HEART OF STEELE

When I first discovered the wonderful world of local history, I quickly came to one conclusion: Most of the past in my small Michigan community had been written by white men.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated their contributions. In decades past, men built the settlements that became the towns that became today’s thriving cities.

But they had help, and too few history books–locally and across the country–share the role women played in the work.

I looked everywhere for those stories, and the town I lived in was rich in history. The community had five unique committees and commissions, including a nonprofit historical society, devoted to historic preservation.

Very few of the books and monographs available through the local library even mentioned women. Fortunately, though, our local newspaper had been digitized, with issues going back to the late 1800s available and searchable online.

And what a treasure trove of women’s stories I found there. Editors and reporters wrote about women entrepreneurs, women’s groups and their civic activities, and most importantly, shared the individual stories and profiles that tell us what life was like 100 or 200 years ago.

I had to dig deep, follow breadcrumbs. For instance, an ad for the 5^th anniversary of a clothing store sent me backward to find a story about the woman who opened it.

The search, I’ll admit, was half the fun.

This week, I’m planning to meet with local historian Nancy Vaillancourt to talk women’s stories in the heart of Steele County history and bring to light resources for those who, like me, are fascinated by the past.