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"THE BRADLEY HOUSE" |
Recent
Acquisitions
Baby Boomer’s Book
is a “Bestseller”
We thought our Baby Boomer’s Guide to Rogers City would be popular, but we had no idea how popular. Our first printing of 390 copies sold out in two weeks, and we were still receiving calls every day from people who wanted to buy the book.
We quickly ordered a second printing of 400 books, and before they arrived we had reservations for more than 160. The second printing arrived while we were working on this newsletter, and we will now be contacting all those folks who had reserved books. If you are interested in acquiring a copy, leave your name and phone number on the answering machine at the museum, and we’ll contact you.
Sales of Virgin Forests to Modern Homes were also very strong over the holiday period. It is the best early history of the Rogers City area, written in 1947 by the late Nina Ferdelman and the students in her seventh grade class. Copies are still available.
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2008 Anniversaries
October 15 — The 100th anniversary of the devastating Metz fire, one of the worst in the state’s history.
November 18 — The 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Steamer Carl D. Bradley in a violent storm on Lake Michigan. Only 2 of the ship’s 35 crewmembers survived.
O-N Minerals Donates
Records and Photos
O-N Minerals has donated a number of historic documents and photos from the company’s “guest house” on Woodward Avenue. Most significant, are the corporate Minute Books from the early years of Michigan Limestone and Chemical Co., Bradley Transportation Co., and Central Radio and Telegraph Co. The leather-bound volumes contain the official minutes of meetings of the Boards of Directors, Executive Committees, and stockholders of the various companies.
The information in these books adds significantly to our knowledge of company operations from the founding of Michigan Lime in 1910 until the early 1940’s. The books also contain previously unknown information about Carl D. Bradley and the Bradley House.
The Minute Books and the other documents and photos represent a significant addition to the museum’s collection, particularly when combined with the Calcite photographic collection. O-N donated the 42,000 images in the Calcite photographic collection to the museum in 2006.
Cheryl Myers Kortman donated a number of photos of her Mother, Louise Schlager Myers, who worked as a maid when the John G. Munson family occupied the Bradley House. This photo shows Louise relaxing on the lawn at the east end of the house. The uniform she is wearing is identical to the one on display in the dining room. Other photos show that the maids also had black dresses that were worn with crisp white aprons. The photos are great additions to our collection.
Robert Parsons, of DeWitt, has loaned 750 of his late father’s negatives to the museum so that they can be scanned and added to our collection. Bob’s father Ferris was a Master Photographer and operated a photography studio in Rogers City from 1946 until the 1970’s.
About 260 of the negatives have already been scanned. Most are group shots of athletic teams, confirmation and first communion classes, scout groups, Little League teams, Knights of Columbus, Daughters of Isabella, Kiwanis, Lions, 4H, school activities, bowlers, and the like.
The images will be will be stored separately at the museum as part of the new Ferris Parsons’ Collection. An exhibit of the photos is planned for later this year.