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Michigan Research Group
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Use this group to find local researchers, or ask questions about doing genealogy research in Michigan.
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HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF GREATER LANSING
Started by James P. LaLone. Last reply by James P. LaLone Sep 23, 2013. 5 Replies 0 Likes
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Comment by Cathy Milioto on September 18, 2010 at 5:54pm
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You would think that there would be something those of us from Michigan that live out of state could do to protest what is happening there at the library!
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Comment by James P. LaLone on September 16, 2010 at 1:13pm
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Support our Library of Michigan:
-----Forwarded Message-----
From: Tom Koselka
Sent: Sep 16, 2010 12:31 PM
To: watte@tir.com
Subject: MGC Library of Michigan Show 'em we use 'em
Good afternoon genealogists,
Please share this with your membership.
Last year, genealogists, historians and librarians from every corner of Michigan rallied in front of the Capitol and then surrounded the Michigan Library and Historical Center holding a green ribbon. This action was to protest the Governor’s Executive Order that dismantled the Department of History, Arts and Libraries and endangered the Genealogy Collection at the Library of Michigan.
The legislature has just passed a much leaner budget for 2010-2011, and has included some support for the Genealogy collection at the Library in that budget. To illustrate our support and use of the genealogy collection to the Library administration, MGC is asking genealogists and historians to visit the Library to “Show ‘em we use ‘em”. We have selected four dates over the next four weeks to show this support. They are listed at the bottom of this e-mail.
The Genealogy collection is still on the second floor of the Library of Michigan. There are no longer plans to move it to the fourth floor. MGC continues to encourage cooperation between the Library and the Archives to offer services, programming and outreach to genealogists and historians. The hours for the Library are 10-5, Monday thru Saturday. If there is a Monday holiday, the Library is closed the Saturday to that holiday. The Archives are open on Monday thru Saturday, 1-5. Unfortunately, the Library has been forced to reduce the number of computers available to patrons, because of a change in the way the State charges for their use.
If you are able to join us at the Library, we ask that you arrive for the opening at 10 a.m. Please come prepared with several avenues of research to explore, especially books, maps, etc. The number of microfilm readers, printers and computers are limited, and we expect these to fill quickly. We realize that due to distance it is not convenient for each of our member societies to travel to Lansing. That is why we have selected four dates. We hope you will be able to arrange for a carpool with your society members on at least one of these days.
Please be at the Library before 10 a.m. and stop in the cafeteria to get a piece of green ribbon to pin on your shirt or blouse.
The dates to visit the Library of Michigan to “Show ‘em we use ‘em” are:
· Tuesday, September 21.
· Wednesday, September 29.
· Monday, October 4.
· Thursday, October 14.
Please help us keep the Genealogy Collection a priority at the Library of Michigan.
Thank you,
Tom Koselka, Corresponding Secretary
Michigan Genealogical Council
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Comment by Catherine Davis on August 18, 2010 at 7:28pm
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There's a very brief history of the railroad at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Central_Railroad. The rail line started out as a line in southern Michigan but the Wikipedia site shows a 1918 map which indicates the line also went into northern Michigan by that time.
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I am looking for information about the Michigan Central Railroad. My great-grandfather James (Pitts) Aikman worked the railroad in and around Vanderbilt until at least 1910. If anyone knows how to find information about this please contact me!
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Curt Witcher, manager of the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library,
was the plenary speaker at BYU's Conference on Family History and Genealogy on Wednesday.
http://www.mormontimes.com/article/16144/The-coming-genealogical-da...
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Thank you, James, for keeping us updated on the status of the LOM. I can only hope that someone there realizes that the "non-Michigan" collection, really is part of our Michigan heritage, since most of our families here today came from elsewhere. But, I understand a 23% cut is really huge, and, unfortunately, hard decisions have to be made. (Perhaps, each of our state congressmen and senators should make the hard decision to take a 23% salary cut to show sympathy!)
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From: Tom Koselka [mailto:tom@mimgc.org]
Sent: 28 July, 2010 6:35 AM
Subject: MGC: Clarification of MCIR Board Statement
Dear Genealogists,
There has been some confusion and some misinterpretation about the MCIR
Board report released by Governor Granholm. With so much uncertainty
surrounding the collections and the Library of Michigan this past year,
rumors and misinterpretations increase exponentially each time they are
repeated.
The MCIR Board was appointed to serve in an advisory capacity to the
Governor. We are pleased with their conclusions and recommendations
regarding the genealogical collections at the Library of Michigan (LM);
however, the recommendations are just that; advisory recommendations. The
Governor will decide if she wishes to follow those recommendations.
Also, this is only one piece in the puzzle in the future of the collections
at the Library of Michigan. The Michigan Department of Education (MDE), is
the department responsible for the administration of the Library. They do
this following the mandates and budget guidelines given them by the Governor
and any legislation passed and signed into law by the Governor.
Unfortunately, with a projected 23 percent cut in funding proposed for
fiscal year 2010-2011 (beginning October 1, 2010), MDE and the Library of
Michigan have difficult choices to make. These were spelled out in their
February 12 memo that detailed how MDE and LM were going to comply with the
cost saving measures dictated by the two Executive Orders issued last year,
and still maintain a high-level of service and accessibility with their core
collections.
Randy Riley, Special Collections Manager for the Library of Michigan issued
the following statement recently to clarify several misunderstandings and
faulty conclusions:
"The state's current budget situation has required the Library of Michigan
focus more closely on our core missions of collecting/documenting the
history and heritage of Michigan and maintaining materials that assist state
government agencies in doing their work. Facing a 23% reduction in the
budget for the next fiscal year, the Library has been forced to re-examine
every program and service. The Library's staff will be "weeding" the Dewey
and Main Collections in an effort to keep items that "fit" the core mission.
After staff have thoroughly gone through the Dewey (4th floor) and Main (3rd
floor) Collections and pulled items that align with our primary mission,
Michigan libraries will be invited in to claim the remaining parts of those
collections. The change of hours is temporary. It will allow staff to have
the necessary time to work with the collections and evaluate the materials
in question.
NO PLANS ARE IN PLACE AT THIS TIME TO MOVE THE NON-MICHIGAN FAMILY HISTORY
COLLECTION TO THE ARCHIVES OR ANY OTHER INSTITUTION. Staff will only be
working with the Dewey and Main Collections during the reduced hours. The
family history collection will be accessible 1-5 (M-F) and 10-5 on Saturdays
until September 7. Regular hours will resume on the 7th. If you have
questions contact the Library of Michigan at (517) 373-1300 or
librarian@michigan.gov.
Thanks for your support and kind wishes."
As Randy has stated, currently nothing has changed as far as the
availability of the genealogy collections at the Library of Michigan. Hours
of operation will be TEMPORARILY reduced from Aug 2 thru September 3 to
permit staff to prepare the Main (third floor) and Dewey (fourth floor)
collections to be distributed to other Michigan Libraries. Items of
genealogical and historical significance are being separated by staff to be
added to the Michigan and Genealogy-both Michigan and non-Michigan -
collections.
Nothing will be resolved until a new budget passes. When this happens,
final decisions will be made by the Library administration on the future
hours, staffing, and services offered by the Library of Michigan. Anything
offered up before that is only speculation.
For the latest factual information about Library of Michigan operations,
collections and services, visit http://michigan.gov/libraryofmichigan. You
may also contact them by phone (517) 373-1300 or e-mail
librarian@michigan.gov.
We will continue to update you as the situation necessitates.
Best wishes,
Tom Koselka, Legislative Liaison
Michigan Genealogical Council
http://mimgc.org
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LIBRARY OF MICHIGAN:Temporary Reduction in Hours
Beginning August 2 through September 3, 2010, the Library of Michigan's public hours will be 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. This action is part of the Library's response to budget cuts and reduced staffing and will allow us to complete distribution of materials from the Dewey and Main collections to other Michigan libraries. Regular hours will resume on September 7, 2010.
From: Tom Koselka [mailto:tom@mimgc.org]
Sent: 19 July, 2010 4:26 PM
Good afternoon,
Michigan's Governor Granholm has issued the following press release on her
webpage: http://www.michigan.gov/gov/0,1607,7-168--240954--,00.html
Tom Koselka, Corresponding Secretary
Michigan Genealogical Council
FYI
The Sep 2010 issue of Family Tree magazine is available, includes best 101 FREE websites, analyzing sources for people with the same name, DNA research & Finnish research
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LATEST UPDATE
Hello genealogists,
Below is the latest update from the Michigan Genealogical Council regarding the Library of Michigan, and recent actions taken by the Michigan Legislature affecting the non-Michigan genealogy collection as received from Tom Koselka, Michigan Genealogical Council (http://mimgc.org)
MICHIGAN GENEALOGICAL COUNCIL
P.O. Box 80953
Lansing, MI 48908-0953
http://mimgc.org
June 18, 2010
Dear Fellow Genealogists:
The Michigan Genealogical Council (MGC) would like to take this opportunity to bring everyone
up-to-date on the events surrounding the collections at the Library of Michigan. We would
like to thank everyone for their support as talks progressed.
As many of you are aware, the Library of Michigan is facing a projected 23 percent cut in
funding and a loss of 13 staff positions (in addition to the 16 staff lost resulting from the
Governor’s executive order) by the end of this current fiscal year (September 30, 2010). Due
to this projected loss in staff, Nancy Robertson, State Librarian, is forced to make a difficult
decision. She has had to look at the services the library provides and make some painful
cuts. One of the proposed cuts was to find new stewards for several of their collections,
among them the non-Michigan genealogical collection.
The position of the MGC has always been that any solution must meet the following three (3)
criteria:
1. Keep the collection together under one roof.
2. Keep the collection accessible to the public.
3. Keep the collection under state control and protection.
In January, Governor Granholm announced her appointments to the Michigan Center for
Innovation and Reinvention Board. This board is still working on their recommendation (now
due to the Governor on July 1, 2010). They have made it clear that their focus will be on the
uses of the 2nd and 3rd floor of the building, and will not make any recommendations in
regards to the collections. MGC representative, Dr. Frank Boles, has attended every meeting
and has done everything possible to express the position of the Council. We would like to
thank Dr. Boles for all his hard work and efforts on our behalf.
During this time, the Michigan Historical Center expressed an interest in moving the non-
Michigan collection to the State Archives. This plan was endorsed by the MGC as it met all
three of our criteria, and we applaud both the Department of Natural Resources and
Environment and the Department of Education for being willing to work together to find a
solution.
The cost of the move is between $80,000 - $100,000. Due to many generous donations, no
tax payer dollars would be needed to fund the cost of this move. The Michigan Genealogical
Council has received permission from the Abrams Foundation to use $10,000 of money that
was earmarked for the death record project to be diverted to this move. MGC also pledged
$5,000 of its own money to this effort.
Many local societies are also willing to donate money, if needed. Pledges of support come in
weekly. The MGC knows of, and would like to thank, the following societies that have pledged
their support:
Ingham County Genealogical Society
Jackson County Genealogical Society
Lenawee County Family Researchers
Mid Michigan Genealogical Society
Genealogical Society of Monroe County
Stockbridge Area Genealogical/Historical Society
Genealogical Society of Washtenaw County
Unfortunately, in March the Senate added language to the 2010-2011 Education Appropriation
bill (SB 1154) that states the following:
Sec. 804. The department and library of Michigan shall maintain custody of all
collections maintained, housed, owned, or otherwise kept by the library of Michigan in
fiscal year 2009-2010, and shall not sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of those
collections. The department and library of Michigan need not make the non-
Michigan genealogy or federal documents collections available to the public.
The MGC has problems with this legislation. First, there was no additional funding, so it
almost guarantees that the non-Michigan genealogical collection will not be made available to
the public, and secondly it does not allow the transfer to the Archives, which would be able to
keep the collection open to the public.
While well intentioned by the legislature, this has put negotiations on hold between the
departments of Education and Natural Resources and Environment.
While this bill is currently in committee to negotiate the house and senate versions, this
wording is not up for debate as this section of the bill was passed by both the House and the
Senate. Therefore, this language will be heading to the Governor once the final bill is passed.
The major attraction at the Library of Michigan is not only the collections, but also the
knowledgeable staff. If the non-Michigan genealogy collection is allowed to go dark, we will
lose more than just access to the collection, the staff will be diminished. The genealogists in
this state will have an uphill battle to open these collections and to reassemble a
knowledgeable staff.
Currently, we are in a holding pattern, along with the library and archives, while we let the
budget process play out. We are also keeping our eye on the MCIR board, and look forward
to reading their recommendations to the Governor.
We will keep you informed as the process progresses. We hope to have more information in
the next month.
In solidarity, [signed]
Cynthia S. Grostick
President of MGC
Thomas G. Koselka
MGC Corresponding Secretary &
Legislative Liaison
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