NEWS from SAUGATUCK/DOUGLAS HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Kit Lane
(269) 857-2781
kitlane@wmol.com

AUGUST 12 "TUESDAYS 'TIL NOON" LECTURE
AIRS ART AND WRITING OF MAY FRANCIS HEATH
 

SAUGATUCK, AUG. 1, 2008 -- "Tuesdays 'til Noon", a weekly series of one-hour lectures at the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society Museum, will feature "May Francis Heath: Artist and Storyteller" on Tuesday, August 12, at 11 a.m., presented by James Schmiechen, professor of history in the Center for Transnational History at Central Michigan University.

According to Schmiechen, "May Heath was Saugatuck's greatest teller of stories about the Saugatuck area. Her interest in the civic affairs of the community, her documentation of Saugatuck life and times going back to her pioneer grandparents, early settlers Stephen A. and Mary Elizabeth (Peckham) Morrison, and her interests in their worlds and historic preservation make her, arguably, the most important woman in Saugatuck's history."

His talk looks at a number of the "moments in time" she documented as both an artist and writer -- and her use of other artists in her documentation process, namely Carl Hoerman. One of these "moments" will be that of Fishtown, the commercial fishing settlement at the old Kalamazoo River harbor.

Around 1930, Heath gathered many memories and facts about area history into a book entitled "Early Memories of Saugatuck." This year the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society republished the Heath book, with 30 pages of index added, to continue the work and honor the legacy of this area's most important historian.

Tuesdays 'til Noon talks are held in the south gallery of the Museum, with audience capacity limited to 50 guests so early arrival is recommended. Parking and admission are free, donations welcomed.

Programs end promptly at noon when the Museum opens for the day. Its new 2008 exhibit offers unusual insights into our area's past with "13 Moments in Time: The Artist as Storyteller". Built around a selection of seldom-seen paintings and drawings completed in Saugatuck from 1898 to 2002, this exhibit evokes historical vignettes of Saugatuck and Douglas at the time each artwork was created. For more information visit www.sdhistoricalsociety.org.

Founded in 1992, the Saugatuck-Douglas Museum occupies the historic Saugatuck Pump House at 735 Park Street, along the west shore of the Kalamazoo River at Mt. Baldhead Park, a short walk north from the Saugatuck Chain Ferry landing. Tel: (269) 857-7900.

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