Curator Margaret Carney will share a few stories about pieces in the museum’s collection during this inaugural presentation in the museum’s on-line lecture series. Be prepared to be bedazzled by some special dinnerware sets and witness unique design solutions to the question of what utensils to use when dining with the Queen or at Dairy Queen. While you won’t learn any etiquette during this presentation, you will learn why you might want a Geiger Counter at your dining table. 

This panel discussion brings together some of the contributors to the recent anthology “The Provisions of War: Expanding the Boundaries of Food and Conflict 1840-1990.” The central theme of this book, and of our panel discussion, is how soldiers, civilians, and communities have attempted to use food (and its absence, deprivation and hunger) as both a weapon of war and a unifying force in establishing governmental control and cultural cohesion during times of conflict.

Photographer Josh Lipnik travels through small Midwest towns to find the marvelous facades, neon signs, elaborate Victorians, and architectural trends that time has left behind. In this slide show presentation, he offers his evocative pictures from Northern Michigan to tell the story of immigrants, industry, and the role of local resources and geology, while reflecting on his time on the road.

Each day during Native American Heritage Month, watch staff bring a quote to life, recommend books, highlight local artists, and more!

For more Native American Heritage Month events visit here. 

Each day during Native American Heritage Month, watch staff bring a quote to life, recommend books, highlight local artists, and more!

For more Native American Heritage Month events visit here. 

Each day during Native American Heritage Month, watch staff bring a quote to life, recommend books, highlight local artists, and more!

For more Native American Heritage Month events visit here. 

Viewers will join host Joyce Hunter of the African American Cultural and Historical Museum and interviewees from Phase 8 of the Living Oral History Project. We'll watch a clip reel of highlights from the interviews and take questions and answers from the interviewees.

This video is in partnership with the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County. No registration required. 

Learn about the deeds to thousands of homes in Washtenaw County that contain “racially restrictive covenants” – or provisions prohibiting Black people and other minorities from living there.

A panel from Justice InDeed will discuss the role these covenants played in causing segregation and economic inequality and how to repair the damage caused by systemic housing discrimination in Washtenaw County.

Panelists include:

From the legendary Janet Keiller, popularly credited with "inventing" marmalade in Dundee, Scotland in the 1700s, to Cooper's, Chivers and Smucker's, the world's great marmalade manufacturers have fascinating stories. Touching on marmalade history from ancient times to the present, author Sarah B. Hood weaves a compelling tale that ties in Roman cookery, medieval Persian poetry, changing attitudes towards racism, scurvy in the British Navy, Victorian labour conditions and globalization, and perhaps explains why marmalade is such an enduringly beloved commodity.

Across America, the pure love and popularity of barbecue cookery has gone through the roof. Prepared in one regional style or another, in the South and beyond, barbecue is one of the nation’s most distinctive culinary arts. And people aren’t just eating it; they’re also reading books and articles and watching TV shows about it. But why is it, asks Adrian Miller—food writer, attorney and longtime certified barbecue judge—that in today’s barbecue culture African Americans don’t get much love?