Past Programs

By Dr. David Benac

In the past year, climate disinformation has gained prominence as an obstacle to addressing climate change. To better understand and identify the practice it is necessary to explore its origins and evolution. This discussion traces the century of history during which the techniques of climate disinformation developed.

David Benac is an associate professor of history at Western Michigan University and teaches environmental and public history. His current major work is a forthcoming book titled Voices of Ecological Truth Tellers: The Rainforest Action Network and Grassroots Organizing.

By Sally E. Hadden, PhD

While it’s common in the current day to think of dispute resolution as the exclusive domain of judges in courtrooms, in the 17th and 18th centuries, early Americans had other options available for reaching judicial conclusions. This presentation explores a little-known realm of judicial action: decisions reached by legislative assemblies, governors, governors’ councils, and the King’s Privy Council, and how their transatlantic activities contributed to the concept we know today as judicial review.

Sally Hadden is Director of Graduate Studies and a professor of history at Western Michigan University. As a legal historian, her studies of early America led to her publication of Slave Patrols: Law and Violence in Virginia and the Carolinas which details the white-on-black violence that pervaded American slave societies. She is currently co-authoring a study of the first Supreme Court and its forbears. Hadden is also a past officer and board member of the American Society of Legal History and serves on the editorial board of Law and History Review.

By Roger Horton and Gary Horton

This presentation provides a historical look at South Haven as seen from the vantage point of the South Haven South Pierhead Light. Imagine all that the light has looked upon during its 120-year history. The current beacon was first lit in 1903 and continues to be used to guide people to shore and serves as a defining landmark on Lake Michigan. Roger Horton chronicles the information from his brother Gary Horton, author and narrator of the DVD “I Am the Light.”

By Michael Nassaney, PhD

Southwest Michigan attracted freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad as abolitionists worked secretly to conduct African Americans who had escaped enslavement along the route north to free states and Canada. Learn how archaeologists uncovered evidence of this clandestine organization as Dr. Michael Nassaney discusses his investigations, research, and findings related to this fascinating operation.

Dr. Michael Nassaney is an archaeologist, author, editor, consultant, and Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at Western Michigan University. From 1988-2020 he served as the principal investigator of the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project, an interdisciplinary program in community service that focuses on the site of Fort St. Joseph in Niles, Michigan. He directed the investigations of the Underground Railroad in Cass County in 2002. Nassaney has published numerous works on the archaeology of eastern North America, including The Archaeology of the North American Fur Trade (University Press of Florida, 2015) and Fort St. Joseph Revealed (University Press of Florida, 2019).

By Peter Cook

On the morning of February 21, 1925, two Millburg State Bank employees prepared for what they thought would be a routine Saturday. However, their first customers were anything but ordinary. Dressed in trench coats, a group of armed men forced the tellers into the back closet and looted the bank. While the robbery only lasted a few minutes, the subsequent car chase, manhunt, and trial would long be remembered as one of Southwest Michigan’s most dramatic crimes of the 1920s.

Peter Cook, the Director of Programs & Outreach at the North Berrien Historical Museum in Coloma, will present the Great Millburg Bank Robbery and its aftermath in all its exciting detail. Peter holds a bachelor’s degree in Public History from Western Michigan University and has been working at the museum since 2018.

NOTE: 1:00pm On Zoom shown at the Scott Club. Or, join via Zoom from wherever you are located. Email info@scottclub.org for a Zoom link.

Entertainment by Ken Cooper

LUNCHEON PROGRAM AND ENTERTAINMENT AT
SENIOR SERVICES OF VAN BUREN COUNTY
8337 M-140, SOUTH HAVEN.
RSVP REQUIRED. CONTACT INFO@SCOTTCLUB.ORG
NO ZOOM

Enjoy a delicious luncheon and entertainment by Ken Cooper in celebration of Scott Club’s 140th year. Ken Cooper is a Chicago-based trumpet virtuoso, international touring musician, and recording artist. He began playing with the prestigious Nisei Ambassadors Drum and Bugle Corps in eighth grade and embarked into touring with Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions at the age of 19. Ken has performed with B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, James Brown, members of Earth, Wind and Fire, Chaka Khan, Natalie Cole, and many other artists over the years. He is mainly a jazz musician but also plays with R&B, country, and salsa bands and has recorded a CD of classical music. He is currently composing and recording his original music.

Annual meeting and installation of officers will follow luncheon.

Shop for treasures on Thursday, June 1st, and Friday June 2nd from 9am-4pm. On Saturday June 3rd from 9am-noon. If you would like to donate clean, unbroken items, drop off days are Tuesday and Wednesday, May 30th and 31st from 10am until 2pm.

On-site Program and Tour, NO ZOOM
313-315 Center Street, South Haven

By James Ollgaard

Meet at 313-315 Center St., the former Forest House Hotel and the first hotel built in South Haven in 1853. Jim Ollgaard, President of the Historical Association of South Haven (HASH), will walk us through the restoration of the building. The ground floor will have a downtown store for HASH, an exhibition space and a stepping off point for historical tours. The 2nd & 3rd floor will have rooms decorated in 1906 vintage for the purpose of historic tourism. Join us as we relive those bygone days.