Columns
When ‘This Is The Army’ came to Dowagiac
We recently opened a new exhibit at the Dowagiac Area History Museum that looks at wartime stories of Cass County residents and, of course, it ...
Steve Arseneau, Author at Leader Publications
Columns
P.D. Beckwith’s impact on Dowagiac
When P.D. Beckwith started manufacturing stoves in the late 1860s, he had four regular employees. By 1879, he had 40 employees, with the July 30, ...
by Steve Arseneau, Monday, July 10, 2017 10:48 am
Columns
P.D. Beckwith and Round Oak’s growth
Last month, I looked at Philo D. Beckwith’s early years in Dowagiac. While his manufacturing of the roller grain drill created a regular product, the ...
by Steve Arseneau, Monday, June 12, 2017 11:34 am
Columns
P.D. Beckwith’s early years in Dowagiac
My late friend Grif Cook always said that without P.D. Beckwith, Dowagiac would have been like Pokagon. No offense to Pokagon — after all, he ...
by Steve Arseneau, Monday, May 8, 2017 10:01 am
Columns
The Orphan Train and The Grand Old City
The Orphan Train and Dowagiac’s connection to it will be fully explored in 2017, through a series of projects being undertaken by the museum, the ...
by Steve Arseneau, Monday, April 10, 2017 10:42 am
Columns
Dowagiac’s favorite barber
One of my favorite characters in Dowagiac history is Thomas Jefferson Martin, one of the city’s first African American settlers. Martin led an interesting life ...
by Steve Arseneau, Monday, March 6, 2017 8:26 am
News
The rocky birth of the Rockery
When the museum gets out-of-town visitors, they sometimes ask what else they “need to see” in town. I frequently point them to the two field ...
by Steve Arseneau, Thursday, February 16, 2017 8:27 am
Columns
The rocky birth of the Rockery
When the museum gets out-of-town visitors, they sometimes ask what else they “need to see” in town. I frequently point them to the two field ...
by Steve Arseneau, Wednesday, February 15, 2017 6:20 pm
Columns
Museum director shares favorite photographs
Photographs help document our lives, and technology has made it easier for us to take photographs today than at any other point in history. For ...
by Steve Arseneau, Monday, January 9, 2017 9:59 am
Columns
Born to fly
I recently read that the NASA set a goal for sending a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s and entrepreneurs, such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX, ...
by Steve Arseneau, Thursday, October 20, 2016 10:01 am
Columns
A presidential stop in Dowagiac
Every four years, we go through a Presidential election cycle and we get tired of the negative advertising and hope the next cycle will be ...
by Steve Arseneau, Thursday, September 8, 2016 10:31 am
Columns
Recreational activities have changed in Dowagiac
We have all seen them in recent weeks — the walking zombies looking at their phones, trying to catch an elusive Pokemon. Without trying to ...
by Steve Arseneau, Friday, August 12, 2016 11:25 am
Columns
Around the world adventure, part two
From the moment four American pilots took off from Seattle in April 1924 on their mission to be the first pilots to fly across the ...
by Steve Arseneau, Thursday, July 14, 2016 10:02 am
Columns
Looking back in time at an around-the-world adventure
The museum has a permanent exhibit I call Small Town, Big World: Locals Who Made History. As the name implies, it explores the efforts of ...
by Steve Arseneau, Friday, June 10, 2016 9:29 am
Columns
Around the world adventure
The museum has a permanent exhibit I call Small Town, Big World: Locals Who Made History. As the name implies, it explores the efforts of ...
by Steve Arseneau, Thursday, June 9, 2016 9:38 am
Columns
A man, a bet and a wheelbarrow
Publicity stunts have been around since at least the days of P.T. Barnum’s carnivals and sideshows — interesting marketing campaigns that try to gain the ...
by Steve Arseneau, Thursday, May 12, 2016 10:18 am
Columns
Victorian marketing at its finest
We take marketing for granted today as we are inundated with commercials on television, radio, websites and billboards. Advertising likely goes back to the competing ...
by Steve Arseneau, Thursday, April 14, 2016 9:19 am
Columns
Dowagiac Eats: Examining the history of local food
The temporary exhibit at the Dowagiac Area History Museum, “Michigan Eats: Regional Culture Through Food,” makes the point that there are few foods that are ...
by Steve Arseneau, Thursday, March 10, 2016 10:06 am
Columns
Dowagiac Eats: The agricultural side
You have probably read about Michigan Eats: Regional Culture Through Food at the museum in the past week or so. The MSU exhibit explores Michigan ...
by Steve Arseneau, Thursday, February 11, 2016 10:19 am
Columns
Common sense to mufflers
The view from the Dowagiac Area History Museum has changed dramatically in the past month. The tearing down of Round Oak Warehouse No. 9 changes ...
