A Old Fashioned Christmas at Knapp's Silent Auction

Knapp's Centre 2014 Silent Auction

An Old Fashioned Christmas at Knapp's!

The Historical Society of Greater Lansing's 2014 Silent Auction

Saturday, November 15, 2014 - 4:00pm

Knapp's Centre

300 South Washington Square, Lansing

Sponsored By

 

The evening includes:

- Tours of the Knapp's Centre, highlighting stories of devoted shoppers, longtime employees, and the story of Knapp's renovation, including a peek into a new apartment
- A mini exhibit about the history of Knapp's
- A slideshow of historic images and advertisements from Knapps 
- Bidding on 140+ silent and live auction items (for a complete list click on the 2014 Silent and Live Auction Items Link above)
- Light Hors d'oeuvres

Mark your calendar for Saturday, November 15, 2014 and join us at HSGL’s annual silent auction to benefit the museum fund.  The funds raised through the silent auction will help HSGL continue its efforts to build a collection of historical Lansing artifacts as we work to found a future Lansing area history museum.  You can help HSGL make the annual auction a success in many ways: by purchasing a ticket and attending the event, donating an item for the silent auction, or financially sponsoring the event.

"Physicians Health Plan is proud to sponsor the Historical Society of Greater Lansing’s Silent Auction Museum Fundraiser.  PHP, as a Lansing area employer for more than 35 years, recognizes the need to revive and revitalize historical buildings in Lansing for adaptive use. Historic building preservation tells the story of a city, and Lansing’s story will continue to be conveyed in the years to come through the newly renovated Knapp’s Building.”

Purchasing Tickets

Tickets cost $15 per person and may be pre-ordered by filling out and returning a ticket order form with payment (click here to download ticket form) or by ordering online through PayPal.

Ticket orders and sponsorship forms may be mailed to:

Historical Society of Greater Lansing

P.O. Box 12095

Lansing, MI 48901

The Historical Society of Greater Lansing is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.

October 2014 Upcoming Events

Made in Lansing Lunchtime Series
Wednesdays, from 12:10 - 12:30 
Lansing City Hall, 124 W. Michigan Ave.

October 22, 2014
 LorAnn Oils: From Okemos Pharmacy to 
International Corporation by John Grettenberger, CEO 
and grandson of the company’s founder.


Michigan Agricultural College Campus Life 1900 – 1925: A Postcard Book
Thursday, October 23, 2014 – 7:00pm
Downtown CADL – 401 South Capitol Avenue

 Join author Stephen Terry for a remarkable 
armchair tour of Michigan Agricultural College’s 
Campus at the beginning of the 20th century. The 
postcards depict everything from early sports teams to 
buildings lost to the wrecking ball and fire including 
Abbott Hall, the Women’s Building, Chemistry, 
Engineering, Dairy, off-campus housing, and even the 
infamous underground tunnels. Books will be available 
for purchase and signing. 

Raye of Light

Raye of Light Book Event
Thursday, September 25, 2014 - 7:00 pm
Downtown CADL - 401 South Capitol Avenue

Join author Tom Shanahan and MSU 1966 National Champion Quarterback Jimmy Raye for a discussion about 'Raye of Light', the story behind Duffy Daughtery's leading role in integrating college football in the 1960s and Raye's football career.  Books will be available for signing.  Learn more here.  

Last HSGL Summer Walking Tour

Church & State
Saturday, August 23, 2014 - 10:00 am
Lansing City Hall Plaza - 124 W. Michigan Ave.

Join us for a stroll past some of Lansing's most prominent buildings that ring Capitol Square.  Stops include Lansing City Hall, the Billie Farnum building, the Chamberlain Building (the post office), the Capitol building, the Capitol Mall, First Presbyterian Church, St. Mary's Cathedral, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and Central United Methodist Church.  The tour will conclude with the opportunity to enter into St. Paul's, and see their lovely stained glass windows while enjoying some cookies and punch with their members!

Please note that all HSGL walking tours are free and open to the public, though donations are gratefully accepted.

HSGL July Walking Tours

Join HSGL this month for three more Lansing walking tours!

REO Town

*New Tour for 2014*

Saturday, July 12, 2014 – 10:00 am

Tour meets at the LBWL Grand Trunk Depot

Buildings and sited featured include the depot, the REO Factory and REO Clubhouse site, two historic filling stations, and a former bank, among others.

Downtown Alleyways

*New Tour for 2014*

Thursday, July 24 – 7:00 pm

Meets at Lansing City Hall Plaza

Explore the backsides of Lansing’s downtown buildings, and learn about the important functions that alleyways have served.

Lost Lansing

Saturday, July 26 – 10:00 am

Tour meets at Lansing City Hall Plaza

Lost buildings include the wooden capitol building, Lansing’s only octagon house, the Barnes Castle, the old Post Office and City Hall building, and others.

All tours are free and open to the public, though donations are gratefully accepted.  

HSGL Walking Tours This Week

Downtown Disasters

Thursday Evening, June 26, 7:00 pm

co-sponsored by Downtown Lansing Inc.

An Exploration of the Fires and Floods that have changed downtown Lansing

Disasters to be discussed include:  Kern's Hotel Fire, the 1875 Bridge disaster, the Plymouth Congregational Church Fire, and the State Office Building (now the Cass Building) Fire

Behind the Facades, South 

Saturday Morning, June 28, 10:00 am

A Study of Lansing Architecture on South Washington and Capitol Avenues

Buildings to be discussed include: the Bank of Lansing (now Comerica), Liebermann's Building, Rouser Drugs (now Tom and Chee), the Hollister Building, the Olds Tower (now Boji Tower), the Strand/Michigan Theatre (now the Atrium Office Building, home of Dickinson Wright), the Ranney Building, the Knapp's building, and the Arbaugh building, among others. 

Wesley Bintz and the Moores Park Pool

Historical Society of Greater Lansing Annual Meeting

Thursday, June 12, 2014 - 5:00pm

Potluck-Style Picnic

The Historical Society of Greater Lansing will hold its annual meeting 5:30 p.m., Thursday June 12 at the pavilion in Moores Park just off W. Barnes Ave. Accompanying the meeting will be a potluck style picnic with hotdogs and drinks provided by the Society. The event is free and the public is invited, but are encouraged to bring a dish to pass.

A special feature of the meeting will be a presentation by Tegan D’Arcangelis Baiocchi, an architectural historian, on the history and architecture of the Moores Park Pool. The pool was designed by Wesley Bintz who was Lansing’s city engineer in the 1920s. The pool program is part of the Society’s “Made in Lansing” exhibit and celebration which is highlighting 125 products made in the city over 125 years. “Made in Lansing” exhibits are in the atrium of Lansing City Hall and at the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum and are open through October.

The design of a “Bintz” pool was so successful that the Bintz left his city position and patented the construction technique which was used to construct more than 100 pools nationwide. The Lansing pool which will open this next week is the oldest Bintz pool still standing after his first pool in Flint was destroyed.

The ”Bintz” pool was popular with cities due to its lower construction costs since it was above ground with the changing areas housed underneath the pool.

Valerie Marvin, president of the Historical Society said, “Lansing’s burgeoning population in the 1920s meant that local neighborhoods were bursting at the seams with families that moved here to work in the auto industry and as social restraints relaxed in the 1920s pools became popular recreational sites where both children, and sometimes adults, could go to cool off on steamy summer days.”

She said pools, like movie theatres, which were often the first air-conditioned buildings in most cities, offered a place to socialize while escaping the city's oppressive summer heat.

“Company owners may have gone “up north” to escape the heat of the summer, but the working man didn't have this option; instead, after a long day at the shop, his escape could come in the form of a quick dip in the local pool.” Marvin said.

Some pools even had separate hours for children during the day, and for adults in the evening, she said.

Baiocchi, who works for a Fort Wayne Indiana consulting firm, is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University’s Master of Science Historic Preservation Program. The historian first became interested in Bintz Pools when she completed a project in Flint, Michigan where Bintz built his first pool.  She said tracking Bintz Pools has “sort of become a hobby” and she has identified 63 pools of the 135 that are said to be of his design.

Moores Park Pool was built in 1922 and was named for the Lansing developer J.H. Moores. It is on the U.S. Department of Interior’s National Register of Historic Places.

Special thanks to the Michigan Humanities Council for a quick grant to fund this event!  

Made in Lansing Exhibit Grand Opening

Friday Evening, May 30, 2014  5:00 - 7:00 pm
Lansing City Hall, 124 W. Michigan Ave.

Be A Tourist In Your Own Town
Saturday, May 31, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Lansing City Hall, 124, W. Michigan Ave.

Join us for the opening of our newest pop-up exhibit, Made in Lansing.  The exhibit chronicles nearly 125 years of innovation and invention in Lansing, and showcases a wide variety of products made in and around our city, including wheels, pocket protectors, stoves, patent medicines, fruit presses, cigars, watches, lawnmowers, violins, sheet music, cradles, caskets, quilts, and more!  The exhibit will also be open regular City Hall business hours.  Please check back for more information about upcoming programming related to the exhibit.  The exhibit closes October 31, 2014.

A second portion of the Made in Lansing exhibit will be available beginning May 31st at the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum.  The exhibit includes some of the other products made by the local auto companies, besides automobiles, as well as objects from UAW local 652 and 650.  The exhibit is open during normal museum business hours.  If you are an HSGL member, please state this upon entering the museum for a discounted entry price.