the time traveler: power

power

power, photo by .brianday.

Brian Day has a spectacular series of photos he calls the time traveler series.

Check this one out bigger and see many more in the time traveler slideshow.

More black & white photography from Michigan in Pictures.

George Romney, 43rd Governor of Michigan

Gov. George Romney of Michigan

Gov. George Romney of Michigan, photo by seekingmichigan.

Tonight at 8 PM, eight Republican candidates take the stage at Oakland University in CNBC’s “Your Money, Your Vote” Republican Presidential Debate (also see this Freep article).

One of the candidates is Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who grew up in Bloomfield Hills the son of George Wilcken Romney (July 8, 1907 – July 26, 1995). George Romney was chairman and CEO of American Motors Corporation from 1954-1962, the 43rd Governor of Michigan from 1963-1969, an unsuccessful candidate for President in 1968 (see campaign brochure), and the US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1969 -1973. Wikipedia says:

His position as the leader of the moderate Republicans at the constitutional convention helped gain him the Republican nomination for Governor of Michigan. He ran against incumbent Democratic Governor John B. Swainson in the general election. Romney campaigned on revising the state’s tax structure, increasing its appeal to businesses and the general public, and getting it “rolling again”. Romney decried both the large influence of labor unions within the Democratic Party and the similarly large influence of big business within the Republican Party. His campaign was among the first to exploit the capabilities of electronic data processing. Romney won by some 80,000 votes and ended a fourteen-year stretch of Democratic rule in the state executive spot. Romney’s win was attributed to his appeal to independent voters and to the increasingly influential suburban Detroit voters, who by 1962 were more likely to vote Republican than the heavily Democratic residents of the city itself. Additionally, Romney had appeal to labor union members that was unusual for a Republican.

Here’s a video of Romney announcing his candidacy for Governor and another video of Romney’s inauguration on January 1, 1963. You can also see a photo of George Romney from 1980 that looks amazingly like Mitt, and the Boston Globe has a nice presentation titled The Romneys: Lessons of the Father that includes some pictures of George & Mitt.

This photo from 1963 shows Gov. George Romney releasing the first Atlantic Salmon in the Great Lakes. See it on black and see more photos of Michigan’s history in seekingmichigan’s slideshow!

Michigan Wild & Scenic Rivers: Sturgeon River

Along the Sturgeon River by Coder

Along the Sturgeon River by Coder

It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States that certain selected rivers of the Nation which, with their immediate environments, possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values, shall be preserved in free-flowing condition, and that they and their immediate environments shall be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.
~Wild & Scenic Rivers Act, October 2, 1968

Michigan has 16 nationally designated Wild & Scenic Rivers (management plan pdf) and tw of them are called the Sturgeon River: this one in the Ottawa National Forest in the eastern UP and the Sturgeon River in the Hiawatha National Forest in the western UP. This Sturgeon River is even the photo on the main page at rivers.gov, so it’s clear that they really liked it!! (note it’s now the Ontonagon River but still in the UP!)

Also note that Field & Stream tapped Michigan #1 for flyfishing in the USA in 2011. One of the reasons is the portion of the Sturgeon River within the Ottawa National Forest is classified as a Blue Ribbon Trout Stream!

Coder shot this in 2010 along the Sturgeon River on the way to Canyon Falls. Click to his map to see where the photo was taken. See more in his ‘Scapes gallery on Flickr.

More Wild & Scenic Rivers on Michigan in Pictures.

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Enter the battleground

Enter the Battlegroung

Enter the battleground, photo by adonyvan.

While the high windsof the last couple of weeks have wrought damage, there’s one group that welcomes the weather, Michigan’s cold water surfers.

Check out absolutemichigan.com/Surf  for all kinds of Michigan surfing links and features including this one with a great surfing video.

Check this out on black and in Jiqing Fan’s Houghton & UP MI slideshow.

Garden Pumpkin via the Great Wall

Garden Pumpkin 1, photo by Marianne Priest

Absolute Michigan has a pumpkinpalooza going today – check it out!

Marianne took this shot using a Great Wall df2 camera using tri X/hc110 film. Another friend of the blog, Mark O’Brien, has details on The Great Wall camera on his blog.

You can see more shots that Marianne has taken with this camera in her amazing Great Wall DF2 gallery.

An opening at the Argus Museum

Argus Factory
Argus Factory, photo by Voxphoto

The Argus Museum has an exhibition opening Friday, October 21st entitled Sunday Afternoon on the Porch: Reflections of a Small Town in Iowa, 1939-1942, photographs by Everett W. Kuntz. The exhibition runs from October 21st through November 18th, 2011. However, as the exhibit really has nothing at all to do with Michigan, and as this blog is called Michigan in Pictures, we’ll press on and tell you that the museum is located on the second floor of the Argus l building in Ann Arbor, one of the buildings that housed the Argus Camera Co.

Several years ago, Michigan in Pictures had a piece telling the story of the Argus Camera Company, whose cameras had a big role in the explosion in consumer photography. The post has become an internet phenom of sorts, gathering nearly 100 comments from folks buying, selling or wondering about Argus cameras. The article said little, however, about the museum itself. Fortunately, the email that the museum sent me shares a bit more, adding that:

Also on display will be artifacts from the Argus Museum collections. Products manufactured by the Argus Camera Company, including rare objects and prototypes, are featured, as well as military items and employees’ personal effects. Many of the artifacts on display were manufactured in the same building which now houses the Museum.

Former Argus employees and their families will be invited to the opening, giving those interested a chance to speak with them. Argus-related presentations are planned for Saturday, October 22nd, with an afternoon field trip to the Yankee Air Museum which will include a private tour and photography opportunities. (A $2.50 admission fee per person will be charged.) The Argus Museum Archives will open for research on Sunday, October 23rd. Reservations are required for Saturday and Sunday events. If you are interested in giving a presentation (it can be an informal one), please contact Cheryl Chidester…

So it sounds like all you Argus & old camera fans out there will want to check this weekend out. Cheryl is the museum curator and her number is 734-759-0770 (or email) – contact her for questions about the weekend and reservations for Saturday & Sunday.

Ross took this shot of the former Argus camera factory with an Argus 75 pinhole conversion. See it bigger and see more in his arghole slideshow.

Silver Lake Dunes in black & white

Untitled

Untitled, photo by Kiran Bhat..

The Sleeping Bear Dunes have gotten a lot of press lately but they’re not the only dunes in Michigan.

Silver Lake Dunes for example.

Check this out bigger and in Kiran’s Ludington & Silverlake slideshow.

More black & white on Michigan in Pictures.

Sunset over Cecil Bay

Wilderness State Park, MI

Wilderness State Park, MI, photo by Matthew Hart Photography.

at Wilderness State Park.

Check this out background big and in Matthew’s Mackinac/Wilderness State Park slideshow.

More black & white photography on Michigan in Pictures.

Remembering First Lady Betty Ford

President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford

President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford, photo by Marion S. Trikosko

First Lady Betty Ford (Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren Ford) passed away on July 8, 2011. She was born in Chicago on  April 8, 1918. After a brief stint in Colorado, she moved with her family to Grand Rapids and graduated from Central High School. In 1948, she married Gerald Ford, who was campaigning for what would be his first of thirteen terms as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. They were married fifty-eight years until his death in 2006. Despite the fact that she had one of the shortest terms as First Lady, she was definitely one of the most influental women to have held the position:

In the opinion of The New York Times and several presidential historians, “Mrs. Ford’s impact on American culture may be far wider and more lasting than that of her husband, who served a mere 896 days, much of it spent trying to restore the dignity of the office of the president.”

The paper went on to describe her as “a product and symbol of the cultural and political times—doing the Bump along the corridors of the White House, donning a mood ring, chatting on her CB radio with the handle First Mama—a housewife who argued passionately for equal rights for women, a mother of four who mused about drugs, abortion and premarital sex aloud and without regret.” In 1975, in an interview with McCall’s magazine, Ford said that she was asked just about everything, except for how often she and the president had sex. “And if they’d asked me that I would have told them,” she said, adding that her response would be, “As often as possible.”

Ford was also instrumental in raising awareness of breast cancer and founded the Betty Ford Center after a battle with alcoholism. You definitely have to watch this PBS feature on Betty Ford – it’s one of the best and there are also some interviews with her children as well. Also see President Gerald R. Ford – 1913 – 2006 on Absolute Michigan.

The Detroit News reports that  public viewing of her casket will be held in the atrium of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum today from 7-11 PM and Thursday from 7-10 AM. Following a 2 PM service tomorrow, Ford will be buried beside President Ford on the Museum grounds.

You can see more photos by Marion S. Trikosko at the Library of Congress. This has always been one of my favorite pictures of a couple who obviously loved each other very deeply and were among the most real politicians we’ve had in modern times.

Library of Congress Call Number: LC-U9- 30765B-6A

I Can’t Believe He Said That

Can’t Believe He Said That, photo from the Dusty Diary

Over on the Dusty Diary, Laura writes that she would pay good money to know what the remark was is this unknown portrait.

At first I thought this was a wedding portrait. Now I think this is a family. All the guys, with the possible exception of the guy on the left, share a facial resemblance. There is a familial informality in the manner in which two of the men are grasping the chair backs. I’m guessing the person who made the remark in question is the tall guy in the center. Also suspecting that remark in question was a bit naughty. Woman on left is married… to whom? One of these gentlemen?

Also, older woman’s face is probably the single most beautiful thing I’ve seen this past week.

Click through to see the photo bigger and some details shots of their faces and definitely tune into the Dusty Diary for regular gems that Laura finds in the Yspilanti archives!