The Clarke Historical Library has two speaker events in October. These two in-person events are in the Opperman Auditorium at the Park Library.

Tuesday, Oct. 20, 7 p.m. Dr. Anne Ruggles Gere, University of Michigan: How Indigenous Women Teachers Helped Boarding School Students Resist Assimilation

Drawing on her recent book, Agents of Survivance: Indigenous Women Teachers in the Boarding School Era, and her research on the Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School, Dr. Gere adds a new dimension to received accounts of boarding schools by focusing on the contributions of Indigenous women teachers. While acknowledging the many challenges they faced, she identifies specific practices and principles Indigenous women teachers used to support survivance among their students.   

Tuesday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m.  John and Audrey Cumming Endowed Lecture: Dr. Catherine Cangany, Jewish Historical Society of Michigan: Ruthless Ingenuity: Detroit's Purple Gang

Jewish mobsters ran Detroit during Prohibition (1920-1933).  Known for shocking violence and vicious turf wars, the untouchable Purples were also emblematic of the Detroit neighborhood they called home: scrappy, resourceful, innovative, and proudly Jewish.  And yet, the Purples remained sharply at odds with local Jewish communities, which endured shame and retaliatory antisemitism for the Purples' actions in Detroit and mid-Michigan. 

Contact us at clarke@cmich.edu or 989.774.3864 if you need accommodation. Learn more at Clarke.cmich.edu/SpeakerSeries

Carrie Marsh (she, her) Director | Clarke Historical Library Park Library 142B | 250 E. Preston Street | Central Michigan University | Mount Pleasant, MI 48858 P: 989-774-3965 | E: marsh4c@cmich.edu  |  www.cmich.edu