In 1975, I was a 17-year-old Howell High School junior. It was the year that all across America, people were gearing up to celebrate the nation’s Bicentennial, 200 years of being a country. Nationwide celebrations were slated to culminate around July 1976, and every citizen was encouraged to get on board the 200th USA birthday party train.
The Bicentennial craze was thriving in Howell, due mostly to a pivotal group of four local history and patriotism buffs who came together to form the Howell Bicentennial Committee. Chairman was Dave Jaehnig, editor of our local newspaper, the Livingston County Press (LCP); vice chair was Mike Hagman, local service station owner, who was born and raised in Howell and who had a deep, patriotic love for his community; treasurer was Dennis Mowrey, president of the Jaycees, a young professionals’ community service group; and secretary was my mom, Arlene Lamoreaux, housewife and mother of seven children.
Ideas for projects to best celebrate this Bicentennial abounded at the inaugural meeting of the committee, which encouraged individuals and organizations alike to get involved and submit ideas.
Dave Jaehnig got the ball rolling the year before by starting the 5th Michigan Regiment Band, a re-creation of a Civil War band. Other ideas to celebrate our nation’s 200th birthday included a parade; an old-fashioned town picnic; and contests for best Bicentennial emblem, flag and essay.
The one idea that took off and flew higher than all others was the Howell Bicentennial History Book, the brainchild of my mom, a history lover and avid reader.
My mom loved James Michner’s book, “Centennial,” published in 1974. Based on extensive geographical and historical research, Mitchner supposed a life for the people of the fictional town of Centennial that spanned 200 years.
I believe reading this book planted a seed in my mom’s head for the perfect Howell Bicentennial project. She thought that getting the town’s people to write their own history in their own words would be a unique and long-lasting project, different from anything that had been proposed.
There have been history books written about the Howell area, but they were written and compiled by local historians. My mom’s idea was that this Bicentennial book be written in peoples’ own words, a living history of sorts. Her premise was: who better to write a history of Howell than the people of Howell themselves who’ve lived it?
This book would be a gift that the people of Howell would be giving not only to themselves, but to their children and descendants.
Having just moved our family to Howell from Detroit in July 1972, my mom was a relative newcomer. She knew she needed help to get her idea heard and also to pull the project off. She went to her favorite gas station, Mike Hagman’s Mobil, and while Mike was servicing her car — which back then meant pumping your gas and cleaning your windshield — she pitched her book idea and he loved it.
At the following Howell Bicentennial Committee’s meeting, held at the recreation center, my mom and Mike Hagman pitched the history book idea. The group thought the premise of this project was sound, that it would be a gift that would outlast the Bicentennial celebration, and which had the potential of getting the whole town involved.
My mom went on to explain the plan on how to implement the project in an organized and expedient manner. She and Mike Hagman would be co-chairs of the history book. They would first define the chapters of the book and appoint coordinators for each. Under the coordinators there would be researchers, interviewers and workers. Dave Jaehnig offered the LCP as a resource for typesetting and getting the book to print.
This was now late winter of 1975, and for the next month, the Bicentennial History Book Committee would meet at our house, where my mom would always serve some homemade dessert with coffee (or something stronger). I believe she used this time to pick the brains of the most knowledgeable town history lovers, and coerce them to get on board with this project.
One evening I arrived home to find a virtual who’s who of Howell historians in the living room, including Cliff Heller, owner of Heller’s flowers and former mayor of Howell, and Duane Zemper, local photographer and keeper of hundreds of historical photos. Of course Mike Hagman and Dennis Mowrey were there, too.
By the end of the month, the chapters of the book had been decided, and the coordinators selected. It was time for the next step.
One of the integral pieces of the project coming together was the backing of the power of the local newspaper. This gave the committee almost unfettered access to publicize the project through every phase. On May 14, 1975, the LCP ran a front-page article announcing the kickoff of the history book under the headline, “The town that wrote its own history.” The article included a coupon for people to fill out if they wanted to help.
The next article on May 21, 1975 — “Response quickens to Howell history book” — had many quotes from my mom encouraging people to get involved. It also contained a personal remembrance written by a local resident in their own words, which my mom described as “pleasant, folksy and neighborly, exactly what is needed.”
My mom got folks on board by ensuring them they did not need to be a writer: “There (will) be plenty of help for all stories to be published in this book, like an interviewer could come to your home to help older citizens or people who have trouble seeing. If you have trouble getting started, just start by saying ‘I remember when.’” That assurance ended with my mom’s name and our home phone number.
Honestly, up to this point, I really didn’t pay much attention to my mom’s work with the Bicentennial Committee and the Howell history book. I was in the 5th Michigan Regiment band, but that’s as far as my patriotic involvement went; after all, I was a 17-year-old high school girl, more concerned about whether I would be asked to prom or get to borrow the car.
That changed when the LCP printed our home phone number; our phone didn’t stop ringing for the next five months. I would dash to answer it, hoping it was my future prom date or an invite to some cool party, only to hear a usually very old voice on the other end saying, “ I remember when…” I would wait until they took a breath before saying, “You want my mom.” I’d set the phone down and yell for my mom, who was usually folding clothes or doing something else to keep the family ship sailing while juggling the book.
I remember her listening attentively to every person who called, encouraging them to write their story down, like they had just told it to her.
Besides the continual newspaper promotion of the book, my mom was on local radio station WHMI at least twice. WHMI had an interview show from 1-3 p.m. Fridays called “The Afternoon Club.” The first appearance she had was with Mike Hagman on May 23, 1975; the second was with Duane Zemper in the fall of 1975.
I am fortunate to have four hours of audio tapes of those programs in my possession; my father, Richard Lamoreaux, was involved in TV and radio most of his career and, luckily for me, he saw the value in taping these shows.
How lovely it is to hear my mom’s voice touting a project that she absolutely loved and about which she was so passionate.
The Bicentennial History Book Committee set a cutoff date of Sept. 1 to receive materials. This would give time for typesetting and getting the book ready for publication in the hopes of selling first editions by Christmastime. A printer was selected and the price for the book was set. A presale coupon, which required a check or money order, was printed in the LCP, which meant the books were paid for before they went to the printers.
The mail-order coupons flooded in. The first printing distributed for Christmas 1975 was 1,500 books. Meanwhile, the demand was high for a second printing, which was delivered in April 1976, with another 1,050 books sold.
The History Book Committee also put out a pictorial edition, combining the original book, a few updates and many historical photographs. This combined history and photo supplement edition sold 600 copies, bringing the total of Howell Bicentennial History Books sold to roughly 3,150. It’s important to keep in mind that the population of Howell in 1975 was approximately 6,000, and the committee pulled off this publishing miracle in less than a year, with no computers, internet or cellphones.
A time capsule was buried on the lawn of the Howell Carnegie District Library, to be opened at the Tri-Centennial celebration, and a check for $1,000 went to the City of Howell to be deposited in an interest bearing account to fund the city’s celebration.
The one project I am most proud of is the establishment of the Howell Carnegie Library Archives, located in the library. It was the intent of the Howell Bicentennial Committee to allocate the $9,000 left from the sale of the books toward finding a location to house all the information collected, and giving the material a safe home for use by local historians.
It seems only natural that the benefit of the people writing their own history book would be a place where they could come to research Howell history; this is where I find myself, 50 years later, doing just that.
This story now comes full circle for my indomitably spirited mom. With her love of reading and history, this story for her started and ended in that same library. My mom would be so proud.
Click here for more information on the event.
