Past Programs

By Brian D. Carroll, PhD

“The House of David: Now and Then” presents the short history of the House of David commune in Benton Harbor from 1903 to the present. It provides an overview of the religion and also focuses on the House of David’s numerous businesses, including farms, cold storage plant, touring vaudeville showbands, amusement park, and its famous exhibition baseball team. Current preservation and restoration efforts at the colony are covered and the presentation includes many rare historic photographs, film and audio clips.

Brian D. Carroll is the historian and archivist for the Israelite House of David in Benton Harbor, Michigan. He has worked in museums and higher education for more than twenty-five years.

By Author, Chriss Lyon

“Bloody Chicago” was the name given to America’s most corrupt city after the grotesque scene that left seven humans embedded into masonry walls and oil-slickened concrete. Two Thompson submachine guns did the majority of the damage but the masterminds behind the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre escaped. Ten months later, on December 14, 1929, St. Joseph, Michigan Police Officer Charles Skelly working a routine traffic crash came face to face with a killer. Shots were fired, the assailant escaped, and the dying Officer Skelly identified his murderer before taking his last breath. The “backwash of bloody Chicago” had made its way into the rural neighborhoods of Southwestern Michigan and Northern Indiana. Citizens who turned a blind eye to crime helped create “Capone’s Playground,” an environment abundant in all that is illegal and immoral.

Chriss Lyon is a retired public safety professional and historian, who has not only walked the beat, but shot the most famous Thompson submachine guns in the world, all while documenting and researching the historic era of the “The Roaring Twenties.” Using techniques of forensic genealogy combined with investigative research, she has been able to uncover little known facts about the people and events surrounding the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, revealing them at presentations at schools, museums, genealogical, and historical societies. Her passion in Prohibition-era gangsters, maritime, and aviation history as well as historical weather has afforded opportunities to write articles for various magazines and journals and assist other authors with historical research. A graduate of Grand Valley State University’s Film/Video School, Chriss began working behind the scenes at CNN Headline News but now is out in front of the camera. She has appeared in an episode of the PBS series, “History Detectives” as well as documentaries on the National Geographic Channel, American Heroes Network, Travel Channel, German Public Television, and Investigation Discovery Channel.

By Tim Moore, History Instructor, Lake Michigan College

From a log lodge to an opulent hotel under different names, the Whitcomb has a long and rich history. The Whitcomb recalls mineral baths enjoyed by scores of people, a moving sidewalk, a breath-taking view of Lake Michigan, more than 200 hotel rooms, a dining room for 800 guests, a Marine Bar resembling a ship, and visits from such notables as Eleanor Roosevelt, Ann Landers, and Duncan Hines. And let’s not forget “Polly Whitcomb,” the talkative parrot. Please join us for a look at the history of the Whitcomb, the “Crown Jewel” that made the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.

Since 2003, Tim Moore has been a history instructor at Lake Michigan College. His courses include American History, including the Civil War and Reconstruction, the History of Modern East Asia, and Western Civilization

By Keith Howard, Digital Preservation Specialist, Kalamazoo Public Library
7:00 pm in person at Scott Club
To attend by Zoom, request an invite by email to info@scottclub.org

The story of the Kalamazoo, Lake Shore & Chicago Railway, otherwise known as the “Fruit Belt Line,” is a rather long and twisted tale of “wishful thinking and hoped-for wealth.” The short-lived railroad originally was planned to be an efficient electric interurban train connecting Kalamazoo and South Haven. Instead, it became a ramshackle steam train that meandered through Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties toward the Lake Michigan shoreline. Join us as we learn how the “Fruit Belt Line” came to be and what became of it while we trace its route through the West Michigan countryside.

Keith Howard is a Digital Preservation Specialist at the Kalamazoo Public Library and a former instructor of business communication and information technology at WMU’s Haworth College of Business. He has a true passion for exploring and documenting local history. Keith has authored or contributed to more than one hundred articles on the KPL website, and his work has appeared in several leading publications, including Michigan History Magazine, SW Michigan Spark, Brewery History journal, and others. Keith lives in Oshtemo with his dog, Benson.

By David Benac, PhD, Associate Professor of History, Western Michigan University

The sustainability movement strives to meet cultural, economic, and environmental needs for the long term. Michigan demonstrated the power of this complex movement before the term existed. In the late 1960s, Berrien County challenged the use of DDT when the insecticide threatened the culture and economy of Southwest Michigan. At the same time, Walter Reuther of the United Auto Workers (UAW) created the Black Lake Conference Center launching one of the most significant efforts in US history to connect environmental health, civil rights, and workers’ rights into a single movement. This presentation explores the ways Michiganders created a blueprint for sustainability that we’re still trying to match today.

David Benac is an associate professor of history at Western Michigan University. He teaches and advises graduate students in environmental and public history, including cultural resources management, environmental movements, heritage tourism, historic preservation, and oral history. His research investigates how individuals and communities develop cultural ties to environments (built, natural, and landscape) and how these connections emerge in grassroots activism. His current major work is a forthcoming book titled Voices of Ecological Truth Tellers: The Rainforest Action Network and Grassroots Organizing.

12:00 pm at Van Buren County Senior Services, 08337 M-140. NO ZOOM.
RSVP Required. Email to info@scottclub.org

Join the Scott Club members for a wonderful lunch and entertainment. We will call our Annual Meeting to order at 12:00 pm. The installation of our new executive board will take place during the meeting. After the meeting, we will enjoy a lunch prepared by Senior Services and followed by an entertaining program by Andrea Cheeseman, entitled:

Collaborating with Frogs and other Musicians

Andrea Cheeseman is a clarinetist, teacher and new music advocate based in southwest Michigan. Throughout her career, she has been committed to playing good music and collaborating with inspiring people who challenge her. She is a sought-after performer of electroacoustic music and has been the featured artist at festivals such as Third Practice, the Electroacoustic Barn Dance and Electronic Music Midwest.

Send an email to info@scottclub.org for details and to RSVP.

By South Haven History Club Students

To celebrate the 50th anniversary, the National History Day’s theme will be “Rights & Responsibilities in History”. This year’s theme invites students to consider questions of time and place, cause and effect, change over time, and impact and significance. The key to this theme is addressing BOTH rights AND responsibilities. These are two powerful forces in history, but one does not work without the other. -NHD.org

History teacher, Julie Sheppard, will bring students to the Scott Club to present their contest theme projects. This is an opportunity for the students to present in front of a live audience. Please join us to encourage them on to state and national competition!

Friday, May 9th from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Saturday, May 10th from 9:00 am to noon.

Beautify your surroundings with gorgeous plants by supporting the South Haven Scott Club Annual Flower Sale. Geraniums in many colors and a variety of ferns and hanging baskets will be available. Funds raised will help us maintain our historic building and provide a rich variety of programs.