Archive - The Little Detroit History Letter

The garbage problem, 1889-1893

Detroiters confront an odiferous foe

Jun 6 •

Amy Elliott Bragg

April 2025

Great Sams of Detroit baseball

"Wahoo" Sam, "Big" Sam, and benedictions for another brilliant season of Base Ball

Apr 2 •

Amy Elliott Bragg

March 2025

We could have had cable cars 🚠

The persistent idea of a Detroit-Windsor gondola crossing

Mar 4 •

Amy Elliott Bragg

December 2024

The time ball wars of old Detroit

A short local tale about the roots of the New Year's Eve ball drop

Dec 31, 2024 •

Amy Elliott Bragg

November 2024

Also, not unrelated!, a butter sculpture of the city of Detroit

Nov 15, 2024 •

Amy Elliott Bragg

September 2024

Cicadas in cemeteries

The magic of them.

Sep 18, 2024 •

Amy Elliott Bragg

August 2024

The baseball star on the sidelines of Michigan's first big Civil Rights case

Moses Fleetwood Walker, nine days away from the end of his baseball career, had a fateful lunch meeting in Detroit.

Aug 23, 2024 •

Amy Elliott Bragg

We return to the cabinet of Dr. Cavalli

Another short-lived Detroit natural history museum

Aug 6, 2024 •

Amy Elliott Bragg

July 2024

The time-traveler Martha Lord Miller

She was born in 1836, during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Ninety-eight years later, she flew on an airplane.

Jul 12, 2024 •

Amy Elliott Bragg

June 2024

When the Queen of Whistlers came to Belle Isle

In 1924, she performed for the birds.

Jun 10, 2024 •

Amy Elliott Bragg

May 2024

Why doesn't Detroit have a natural history museum?

The Detroit Scientific Association, the Detroit Museum of Art and the dashed hopes of a generation of gentlemen collectors.

May 10, 2024 •

Amy Elliott Bragg

April 2024

The public astronomers of early Detroit

Just in time for the solar eclipse: A snapshot of some of the city's enthusiastic citizen skywatchers at the turn of the 20th Century.

Apr 5, 2024 •

Amy Elliott Bragg

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