Foreward
Since 1965, the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice (ICPJ) has inspired, educated, and mobilized people to unite across differences and to act from their shared ethical and spiritual values in pursuit of peace with social and environmental justice. The Ann Arbor District Library, in partnership with ICPJ, has pulled together hundreds of photos, local news articles, and documents spanning five decades of social justice advocacy and activism in our community.
From the very beginning, in 1965, this organization (and its supporters) has envisioned a world free from violence, including the violence of war, poverty, oppression, and environmental devastation. The core of ICPJ’s work over the past five decades has come from a number of volunteer-led program areas and working groups. These program committees bring people together from a variety of religions and backgrounds to work on specific peace and justice issues.
In the past ICPJ has hosted working groups focused on the Prevention of Gun Violence, No Weapons/No War – alternatives to military engagement, Common Ground for Peace in Israel/Palestine among many other issues. Recent areas of work have included Racial and Economic Justice, Climate Change and Earth Care, Latin American Human Rights Issues, Hunger/Poverty and most recently a themed year (2015) exploring Food & Justice with a 2016 focus on Income Inequality and Racial Justice coming up.
Please take a moment to explore the rich history of this important social justice organization. Below are some of the themes, work groups, and events during 50 years of ICPJ history in Ann Arbor:
Hunger: Since 1975 ICPJ has organized the annual Washtenaw County CROP Hunger Walks as an interfaith response to local and world hunger. Over the last 28 years walkers from some 50 area congregations and schools have raised more than one million dollars to assist both local and international agencies in relieving hunger and addressing its root causes. ICPJ works closely with Bread for the World in education, action and advocacy efforts; provides resources for congregations and groups doing programs about world hunger; and cooperates with area agencies in raising community awareness and soliciting funds.
Latin America: The Latin American Task Force devotes itself to education and action on Latin America concerns, especially U.S. policy in that region. It stands in solidarity with the movement to close the U.S. Army’s Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (formerly the School of Americas), as its graduates have committed atrocities across Latin America, leading many to consider it to be a “School of Assassins.” The task force also organizes educational programs about the U.S. military presence in Colombia and Honduras and how corporate globalization affects the poor in Latin America. Related events reflected in our photo history are: School of Assassins Watch (SOAW) events, ICPJ's early involvement with the establishment of our Sister Cty in Juigalpa, Nicaragua, and the events associated with the Religious Coalition on Latin America (RCLA).
Dozens of other topics and events are represented in the Photos collection, including annual Hiroshima Day events and Nuclear Disarmament protests; and programs and events associated with ICPJ's Middle East Task Force (METF). You will also find photos of ICPJ's participation in parades, at numerous vigils, and many other local and national events.
The story of the Argus Cameras, Inc. is one of ideas, perseverance and adaptability.
Founded in the Depression years by businessmen who were as tough as the times, it employed, at its height, 1300 workers and occupied 2 city blocks on 4th Street.
In 1929, local inventor Charles A. Verschoor and Mayor William E. Brown Jr. started a radio manufacturing business with support from local bankers called the International Radio Company. In 1932 they produced the Kadette, the first radio that used tubes instead of a large transformer. Verschoor then traveled to Europe researching the idea of producing a camera (like the Leica) but made and sold for $10. With the first camera rolling off the assembly line in 1936, the name of the company was changed to Argus, after the Greek mythological god of 1,000 eyes. The Model A camera was so popular, it sold 30,000 units by Montgomery Ward in the first week.
In the 1940s, with stiff competition from cheaper Japanese cameras available on the market, Argus diversified its product lines with projectors, optical and specialty equipment for several United States Department of Defense contracts during WWII, and the Korean War, thus saving many local jobs.
Local historians like to point out that Argus Cameras, as one of Ann Arbor’s early industries, was 100% Ann Arbor: 100% Ann Arbor capital, 100% Ann Arbor brains, and 100% Ann Arbor people. The Old News staff have gathered decades of news articles, photos and videos that trace the rise and decline of this very important manufacturer in local history.
While the business no longer exists, Argus cameras remain much sought-after collectibles. (See them at the Argus Museum Exhibits and photos taken by AADL photographer Tom Smith). The original Argus buildings still stand, now used by various departments of the University of Michigan, and inspired local author Steve Amick’s second novel Nothing but a Smile (2009).
AADL has partnered with the Argus Museum to digitize a wide variety of images and documents that build a fuller picture of what it was like to work at Argus Camera, its products, people, and impact.
AADL has digitized hundreds of articles from the Ann Arbor News documenting the history of Argus Camera as it happened. These articles include announcements of new products, changes in the company, and the company's impact on the Ann Arbor Community. Argus Camera's role as an industry leader and a major employer in the area assured that coverage by the Ann Arbor News was in-depth.
AADL has digitized the Argus Eyes, the employee newsletter of Argus Camera. This publication includes details about the company and its workers, from descriptions of new product lines and facilities to birth announcements and company picnics. And of course, given its source, it is also full of spectacular photos, many of them from the Ann Arbor area.
The Argus Museum and AADL have conducted multiple interviews with former Argus employees whose stories put a human face on multinational company.
In addition to the Argus Eyes, the Argus Museum and AADL have made available digitized copies of many of the publications created by the Argus Camera organization over the years. These include instruction manuals for many of Argus's products, parts lists for the same, and educational booklets on how to take better photographs using Argus cameras.
The Argus Museum and AADL have also made available a collection of photographs of Argus products and the museum itself. These include high-resolution photos of some of Argus Camera's most iconic creations, from the Kadette Radio to the Argoflex camera.
We've also digitized two historic films about Argus cameras, Argus Eyes for Victory, from 1945 and Fine Cameras and How They Are Made, from 1953.
In the early morning hours of March 14, 1966, Washtenaw County sheriff's deputies reported sighting "four strange flying objects" in Lima Township. Soon police agencies from Livingston County, Monroe County and Sylvania, Ohio were also reporting "red-green objects . . . moving at fantastic speeds." By the end of the day the Civil Defense and U.S. Air Force were called in to an investigation that has never really ended for many of those involved.
AADL has assembled all the articles that dominated the Ann Arbor News for weeks in 1966 and continues to resurface through sightings, interviews and research into UFOs and extraterrestrial life. Two facets of the UFO story make it especially compelling. Washtenaw County Sheriff Douglas J. Harvey did not immediately dismiss the sightings. In fact, he demanded a top-level investigation and challenged the U.S. Air Force's conclusions. Equally persistent was Bill Treml, the legendary and intrepid police beat reporter for the Ann Arbor News. His stories dominated the local pages of the paper with in-depth interviews with witnesses, seemingly 24-hour coverage of police operations in tracking the UFO sightings, and a dogged pursuit of U.S. government officials investigating the sightings.
The UFO story provides an interesting look at the way news events affect the lives of the participants and their communities. The Dexter family that reported the UFOs near their farm was overwhelmed by the coverage, became victims of vandalism and eventually distanced themselves from the story. The UFO sightings proliferated and swept Washtenaw area communities into a worldwide news event. Read the articles and decide for yourselves whether Washtenaw County's history includes close encounters of the first, second or third kind.
AADL Talks To Former Washtenaw County Sheriff Doug Harvey about the 1966 UFO Sightings
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| AADL Talks to Doug Harvey about the 1966 UFO Sightings | 4.53 MB |
Colleges across America are once again gripped by March Madness. The University of Michigan Wolverines are in the thick of the NCAA’s annual contest to name the No. 1 men’s college basketball team. The Maize & Blue are seeded fourth in the Midwest.
To celebrate this annual hoopla, the Ann Arbor District Library is offering an opportunity to turn back the clock and experience the triumphs of an earlier Wolverine team, the 1963 ~ 1966 squad coached by Dave Strack and led by All-Americans Cazzie Russell and Bill Buntin.
The ups and downs of the three-time Big Ten champions was chronicled in the Ann Arbor News, especially in the passionate reporting of Wayne DeNeff. These articles are available online through the Old News site, presenting the dramatic story of a great team anchored by two outstanding players. Buntin set an all-time school scoring record, only to see it broken by his teammate Russell the following year.
The 1964 team made it to the Final Four, falling to Duke in the semifinal. The 1965 team had no losses going into its final Big Ten game before losing to bitter rival Ohio State, but they were named the No. 1 team in America by AP and UPI. The team went on to run through the NCAA playoffs with wins against Dayton and Vanderbilt. In the semifinal game they beat Ivy League champion Princeton and that year’s player of the year Bill Bradley. They lost in the final to the UCLA Bruins, another victim of John Wooden’s record-setting 1960s basketball juggernaut. At the time only 23 teams competed in the playoffs and only one team could compete per conference. Russell was named 1966 player of the year. Russell and Buntin had strong support from Oliver Darden, Larry Tregoning, George Pomey and other excellent players.
The News stories provide a glimpse of college basketball in a less frenzied media atmosphere, presented with behind the scenes atmosphere, drama and heart.
To see all the articles and photographs about the Cazzie years, click here.
AADL recently interviewed one of the Wolverine’s big players from the 1964 and 1965 championship runs, George Pomey. George took on some of the toughest guard assignments in NCAA basketball history. His stories of student life, sports in a different era and how the team has remained close over the years is not to be missed.
While researching the Wolverine's 1964 ~ 1966 NCAA Championship runs we came across another bit of Michigan history, the debut of longtime Men's Glee Club director Philip A. Duey's fight song, Go Blue! Read articles on Mr. Duey's amazing song, his career at Michigan and even hear an excerpt of the song.
The Coed Murders riveted Washtenaw county from the first murder in July 1967 to John Norman Collins' conviction three years later on August 19, 1970. The Ann Arbor News featured hundreds of articles over these three years and the investigation and trial were covered in detail by News police reporter William B. Treml.
In late June, 1968, heavy rains swept through the region, causing the Huron River and other creeks and lakes to flood their banks inflicting massive damage to dams, roads, and personal property. The University Meteorology Laboratory recorded 5.28 inches of rain. Streets were impassable, bridges washed out, farm fields inundated, and nearly all neighborhoods affected, with water high enough to permit canoeing in Lansdowne subdivision south of Pioneer High School.
The Washtenaw County Health Department gave advice on coping with flood effects, including cleaning up home and disinfecting drinking water, though most insurance policies failed to cover flood damage which flooded hundreds of basements and backed up sewers throughout Washtenaw County.
One of the things that makes Ann Arbor the city it is are the numerous and diverse parks within its boundaries. West Park is a crown jewel of that parks system, having been for decades a home to recreation of all kinds for the citizens of Ann Arbor. West Park's popularity with people of all types has also brought clashes and the park's history is not without it's dark stories.
West Park's most distinctive feature is the bandshell, constructed in 1938 with partial funding from the Works Progress Administration. The bandshell was a political football within city council for a period, with aldermen changing their minds about its necessity and the city's portion of construction costs, before it was finally approved and constructed in the first half of 1938. 1800 people attended the bandshell dedication on August 14, 1938, with a concert by the University Summer Session Directors' Band.
The band shell would become the most identifiable features of West Park, both as an architectural form and as the premier location for outdoor performances. Concerts in West Park, particularly Sunday concerts, would become a core part of Ann Arbor's cultural landscape for the next several decades.
The late 1960's saw a controversy over music in West Park. Complaints over the noise of amplified music, "desecration of the American flag," and obscenity were representative of the larger cultural clash between generations that typified Ann Arbor in the period. The attempt to balance the desires of neighbors with those of the concertgoers and organizers led to a great deal of discussion in city council meetings and in the press. Concerts spread from West Park to the entire city in a program that would eventually allow for events like the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festivals.
ARTS AROUND ANN ARBOR
LOCALLY ROOTED
