Museum kicks off 2011 Youth Internship

On January 26, 2011 the North Berrien Historical Museum began our first-ever Youth Internship program with a group of local students coming from middle and junior high school. The Youth Interns were chosen for expressing their interest in history and their enthusiasm for learning more and working with the museum. The program will meet every other Wednesday through May 2011, and will culminate in a reception for the Youth Interns and families, as well as North Berrien Historical Society members and other supporters.

Youth Interns will gain knowledge and skills that will help them participate in our mission to preserve and promote local history. In addition to various hands-on museum tasks, all are invited to research and write short articles on specific topics or events from North Berrien’s past for submission to the Curator’s Blog or Quarterly Newsletter. Each Youth Intern will make an important contribution to the museum by preparing for and recording an Oral History Interview with a local person. The other major project they will work on during the program is to produce promotional and educational YouTube videos for the museum to compliment our ever-increasing web and social media presence.

The staff and board of the North Berrien Historical Society are thrilled to begin offering this annual opportunity to youth in our community. We are extremely grateful to the Youth Interns and their families, as well as the local teachers whose assistance is crucial to this program. For more information, contact the museum at (269) 468-3330.

A Year in Pictures

We had an exciting year in 2010. Check out our updated photo gallery on our website. Or click below to view the gallery.

Talk to Feature Local Underground Railroad History

The North Berrien Historical Museum will host a free public talk about the Underground Railroad in Southwest Michigan on Tuesday, February 15 at 7:00 pm. Carol Bainbridge, a member of the Underground Railroad Society of Cass County, will present. Bainbridge will provide a historical overview of the topic and discuss the exciting recent efforts to preserve this history and share it with the public.

Cass County, Michigan was a “hotbed” of opposition to slavery before the Civil War. Abolitionists including Quakers, free African Americans and others operated “stations” on the Underground Railroad— a secret network of safe places for freedom seekers escaping the clutches of slavery in the South. It is claimed that over 1,500 freedom seekers passed through Cass County on their way to Canada on a route through Schoolcraft, Battle Creek, Jackson, Ann Arbor, Detroit and finally Windsor. The story of the Underground Railroad in Cass County is one of cooperation, respect and mutual trust, as well as personal heroism, to combat the hated institution of slavery.

The North Berrien Historical Museum is located on Red Arrow Highway across the street from Coloma High School, at 300 Coloma Avenue, Coloma. For more information, contact the museum at (269) 468-3330. Click here to learn more about the Underground Railroad Society of Cass County.

Exhibit to feature history of Maud Nelson and the Western Bloomer Girls

A new exhibit at the North Berrien Historical Museum will highlight the history of women’s baseball from its origins to the present day. “Women in Baseball: Bloomer Girls of Berrien County and Beyond” will be on display at the North Berrien Historical Museum from June 17 through November 11, 2011.

The highlight of the exhibit is the story of renowned pitcher Maud Nelson who lived in Watervliet Township from 1905 to 1917. Nelson was one of the most influential female baseball players in American history with a career spanning forty years. In 1905 Maud Nelson married John Olson and the couple moved to Watervliet where they lived on a farm on what is now the Paw Paw Lake Golf Course. Nelson managed the Cherokee Indian Baseball Team which traveled around the country in a custom Pullman railcar. Newspapers reported that Miss Maud Nelson, the famous lady pitcher, pitched two or three innings for the Indian team. In 1911 Nelson became owner-manager of the Western Bloomer Girls who traveled the country competing against male teams in front of huge crowds.

In addition to the story of Maud Nelson the exhibit will tell the story of women in baseball from the origins of the game through the present day. This includes the All American Girls Baseball League (made famous by the movie a League of Their Own) that existed from 1943-1954.

For more information call Director/Curator Alexander Gates at 269-468-3330 or visit www.northberrienhistory.org.

Watervliet Ice Festival January 7-9, 2011

The Watervliet Ice Festival will take place January 7-9, 2011 in downtown Watervliet. Make sure to stop by and check out the North Berrien Historical Museum's sculpture, which features a great local history story! For more information call the Coloma-Watervliet Area Chamber of Commerce at 269-468-4430.