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If you haven’t stopped by the Alfred B. and Ruth S. Moran Resource Center in the past few months, you might not
recognize the place.We have updated and upgraded the facility, giving it a bit of a “facelift” inside and out.Thanks so much to
Phil Filkin, our new “handy man,” who has been hard at work on a number of projects. He made all four of our computers
compatible with each other and consolidated our phone/fax lines for a savings of $300 a year. Phil installed a new internet
security system that will save $160 per year.
Besides updating our technology, Phil has undertaken a number of refurbishments to the Resource Center. He sanded
and re-stained the front door making it weatherproof and beautiful! He also power-washed the outside of the building.
Our electronic equipment has been
re-arranged for ease and convenience.
And he helped us re-organize and hang
photos, prints, and artifacts on the Resource
Center walls. It has the atmosphere of a
real research library with interesting and
informative artwork on display.
At the Provencal-Weir House, Phil
repaired some of the damage on the side
porch and repainted it. He installed a proper
electrical receptacle in PWH basement for
de-humidifier.We are thrilled to have him!
What’s New at the Resource Center and Provencal-Weir House?
3
expected to travel to up to 60 sites in states across the Midwest
and South over the next year.
“We are thrilled to host this fantastic exhibit,” said GPHS
Board Member Elizabeth Vogel. “This is a dream come true.
We are pleased to have the support from the Grosse Pointe
Public Library, Grosse Pointe Public Schools, and the city
of Grosse Pointe Farms in making this stop a success for the
entire community.
“We are especially grateful to Harry Kurtz, president of
MRA, whose company built the custom-designed 18-wheel
trailer that houses the ‘Gateway to Knowledge.’ MRA is a
Michigan-based company located in St. Clair Shores.The
Kurtz family members are life-long residents of Grosse
Pointe Shores.”
The exhibit will include programming especially for
teachers and students and provide relevant and engaging
learning experiences for lifelong learners.The trailer is staffed
and driven by two docents well-versed in the Library and its
collections.The trailer will be parked at various schools,
libraries, community centers and other public venues.The
trailer expands to three times its road width, and visitors
will enter from a central staircase to find several areas of
museum-style exhibits.The exhibition will feature facsimiles
of such treasures as the 1507 Waldseemüller Map (the first
document to use the word “America”); the 1455 Gutenberg
Bible; the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence,
inThomas Jefferson’s hand with edits by Benjamin Franklin
and John Adams; the 1962 drawings for the comic book
that introduced Spider-Man to the world; the handwritten
manuscript to jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton’s “Frog-i-More
Rag”; and Walt Whitman’s poem “Leaves of Grass.”
Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s
oldest federal cultural institution.The Library seeks to spark
imagination and creativity and to further human understand-
ing and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its
magnificent collections, programs and exhibitions For more
information, visit www.loc.gov.
Library of Congress Traveling Exhibit Stops at
Historical Society
Continued from cover