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Event

Beaver Island Museum Week, 1987

Also Museum Week 1987 · Sesquicentennial Museum Week

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

TypeEvent
Dates1987-07-13 – 1987-07-18
WithinBeaver Island
ErasModern era
On this page
Event
Dates
1987-07-13 – 1987-07-18
Kind
Celebration
Where
Mormon Print Shop
Participants
Shirley Gladish (director) · Edward Palmer (musician)
Carried out by
Beaver Island Historical Society
Followed by
Beaver Island Museum Week, 1988
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
celebrationcommunityheritageexhibition
Within
Beaver Island

Summary

The 1987 Beaver Island Museum Week ran July 13-18, tied to Michigan’s sesquicentennial. The October annual meeting reported total profits of $990 and called Music on the Porch and the square dance great successes, though house tours were poorly attended that year.

Program

A square dance called by Glen Hendrix, styled the “Sesquicentennial Dance”; rose bushes collected from old island farm sites planted behind the Print Shop as a sesquicentennial project; a planned historical marker for the “old treaty tree” near the post office; a lecture by Steve Harell contrasting island and mainland life, 1856-73; house tours; a Pet Show; Music on the Porch; and a closing dance on Saturday, July 18, at which musician Ed Palmer donated his performance fee. Board discussion in February had also floated church-history and Michigan-song themes tied to the sesquicentennial.

Evidence limits

The February and June board minutes describe plans and proposals (the tall ships possibly stopping at the island, a church-history exhibit) that are not independently confirmed as having occurred; the October recap reports only on the events it specifically names (house tours, Music on the Porch, square dancing, the Pet Show, the dance). No detailed day-by-day program survives comparable to 1984’s or 1985’s published calendars.

Open questions

  • Did the tall-ships visit, proposed in June 1987 board minutes, ever materialize during Museum Week itself?
  • Was Steve Harell’s lecture on 1856-73 island/mainland contrasts delivered as planned? The October recap does not mention it by name.

See also

Sources

  1. Discusses tying the 1987 week to the Michigan Sesquicentennial and debates whether Museum Week is worth the volunteer effort for the funds it raises. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1987-02_Beaver-Beacon
  2. The held eighteen-page February issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the Historical Society minutes.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1987-02_Beaver-Beacon
  3. The July calendar grid marks "Museum Week-----" beginning Monday, July 13, and a "Dance for Historical Society" on Saturday, July 18. June board minutes describe plans for a square dance called by Glen Hendrix, sesquicentennial-themed rose plantings behind the Print Shop from old island farm sites, a historical marker for the "old treaty tree," and a lecture by Steve Harell on the contrast between island and mainland life, 1856-73. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1987-07_Beaver-Beacon
  4. The held twelve-page July issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the Museum Week calendar and Historical Society minutes.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1987-07_Beaver-Beacon
  5. Ann Broder reported "everything was well attended except the house tours"; Music on the Porch and square dancing "were both great successes," the Pet Show was popular with children, and Ed Palmer donated his musician's fee for the dance. Total profits were $990. Sets 1988's dates as July 18-23. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1987-10_Beaver-Beacon
  6. The held eleven-page combined August–September and October–November issue PDF is paired with the canonical OCR source and confirms the Museum Week annual-meeting recap.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1987-10_Beaver-Beacon

Added 3 August 2026 · revised 4 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Beaver Island Museum Week, 1987”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/beaver-island-museum-week-1987/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Island Historical Society board minutes, Beaver Beacon, February 1987. (and 5 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-04. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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