Ten years ago, the Library of Michigan and the Archives of Michigan partnered to provide online access to over a million historical records. What began as SeekingMichigan.org is now Michiganology, a central project of the Michigan History Center. Their mission is to “foster curiosity, enjoyment and inspiration rooted in Michigan’s stories.”
Since then, they have continued to digitize and upload additional documents and create streamlined indexes, allowing visitors to search across millions of historical records. They’ve also written informative stories about Michigan history, ranging from educational materials for children to thorough accounts of complex events.
Explore these different sections to get a rich portrait of Michigan’s past.
Stories
Features articles from the History Center about interesting finds in the archives. The “Discoveries in the Archives” section offers fascinating insights into the minutiae of Michigan’s history. The “Michigania” section is designed for elementary school children and intended to assist Michigan educators in teaching history.
Learn
Contains links to biographies, teacher resources and a series of articles called “Defining Michigan,” written for students and teachers, as well as additional links to curated sets of primary sources, including historical maps, indigenous lithographs and war letters.
Research
Searchable archives with death certificates, historical state census data, surveyor field notebooks and maps, the Michigan History Center’s photograph collection and the Archives of Michigan map collection.
The stories and articles featured on Michiganology are informative, each offering a concise and tightly focused overview of a specific little piece of Michigan’s history. The breadth and depth of the available information may seem overwhelming, but with a little practice and dedication, a wealth of it can be found here.
Students and adults with a casual interest can enjoy the insights provided by the stories the staff has curated, and those who wish to may find their own stories among the millions of primary documents in the archives. Whatever your level of interest, you owe it to yourself to learn a little more about Michigan’s rich history by exploring this treasure trove.
For even more Michigan history, check out the CMU Clarke Historical Library website, featuring local newspaper archives that span many decades, including the Canton Observer. You could also visit one of Southeast Michigan’s many excellent history museums, or check out some books from the 977.4 section in our nonfiction collection.
We also have a portion of our Reference collection dedicated to Michigan history, which you can use freely while visiting the library.
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