Exhibits

Spring 2012

Becoming Michigan: From Revolution to Statehood

February 25 - May 5, 2012

Join us at the Lorenzo Cultural Center as we bring the state’s early history to life through a wide range of exhibits, presentations and activities.

Explore the places, people and events that were instrumental in the birthing of the only state in the nation comprised of two distinct peninsulas.

Discover the diverse facets of the state’s early history, beginning with many of the historic events and cultural influences that preceded Michigan’s entry into the Union.

Delve into the issues of the times, including the battle for the control of the Great Lakes, the booming fur trade, and the dissension between Native Americans and early settlers.

Learn about Michigan’s part, including the infamous Surrender of Detroit, in what is sometimes known as the Second American Revolution. The War of 1812 spawned an upsurge in American nationalism and a symbol to support it, The Star Spangled Banner.

And, uncover the role the Toledo War, the nearly bloodless boundary dispute between the State of Ohio and Territory of Michigan, had in propelling Michigan to statehood in January 1837.

  • Becoming Michigan Show/Hide Details
  • Great Lakes Native Quilting Show/Hide Details

Past Exhibits

Michigan's Harvest: Food, Farming and Community

September 24 - November 20, 2011
  • America's Agricultural Fairs: Educating Community
  • Tableware from the Detroit Institute of Arts
  • Michigan Eats: Regional Culture Through Food
  • Michigan's Harvest
  • Michigan's Heritage Barns: An Artist's Perspective

The 1950s: Affluence and Anxiety in the Atomic Age

February 26 - May 7, 2011
  • Atoms for Peace
  • Affluence and Anxiety in the Atomic Age

American Ingenuity: Embracing the Freedom to Dream

September 25 - November 21, 2010
  • American Ingenuity
  • Kites to Kitty Hawk
  • Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future

And Still They Prospered: Living Through the Great Depression

February 27 - May 8, 2010
  • The Way We Worked
  • Uneasy Years: Michigan Jewry during Depression and War
  • Clarke Family Quilt Collection

More Than a Game: How Sports Shape Culture

September 16 - November 22, 2009
  • SuperWomen

The Sixties: A Decade that Defined a Generation

February 28 - May 16, 2009
  • A Dream Achieved
  • Bobby, Martin & John: Once Upon an American Dream
  • Ferry Cross the Mersey: The British Invasion
  • Michigan Moving Wall
  • Oh Freedom Over Me
  • Technicolor Dreaming: Psychedelic Posters
  • Viola Liuzzo: An Exemplary Woman in Extraordinary Times

A Journey of Hope: Michigan's Immigrant Experience

September 27 - November 23, 2008
  • America's Heritage: A History of U.S. Immigration
  • Immigration & Caricature: Ethnic Images from the Appel Collection
  • A Community between Two Worlds: Arab Americans in Greater Detroit

Michigan's Fight for Freedom: The Civil War Era

February 27 - May 4, 2008
  • Answering the Call: Captain John C. Hardy
  • Blue & Gray in Black & White: Michigan and the Civil War in Print
  • Currency in Conflict: Money of the Civil War
  • Frederick Douglass from Slavery to Freedom: The Journey to New York City

Great Lakes, Great Stories: Michigan's Maritime Heritage

October 6 - December 2, 2007
  • Era of Elegance
  • Great Lakes China
  • Michigan's Great Lights
  • Exotic Aquatics of the Great Lakes Region
  • Life on the Lakes

A Legacy of Service and Courage: The World War II Generation

February - May 2007
  • The Tuskegee Airmen
  • Faith & Courage: U.S. Chaplains' Service in WWII
  • When Humanity Fails
  • The Anne Frank Story
  • Michigan Women Who Served in WWII

GRAND OPENING · Science and Space Exploration: Imagining the Future

September - December 2006
  • Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of American Future
  • Children's Science Book Fair

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