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Featured article by Rylee Barnsdale: Ypsi prepares to celebrate 200th anniversary with New Year’s ball, historic events and more
Ypsilanti Historical Society
Ypsilanti’s 200th Birthday
Facebook’s Ypsilanti 200th Anniversary
A love letter to Ypsilanti
Transcription:
Cathy Shafran: 89 1 Listening to WEMU. My name is Cathy Shafran. This is On the Ground Ypsi, a program aimed at telling the stories of the Ypsilanti community. We’re working with Concentrate Media’s reporting team to bring you On the Ground Ypsi. Before starting today’s discussion, I’d like to point out that On the Ground Ypsi is back, having been on hiatus since Lisa Barry passed away. We hope you continue on the path that Lisa has set by focusing on the issues that are important to your community and to you. Yes. 2023 marks the 200th anniversary of Ypsilanti’s birth, and much is planned to celebrate. Her Concentrate Media reporter, Rylee Barnsdale, takes a deep dive into her bicentennial planning. Thank you for joining us, Rylee.
Riley Barnsdale: Thank you for inviting me.
Cathy Shafran: So please tell me. What did you find while researching this story?
Riley Barnsdale: So the bicentennial celebration is actually already underway. It started on New Year’s Eve with a grand New Year’s celebration in downtown Ipsi. The next event is his 4th of July, when his Time Capsule will be unveiled. A time capsule he was buried in 1973. The celebration culminates in his August, when he is attended by his speakers from the states and even the Eastern University of Michigan. A few smaller events are planned, including historical walking tours, but his three big ones are his two during New Year’s and summer.
Cathy Shafran: I think the idea of the Bicentennial Commission is to involve the community. So what do they do and what do they think about community engagement?
Riley Barnsdale: Therefore, not only are all members of the community welcome to participate in all three of these great celebrations, but all celebrations are hosted by an organization called YpsiWrites with their Love Letters to Ypsi program. Also, people can go online or fill out postcards to write about their favorite memories of Ipsi. If you’ve been here, you can remember what you like most about this city.
Cathy Shafran: This only happens once every 200 years.
Riley Barnsdale: right.
Cathy Shafran: Do you understand that a lot of planning has been put into this?
Riley Barnsdale: absolutely. There’s a lot of work behind the scenes with the Bicentennial Committee, the many community engagement sponsors across the community, and the various companies that have worked with us to make all of this possible.
Cathy Shafran: So it started with one activity on New Year’s Eve. How long does the celebration last throughout the year?
Riley Barnsdale: Until August, I think. August 19th is that last big celebration, the big birthday celebration.
Cathy Shafran: So there is a lot of time and a lot of activity for the community to get involved in.
Riley Barnsdale: absolutely.
Cathy Shafran: In this week’s Concentrate Media report, you spoke extensively with Evan Milan. He is chairman of the Bicentennial Committee and a member of the Ypsilanti Historical Society. And Evan is actually on board, too. Evan, thank you for staying with us.
Evan Millan: Thank you for calling me.
Cathy Shafran: When I first started thinking about the 200th anniversary, I thought, “Okay.” So, 200 years ago. That is 1823. What really marked the beginning of Ypsilanti in terms of historical reviews?
Evan Millan: Ypsilanti actually started shortly before 1823. It started in his eighteenth year on the banks of the Grand River. Grove now merges with I-94. From his early eighteenth he was called Woodruff’s Grove until about 1823. It is said that on April 22, 1823, the city and place as we know it was officially incorporated as a municipality.
Cathy Shafran: The ground conversation with Evan Milan and Rylee Barnsdale continues on 89 one WEMU. Ypsilanti has over 200 years of history. Evan, what do you think are some of the highlights to remember about this city?
Evan Millan: I think Ypsilanti has a lot of characters to remember. One of his interesting figures who lived in Ypsilanti was Elijah McCoy. He came from an abolitionist family. His parents actually escaped slavery in the South in the early 1840s. He was actually an inventor. Marion Starkweather was the benefactor of much of the library that exists today. She donated her own home to become her first designated library branch. This is the big house that still stands on Huron Street. The Alley family was a prominent African-American family from Ypsilanti that supported the Underground Railroad. Ypsilanti was actually very prominent on the Underground Railroad. In the 1960s, a group found themselves in Depot Town and spent a lot of money and time in parts of town. It was really pretty depressing at the time. It was considered quite dangerous. Also, EMU students were told not to get off near the railroad tracks. A French family, Aubrey French, bought what was then called Alibi a motorcycle bar, and the family still owns Aubrey’s. French. She is Aubrey’s daughter, and it is to her family and many others that Depot Town is the bustling entertainment district it is today.In Ypsilanti, things were turning around. It was moving from an industrial economy to a more commercial one.
Cathy Shafran: Speaking of commercials, we do know that Ypsilanti was secretly the first Domino’s Pizza location.
Evan Millan: If it’s not the first, it was one of the first three. But yeah, what is Godburger now as a Cross Street building that started in the 1960s. That’s right.
Cathy Shafran: Continuing the conversation with Evan Milan and Rylee Barnsdale about 89 one WEMU. When you put together your 200th anniversary plan, you wanted a love letter from the people of Ypsilanti. Along these lines what you’re looking for is talking about their experiences, Ypsilanti, where they grew up, what inspired them, and why it remains the city they love so much. I guess people. What are you looking for in a love letter?
Evan Millan: Well here. I have an example, but I think it shows exactly what a love letter stands for. So Ypsilanti’s Bicentenary of Birth in 2023 was to mark his 200th anniversary of the city of Ypsilanti, which was incorporated on April 22, 1823. His name is Ted, but here’s what he said. , his fellow Ipsirantians, and for creating Ipsiipsi. And I think it’s short and sweet, but full of good feelings. I think that’s exactly what a love letter should encapsulate.
Cathy Shafran: And what happens to the love letter that arrives?
Evan Millan: In the long term they will be archived. They are kept in the archives of the Ypsilanti Historical Society. Some of them will be incorporated into the skits we will perform at the August 19th event. Those are his one of many interesting things to see on August 19th. I personally would like to bind some of them into books so that future generations can easily access and read them.
Cathy Shafran: Continuing the conversation with Evan Milan and Rylee Barnsdale about 89 one WEMU. Riley, what did you think would be the most unique activity that people could participate in when you were telling this story about your 200th birthday?
Riley Barnsdale: Love Letters to Ipsi not only summarizes how the people currently living in Ipsi feel about the city they live in and the community they belong to, but it is also a very unique idea to write for the community. I think it’s a thing…but it’s also a way to invite people who’ve moved from Ipsy to another city in Michigan or another state or country so they can come back and see and remember it together. This is truly incredibly unique We are all a part of it whether we live here now or not. So I’m really looking forward to seeing all of this culminate and come together.
Cathy Shafran: Yeah, I was also interested in time capsules. Either Evan or Rylee, can you tell us a little more about what you’re expecting when it’s opened, where it’s located, and what comes out?
Evan Millan: It’s really just a guess. Everyone on the committee is really asking the same question. I don’t know what’s in there. There are some members of his 150th sesquicentennial that we celebrated in 1973, but they don’t remember what was there either. We have no idea what the container is, how big it is, or what it contains. Located at the foot of the Water Tower on Cross Street and Washtenau. They are kind of forks. Speculation is kind of wild. I’m not quite sure what you’re trying to find, but I’m very curious as to what’s in there.
Cathy Shafran: Finally, Evan, what would you like to say to the community about their expectations of joining the celebration?
Evan Millan: My hope is that you will participate. Everyone writes love letters. I have seen a lot of pride in this city where we live. I am very impressed. So I encourage anyone who wants to volunteer to do so. If anyone would like to sponsor, please visit Ypsi200 dot com. You can help sponsors. We want all our events to be free and open to everyone to participate and have fun. And the way we do it is by raising enough money that everything is already financially covered. And I recommend everyone at Ypsilanti get a copy. I think that’s what it means.
Cathy Shafran: We thank both Evan Millan, Chair of the Bicentennial Committee and member of the Ypsilanti Historical Society, and Riley Barnsdale, Concentrate Media reporter. Thank you for joining us for On the Ground Ypsilanti today.
Evan Millan: Thank you very much.
Riley Barnsdale: Thank you very much.
Cathy Shafran: This is Ypsilanti above ground, I’m Cathy Shafran. This is 89ONE WEMU FM Ypsilanti celebrating the 45th anniversary of jazz broadcasting. Eastern Michigan University public radio and his WEMU dot org online.
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