Blog Post
Longone's Lost Cookbook Author
by Debbie G.
Ann Arbor's own Jan Longone, curator of the Longone Culinary Archive at the William L. Clements Library makes an appearance today in the New York Times with A 19th Century Gost Awakens to Redefine Soul, about Jan's quest to uncover more information about Malinda Russell, author of "the earliest cookbook by an African-American woman that had ever come to light." The Ann Arbor District Library is one of the lucky recipients of a limited-edition facsimile of the only known copy of Mrs. Russell’s cookbook from the Longone Center. The Ann Arbor Cooks website provides digital access to a growing collection of heirloom local cookbooks.
Blog Post
Calling All Yearbooks
by Debbie G.
The Ann Arbor District Library is looking for a few good high school yearbooks. Donations of past yearbooks from old Ann Arbor High School, Clemente, Community, Huron, Pioneer and Stone for our Local History Collection would be greatly appreciated. Please contact Debbie Gallagher at 327-8332 or gallagherd@aadl.org to make a donation or for more information about the Local History Collection.
Blog Post
Today In Music History
by manz
It’s time once again to look into music’s past for a reminder of what once was. Musicians are always up to something, such as making #1 hits, getting divorced or breaking up and going their separate ways. Here’s a glimpse of what was happening on October 28 throughout the decades:
-In 1956 Elvis Presley’s "Love Me Tender" was #1 on the Billboard Pop Chart.
-In 1968 John Lennon and wife Cynthia filed for divorce. Next up: Yoko Ono!
-In 1982 At the end of their UK tour, punk band The Jam announced they’d be splitting up.
-In 1997 R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry announced he was leaving the band after 17 years with them. The band did not break up even though decades earlier they had made a pact to break up if any member left the band.
And now it’s all history!
Blog Post
All the Rage
by Debbie G.
Culinary History is hot. Whether it's the long look back in Moveable Feasts or one ingredient like or Cod. Did you know one of the most read and respected culinary history newsletters, Repast, is published here in Ann Arbor by the Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor? Ann Arbor is also home to one of the premiere culinary history collections in the world, the Longone Center for American Culinary Research at the University of Michigan's .
Blog Post
Never Too Many Cooks or Cookbooks
by Debbie G.
Where did the Cookbook Collection in Ann Arbor Cooks come from? From hundreds of area cooks who contributed thousands of recipes to the local cookbooks owned by the Washtenaw Historical Society, Hadassah, local churches and AADL. If you've got a local family, community or organization cookbook you'd love to share with us, please Contact Us.
Blog Post
Don't Try This At Home!
by Debbie G.
History can be dangerous ... even in a cookbook. The Ann Arbor Cooks website features thousands of recipes from vintage Ann Arbor cookbooks. But not all of them have stood the test of time health-wise. We strongly discourage you from trying out many of the pickling or jams & jellies recipes because they don't include enough direction for the novice cook or up-to-date sterilizing information. The Blitz Torte on the other hand looks heavenly.
Blog Post
50 Years and 5 Million Miles In the Making
by anned
Plus never before seen footage from extraterrestrial film that had to be taken out of NASA's liquid nitrogen storage! How many movies can boast that? Today, In the Shadow of the Moon opens at the Michigan Theater. In the 1960s, 400,000 people joined forces to show what the human race can achieve when we work together. They did the impossible--they sent Man to the Moon and safely returned our brave tour guides to Earth. And they achieved this goal in under a decade! Want more info on the Apollo Missions? AADL has it.
Not going to go see the movie because you think the moon landings were hoaxes? Buzz Aldrin's fist will certainly tell you otherwise!
Blog Post
ALA Announces this year's We the People Bookshelf
by Sancho Panza
The American Library Association has just announced this year’s theme for their annual We the People Bookshelf. The Bookshelf is a collection of titles for children in grades K-12 that deal with a specific theme in American History. This year’s books explore the meaning of the phrase “Created Equal.” Among the list are books like the Ugly Duckling and Flowers for Algernon that relate the often fraught experiences of those who don’t quite fit in, and others like Virginia Hamilton’s classic Many Thousand Gone, which chronicles the hardships and triumphs experienced by black Americans from slavery to the ratification of the 13th amendment in the 1860s. The Library owns almost every title on the list.
My favorite part about the We the People Bookshelf is the artwork. Artist and illustrator Julie Paschkis has created a lively, colorful series of posters that celebrate American History without beating the viewer over the head with patriotism, more Johnny Appleseed than “these colors don’t run.” Last year’s image, which featured Uncle Sam gleefully whizzing by on a bicycle, was especially playful and fun. Happy thinking!
Blog Post
Tour Washtenaw County's Heritage
by Debbie G.
Crank up the Model A or the hybrid and discover our county's history on one of the Washtenaw County Heritage Tours. Download the beautiful full-color brochures that are packed with historical information, pictures and maps designed to take you back in time and get you back home effortlessly. The Ann Arbor District Library's online Local History Collection will provide even more avenues for exploration.
Blog Post
Tracks, Trails and Tales in Michigan
by Debbie G.
The beauty of the woods, the pull of the camp, the challenge of the hunt have been part of Michigan history since man first set foot here thousands of years ago. A-Hunting We Will Go: Deer Hunting in Michigan opens Aug. 4 at the Michigan Historical Museum in Lansing. The exhibit will tell the story of deer hunting in Michigan, with a glimpse at its beginnings and a focus on its development into the widespread pastime it is today. Hunters will have the opportunity to add their own buck-bagging stories to Michigan's whitetail lore, as the Michigan Oral History Association will invite hunters to share their personal accounts of hunting at the exhibit.