{"id":2793,"date":"2020-02-23T01:31:44","date_gmt":"2020-02-22T22:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/?p=2793"},"modified":"2020-02-23T01:31:44","modified_gmt":"2020-02-22T22:31:44","slug":"inside-the-effort-to-preserve-dearborns-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/inside-the-effort-to-preserve-dearborns-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the effort to preserve Dearborn\u2019s History"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Simon Albaugh – YAN- Hamtramck<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

In a long hallway of filing cabinets and records that stretch multiple rooms, an army of volunteers catalogs the millions of photos, documents, maps and artifacts that comprise the vast collection of Dearborn\u2019s Historical Museum.
\nSpanning multiple buildings and a full-time effort to organize, it\u2019s the most important collection of Dearborn\u2019s history.
\nOne of the Museum\u2019s staff, the Dearborn Historical Museum\u2019s Archivist, Mason Christensen, dons white gloves and with a gentle grip pulls a photo from one of the filing cabinets. \u201cIt\u2019s a personal favorite of mine, this image,\u201d Christensen says.
\nThe photo he pulls out is a bearded man posing on his horse.
\n\u201cWhat this is here is the original Dearborn High School,\u201d Christenson says. \u201cThis guy\u2019s a retired Veteran and he lost an arm due to an accident. But he served as the Dearborn Public Schools Janitor in the 1890s.\u201d
\nDearborn has a long and expansive history. Stretching back to the 1830s, the town was a military base used for defending the budding Michigan territory from the threat of a British Invasion. The fort stretched along what is now Downtown West Dearborn. In fact, the Historical Museum\u2019s main building is the very same one used to store the Fort\u2019s gunpowder.
\nMason said there were never any invasions from a British-Canadian Military. Instead, the Fort was used for battles with Native Americans when the United States violently expanded West. As the buildings aged and changed purposes, the gunpowder storage became a farmhouse before being donated to the Museum.
\nThroughout its history, Dearborn\u2019s borders had a strange way of shifting and growing. What used to be the Fordson and Greenfield communities was swallowed by an awkward expansion that left town leadership in flux.
\nDespite the changes, all of Wayne County participates in a broader regional history. The artifacts, research and even the events are shared among the major historical institutions throughout the area. The Detroit Historical Museum, Henry Ford Museum and even the Arab American National Museum have all collaborated with the Dearborn Historical Museum.
\n\u201cWe love to be more involved with local institutions,\u201d says Assistant Chief Curator Paul Talpos. \u201cWe love finding ways of collaborating and loaning items to each other or building exhibits and programs together.\u201d
\nIn a way, they\u2019re all tied together by the common goal of presenting history to those curious about the places where they live. And according to Mason Christensen, there\u2019s something for everyone to find a connection with, like the open archives that can be accessed by anyone who\u2019s wondering about their city\u2019s history.
\nBecause Dearborn\u2019s history had a major impact on the region as a whole. Henry Ford, the manufacturing behemoth who brought most of America into the automobile age, was born in Dearborn. His factories attracted people from all around the world for high-paying jobs.
\nPeople from as far away as Lebanon arrived to work in Ford\u2019s factories. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why the first Mosque in the United States was established in Highland Park,\u201d Christensen said. But when plants closed, the Lebanese population moved to be near Dearborn\u2019s Rouge Plant, establishing what would become the most notable Arab-American centers in the United States.
\nHowever the museum has shifted its focus in the past few years. Looking for a better relationship with the city, Dearborn Historical Museum has amped-up its outreach to make the audiences know that this is their museum.
\n\u201cOur goal as a museum and as a staff is always to improve our relationship and reach out to new audiences,\u201d Loren Harvey said. \u201cSo I think that we\u2019re definitely trying to tell stories of people that haven\u2019t been told before.\u201d
\nBut at the beginning of each day, the museum\u2019s first job is to present the history. Whether it\u2019s for the best or for the worse. \u201cWe try to be open,\u201d Christensen said. \u201cYou know, every city has ugly aspects. But part of a city is helping people figure out what the city\u2019s problems are.\u201d
\nThe people of Dearborn have a museum that\u2019s constantly evolving. From the ongoing renovations to create a historically-accurate reconstruction of the farmhouse that the museum once was, to the expansive collection of objects. This is all of Dearborn\u2019s history.
\n\u201cThe broader Dearborn is here because of our history,\u201d said Curator Jack Tate. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to show. How we got where we are. What are the circumstances that brought us where we are today. All this put together, that\u2019s what Dearborn is today.\u201d<\/p>\n

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