Search
- Port Huron Steam Traction Engine, "Longfellow," 1916 - The late 19th to early 20th centuries saw huge steam engines like this used for threshing grain. They could move over the roads under their own power. Individual farmers generally did not own such machines. Rather, men made a business of moving from farm to farm, threshing grain during harvest time. Joseph Freund of Westphalia, Michigan, bought this machine in 1917 and used it to power a Port Huron "Rusher" thresher-separator in Clinton and Ionia Counties, Michigan.

- December 22, 1916
- Collections - Artifact
Port Huron Steam Traction Engine, "Longfellow," 1916
The late 19th to early 20th centuries saw huge steam engines like this used for threshing grain. They could move over the roads under their own power. Individual farmers generally did not own such machines. Rather, men made a business of moving from farm to farm, threshing grain during harvest time. Joseph Freund of Westphalia, Michigan, bought this machine in 1917 and used it to power a Port Huron "Rusher" thresher-separator in Clinton and Ionia Counties, Michigan.
- School Reward of Merit Given to Eliza Ann Spalding by Her Teacher Eliza Lucas, circa 1832 - During the nineteenth-century, teachers recognized students with paper "rewards of merit." These small tokens commended a student's excellent work, perfect attendance, good behavior or other noteworthy accomplishments. Most were printed and colorful. Others like this one contained simple handwritten sentiments from the teacher to the pupil.

- circa 1832
- Collections - Artifact
School Reward of Merit Given to Eliza Ann Spalding by Her Teacher Eliza Lucas, circa 1832
During the nineteenth-century, teachers recognized students with paper "rewards of merit." These small tokens commended a student's excellent work, perfect attendance, good behavior or other noteworthy accomplishments. Most were printed and colorful. Others like this one contained simple handwritten sentiments from the teacher to the pupil.
- Knill's Anti-Dyspepsia Tablets "Pepsin Compound," circa 1898 - Nineteenth-century entrepreneurs promised cures with patent medicines. Some of these concoctions, however, contained harmful ingredients or ingredients used in unsafe quantities -- the industry was unregulated and manufacturers were secretive about their recipes. Beginning with the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, national legislation increasingly prohibited misleading health claims and required manufacturers to list their product's contents.

- circa 1898
- Collections - Artifact
Knill's Anti-Dyspepsia Tablets "Pepsin Compound," circa 1898
Nineteenth-century entrepreneurs promised cures with patent medicines. Some of these concoctions, however, contained harmful ingredients or ingredients used in unsafe quantities -- the industry was unregulated and manufacturers were secretive about their recipes. Beginning with the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, national legislation increasingly prohibited misleading health claims and required manufacturers to list their product's contents.
- Three-Quarter Standing Portrait of Thomas A. Edison, 1892 - This portrait shows prolific inventor and American entrepreneur Thomas Edison around age 45. By this time, Edison had invented -- and built entire industries around -- the phonograph and incandescent electric lamp. Continuing work at Edison's West Orange, New Jersey, laboratory yielded other major contributions, including motion pictures and improved storage batteries.

- 1892
- Collections - Artifact
Three-Quarter Standing Portrait of Thomas A. Edison, 1892
This portrait shows prolific inventor and American entrepreneur Thomas Edison around age 45. By this time, Edison had invented -- and built entire industries around -- the phonograph and incandescent electric lamp. Continuing work at Edison's West Orange, New Jersey, laboratory yielded other major contributions, including motion pictures and improved storage batteries.
- Sitting Portrait of Thomas A. Edison, 1896 - This portrait shows prolific inventor and American entrepreneur Thomas Edison around age 49. By this time, Edison had invented -- and built entire industries around -- the phonograph and incandescent electric lamp. Continuing work at Edison's West Orange, New Jersey, laboratory yielded other major contributions, including motion pictures and improved storage batteries.

- 1896
- Collections - Artifact
Sitting Portrait of Thomas A. Edison, 1896
This portrait shows prolific inventor and American entrepreneur Thomas Edison around age 49. By this time, Edison had invented -- and built entire industries around -- the phonograph and incandescent electric lamp. Continuing work at Edison's West Orange, New Jersey, laboratory yielded other major contributions, including motion pictures and improved storage batteries.
- Poem, "The Last Camp," 1872 and 1894 - This poem, written by J. Wesley Benedict, was read at a Memorial Day gathering in Port Huron, Michigan, in 1894. Benedict expressed gratitude for the sacrifices made by those who had fought the Civil War. The first nine stanzas, written in 1872, reflect the hardship of war and cost of freedom. The remaining four stanzas, added twenty years later, focus on reconciliation.

- 1861-1865
- Collections - Artifact
Poem, "The Last Camp," 1872 and 1894
This poem, written by J. Wesley Benedict, was read at a Memorial Day gathering in Port Huron, Michigan, in 1894. Benedict expressed gratitude for the sacrifices made by those who had fought the Civil War. The first nine stanzas, written in 1872, reflect the hardship of war and cost of freedom. The remaining four stanzas, added twenty years later, focus on reconciliation.
- Bust Portrait of Thomas A. Edison, 1896 - This portrait shows prolific inventor and American entrepreneur Thomas Edison around age 49. By this time, Edison had invented -- and built entire industries around -- the phonograph and incandescent electric lamp. Continuing work at Edison's West Orange, New Jersey, laboratory yielded other major contributions, including motion pictures and improved storage batteries.

- 1896
- Collections - Artifact
Bust Portrait of Thomas A. Edison, 1896
This portrait shows prolific inventor and American entrepreneur Thomas Edison around age 49. By this time, Edison had invented -- and built entire industries around -- the phonograph and incandescent electric lamp. Continuing work at Edison's West Orange, New Jersey, laboratory yielded other major contributions, including motion pictures and improved storage batteries.