Programs-Events-Tours

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Fall 2023-Spring 2024 Lecture Series at the Baldwin Public Library
Birmingham's 200-year history of diversity is highlighted in our popular Tapestry of Birmingham exhibit, which will be extended to June, 2024. Our lecture series will draw from the exhibit and explore some of the cultural issues that have been experienced in our community in the context of the larger American story.  All lectures will be available as video only during the Baldwin Library's planned construction project.

October 12, 2023, 7 PM (Hispanic Heritage Month):  (Donna Casaceli)
Carlos Lopez: The Painter Behind the Controversy—Carlos Lopez was a gifted and well-known muralist whose work was highly esteemed when he was commissioned in 1942 to paint a federally funded mural in Birmingham’s new Post Office, and encountered surprising criticism of the final work. Join Donna Casaceli in exploring the life and works of Carlos Lopez and the story of the Birmingham Post Office mural.

November 9, 2023, 7 PM: (Caitlin Donnelly)
Birmingham’s Washington Willits and 19^th Century Mental Health Treatment—In 1850, the son of one of the founding families of Birmingham was noted as “deranged” on the census, later dying tragically after discharge from a mental asylum in New York. Caitlin Donnelly will explore what Willits’ story tells us about the understanding and treatment of mental illness at the time.

January 11, 2024, 7 PM:  (Justin Koch)
A Shifting Landscape: How Immigration Shaped Birmingham—How was Birmingham affected by the waves of immigration to the U.S. over the last two hundred years? Who were the groups who gravitated toward Birmingham, and why? Justin Koch will give a closer look at how Birmingham was shaped within the larger national context of immigration.

February 8, 2024, 7 PM (Black History Month): (Caitlin Donnelly)
The Civil Rights Movement in the 1970s and Birmingham’s CREEM Magazine—Prison uprisings, drug culture, “porn rock,” moral panic, and “Boy, Howdy!”...The struggle for civil rights influenced the music of the times, and “America’s only Rock’n’Roll Magazine,” CREEM, was there to cover it. Learn more about how the magazine, published here from 1973-1986, examined the intersection of race, class, and music during the period. 

March 14, 2024, 7 PM (Women’s History Month): (Donna Casaceli)
The Prindle Sisters: Birmingham's Pioneer Women-- They came as brides to the unknown frontier of Oakland County wilderness after the War of 1812, bringing little else but each other. Join Donna Casaceli us to learn about how these pioneer women faced many hardships to build early Birmingham.

Our 2022-2023 Local History Lectures now our YouTube Channel

Our recent lecture series explored Birmingham's cultural diversity history and the many sides of the social and racial struggles in our past.  The following lectures are now available on our YouTube channel, with captions. Each lecture is approximately 45 min. in length. Thanks to the Baldwin Public Library, our sponsor, for providing the video.

October 13, 2022 7 PM: Threads: A Tapestry of Birmingham’s Historic Diversity (Leslie Pielack/Donna Casaceli)
The Birmingham Museum has been doing some deeper dives into our local cultural heritage and learning some amazing things about Birmingham’s racial and ethnic past. Join Leslie Pielack and Donna Casaceli for an overview of the enlightened, progressive, controversial, and sometimes downright shocking events that surround our complex cultural history in this introduction to our current exhibit, “A Tapestry of Birmingham: Exploring Our Diversity.”

Buried Past: Birmingham’s Indigenous People and Archaeological Heritage (Caitlin Donnelly) (originally presented November 10, 2022)  

What do we know about the people who occupied this area before contact with Europeans? What archaeological finds have occurred in the area, and what is their connection to the Saginaw Trail (now Woodward Avenue)?  What became of Oakland County’s indigenous people? Caitlin Donnelly will draw from her archaeological and anthropological background to help explain what we know--and what we still don't know--about the people who preceded our pioneer settlers.

Carlos Lopez and the Controversial Birmingham Post Office Mural of 1942  (Donna Casaceli) (originally presented December 8, 2022)  

When this well-known American Latino muralist was chosen by a juried panel to paint a mural in Birmingham’s new Post Office in 1942, little did he expect that the project would ignite a small but fierce protest in some locals. His depiction of Birmingham area pioneers was seen by some as objectionable, and by others as totally appropriate. Donna Casaceli will discuss Lopez and his controversial mural that still exists in downtown Birmingham.

Minoru Yamasaki and Asian Americans in Birmingham  (Justin Koch) (originally presented January 12, 2023) 
An incredibly gifted Japanese-American architect, Yamasaki became famous for his design of New York’s Twin Towers, the iconic symbol forever merged with the 9/11 terror attacks. Yet this exceptional person was unable to purchase a house in Birmingham due to discrimination in the mid-20^th century. Hear more about his and other Asian American experience in post-World War II Birmingham with Justin Koch of the Birmingham Museum.

Early Abolitionists and the Local Underground Railroad Network (Leslie Pielack) (originally presented February 9, 2023) 
During Black History Month, join Leslie` Pielack to revisit our local Black history and new findings about Oakland County’s network of abolitionists and Underground Railroad activists. Who was involved? How did they accomplish it? What happened to the freedom seekers who came through Birmingham and the surrounding communities of Royal Oak, Pontiac, Southfield, Franklin, White Lake, and others? Learn how local historians are working together to answer these questions.

The Levinsons: First Jews in Birmingham (Leslie Pielack) (originally presented March 9, 2023)  
(Encore presentation) To venture into a whole new world where they were outsiders was only part of the challenge faced by Morris and Gitel Levinson in 1896. Adding to their obstacles, they were recent immigrants from Russia trying to adapt to American culture; and, furthermore, Jewish in a non-Jewish town. Yet the Levinsons prevailed, bridging the gap between old traditions and modern America in the growing town of Birmingham. Their descendants helped shape America and the world, and still have a presence in the area, and include Carl and Sander Levin, Bess Levinson, and David Levinson.

With general admission to our changing exhibit at the Allen House, visitors are entitled to a guided tour of the 1822 John West Hunter House-the oldest house in Oakland County, and one of the oldest intact dwellings in all of Michigan. The Hunter House was also the first frame house built in the wilderness of Oakland County using an unusual building style, which visitors can see through an exposure window inside the wall of the house. The interior is furnished with antiques from its occupation periods--from pioneer days through the 1920s when local architect Wallace Frost was hired to renovate the parlor and dining room. Visitors can also see interior painted finishes that were recently changed to reflect a more accurate color scheme based on an analysis of the historic colors, bringing the 200-year old building to life.  The image at left shows the orange-pumpkin color that was discovered as the earliest color used on the bedroom trim work.

 

Birmingham is a walkable city, and visitors and citizens alike enjoy pedestrian activities any time of year, and whether or not there is a public health reason to be outdoors. Check out these local walking (and driving) tours for an immersive experience in one of the great historic themes that makes such an excursion a true delight. Downloadable maps can be printed and taken along, or stop by the museum for printed brochures and additional information. You just might be amazed!

Themed Self-Guided Tours of Greenwood Cemetery 

The Greenwood Cemetery is one of Birmingham's historic treasures.  Founded in 1825 after a grisly murder in the settlement of what is now called Birmingham, the cemetery has been the resting place of many of Birmingham's citizens ever since.  The pleasant setting with shady trees is full of local history; the oldest 1/2 acre section was donated by early settler Dr. Ziba Swan.  This article explains more about the origins of Greenwood Cemetery. Greenwood Cemetery is on Oak Street, west of N. Old Woodward.  The main entrance gate is the east gate. Three new printable 2-page walking tours are now available to take with you next time you wander the grounds.

"Birmingham's Pioneers" features the stories of men and women who came to the wilderness of Oakland County to start new lives half way along the Saginaw Trail (now Woodward Avenue) from Detroit to Pontiac, and are among the earliest burials at Greenwood. The tour path is concentrated in the oldest section of the cemetery near the east entrance on Oak Street.   "19th Century Community Builders" takes visitors through more of the cemetery as the path meanders past the grave sites of those who helped build the small settlement of Birmingham into a thriving village and humming commercial center.  And, for those of you curious about Greenwood's more recent past, "20th Century Notables" highlights an even longer walk through many famous internees, such as American sculptor Marshall Fredericks, noted author Elmore Leonard, early aviators, auto makers and engineers, and the parents of world-famous Twin Towers architect, Minoru Yamasaki.