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Thank you to those of you who brought in the Social Secretary books we
requested in the last
Moorings
!
These books are valuable assets to members
working on home and family research.
Because of your donations, we have added
11 books to our collection. (Please see the
donor list for details). After contacting the
Social Secretary office of Grosse Pointe we
also received the blue books from 2010 and
2011.They informed us that all future books
will be printed every other year.
We are still looking for 1959 and 2003 of the blue books and 1922, 1924,
1925, 1926, 1929, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1938, 1942 and 1945 of the brown books.
The GPHS has been responsible for hundreds of blue prints that were
brought in years ago from the Grosse Pointe city and real estate offices.The
proper storage of these blue prints has been a challenge.Though light in weight,
they take up a lot of space.
When more blue prints became available from the Grosse Pointe Park of-
fices, former board member Peter Robbins offered to house them in his base-
ment.That was over 15 years ago. Eager to keep these valuable remnants of
Grosse Pointe’s architectural history properly stored, the GPHS searched for an
appropriate place for these blue prints.
During a recent meeting to determine another collaborative project between
the GPHS and the Grosse Pointe Public Library Director, Vickey Bloom,
Assistant Director, James Moffett and Reference Librarian Mary Rapas, agreed
to find safe storage space for these documents.
The GPHS Board of Trustees unanimously approved the merger and on
Thursday, March 29, six trusty volunteers suited up and delivered these treasures
to the Grosse Pointe Woods Library.
The GPHS blue prints have been properly catalogued thanks
to the hard work of long time volunteer Ellie Moran. She hand
wrote the addresses of every blueprint on round labels back when
Jean Dodenhoff was in charge. “This made my job much easier,”
said Michelle Agosta, current manager of the blue prints.
The prints from Grosse Pointe Park are another story.They
need to be labeled and catalogued. “This will takes months for us
to accomplish,” says Agosta.The ultimate goal of this project is
to have blue print reproduction capability available to the com-
munity.
If anyone in any of the Pointes has blue prints in their homes
and would like to see them stored safely at the Library, call the
GPHS at 313-884-7010.
GPHS blue prints find a new home
4
Social Secretary Books
The blue print volunteer team has loaded the
U-haul and are ready to transport the blue prints
to the GPW Library.
From left to right: Adrianna Agosta, Jack
McCormick, Izzy Donnelly and Mike Skinner.
Not shown are Gail Sidlek and Michelle Agosta.
GPW library – the blue prints are on the shelves.
From left to right: Katie Ecclestone, Mark Pinney, Michelle Agosta and
Vickey Bloom, Director of the Grosse Pointe Library.
13 books were added to the “Blue book” cabinet