Interested in learning more about the history of your home?  Maybe another historic building?  Do you know where to go or what to look for?  When did my house get built?

This program will review a number of primary and secondary sources that can help you identify who originally owned the land, the age of the house and more about the people who have lived there.  The examples will be focused on the Lansing area, but the research strategies and principles can be applied to any geographic area.

Jill Arnold, Archivist for the Archives of Michigan at the Michigan History Center, will present information on how to go about researching your home’s history.  Jill works to engage a variety of audiences with Seeking Michigan (http://seekingmichigan.org/) the online platform of the Archives of Michigan.  She earned a Master of Science in Information with a specialization in Library and Information Science, as well as Archives and Records Management from the University of Michigan.

The Tecumseh Area Historical Society and the HIstorical Society of Clinton are co-sponsoring this program which will be held at the Tecumseh Museum.  .

Get ready for the holidays in Tecumseh!  Check out our fabulous stores with festive flair.  And make a stop at the museum to see our holiday finery!

We’ve got several historical books that will fill your last minute gift giving.

We’ll be open on Friday, November 9 from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and again on Saturday, November 10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

All Members Welcomed and Encouraged to Attend the Executive Board Meetings starting at 7 p.m. at the museum and held on the second Thursday of each month, except as follows:

April Meeting is General Membership Meeting and election of board members held Tuesday, April 10, 2018.

In July, due to a program on Thursday, the meeting will take place on Tuesday, July 10th.

The holidays warmth is shown in the homes of Tecumseh, with special homes to be featured in the 2018 Candlelight Home Tour to be held on Friday December 7th and Saturday December 8th from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.  Tickets will be on sale in advance at local business locations, and during the night of the tour at the Tecumseh Historical Museum and house locations.  Price of tickets yet to be determined.

The holidays warmth is shown in the homes of Tecumseh, with special homes to be featured in the 2018 Candlelight Home Tour to be held on Friday December 7th and Saturday December 8th from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.  Tickets will be on sale in advance at local business locations, and during the night of the tour at the Tecumseh Historical Museum and house locations.  Price of tickets yet to be determined.

The annual holiday home tour will be taking place during the Christmas in the Village events on Saturday, December 8th.  This afternoon event will feature several homes where docents and owners will meet and greet you and welcome you into the homes to see these historic treasures.

Small fee to be charged.  Tickets available in advance from local Clinton businesses or at the start of the tours at the Smith Kimball Community Center where one of the Historical Society members will provide you with your program booklet which includes a map of where the homes are located.

All Members Welcomed and Encouraged to Attend the Executive Board Meetings starting at 7 p.m. at the museum and held on the second Thursday of each month, except as follows:

April Meeting is General Membership Meeting and election of board members held Tuesday, April 10, 2018.

In July, due to a program on Thursday, the meeting will take place on Tuesday, July 10th.

All Members Welcomed and Encouraged to Attend the Executive Board Meetings starting at 7 p.m. at the museum and held on the second Thursday of each month, except as follows:

April Meeting is General Membership Meeting and election of board members held Tuesday, April 10, 2018.

In July, due to a program on Thursday, the meeting will take place on Tuesday, July 10th.

Join in the May Day Celebration!  Order your May Day Baskets to be delivered to neighbors, friends, co-workers, or that special someone!  Special Delivery options or pick up the basket at the museum!  See our May Day Basket under the Events page for all the details and form.  You can also call the office or email us an order.

With a long and varied history dating back to before the Druids of the British Isles and the Romans, the most common acceptance of May Day is the welcoming in a change of the season–winter to spring.  The Romans celebration of Floralia, a devotion to their goddess of flowers, combined with the British celebration of Beltane, a festival between the light and dark periods of the year, another addition to this event was the maypole.  Tracing back to Medieval times, villagers would enter the woods to find a tree that would be cleaned and set up in the village centers to dance around as part of a fertility ritual.  However in the United States, May Day celebrations were discouraged by the Puritans. The May Basket, during the 19th and 20th century instead was celebrated, and were created with flowers, candies, and other treats and hung on the doors of friends, neighbors and loved ones on May 1st.

In an attempt to end inhumane working conditions in the United States, May Day is associated with the labor rights strike that began with the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions, later known as the American Federation of Labor, who held a convention in Chicago in 1884, proclaiming “eight hours shall constitute a legal day’s labor from and after May 1, 1886.”  However, strikes, demonstrations and protests in 1886, along with prison and death sentences, hanging, suicide in America, and riots in the socialist and labor parties of Europe marred the history of May Day.  While recognized in many European countries, this labor event is ironically rarely recognized in the United States, and in President Grover Cleveland moved the US celebration of Labor Day to the first Monday in September.  President Dwight Eisenhower, in 1958, declared May 1st as “Law Day” celebrating this aspect in the creation of the United States.

At the Tecumseh Museum, we want you to enjoy May 1st as the celebration of spring time with our “May Basket” filled with goodies. Contact us with your order and surprise someone special or enjoy the basket for yourself.  Happy May Day!