History – My Media Diary

Presidential Report Card from one Teacher’s Lifetime: LBJ to Trump

By Kevin Walsh | January 9, 2021 - 11:15 am | History

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Note: I actually wrote the following in the weeks following Donald Trump’s 2016 inauguration and it has sat in my draft bin ever since. I decided to shelve it and wanted to give some time for Trump’s presidency to actually have some history behind it, feeling that while I graded the new president low scores even after just one month, I had hopes they’d improve–I guess more of an early progress report than a semester grade. Following innumerable crises and jolts to our system, let alone in just the last 12 months an impeachment, a pandemic, nation-wide protests against inequity and finally the terrifying events at the capital on Wednesday January 6, 2021 I remembered to take another look at this post–as the nation was jolted into a Washington-version of a school shooting with our leaders hiding under furniture and behind barricaded doors. Perhaps the best summary of assessing a student I ever heard was… Read More… →

Day 28 – The Reichstag Fire, “Dangerous” Immigrants & Emergency Decrees

By Kevin Walsh | February 7, 2017 - 9:45 pm | History, Society

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“Just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!” Thus, in typical thin-skin, knee-jerk Twitter-ese, President Trump issues a Don Corleone “and that day may never come” warning in the wake of a court-ruling stalling his seven-country travel ban. Nothing makes people more willing to give up their rights than an emergency. And nothing primes the pump better for an emergency decree than a worst-case-scenario actually happening. Adolf Hitler didn’t take over Germany by force–he was elected chancellor, not dictator in 1932 and sworn in on January 30, 1933. He promised change, jobs for the working class and most importantly plenty of scapegoats to blame for losing WWI and the nation’s terrible economy. A 24-year-old out-of-work bricklayer provided Hitler his “sign from God.” Hitler hadn’t been in office for a month when the Reichstag was set fire, the guilty… Read More… →

Back to the Classroom, Slide Projectors, Mountains & Mole Hills

By Kevin Walsh | January 14, 2017 - 9:46 am | Childhood Memories, Education, Family Albums, History, Miscellaneous Life Stuff, Nostalgia, Photography, Society

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Four years ago, my intended formula for this blog was pretty simple–pick a form of media (TV show, movie, billboard, cat footprints) and let it take you down a path or two. But the last path I took was in August, before I returned to the high school classroom for my 26th year. Being in an office setting since 2012 certainly gave me more physical and creative energy for activities like blogging as well as producing a documentary series, but it also pulled me a bit away from some basic reality-check questions that I’ve always enjoyed from teenagers–beyond “Can you give me passing grade and a pass to go home?” The days following Election Day produced some poignant conversations for this English major turned video production teacher–with just a minor in US History. Q. How can the losing candidate can have 3 million more votes–and what the hell is an Electoral College? It’s certainly a… Read More… →

Cheers to the 19th Amendment–96 Years Ago Today!

By Bailey Sisoy Isgro | August 18, 2016 - 4:47 pm | History, Women

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Bailey Sisoy Isgro

Welcome to MMD’s newest contributor, Bailey Sisoy Isgro, owner of Detroit History Tours! August 18th should be a national holiday. We should make potato salad and grill hot-dogs. Fireworks should be loosed and kids should wear patriotically themed face paint. It’s the anniversary of the liberation and equalization of the largest disenfranchised group in the history of America. Women. On August 18th 1920 The 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote, was ratified into the U.S. Constitution. Ninety six years ago today, women in America earned the right to vote. The amendment was the culmination of more than 250 years of amazing, honorable, courageous suffragists who fought the injustice of being governed by officials they were unable to elect. Its two sections read simply: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account… Read More… →

Podcast: Inside the Detroit Blues Society

By Kevin Walsh | July 13, 2016 - 1:59 pm | History, Music, Podcasts

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Join host Pete Kalinski from Royal Oak’s Boo’s Music Bistro inside Mr. B’s Restaurant as he welcomes two of the city’s foremost fans and promoters of Detroit’s legendary blues legacy–President of the Detroit Blues Society, Steve Soviak and Vice President Tom McNab. It’s first meeting in 1985 began a multi-decade of transformations to increase public interest in the Society. Large-scale events included a number of indoor and outdoor concerts and school workshops. Increased membership and a more organized approach allowed the Society to embark on special projects. Educational programs became more formalized and in 1996 the Scarab Club Educational/Blues Heritage Series began. Each event featured a theme based on some aspect of the Detroit blues tradition. Pete, Steve and Tom discuss the non-profit’s innovations including Blues in the Schools and the Blues Challenge as the group continues to dedicate itself to the preservation, education, and advancement of the blues tradition as it relates to the Metro-Detroit area…. Read More… →

Defining the American Masses: The Common Man or Third-Graders without a Chaperone?

By Kevin Walsh | May 29, 2016 - 11:43 am | History, Movies, News, Society

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“You’ve reached group-sales for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. How may I help you?” “Hi there! Our third-graders are touring Manhattan and we thought we could bring them by tomorrow.” “Certainly.” “That’s great. This chaperoning is wearing us down so thought we’d drop them off in the morning, catch a show and a few beers and pick them up around 5 or so, if that’s okay” “Umm….Well, we need to have the kids chaperoned…because, you know, there’s a lot of priceless items…” “Thanks so much. We’ll be by at 10!” There aren’t too many teachers or directors of any respected institution that would permit this scenario. After all, it’s hard to take a selfie of you and Van Gogh if there’s some kid drawing horns sticking out of the straw hat. But lately, we’re okay with our other famously innovative institution being taken over by the kids—namely our country. Perhaps… Read More… →

The $10 Voter-Apathy Tax: Avoiding Lead-Poisoning & Raising $1 Billion for Michigan

By Kevin Walsh | January 15, 2016 - 9:30 am | Culture, History, News, Society

My first job was supposed to be as a dishwasher–until my buddy heard me mention I was applying for the job and got there an hour before me. I ended up becoming the kitchen slopboy/custodian–mopping the basement and scraping out the grease under the prep table after the health department again threatened to shut down the swanky Pagoda. Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen. Place your bets… The place is long-gone but I still have that first green pay-stub reflecting my 9 hours that July 1979–for $3 an hour. I remember looking at the top right and seeing $27.00 “gross pay” (pretty accurate considering the nasty work). Then at the bottom was “net pay” for six bucks less. It was my first non-paper route payday so after I cashed the check, I asked my dad who had ripped me off. “Well,” he said pointing out the little boxes, “that’s the federal tax, that’s the state tax… Read More… →

From Detroit to the Bulge: Priceless Snapshots of One Soldier’s Journey Across Europe

By Kevin Walsh | January 5, 2016 - 4:53 pm | Family Albums, History, Photography

Before he was selected in WWII’s first draft for 18 year-olds, Detroit’s Lawrence Dupuis didn’t know the value of being color-blind. “They would take me up in the aircraft and I could detect where the landscape had been disturbed and camouflage was laid down.” His cartooning skills were even put to use, although someone else would have to color the wall-sized illustration below: “This drawing was painted on the stage of the Great Dunmow Airport Building that was to be used as an all-purpose room by the 8th Air Force who were to take over the field. They sent over a sergeant to check the work which he would color later. I don’t remember how I got involved but I do remember spending my nights after supper–for a month!” “I got called down to the chiefs one day and he informed me that I was to go to London to be a part… Read More… →

The Right to Bear Left: 2nd Amendment Mad-Libs, Replacing Cars for Guns

By Kevin Walsh | January 4, 2016 - 5:23 pm | Culture, History, Life Stuff..., News, Society

What if, under an old desk in James Madison’s study, the following were found scribbled on the back-side of the Second Amendment–the words in bold written into blank spots like a Mad Libs page… Amendment 2.5: A well-regulated Transportation System, being necessary to the mobility of a free State, the right of the people to keep and conduct Transportation Devices, shall not be infringed. After all, the right to transport yourself is a pretty inalienable right, too, isn’t it? Eisenhower saw the immediate benefit of the German autobahn–allowing quick movement of Hitler’s troops across WWII. But in addition to Cold War defense, Eisenhower also saw the expressways as a vital route for emergency evacuation–all under strict central government oversight. After all, you wouldn’t want your best friend deciding how much weight an overpass can bear, would you? It’s pretty much accepted that some things are better off in the hands of Big Brother. Madison and Jefferson pushed forward… Read More… →

“Spotlight” on America’s Conscience: The Church, Jameis Winston & Refugees

By Kevin Walsh | November 25, 2015 - 2:18 pm | History, Movies, News

“It takes a village to raise them. It takes a village to abuse them. That’s the truth of it.” –Spotlight‘s Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci) Michael Keaton’s character, Walter “Robbie” Robinson, in the newly-released Spotlight, is seeking Boston Globe confirmation of the Archdiocese cover-up for 70 priests involved in child molestation. He passes the list to his longtime friend and attorney, “We all knew something was going on.” His friend kicks him out of his house and then follows Robbie into the street and asks him why he didn’t do anything–if he knew something was going on. Robbie pauses and can only say, “I don’t know.” Spotlight’s portrayal of the 2001 investigation by the Globe’s Spotlight unit (Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Brian d’Arcy James) is an excellent snapshot of an entire city looking the other way. When a representative of a survivor’s group brings his box of evidence to the Globe office… Read More… →

New Podcast: “Detroit in World War II” with Author Greg Sumner

By Kevin Walsh | October 21, 2015 - 6:18 pm | Books, History, Nostalgia, Podcasts

Note: This podcast was co-produced with Digging Detroit and can also be found at this link. A look inside the “Arsenal of Democracy” as Professor Gregory Sumner of University of Detroit Mercy joins Digging Detroit’s Thomas J. Reed Jr. and Detroit History Tours‘ Bailey Sisoy Isgro at Detroit’s historic Abick’s Bar. Sumner previews his upcoming book-signing, Detroit in WWII, at Abick’s on November 10, 2015. Thanks to our Abick’s host, Eric and Kit, we visit with Prof. Sumner in the cigar room–formerly a barber shop. Amazing eats was provided once again by Andy Surowiec of Smokin’ Pole BBQ! Topics include: Advantages of being an Hoosier looking in at Detroit Coming out of isolationism with the $1 men and patriotism of Joe Louis and Edsel Ford Warren Tanks and Willow Run–designed by the son of a German rabbi Soldier Hank Greenberg’s home run–“hitting one against Hitler” The third shift–and loosening of conventions for women and children Female pay disparity greater… Read More… →

New Podcast: Archivists Roundtable at Historic Abick’s Bar in Detroit

By Kevin Walsh | August 7, 2015 - 3:03 pm | History, Podcasts

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What to keep, what to throw away? The eternal question for the archivist. In a partnership with Digging Detroit, we take our podcast on the road and chat with some of Michigan’s top historical archivists in a roundtable discussion at historic Abick’s Bar on their unusual world–sometimes spent in dusty shelves and digging through dark basements and mysterious attics–but often waiting for you at the reference desk. They’ll share some familiar requests, general misconceptions, surprise treasures and offer some great advice for everyone on preserving documents, photographs and memories for posterity. Recorded August 4, 2015 at Abick’s Bar & Grill Host Pete Kalinski: Digging Detroit Host/Producer Guests: Rebecca Bizonet: Oral History Project Archivists at The Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University Andrea Gietzen: Archivists at the Archives of Michigan, Michigan Historical Center Thomas J. Reed, Jr. Digging Detroit Host/Producer Robbie Terman: Director of the Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives, The Jewish… Read More… →

Which America is Yours? A Proposed Four-Party Hogwarts Government

By Kevin Walsh | February 10, 2015 - 10:59 pm | Books, History, Society

Maybe Washington could do with a leach or two… If you were sick in ancient Greece your body’s chemicals were simply off-kilter–a bad mix of the four humours: blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile… There are four seasons (for now), four legs on a chair and four balls for a free base–but only two parties running the country. Have you had much luck on a two-legged stool lately? Wouldn’t it be great if, like mood rings, we could glance at someone’s wardrobe and know who we’re about to ask to babysit your kid? The Scots had it right–you could spot an enemy clansman running up the heath by the pattern of his kilt. Even in the Harry Potter series, my own kids walked around the house with Griffindor’s gold-and-red scarves. Now if our congress were forced to wear such identifiers from their lobbyists, it might be easier come election day. Men from Mars, Women from Venus, Dogs… Read More… →

The Consolidated States of America

By Steve Mitzel | January 16, 2015 - 10:39 am | Comedy, Corporations, Culture, Entertainment, Family, History, Life Stuff..., Miscellaneous Life Stuff, News, Society

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This past summer the kids and I took our annual trip to the beach in North Carolina from Connecticut. We decided to play the old license plate game along the way. Of course, the kids added a new media twist to it using an app. As we ventured down the east coast and tracked our states we started to question why there were so many states. Why was Rhode Island an actual state? No offense the Dakotas, you are awfully small. 3 teenagers and a preteen quickly reeducated me in the history of the United States, the colonies and how we came to be. The capitalist and cost optimizer in me then challenged them with new thinking. What if you had to start over today in 2014? Would you have this many states and if so, why, and if not, what would you do. As we checked the list of… Read More… →

New Podcast: Digging Detroit – Dodge, Detroit & Women in Industry

By Kevin Walsh | January 11, 2015 - 3:33 pm | Advertising, History, Nostalgia, Podcasts

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Digging Detroit’s Tom Reed and Pete Kalinski discuss the early days of Detroit’s automotive history with historians Bailey Sisoy Isgro and Madelyn Rzadkowolski. Topics include: Advertising’s current portrayal of the Dodge Brothers Dodge’s famous dependability—and fix-it-yourself car kits General Patton and the Dodge military contract Women and Detroit’s cigar industry as a vehicle for entry into the workforce (and why Detroit was a cigar center) Using campaigns of conscience to get women into the workforce during WWI Detroit’s African American 600% population boom between 1910-1920 Detroit as the “Paris of the Midwest” More campaigns of conscience to force women out of the workplace after WWII Dodge’s role in the arsenal of democracy Fear of women earning too much–and gaining political clout) Promoting the myth of the non-communist “nuclear family” in the nuclear age For more information on the Dodge Brothers go to MeadowbrookHall.org. For more information on Bailey’s Detroit History Tours go to… Read More… →

An Apology to My Daughters, Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan Among Others…

By Deb | December 18, 2014 - 11:49 am | History, Life Stuff..., News, Society

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As I was reading a magazine today I turned the page to an article about Congress’s First Black Female Republican and I sat there stunned for a few moments. How could this be? I was honestly struck dumb with the realization that this was a milestone that was just NOW happening in the year 2014? Hadn’t it happened sooner? I had assumed that we had all sorts of women of every color and race populating the corridors in Washington DC. I was truly stunned that this was an event to celebrate in the year 2014. Where have the last 30 years gone? I was raised with the idea that I as a woman could do anything. I sat down in front of the TV back in the 70’s when Bobby Riggs and Billy Jean King battled it out on the tennis courts. I celebrated when Billy Jean smashed the ball… Read More… →

When Opponents Weren’t Enemies: Michigan’s Harry Kelly and G. Mennen Williams–Politically Opposed, Mutually Respectful

By Kevin Walsh | November 11, 2014 - 5:13 pm | Advertising, History, News

It was once Armistice Day–in recognition of the end of the Great War, begun 100 years ago with an assassination in Sarajevo and ending with the loss of millions of lives, the restructuring of the world’s balance of power and with heavy reparation requirements on the defeated paving a certain path to another world war 25 years later. Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and George Marshall refused to let history repeat itself in 1945 and created a plan to rebuild former foes into allies—not the humiliated vanquished whose death we might celebrate. The GI Bill would create the foundation of a new middle class—turning returning soldiers into college graduates. Today we thank our veterans for their service but do we really follow the lead of “the greatest generation?” Opponents, Not Enemies One week away from our biannual trench warfare of election ads, millions of dollars are spent and hundreds of characters assassinated… Read More… →

Ken Burns-on-a-Shoestring: Creating Buzz to Launch Mini-Doc “Digging Detroit”

By Kevin Walsh | November 1, 2014 - 8:07 am | Culture, Education, History, News, Nostalgia, Social Media, Websites, YouTube

“The Joe,” the battleship-gray windowless box on the Detroit River, is slated for 2017 demolition, making way for high-rise condos, a hotel and shopping as part of a pay-back to creditors owed $1 billion. For a few months in-between wrecking-ball and ground-breaking, Detroiters will once again have an unobstructed view of the river at the corner of Fort and 3rd–as if looking back in time and seeing the Purple Gang hijack another bootlegger at the docks, before moving its haul up the street to the speakeasy beside the church. And that same little brick building on the left will probably still be standing when the condos are torn down in 60 years–perhaps making way for the next home for the Wings. When the 1974 picture above was taken, I was probably immersed in Channel 50’s after-school reruns of Get Smart, Gilligan’s Island or deeper in the way-back machine, The Three Stooges and The Little Rascals. Inevitably I’d have to endure the “Let’s put on a show” moment as Alfalfa or Darla would… Read More… →

Perhaps “Compromise” and “Politics” Can Coexist? Candidate Fishman Switches Sides and Hopes So

By Kevin Walsh | July 1, 2014 - 8:13 pm | Culture, Education, History, Legal, News, Podcasts, Society

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At first, term limits made sense. At first, letting the giant wooden horse into the gates of Troy made sense, too. For many, the possibility of voting for a Democrat who was a Republican nine months ago makes less sense. “We’ve always had term limits; they’re called elections,” joked retiring US Republican Congressman, William S. Broomfield in 1996 to me when he was being inducted into the Royal Oak Dondero High School Hall of Fame. Michigan had just voted to only allow its state elected officials a few terms under the design that it would eliminate “career politicians.” Instead we have legislative musical chairs with no one staying in one job long enough to make any decisions that have any impact beyond six years. Like short-lived mayflies, state reps exist just three terms then they move on to the next election—maybe a state senate seat, sheriff, mayoral race or the… Read More… →

New Podcast: Not Your Father’s GOP – New Democrat Ryan Fishman, New Try for Michigan State Senate

By Kevin Walsh | June 30, 2014 - 11:02 pm | Culture, Education, History, Legal, Society

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What does it take to drive someone away from his own party? Ronald Reagan, after all, left the Democrats in 1962 after being a successful union leader for years. Ryan Fishman decided last September to run for his term-limited Michigan state senate district after a series of his op-ed articles convinced others to convince Ryan that he should leave the GOP and take a shot at a traditionally right-leaning district. Ryan and Kevin discuss: – Difficulties (or not, really) in switching parties – Reagan Republicans and Reagan Democrats – The bad business logic of Right to Work, removing unions and poor short-sighted infrastructures – Door-Knocking and Lawn Signs – Being under 30 and running for office – Problem with planning for just 7 of 9 innings