It Happened in Michigan: Stories of Events and People that Shaped Great Lakes State History

It Happened In...

by Colleen Burcar

True Tales from the Great Lakes State’s Past—from the pageant of the Sault to a World Series that healed woundsMichigan is one-of-a-kind. America’s only two-part state, with dual peninsulas, it has been host to a medley of cultures. And, while these cultures have not always coexisted peacefully, Michigan has conquered its brushes with adversity to reunite stronger than ever. It Happened in Michigan goes behind the scenes to tell its story, in short episodes that reveal the intriguing people and events that have shaped the Great Lakes State.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

203 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[NJB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book filled with interesting facts & stories about “The Mitten✋🏼.”

[Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Might be better titled "Somewhat Obscure Michigan Disasters," given that two-thirds of the book is dedicated to various conflicts, loss, massacres, etc. I don't understand why sports merited a tenth of the book (including growing grass for FIFA, which in my opinion deserves nothing more than a footnote) while the *auto industry* gets a third of that space.

I learned a few interesting (/macabre) facts, but the writing style is better suited to 6th or 7th grade.

[Ben Pushka · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good friend of mine got me this book a few years back, and I finally gotten around to reading it. This is a simple, easy to read book, that really opened my eyes to a lot of history in Michigan. The "chapters" average about 3-4 pages in length, so it is a great book for someone who is interested in Michigan, but are constantly on the go.

[Ruth Soz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gift from my mom...several times while reading this, I thought 'I never knew that!' so I guess it served its purpose. A few of the earlier stories felt like they were cut short, but all in all a fun read for anyone who is from Michigan or has a soft spot in their heart for the Great Lakes State.

[V. Goethals · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book full of interesting events that occurred in the State of Michigan. Published in 2019, the book is compiled in chronological order with oldest events first. Some were familiar stories that I was aware of, including the Italian Hall tragedy (a site we found in our U.P. travels a few summers ago) and notable stories of sports team victories (the World Series Champion 1968 Detroit Tigers), labor strikes etc. There are chapters on obscure events of times past, for example Michigan had a destination for weddings in the early 1900's in the little town of St. Joseph, and also had a few severe weather incidents (F5 tornados near Flint). The chapters are also interspersed with short biographies of people who made their mark in Michigan including Henry Ford, Hamilton Carhartt, Mabel White Holmes (Jiffy Mix), Frederik Meijer, Bishop Baraga and more.
Easy reading and perfect for when life gets busy. A book of short chapters like this allows me to easily pick it up and return days later.

[Noah Klick · Rating 4 out of 5]

My last book in this series for my History of the American Midwest class. And I loved it! I really enjoy visiting Michigan, and believe it is a top tier state! The writer was pretty average, but the stories shined through to be entertaining and interesting! If I had to rank the states by this book series it would go as follows: Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, and then....Ohio. Haha. Some of the best stories were: Finding Iron Ore in the UP imagining how mining looked in 1844. The story of the murder of James Strang. The Bath school disaster. Ohio and Michigan fighting over Toledo??? I wouldn't. Haha. Japanese balloon bombings. And lastly - THEY HAD A WORLD CUP THERE IN 1994? AND IT WAS PLAYED IN A DOMED STADIUM... ON NATURAL GRASS THAT WAS GROWN THROUGH ARTIFICIAL LIGHTING? Shout out the 'sod squad' from Michigan State University!

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good slices of the history of Michigan through the years, even though there were a few small errors. For example, in the story regarding the Bath School bombing, the author said Andrew Kehoe's wife died in the house fire, when actually Kehoe killed her out by the barn, where her body was found. Inthe story about the Mackinac Bridge, the author noted the bridge connected St. Ignace to Mackinac City. Actually, it's spelled Mackinaw City. The bridge, the straights and the island are all Mackinac, the city is Mackinaw.
But other than that, it was a delightful read and seems otherwise well-written in abbreviated form, although there is an abundance of material on the subjects to glean information from.

[Beverly Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful book full of mysterious, bedazzling events that humans are consistently known for creating. Some fun, relatively harmless... Others shifting orphans via train from the Eastern seaboard sprinkling children throughout the country, early labor strikes where Americans lost homes to foreclosure... Heartbreaking here, delightful there. A pleasure to read. Burcar's research appears solid, though footnotes and references would have helped me believe some tidbits more than blind acceptance delivers.

[Michael Delaware · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very informative little book on interesting events in Michigan history. Many shaped the future of the nation and culture. I only wished there were more details given in some of the stories. A very quick, but fascinating read.

[David Britten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent book that helps with planning a road trip around the state.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting collection of short articles about Michigan's history and culture. Good book to read as a one-a-day diversion.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good history if you're from Michigan. Read it sporadically by chapter.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colleen Burcar has created a wonderful and informative book about the Great Lake State of Michigan. It Happened in Michigan is a book with many fun and interesting facts about the state of Michigan and its past, some of which not many people know.
The book, It Happened in Michigan, is composited of many facts that most people don’t know about, like the Detroit Race Riots, or the assassination of a “king”. Facts of different types, big and small, people and places, are all included in this book. While the facts aren’t exactly in chronological order, the information they give is more important. Some of these facts helped shape Michigan into the way it is today.
Anyone who’s up for some new and sometimes weird facts will enjoy reading It Happened in Michigan. Michigan is mostly known for the Great Lakes surrounding it, but maybe it could be known for more. The book informs us of things we may know, and things we probably didn’t know. Michigan still has many mysteries to it. Overall, the book gives us an opportunity to learn something new about one of the many states we know and love.

[David Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little collection of anecdotes I picked up at the Michigan History Museum. I especially enjoyed the one about the "Toledo War" - when Michigan was to become a state, there was some question about whether Toledo rightfully belonged to Michigan or Ohio. This book contains a quotation from John Quincy Adams,

"Never in the course of my life have I known a controversy in which all the right is so clearly on one side and all the power so overwhelmingly on the other."

That's a pro-Michigan quotation, if you can't tell. But,

1. Revolutionary War? Hello?
2. Adams made this statement while a Massachusetts congressman, something he became *after* being president! Can't imagine that happening today.

In the end, Ohio got Toledo, and Michigan got the resource-rich Upper Peninsula, thought to be quite useless at the time.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I did not grow up in Michigan there are many things that I do not know about the history of this state so I am in the learning process of finding out about the history of Michigan. This book is a concise writing about events all over Michigan and fills in a lot of the gaps of my knowledge about Michigan. It is written in a manner that is very readable and is a treat to read. For instance I never knew that Japanese balloons made it to Michigan in WWII - right over in my county of Allegan at Dorr. I knew that most were found in California but not any in Michigan.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a required 'textbook' this was a pretty great read! Learned lots of random bits about Michigan in very short readings.

[Marlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of stories about Michigan. I enjoyed some of them and others I was not interested in.

[Jennifer Szonye]

I enjoyed all the nuggets of information.

[Stefanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is full of lots of interesting information, but the format reads more like a coffee table book than a thoughtfully arranged text.