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Organization

Beaver Island Historical Society

Also Beaver Island Historical Society of Michigan · BIHS

Draft — sources verified, prose evolving

Locator map: Beaver Island highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago
Within Beaver IslandLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.
TypeOrganization
Founded1955
Coordinates45.7462° N, 85.5207° WGoogle MapsDownload KML
WithinBeaver Island
ErasModern era
On this page
Locator map: Beaver Island highlighted within the Beaver Island archipelago
Within Beaver IslandLocator plate © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0); depths NOAA; names USGS GNIS. How the plates are drawn.
Museum exhibit inside the Mormon Print Shop, St. James (2013)
Organization
Founded
1955
Founded by
R. P. Hoffman · A. J. Roy, Sr.
Coordinates
45.7462° N, 85.5207° WGoogle MapsDownload KML
Eras
Modern era
Concepts
heritagehistoriographycommunicationcommunity
Within
Beaver Island
Media
Museum exhibit inside the Mormon Print Shop, St. James (2013)

Summary

The Beaver Island Historical Society (legally, Beaver Island Historical Society of Michigan) is the nonprofit organization that collects, preserves and presents Beaver Island’s history. Contemporary sources disagree on when it began: a September 1955 Beaver Beacon names a founding board and describes its formation, while the Society’s own nonprofit registration, a 1980 newspaper feature and its current self-description all instead date its founding to 1957. It operates the Mormon Print Shop Museum and Marine Museum, and maintains two further historic sites, Protar’s House and Heritage Park. Since 1976 it has published the multi-volume Journal of Beaver Island History, and since 2024 it has also owned and published the modern Northern Islander newspaper and the Beaver Beacon.

History

Founding, contested (1955-1961)

The September 1955 Beaver Beacon reported that R. P. Hoffman and A. J. Roy had purchased the Old Mormon Print Shop and, “with the cooperation of the Beaver Island Civic Association,” organized the Historical Society.1 Temporary committees ran the organization until a membership drive could be launched, and collection canisters for a Print Shop restoration fund were placed “at all business places on the Island.” The founding board named Hoffman president; Dr. H. F. Vail vice president; Vera Wogan – named the following year as Mrs. Walter Wogan, wife of St. James contractor Walter Wojan – secretary-treasurer; and Roy, Jewell Gillespie, Lawrence Malley and attorney Dave Wilson as members, with separate research, membership, publicity and public-relations committees on which A. J. and Mable Roy both served. An early group of “Historical Society Organizers” toured Protar’s house that same month, guided by Pat Bonner.

The print shop’s purchase is independently reported by the Charlevoix Courier of June 27, 1957: the building where Strang’s Northern Islander had once been printed “was about to be razed two years ago” – about 1955 – when Roy and Hoffman bought it privately to save it.2 The Beaver Island Civic Association then gave $500 toward the Society’s own purchase of the building from the two men, financed by a $2,000 mortgage payable within five years; an outboard motor and radio were raffled off that Labor Day to help retire the debt.2 By December 1961 the Society reported having paid $400 against the mortgage, and its board of trustees voted lifetime memberships to the Hoffmans and the Roys, describing Hoffman as “the first president of the Society” and Roy as “recently elected to succeed him.”3

Later accounts do not agree with this sequence. A March 1976 Beacon profile states that “in 1959, the Beaver Island Historical Society was formed, with Roy as one of its founders.”4 A July 1980 Charlevoix Courier Museum Week feature instead reports that the Society “was incorporated in 1957” and that Roy “served as president of the society from its inception to 1957,” after which he retired and “it was uncertain which direction the society would go” until the 1980 board – Edwin Langford (president), Alice Doran (secretary), Don Burris, Grace Cole, Phil Gregg, Ed Ladd and Curt Petrak – took over.5 Neither the 1959 nor the 1957-inception claim matches the primary 1955 board list or the December 1961 succession report held here, in which Hoffman, not Roy, is the Society’s first president and Roy succeeds him only around 1961. The Society’s own current history, published in the November 2024 Northern Islander, states simply that “since 1957, the Beaver Island Historical Society has been working to keep Beaver Island history alive,”6 matching its nonprofit registration’s 1957 founding date without addressing the 1955 organizing activity the Beacon itself reported at the time. This article does not resolve the discrepancy; see Open questions.

Museum operations, 1957-1974

Officers changed through the following years: by January 1957 Mrs. Walter Wogan (Vera Wogan) was soliciting recipes for a Society-sponsored cookbook as secretary-treasurer, and by January 1960 she – by then recorded as Vera Wogan, treasurer – signed the Society’s published membership application, which set regular, contributing, sustaining and life dues tiers. In July 1960 the old Beaver Island jail, “long a curiosity to visitors,” was moved next to the Museum.7 Through 1961 the Beacon reported a run of museum business: A. J. Roy, by then vice president, received an abstract of title to Feodor Protar’s land containing Protar’s 1919 will from a Petoskey motor company and publicized excerpts, with the complete will made available for viewing at the Museum; that summer E. M. Davis donated her 1919 Grand Rapids Herald articles about the island for display; and an August meeting at the “Mormon Printing House Museum” elected officers and planned Protar and “King Strang” displays and an old-fashioned kitchen exhibit.8 That November Roy received an original photograph of Protar from Pat and Rose Bonner, framed it and hung it in the Museum.

Through the early 1970s the Beacon recorded steady, volunteer-run growth: about 1,325 visitors in 1971 and more than 1,400 in 1973, when Boy Scout troops toured and new members and artifacts were catalogued before the season closed September 4; a 1970 collection of twenty crayon portraits of Irish emigrants attributed to Helen Coller; roof and front-porch repairs to the Protar House reported complete by August 1971, with further restoration still wanted; and a May 1972 appeal by Roy for summer museum volunteers and donated historical objects. By August 1974 the Museum had been painted, its porch and fence repaired, shutters made for the Protar Home, and Dr. and Mrs. John P. Ludwick recorded as a Life Member household, with Roy identified in print as “Museum Curator.”

The Bicentennial years, 1975-1976

On June 7, 1975, a testimonial dinner honored A. J. Roy and his late wife Mable, who had died the previous November, for founding the Society and developing the Museum; Phil Gregg announced that a proposed new park would be named for them. The following month St. James Township completed a transaction leasing land to the Society for that park, and by August-September 1975 the site had been surveyed and a sign erected identifying Mabel and A. J. Roy Heritage Park. That October the Society reported a Bicentennial project to convert an old net shed into a Marine Museum for fishing and marine artifacts.

1976, the national Bicentennial year, brought the Society’s most concentrated run of acquisitions and projects: a February appeal for historic-building information and a fireproof safe; a March profile of Roy’s continuing presidency and museum work; July and August reports that the Society had acquired an original December 3, 1856 issue of Strang’s Northern Islander; an August report that donated Native American letters had been specially treated at the University of Michigan’s Bentley Historical Museum and placed in a case made by James Craven; continuing progress toward acquiring the Protar property; and a September 15 annual meeting that re-elected the sitting officers and board, recorded Helen Collar’s Life Membership, and discussed a planned Museum addition to house the post office. The year’s central project was The Journal of Beaver Island History, Volume One – 1976, a history of the island written chapter by chapter from resident contributions – solicited that March under the appeal “Help Wanted!! (in compiling the history of Beaver Island)” – and printed December 17, 1976, sold through the Society to help fund two of the Bicentennial Committee’s other projects.9 The series continued at least through Volume V, cited in 2026 Northern Islander reporting on the 1887 wreck of the steamer Vernon, and Volume 3, held on the Internet Archive and dated 1988; no Journal volume is held here directly, and the series is cited only at second hand.

From the 1980s to the present

The Society marked its stated 25th anniversary with a dinner and dance on July 10, 1982, and a Museum Week program of music, a Protar Home tour, children’s activities, a pet show, slide programs and craft demonstrations that July. Since about 1980 Museum Week has been the Society’s signature annual public event: the July 1985 Beacon announced “its 6th annual Museum Week,”10 the 2004 schedule called that year’s “the 24th consecutive year,”11 and the August 2006 issue reported “its 49th year” as an organization, with “its 26th” Museum Week12 – an anniversary count consistent with the 1957 founding date rather than 1955 or 1959. The series, its inconsistent annual counts and its unwritten year editions are treated at Beaver Island Museum Week.

By 2023 the Society operated the Print Shop Museum and Marine Museum plus the Heritage Park and Protar House sites, staffed substantially by volunteers. Its November 2024 Northern Islander column, signed by executive director Lori Taylor-Blitz, describes the same four-site operation, adds that the Society works with Charlevoix County to help preserve the Beaver Head Light, and lists annual programming including Museum Week, a Kids Camp, a Film Fest, a Holiday Social, summer lunchtime talks and a volunteer-tended Pollinator Garden.6 The same issue reports a $39,450 Michigan Arts and Culture Council grant for fiscal year 2025 – one of 828 applications the council considered –6 matched by local support from the Charlevoix County Community Foundation, museum donations and the island business community, and drawing on more than thirty museum docents and volunteers; the funding was earmarked for operations, a Protar House roof replacement, Marine Museum floor repairs, staff development, transportation for a preservation field school, and arts education. The Protar House interior was closed for the 2024 season during the roof work, with reopening reported planned for 2025. The same column states that the Society had recently acquired ownership of the modern Northern Islander newspaper – unrelated, despite the shared name, to Strang’s 1850s paper – and of the Beaver Beacon magazine, aiming “to preserve and honor our history, deliver Island news, educate our readers.”

Significance

As the institutional steward of the island’s National Register-listed properties associated with the Strang kingdom and Feodor Protar, as publisher of the only dedicated historical journal for the island, and, since 2024, as owner of both of the island’s community newspapers, the Society is the central organization linking the Strang era, the Irish settlement and the Protar period to further primary research not documented here.

Evidence and limits

The record here is built almost entirely from the Society’s own newspaper notices – the Beaver Beacon from 1955 to 2011 and the modern Northern Islander from 2024 – supplemented by Charlevoix Courier feature coverage in 1957 and 1980 and the Society’s nonprofit registration. No charter, incorporation document, deed, board minutes, membership roll or audited financial record is held here; every organizational fact above is a newspaper’s contemporary report of what the Society announced or did, not an independent institutional record. Visitor counts, acquisition notices and grant figures are preserved as reported, not verified against underlying accession or financial records. No volume of the Journal of Beaver Island History is held here; all citations to it are second-hand, via the modern Northern Islander or an Internet Archive catalog record.

Open questions

  • The Society’s founding date is contested and unresolved. The primary September 1955 Beacon report describes an organized board with named officers; the December 1961 Beacon independently describes Hoffman as “the first president” succeeded by Roy “recently” – consistent with a 1955 founding continuing through a formal step, such as incorporation, in 1957. Yet the March 1976 Beacon instead dates the founding to 1959, and the July 1980 Charlevoix Courier states flatly that the Society “was incorporated in 1957” with Roy president “from its inception to 1957” – which does not match Hoffman’s reported 1955-1961 presidency. The Society’s own nonprofit registration and its 2024 self-description follow the 1957 date. No source held here reconciles these accounts, and this article does not adjudicate between them.
  • No volume of the Journal of Beaver Island History has been located and read directly; every citation to it here is second-hand.
  • The Society’s role, if any, in the Beaver Island Irish Heritage Group’s Emerald Isle Irish Féile is not established; the two appear in the same newspaper issues but are not stated to be affiliated.
  • The circumstances and date of the Society’s 2024 acquisition of the Northern Islander and Beaver Beacon are known only from the Society’s own announcement; no purchase agreement, masthead change record or prior publisher’s account is held here.

See also

Sources

Full citations, matching the sources: block above. Footnotes below cite the specific claims checked directly against the held issue text; many other sentences in this article name their source and date inline instead.

Footnotes

  1. Beaver Beacon, September 1955, “Beaver Island Historical Society Is Formed.” ↩

  2. Charlevoix Courier, June 27, 1957, “Historical Print Shop on Beavers To Be Restored.” ↩ ↩2

  3. Beaver Beacon, December 1961, “Beaver Island Historical Society.” ↩

  4. Beaver Beacon, March 1976, “Beaver Island Historian Is Just Too Busy to Retire.” ↩

  5. Charlevoix Courier, July 16, 1980, “Historic Beaver Island” (Museum Week feature). ↩

  6. Northern Islander, November 2024, “Print Shop Perspective,” signed by executive director Lori Taylor-Blitz. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. Beaver Beacon, July 1960, museum and jail notice. ↩

  8. Beaver Beacon, August 1961, “Beaver Island Historical Society.” ↩

  9. Beaver Beacon, December 1976, “It’s Here!” ↩

  10. Beaver Beacon, July 1985, Museum Week announcement. ↩

  11. “Museum Week 2004 – Schedule of Events,” Beaver Beacon web edition, July 2004. ↩

  12. “A Happy 26th,” Beaver Beacon, August 2006. ↩

A group of adults and children pose on the steps of a wooden porch beside a man in a hat.
1899 Print ShopBeaver Beacon (individual photographers credited per image) · © the individual photographers and/or the Beaver Beacon. The gallery's own footer states, verbatim: "Copyright Note: You must obtain written permission from the copyright holder before using any of these images for any commercial purpose. Contact the Beaver Beacon if you have any questions or need to contact the copyright owner of a specific image." The site footer adds: "© 2002-2010 The Beaver Beacon. All Rights Reserved." No licence, public-domain dedication or terms-of-use page was located anywhere on the gallery; the note above addresses commercial use only and is silent on non-commercial republication, and that silence is recorded as silence rather than read as permission.

The dated record

271 dated events · 1893–2026 · peak 13 in 2018These years on the timeline →

Sources

  1. The Society offered a pallet of roofing shingles through the Print Shop contact. This first-party notice is a materials-availability and possible preservation lead; it does not identify the intended building, work, quantity used, or a completed repair.
    forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 16 · t016429
  2. The thread documents a genealogy inquiry and participants’ references to the Historical Society genealogy database, census and parish records, lighthouse service, and a 2004 museum research visit. The forum statements are attributed research leads, not a verified Lasley/Bishop genealogy or institutional record.
    forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 00 · t000292
  3. The Society posted an image-only same-day notice for June’s Music on the Porch. The attachment is not transcribed in the archive, so this source establishes only the existence of the program notice.
    forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 18 · t018460
  4. The Society sought summer volunteers for the Smithsonian Water|Ways exhibit, Protar’s house, the Print Shop Museum, and the Marine Museum. This is a first-party recruitment notice and does not establish volunteer numbers, hours, or the complete 2018 operating schedule.
    forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 13 · t013186
  5. The Society announced a redesigned website with an updated calendar and credited Jeff Stone of Next Level Solutions and Frank Solle’s photography. This establishes a public website refresh at that date, not the site’s complete contents, later continuity, or the photographer’s rights to every image.
    forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 13 · t013176
  6. A museum volunteer invited visitors to learn island history by volunteering and gave Print Shop hours of Monday–Saturday 11 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sunday noon–3 p.m. This is a contemporaneous public invitation and schedule, not a complete seasonal-hours record or visitor count.
    forum · www.beaverislandforum.com · 07 · t007559
  7. The Society offered a limited 1997 Christmas ornament depicting the South Head Lighthouse in eglomise glass, priced at $20 in person or $23 by mail. 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 · 1997-10_Beaver-Beacon
  8. The held issue scan confirms the Society ornament notice.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1997-10_Beaver-Beacon
  9. Reports the Society's organization: R. P. Hoffman and A. J. Roy purchased the Old Mormon Print Shop and, with Beaver Island Civic Association cooperation, organized the Historical Society. Names the founding board -- Hoffman (president), Dr. H. F. Vail (vice president), Vera Wogan (secretary-treasurer), and Roy, Jewell Gillespie, Lawrence Malley and attorney Dave Wilson as members -- and its research, membership, publicity and public-relations committees. It does not provide a charter, deed, membership ledger, or complete institutional history. 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 · 1955-09_Beaver-Beacon
  10. The held five-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published formation report; it does not expand the Society’s legal or financial record.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1955-09_Beaver-Beacon
  11. States the print shop "Today ... serves as the headquarters for the Beaver Island Historical Society." Gives the building's address and history but not the Society's own founding date.
    state · michigan · historical_markers
  12. Describes the Society as operating "four historic sites on Beaver Island for the public: the Mormon Print Shop Museum, the Marina Museum ..., Protar's House, and Heritage Park," staffed by volunteers, and states it "currently operates two museums ... the Mormon Print Shop Museum and the Marine Museum; and two additional historical sites, Heritage Park and the Protar Home."
    internet_archive · beaver-island-master-plan-20231113
  13. Regular Society director's columns describing museum operations. The November 2024 'Print Shop Perspective' column, signed by executive director Lori Taylor-Blitz, states 'since 1957, the Beaver Island Historical Society has been working to keep Beaver Island history alive,' describes the Society's four sites, its work with Charlevoix County toward preserving the Beaver Head Light, and its annual programming; reports a $39,450 Michigan Arts and Culture Council grant for fiscal year 2025 (one of 828 applications considered) matched by local donations and supporting operations, a Protar House roof replacement, Marine Museum floor repairs, staff development, preservation field school transportation and arts education; and states the Society had acquired ownership of the modern Northern Islander newspaper and the Beaver Beacon magazine.
    internet_archive · northern_islander_2024
  14. Self-description ("Making Beaver Island History Come Alive"), confirms the four sites (Print Shop Museum, Marine Museum, Protar's Home, Heritage Park) and lists lighthouses among interpreted history.
  15. Gives the legal name "Beaver Island Historical Society of Michigan" and a founding date of 1957.
  16. Confirms the Society as publisher of this multi-volume essay series; Vol. I is independently dated to 1976 by a Northern Islander retrospective (April 2026 issue), and Vol. V is cited by name in Northern Islander pieces on the 1887 wreck of the steamer Vernon (March/April 2026 issues).
  17. Contemporary review identifies Volume 5 as a 224-page paperback published by the Society and describes its oral-history, local-life, maritime, and folklore contents; the full volume is not held here.
    websites · www.beaverbeacon.com · 2003-01-January · The_Journal_of_Beaver_Island_History_Volume_5
  18. Reports cooperation between the Beaver Island Civic Association and Historical Society in a fund and campaign to preserve Protar’s Home and the older Bonner farm; it does not establish a deed, grant award, or final designation.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1970-06_Beaver-Beacon
  19. The held ten-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1970-06_Beaver-Beacon
  20. Reports 1970 museum visitor activity, a collection of 20 crayon portraits of Irish emigrants attributed to Helen Coller, volunteer staffing needs, a new Protar House roof planned for the fall, and continued Print Shop interior work; it does not identify the portraits individually or prove completion of every repair.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1970-08_Beaver-Beacon
  21. The held nine-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1970-08_Beaver-Beacon
  22. Reports approximately 1,325 visitors, a new collection on early Irish settlers, and completion of a Protar House roof and front-porch repairs while saying further restoration remained; it does not provide a contractor, cost, exact completion date, or final restoration survey.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1971-08_Beaver-Beacon
  23. The held nine-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1971-08_Beaver-Beacon
  24. Reports A. J. Roy’s request for summer museum volunteers and historical objects for display; it does not identify the site, volunteer roster, accession records, or outcome of the appeal.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1972-05_Beaver-Beacon
  25. The held eight-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1972-05_Beaver-Beacon
  26. Reports more than 1,400 visitors, Boy Scout troop visits, volunteer helpers, new members and artifacts, and broad cataloguing work before regular hours ended September 4.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1973-08_Beaver-Beacon
  27. The held ten-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the published source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1973-08_Beaver-Beacon
  28. Reports Museum painting and porch/fence work, donations, shutters made for the Protar Home, appointment-only seasonal access, A. J. Roy as curator, and Dr. and Mrs. John P. Ludwick as a Life Member household; it does not provide a work log, donor ledger, or final condition survey.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1974-08_Beaver-Beacon
  29. The held ten-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1974-08_Beaver-Beacon
  30. Prints a Society membership application with regular, contributing, sustaining, and life dues and identifies Vera Wogen as treasurer. It does not provide a membership roll, charter, minutes, or completed applications.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1960-01_Beaver-Beacon
  31. The held four-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1960-01_Beaver-Beacon
  32. Reports that memberships expired July 1, invites renewals and new members, gives July–August museum hours of 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and identifies A. J. Roy as the contact for loaned display items. The notice does not provide a membership roll, attendance count, or accession records.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1961-07_Beaver-Beacon
  33. The held seven-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1961-07_Beaver-Beacon
  34. Announces an August 19 meeting at the Mormon Printing House Museum with an officer election and other business; reports A. J. Roy, vice president, receiving Feodor Protar's 1919 will via a title abstract, and E. M. Davis's donation of her 1919 Grand Rapids Herald articles about the island; describes planned Protar and 'King Strang' display cases and an old-fashioned kitchen exhibit, calls the museum 'the only one in Charlevoix County,' and records donated or loaned objects including a sweetgrass basket, a Capitol flag, wreckage from the schooner Free Booter, and Walt Wojan's work securing the relocated jail on a foundation. It does not provide minutes, election results, or a complete accession record.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1961-08_Beaver-Beacon
  35. The held eight-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1961-08_Beaver-Beacon
  36. Reports the June 7 testimonial honoring A. J. and the late Mabel Roy for establishing the Society and developing the Museum, and says the proposed Heritage Park would be named for them. It does not provide formal minutes, plaque text, or a completed park record. 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 · 1975-05_Beaver-Beacon
  37. The held combined issue confirms the testimonial and reported Heritage Park naming.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-05_Beaver-Beacon
  38. Reports that St. James Township completed a transaction with the Historical Society to lease land for Heritage Park and that a sign would identify the Mabel and A. J. Roy Heritage Park. It does not provide the executed instrument, parcel survey, or park construction record. 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 · 1975-07_Beaver-Beacon
  39. The held issue confirms the completed-transaction report. The held nine-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and does not expand source-specific claims
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-07_Beaver-Beacon
  40. Reports the completed Heritage Park site survey and erected sign in the continuing Bicentennial project. It does not provide a parcel survey instrument, construction ledger, or complete project history. 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 · 1975-08_Beaver-Beacon
  41. The held combined issue confirms the Society-linked Heritage Park report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-08_Beaver-Beacon
  42. Reports the Bicentennial net-shed Marine Museum project and planned renovation for marine and fishing artifacts. It does not provide a deed, accession register, renovation completion record, or formal museum charter. 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 · 1975-10_Beaver-Beacon
  43. The held issue confirms the project report.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-10_Beaver-Beacon
  44. Reports the Society’s historic-building information appeal, membership and museum attendance hopes, and request for a fireproof safe. It does not establish a completed survey, membership census, or safe purchase. 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 · 1976-02_Beaver-Beacon
  45. The held issue confirms the February Society notices.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-02_Beaver-Beacon
  46. Profiles A. J. Roy’s Historical Society presidency, museum work, Protar House project, and ferry-photograph collection. It is a contemporary profile, not a complete institutional history or audited collection record. 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 · 1976-03_Beaver-Beacon
  47. The held issue confirms the A. J. Roy profile.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-03_Beaver-Beacon
  48. Reports the Society’s acquisition of an original December 3, 1856 Northern Islander, the Marine Museum opening and restoration, Heritage Park progress, the Post Office addition plan, historic-site signs, and the publication project. It does not provide a deed, accession register, complete roster, or proof of all planned work. 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 · 1976-07_Beaver-Beacon
  49. The held Bicentennial issue confirms the Society’s collection and project reports.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-07_Beaver-Beacon
  50. Reports progress toward acquiring the Protar property, good museum attendance, acquisition of an 1856 Northern Islander, conservation treatment of donated Indian letters, the planned Beaver Island Journal, and the Society’s $1,800 contribution entry. It does not provide deeds, accession records, treatment reports, a complete roster, or an audited ledger. 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 · 1976-08_Beaver-Beacon
  51. The held issue confirms the Society’s August collection, preservation, publication, and contribution notices.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-08_Beaver-Beacon
  52. Reports the September 15 annual meeting, re-election of the existing officers and board, plans for a post-office addition to the Museum, further Marine Museum work, Helen Collar’s Life Membership, and the delayed November Journal of B. I. History advance sale. It does not provide minutes, vote totals, construction completion, or a complete membership roll. 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 · 1976-09_Beaver-Beacon
  53. The held issue confirms the meeting, officer slate, preservation discussion, and publication notice.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-09_Beaver-Beacon
  54. Reports the publication and sale of *The Journal of Beaver Island History, Volume One—1976*, including its reported printing, initial distribution, price, contents, and order process; the same issue reprints a Historical Society summer update about the Print Shop, Marine Museum, Protar Room, CETA work, and Museums Week. The notices do not provide the book itself, a complete contributor or sales ledger, accession records, or independent proof of every reprinted summer detail. 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 · 1976-12_Beaver-Beacon
  55. The held issue confirms the Volume One publication notice and the reprinted Historical Society update.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1976-12_Beaver-Beacon
  56. Read in the in-repo data/ tree. "The Beaver Island Historical Society will celebrate its 6th annual Museum Week from July 15-20 this year," with a tour of five named pre-WWI St. James residences, a quilt show by Gwen Marston and Joe Cunningham, a snake lecture with live specimens by Prof. James Gillingham of CMU, a talk by Great Lakes historian Steve Harold, open houses at Protar's, an artists' show at the Gallery, music on the Print Shop porch, a children's Pet Show and a dance. An advance programme. 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 · 1985-07_Beaver-Beacon
  57. The held twenty-six-page July/August combined issue PDF, filed canonically as July 1985, is paired with the remote OCR and confirms the Museum Week advance programme.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1985-07_Beaver-Beacon
  58. Read in the in-repo data/ tree. "For the 24th consecutive year, the Beaver Island Historical Society will hold its annual Museum Week from July 12th through July 17th," with CMU Biological Station Nature Walks co-sponsored by the BIHS, an archaeology talk by Jay Peck, and a week of lectures, art and music.
    websites · www.beaverbeacon.com · 2004-07-July · Museum_Week_2004_Schedule_of_Events
  59. "A Happy 26th," Beaver Beacon, August 2006.
    Read in the in-repo data/ tree. "the Beaver Island Historical Society celebrated its 49th year with a successful Museum Week, its 26th," notes a new policy of charging no admission at either museum, and describes totem-pole carving by Skip Duhamel, Music on the Porch organised by Doris Larson, the Pet Show, three Nature Walks, Antje Price on Protar, Ray Kiogima on the Odawa language, an evening at the Whiskey Point Light and Mike Weede on shipwreck diving. The "49th year" implies a Society founding of about 1957, agreeing with the nonprofit-registry date. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 2006-08_Beaver-Beacon
  60. The held forty-four-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published notice or report; it does not expand the source-specific identity, event, or outcome claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 2006-08_Beaver-Beacon
  61. Reports the Board of Trustees voting lifetime memberships to Mr. and Mrs. R. P. Hoffman and Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Roy, stating 'Mr. Hoffman was the first president of the Society and Mr. Roy was recently elected to succeed him,' and that the Society paid $400 that year against the print shop mortgage. It does not provide full trustee minutes or a complete financial ledger.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1961-12_Beaver-Beacon
  62. The held six-page issue scan is paired with the OCR source and confirms the published lifetime-membership and mortgage-payment report; it does not expand the source-specific claims.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1961-12_Beaver-Beacon
  63. Prints 'Join and Support the Beaver Island Historical Society in 1957,' naming Secretary-Treasurer Mrs. Walter Wogan as contact. It does not itself state an incorporation or founding date. 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 · 1957-01_Beaver-Beacon
  64. Solicits recipes for a cookbook sponsored by the Historical Society. It does not establish whether the cookbook was completed or sold. 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 · 1957-02_Beaver-Beacon
  65. Charlevoix Courier, June 27, 1957, "Historical Print Shop on Beavers To Be Restored."
    Reports that a $500 Beaver Island Civic Association donation let the Historical Society purchase the Mormon Print Shop on a $2,000 mortgage payable within five years, financed partly by a Labor Day raffle; states the building 'was about to be razed two years ago' (circa 1955) when A. J. Roy of Pontiac and Russell P. Hoffmann of Plymouth privately bought it to save it. It does not state when the Society itself was organized or reconcile that with the earlier private purchase. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · charlevoix · charlevoixcourie0419unse
  66. Charlevoix Courier, July 16, 1980, "Historic Beaver Island" (Museum Week feature).
    States 'the Beaver Island Historical Society was incorporated in 1957' and that 'A.J. Roy served as president of the society from its inception to 1957. When Roy retired, it was uncertain which direction the society would go.' Names the 1980 Board of Directors: Edwin Langford (president), Alice Doran (secretary), Don Burris, Grace Cole, Phil Gregg, Ed Ladd and Curt Petrak. This conflicts with the December 1961 Beacon report of Hoffman as first president succeeded by Roy around 1961, and with the March 1976 Beacon profile describing Roy as sitting president that year; the discrepancy is not resolved here. No public copy of this file is known; the archive holds one and can provide it on request.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · charlevoix · charlevoixcourie1980unse
  67. Reports that the old Beaver Island jail, 'for many years a curiosity to visitors,' was moved to a new location next to the Museum. It does not identify the original site, mover, or construction date.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1960-07_Beaver-Beacon
  68. Explains that the Society's museums, Museum Week, newsletters, videos, music, treasure hunts, and historical-study materials depend on membership, and lists annual dues for June 1, 1997, through May 31, 1998. 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 · 1997-08_Beaver-Beacon
  69. The held issue scan confirms the Historical Society membership appeal.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1997-08_Beaver-Beacon
  70. Thanks 26 regular weekly volunteers and 20 substitutes who staffed the Mormon Print Shop Museum and Marine Museum during summer 1997, serving hundreds of monthly visitors; the letter is signed by Volunteer Coordinator Jeanne Howell and Society Director Phyllis Moore. 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 · 1997-09_Beaver-Beacon
  71. The held issue scan confirms the Historical Society volunteer acknowledgment.
    data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1997-09_Beaver-Beacon
  72. Opened and checked: a group of about a dozen adults and children posed on the wooden steps and porch of a clapboard building, in period dress consistent with the gallery's 1899 date. The identification of the building as the print shop is the Beaver Beacon gallery's own caption, cited here as theirs rather than asserted from the image, which shows no signage. No third-party collection watermark appears on it. Included on this article because the Society purchased this building in 1957 and operates it as the Mormon Print Shop Museum, as the article's own History section sets out; the photograph predates the Society by nearly sixty years and is not a picture of it.
    websites · www.beaverbeacon.com · gallery · images · 508 · 111899_print_shop

Added 28 July 2026 · revised 5 August 2026. Recent changes

Cite this article

Beaver Island Archive, “Beaver Island Historical Society”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/organizations/beaver-island-historical-society/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Island Historical Society, "Roofing Shingles," Beaver Island Forum, June 22, 2021, topic 16429. (and 71 further sources listed on the page).

Last revised 2026-08-05. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.

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