Live Speaker Series at the Pump House Museum
Doors open at 6 PM, the programs begin at 7 PM and run till 8:30 PM.
07/10/24
For our first presentation of the summer, underwater explorer, author, and museum designer, Valerie van Heest shares the exciting story of the search for the steamship Milwaukee, lost in mid-Lake Michigan in 1886 and the secrets revealed when her team, the Michigan Shipwreck Research Association, discovered the wreck in deep water off Holland. Valerie van Heest also will be signing books on this date.
07/17/24
Join Christine Byron and Thomas R. Wilson for “Vintage Views Along the West Michigan Pike”, which is now US-31. The historic road was the first continuous, improved route between Michigan City and Mackinaw City. The authors depict the adventure and romance of motoring showing vintage postcards, photographs, maps, and ephemera to illustrate this journey. time-travel with them through the beautiful West Michigan landscape and quaint towns to hotels and cabins, tourist camps and state parks, and other stops along the road.
07/24/24
Matthew Daley, a history professor at GVSU, will speak on “Marking Space, Marking Place: Maps and the making of early Michigan”. During the early 19th century, territorial leaders worried about drawing enough settlers to achieve statehood. To smooth the path for settlement, an ambitious surveying effort to map the state’s vast area took place. This effort would lay the groundwork for statehood and create lasting images and knowledge of a wild and beautiful place.
08/14/24
Teacher Julie Kovac and students from her advanced learner class will present the history of Waukazoo Elementary. The students researched and created a project for the celebration of 150 years of their school.
08/21/24
Mark C. Worrall, a railroad historian, will present “Take a trip on the Pere Marquette Railroad”. A guided trip by rail from Grand Rapids to the resort country between Traverse City and Petoskey in the second decade of the 1900s.
08/28/24
Valerie van Heest returns for a second time this summer for another program in the Live Speaker Series. She will be promoting her new book on the Big Red Lighthouse. Big Red was not always big, not always red, and not always a lighthouse. Valerie will share the fascinating history of the navigation and how the 140 year-long history of the Macatawa Park cottage community led to the public’s lack of access to the lighthouse today.
