Skip navigation

Clarke Historical Library Exhibit:
Exhibit Popup.jpg

On exhibit through January 2021
in the Clarke Historical Library 

Celebrating the acquisition of over 600 pop-up books collected by Dr. Francis and Mary Lois Molson, the exhibit documents the delights of pop-up books for children and adults, as well as the very serious work of authors and paper engineers, who make the surprise and wonder occur. What is fascinating about pop-up books is that the person who picks one up becomes director, performer, and audience, controlling a performance engineered for them but completely under their power.

Because of the difficulties in travel and physical access caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have created an extended virtual exhibit that can be enjoyed online which we hope you will explore and enjoy.

Our hope is that you will be able to enjoy the exhibit in person during the library's normal operating hours sometime during the summer or fall of 2020.  However, because of the many uncertainties related to the pandemic, please contact the library staff before visiting to determine if physical access to the exhibit is possible and if it is if there are any limiting conditions that you will need to observe. Speak to us before setting out to see the exhibit either by email (clarke@cmich.edu) or by telephone (989.774.3352) to confirm in advance that we can accommodate your visit. Rules make it impossible for us to allow a person or group who arrives unannounced to enter the building or the exhibit area. Please contact us in advance to confirm that you will be able to enjoy the show in person.

Explore the Surprise and Wonder

While movable parts within a book have been a part of book design for centuries, originally they were almost always used in scholarly works and in books for adults. How better to illustrate an anatomy text, for example, than with little tabs, allowing you to see what lay beneath the skin? It was not until the 19th century that these techniques were applied to books that were designed to entertain and delight children. Once children became the audience, the story began to emerge, particularly stories like fairy tales and mythology, as well as adapting stories from the theater.

The main feature of a moveable book is its interactivity. The book's mechanisms cause the content of its pages to transform, engrossing the reader through the element of surprise. Its effects cannot be completely anticipated, and in general, when a good moveable book is opened, each page is like a Christmas present, provoking a sense of wonder.

Imaginative paper engineers continue to explore and to innovate new ways to fold paper, devise complex pull tabs that create movement, design intricate three-dimensional pop-up forms, and use cut paper, string, and other mechanisms to make figures magically twist and turn. The possibilities seem endless. Today, the simple, dynamic quality of the cut paper forms and mechanisms can create books that are a sculptural work of art.

The exhibit was curated by Doctors Gretchen Papazian and Anne Hiebert Alton, both faculty members in CMU's Department of English Language and Literature. Janet Danek, the Libraries' Exhibits, and Projects Coordinator designed the show. Opening on March 17, 2020, the exhibit will run through the fall semester. 

To learn more about the exhibit we encourage you to watch an extended interview with Janet Danek, the exhibit designer.

Clarke Historical Library Speaker Series

Join us online at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday evenings in October and November to see and listen to the Clarke Historical Library's fall speakers.

Because of limitations regarding the size of gatherings on the CMU campus during the fall semester, there will be no in-person presentations in the Park Library Building. The speakers' presentations will only be available online.

The presentations will be made available via Webex software. Webex makes it possible to either listen and watch the presentation online or simply listen to the presentation through a regular telephone call. Reservations are required for each presentation. Visit clarke.cmich.edu/Speakers2020 to register and receive an access code for each event. Please contact us at clarke@cmich.edu or 989.774.3352 for more information, including information about connecting to the presentation via telephone.

The speakers will be:

Thursday, October 29
7:00pm via Webex:

Carl Doud, Early Michigan's Scourge of Mosquitoes and Malaria

The challenge of mosquitoes and malaria to early settlers of Michigan was profound. Alexis de Tocqueville, who visited Michigan in July of 1831, commented several times as to how burdensome the mosquitoes were. The state of Michigan was known to early 19th-century Americans as an area profuse with swamps, disease, and other hardships. Malaria was so widespread throughout the region that all expected to suffer from it and it was viewed less as a disease than simply a reality of life. Efforts by early Michiganders to find relief from mosquitoes included the use of smudges and other techniques of limited efficacy. Quinine was a highly sought after to relieve ague (malaria) symptoms. Three aspects of early Michigan made for significant populations of mosquitoes and associated malaria: topography, the extent of forests, and the amount of wetlands. Efforts to develop land through wetland drainage, and the lumber industry that cleared much of the virgin forest in the state, altered and in many cases reduced much of the mosquito habitat. Yet, many of the land attributes remain and still contribute to a significant mosquito burden in parts of the state. 

Dr. Doud obtained his PhD in entomology from Kansas State University. He is currently the Directorof Midland County Mosquito Control (MCMC) in Sanford, Michigan. Dr. Doud came to Midland County in 2014 following retirement from the US Navy as a Medical Entomologist in the Navy Medical Service Corps. He is active in the Michigan Mosquito Control Association (MMCA), currently serving as Chair of the MMCA Legislative Liaison Committee and served as MMCA President in 2019.

Thursday, November 59780316463584-1.jpg
7:00pm via Webex:

Miles Harvey, author of The King of Confidence: A Tale of Utopian Dreamers, Frontier Schemers, True Believers, False Prophets, and the Murder of an American Monarch

Award-winning journalist Miles Harvey examines the life and legacy of James Jesse Strang, the self-proclaimed king of a Mormon "utopia" on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan.

In 1844, after the death of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church, Strang was one of several figures who claimed they were his successors. Although Brigham Young eventually emerged as the leader of the main group of Mormons, Strang led his followers out of Young's church and brought them to Beaver Island, though the island was already inhabited by Anishinaabe peoples and some European settlers, where he established his monarchy.

"It's easy to take this stuff sort of like as a joke, but I've got to say, the federal government didn't take it as a joke. President Millard Fillmore, about a year after Strang crowned himself king, was so worried about this quasi-independent kingdom on U.S. soil that he sent in the U.S. Navy …to … the island and bring Strang to justice. What's interesting is that although Strang was put on trial in Detroit in 1851, he and his people were found innocent on all charges," Harvey said. He added, "Strang just had this incredible charisma, and he also had the ability to fool people." 

In his book, Strang is portrayed as a complicated character, known for violence, stealing from coastal towns, and running a horse theft ring. But he held some progressive views on women's rights and was an abolitionist.

Learn more about this complicated man and his followers on November 5.

Thursday, November 129780700617678.jpg
7:00pm via Webex:

Joyce A. Baugh, author of The Detroit School Busing Case, Milliken v. Bradley and the Controversy over Desegregation.

Dr. Baugh will discuss how decades of segregation and racial discrimination in the Detroit metropolitan area have created and perpetuated racial inequities in housing, education, employment, and health care.

Joyce Baugh received her doctorate from Kent State University in 1989. She joined the CMU Department of Political Science and Public Administration in 1988 and served as Chairperson from 1995 to 2001. Dr. Baugh is the author of numerous articles, book chapters, and books, including The Detroit School Busing Case: Milliken v. Bradley and the Controversy over Desegregation (University Press of Kansas) and Supreme Court Justices in the Post-Bork Era: Confirmation Politics and Judicial Performance (Peter Lang).

Dr. Baugh played a primary role in establishing CMU's affiliation with The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars (TWC). In the spring of 2016, Dr. Baugh was chosen as one of four public members to serve on the Selection Committee for the Pickering Fellowship. The Pickering Fellowship is one of the U.S. Department of State's premier recruiting programs, designed to increase diversity in the Department's Foreign Service to better reflect and serve the needs of the American people. The committee is comprised of U.S. Foreign Service Officers, retired U.S. Foreign Service Officers, and higher education and think tank professionals.

Dr. Baugh retired in August 2017.

 

Events are free and open to the public. Those in need of an accommodation
should call (989) 774-1100 or email clarke@cmich.edu. 









Clarke Historical Library | Mount Pleasant, MI 48859 | clarke@cmich.edu | Phone: (989) 774-3352 | Fax: (989) 774-2160
If you need accommodations due to a disability while using the library facilities, please contact the Research Help Desk, either in person or via email.
Please be prepared to state what type of accommodation you require, e.g. reaching a book, stack retrieval, use of adaptive equipment, or other requests.