the St. Mary’s Stone Monument May 26, 2018
The monument depicts an overview of the origins of St. Mary’s Church in Sault Ste. Marie that was built in 1668, being the first permanent wooden structure in what is now the State of Michigan. Dedication is following the 4 PM mass.
Source : Pure Michigan
The first election was held in Detroit on May 26, 1768.
Philippe Dejean was voted judge and justice of the district of Detroit, according to Clarence Burton’s book “The City of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922″. The public record shows 31 men voted.
For the full article, see Zlati Meyer, “This week in Michigan history: In 1768, the first Detroit election is held”, Detroit Free Press, May 25, 2014.
Today (May 26, 1927) is the anniversary of legendary Spartan basketball coach George “Jud” Heathcote’s birthday. The 1995 autobiography entitled “Jud: A Magical Journey,” co-authored by Jack Ebling, chronicles his early years.
Born in Harvey, N.D. to parents Marion and Fawn Heathcote, both his father and mother were teachers. Jud’s dad and baby brother died during the diphtheria epidemic of 1930, so after a couple years later five-year-old Jud, his older brother, Grant, and his younger sister, Carlan, were sent to Manchester, Wash. to live with his maternal grandparents. At the age of eight, he and his brother, Grant, began working for their neighbors, digging and clearing brush. During the summer before he began high school, Jud and Grant got jobs as water boys for a construction company. As a nearly 6-2 and 195-pound prep athlete at South Kitsap High School, Jud was an all-conference end and defensive tackle in football, and earned all-state honors in both baseball and basketball. In his book, Jud indicated that the most influential men in his life were his coaches. Said Jud, “I always wanted to be a teacher and a coach. Everyone said it was because of influence my coaches had on me. To a degree, I think that’s true. But I really think it was from the memory of my dad. I knew he was a coach and a teacher. And that’s probably why I did what I did.”
Source : Mike Pearson, “Spartifacts”, Lansing State Journal, May 26, 2015.
George M. (Jud) Heathcote coached the Michigan State men’s basketball team from 1976-95, guiding the Spartans to 340 victories, three Big Ten titles, nine NCAA Tournament berths and one national title during his 19 seasons in East Lansing.
Heathcote is the second-winningest coach in MSU history with a record of 340-220 (.607), including a 14-8 (.636) mark in the NCAA Tournament. His overall record was 420-273 (.606) over 24 seasons, including five years at Montana.
In his third season in East Lansing, Heathcote led Michigan State to its first NCAA men’s basketball championship in 1979 and won back-to-back Big Ten titles in 1978 and 1979. During those two seasons, Heathcote had the opportunity to coach one of the game’s greatest players, All-American Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who propelled the Spartans to a 51-10 record in his two seasons at MSU.
A two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year (1978 and 1986), Heathcote coached seven All-Americans (Johnson, Gregory Kelser, Jay Vincent, Sam Vincent, Scott Skiles, Steve Smith and Shawn Respert) and 22 NBA players. Five of his players won the Big Ten scoring title a total of six times. During Jud’s tenure, MSU had at least one player among the first-team All-Big Ten selections in 12 of his 19 years.
Prior to his retirement, Heathcote ensured that the future of Spartan basketball would be in good hands. In 1990, he promoted assistant Tom Izzo to associate head coach, and fought for Izzo to be named his successor.
He was the National Association of Basketball Coaches Coach of the Year for the 1989-90 season in which he claimed his third Big Ten championship. He was NABC District 7 Coach of the Year for the 1977-78 season and College Sport Magazine Coach of the Year his last season in 1994-95.
In his five-year stint (1971-76) as head coach of Montana, Heathcote led the Grizzlies to two Big Sky championships and was named Inland Empire Coach of the Year and Big Sky Coach of the Year in 1975. The two conference titles were the first in school history.
He served as an assistant coach of the United States Pan American team in 1975 and 1987.
Jud played varsity basketball and baseball for Washington State and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in September of 1990. Heathcote was also inducted in May 2000 to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame and the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001. In 2009, he was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
Heathcote received the 2001 Golden Anniversary Award for 50 years of service to basketball by the NABC at the 2001 Final Four in Minneapolis. Jud was also a Silver Anniversary Award winner in 1976.
He passed away on August 28, 2017.
“Heathcote Passes Away At 90, MSU Basketball Website, August 29, 2017. Legendary Spartan coach led Michigan State to its first NCAA Championship in 1979.
“Michigan State’s Jud Heathcote Through the Years“, Detroit Free Press, August 28, 2017.
On May 26, 1927 the Ford Motor Co. produced the last Model T, ending production of America’s first mass-produced automobile. The Model T, little changed during its lifetime, captured the nation’s imagination and catapulted Henry Ford to worldwide fame. More than 15 million Model Ts were manufactured and it enjoyed the longest production run of any automobile model in history until the Volkswagen Beetle surpassed it in 1972.
Source: Michigan History magazine
Unions fight for the rights of workers. But those battles are more often fought these days on picket lines, in contract negotiations, and through media coverage. However, violence and intimidation against union organizers and members can be found throughout labor history — and May 26th’s historical event was one of the most significant examples of that; a battle that ultimately cost the capitalists their cover-up of lies and deception.
Source :
Bryce G. Hoffman, “The Battle of the Overpass, at 75; Fight between Ford, UAW a turning point in Detroit history”, Detroit News, May 24, 2012.
Brent Snavely, “UAW leaders and workers commemorate the Battle of the Overpass at Ford’s Rouge complex”, Detroit Free Press, May 26, 2012.
Battle of the Overpass, Reuther Library at Wayne State University.
This Day in Resistance History: The Battle of the Overpass, Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy.
On May 26, 1967, Kay E. Whitfield of Pontiac and Noreen E. Hillary of Grand Rapids became the first two women sworn in as officers in the Michigan State Police.
Source : Detroit Historical Society Facebook page
For more information about women police, see
“Two Tough Troopers”, Battle Creek Enquirer, May 27, 1967, p.1
Breaking the brass ceiling : women police chiefs and their paths to the top / Dorothy Moses Schulz.
History in blue : 160 years of women police, sheriffs, detectives, and state troopers / Allan T. Duffin.
Police women : life with the badge / Sandra K. Wells and Betty L. Alt.
Women and policing in America : classic and contemporary readings / [edited by] Kimberly D. Hassell, Carol A. Archbold, Dorothy Moses Schulz.
Several candidates, including five gubernatorial candidates, were ruled ineligible to be on the August primary ballot after a deadlock vote from the Board of State Canvassers regarding fraudulent signatures submitted.
Source : MIRS, May 26, 2022.
The Idlewild Summer Resort Company was formulated in Lake County. An isolated spot in Michigan’s Lake County, not four miles from the town of Baldwin, is the location of one of Michigan’s most distinctive resort communities.
Between 1912 and 1964, Idlewild was one of the most popular vacation spots in the Mid-West – for African-Americans. During the era of segregation, blacks were not welcome at most vacation locations. Several Michigan businessmen recognized the untapped market for a black resort. The resort was Idlewild.
In the 1920s, the Idlewide Chamber of Commerce invited and enticed African-Americans to come to their resort by advertising: “In this exhilarating summerland all outdoors is your playground. You will find friendliness and hospitality everywhere in this vacationland, so why not treat yourself to a delightful, ideal vacation among the lakes and fragrant pines of Western Michigan at ‘America’s most distinctive national resort?’” In its advertisements, the community also encouraged people to vacation there by explaining, “Idlewild is controlled by Negroes . . . . Here you can enjoy the vacation of your dream, free from the embarrassing discriminatory and petty prejudices you might encounter elsewhere. If you have never been here before you will be astonished at the pleasure and relief you will experience . . . secure in the knowledge that you are ‘wanted.’”
The Idlewild Club House, Idlewild, Mich., September 1938.
In its heyday, Idlewild received tens of thousands of visitors each summer. Idlewide’s nightclubs became so popular that they consistently drew the top African-American performers. In the 1950s, Sammy Davis Jr., B. B. King, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, the Four Tops, and countless others often played at Idlewild. Former dancer and Idlewide performer Lottie “the body” Graves has fondly remembered the resort as the “ . . . [Black] Atlantic City, the boardwalk, Las Vegas. . . . It was like heaven.”
However, Idlewild’s success and popularity declined after the passage of the 1964 Public Accommodations Act and other civil rights legislation, which made it possible for many African-Americans to patronize white establishments that had previously barred them.
For more information see Lewis Walker and Benjamin C. Wilson, Black Eden: the Idlewild community. East Lansing, Michigan State University Press, 2002.
Ronald Jemal Stephens, Idlewild : the rise, decline, and rebirth of a unique African American resort town. Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press/Regional, 2013.
Idlewild : Michigan’s Black Eden. Includes video.
Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk, “Idlewild, the ‘Black Eden,’ marks its centennial celebration as premiere resort during segregation era“, MLive, April 3, 2019.
Source : Central Michigan University, Clarke Historical Library, Historical Calendar, May 27.
A view of the Renaissance Center from the Detroit River.
On May 27, 1973, a ground-breaking ceremony was held to celebrate the kickoff of construction of Detroit’s Renaissance Center on the riverfront. By July of 1976 the first office tower (Tower 100) opened. The formal dedication took place April 15, 1977 for the four, 39-floor office towers and the 73-story hotel. Renaissance Center Phase II, Towers 500 and 600, opened in 1981. The entire complex features 5.5 million square feet of space.
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The Wintergarden was added to the Renaissance Center in 2001, along with retail shops and restaurants.
Sources :
Detroit Historical Society Facebook page
Make no mistake, campus riots have been a phenomenon for pretty much as long as colleges have existed. Don’t believe us? Consider this: Student protests at the University of Paris in 1229 led to the school’s closing for more than two years. Of course, riot gear and tear gas have entered the picture in more recent centuries, ensuring that an episode of that magnitude never occurs again.
Whether you agree with the choices or not, a recent web posting placed Michigan State University at number two as a result of a riot which started in Cedar Village off campus.
May 27, 1999 ; Between 5,000 and 10,000 disappointed fans unleashed their frustration upon the streets of East Lansing following Sparty’s loss to Duke in the 1999 NCAA Final Four. The mob set fire to anything in its path, including couches and cars. In all, 132 were arrested—including 71 students—following the affair, and assessments of damage were as high as $500,000. Reports circulated that a Taco Bell window was smashed, but no worries: The culprit was able to prepare himself a taco before the large-scale looting of the business took place. Cinnamon twists, anyone?
As a result of the unruliness, Cedar Fest was officially banned by the East Lansing Police, although a few attempts were made to revive it in later years.
2. Michigan State Fans Mob After Loss
Image via Spartan Post
Source: Faiz Siddiqui, “The 25 Biggest College Campus Riots of All Time“, January 17, 2013.