April and May Events

Downtown Lansing Walking Tour

Wednesday, May 1 – 6:00 p.m.

Begins/ends: Capitol Area District Library, 401 S. Capitol

The Office of Mayor Andy Schor, the Capitol Area District Library, and the Historical Society of Greater Lansing are joining hands to host the first walking tour of the season, focused on the south downtown area.

The tour will look at the former Arbaugh’s Department Store; the Bus Depot; the Lansing Women’s Clubhouse; the Midtown Apartments; and Reutter Park, Lansing’s oldest park, named for Lansing mayor and businessman J. Gottlieb Reutter. Also included on the tour are some elegant Victorian-era homes of famous and infamous Lansing residents. The tour will feature the homes of William Kerns, owner of the Kerns Hotel; the founder of Lansing Capitol Savings and Loan Association; an early Lansing alderman and vice president of the original Lansing Brewing Co; and a prominent Lansing attorney who was disbarred for “fraud, deceit and malpractice.”

      In addition, a stop at the State Democratic Party office will reveal a controversy surrounding a potential error in the State Historical Marker that identifies Darius Moon as the architect. So who built the Victorian-era home and how was the error made? The first person on the tour to answer that question will receive the definitive guide to Moon’s work, Darius B. Moon: The History of a Michigan Architect 1880-1910 by CADL Librarian James MacLean. 

The ABCs of DNA & Genealogy

by Jessica M. Trotter

Thursday, April 11, 2019 – 7:00 p.m.

Library of Michigan, 702 W. Kalamazoo

Everywhere I turn, I hear people discussing their DNA results. But what can DNA testing really tell you? Should you take a test? What tests should you take? What does it all mean? DNA testing can be a powerful tool. Trotter’s presentation will offer a layman’s overview on tests, testing companies, and how you can use your results, as well as some of the pitfalls to DNA testing.

Jessica Trotter is an Archivist with a Master of Science in Information, Archives and Records Management Specialization from the University of Michigan—but works for the Capital Area District Libraries in Collection Development by day. Trotter’s background with DNA is as a genealogist and genealogy instructor. She first tested her own DNA in 2012 in response to students asking questions on DNA as testing prices came down, as well as out of curiosity. She hoped it might help with a hard-to-trace line of formerly enslaved African-Americans, but in retrospect it actually turned all of her research on that line upside down.

Her presentation on April 11 will look at the three major tests—Autosomal, Y-DNA, and Mitochondrial DNA. She’ll discuss the major testing companies—including Ancestry, 23 and Me, and MyHeritage. And she’ll walk the audience through what the results look like and what you can do with that information.

DNA is now an integral tool in genealogical research but not one to be taken lightly. You have to know going in that you may find out secrets you didn’t know about your family.

Antiquarian Book & Paper Show

Sunday, April 28 – 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Causeway Bay Hotel & Conference Center, 6820 S. Cedar Street, Lansing

The 69th Michigan Antiquarian Book and Paper Show is billed as “The Midwest’s Largest Book and Paper Show.” Items for sale include: first editions, Americana, fine bindings, science fiction, postcards, autographs, prints and maps, sheet music, posters, magazines, Michigan history, children’s books, ephemera, photographs, rare books and more. The show is sponsored by Curious Bookstore. Admission is $5.00 and parking is free. For more information: curiousbooks.com/shows.html or call 517-332-0112.