Essay: Saving a Piece of History - 12.10.09

The state has published the Michigan Manual every two years since the 1830’s. Now, some want to do away with the reference book. Michigan Radio’s Political Analyst Jack Lessenberry thinks that’s a terrible idea.

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You may not know this, but the State of Michigan publishes one of the best books that you have probably never seen. It is called the Michigan Manual, and in my opinion, no home should be without it.

You can certainly see one at your local library. It is a big, beautiful, red-bound book full of pictures, facts, maps and, as the official state description indicates, “fundamental reference information about Michigan - its history, constitutional development, governmental organizations and institutions.” There are generally well-written articles on everything of importance in the state.

You can learn about all of our great universities. The prison system. Find out about the state bird, flower, mineral, all that stuff. Look up something in the state constitution. See how the politicians spend your money. You can see pictures and read biographies of all our state’s elected officials, and get exact, complete, primary and general election returns for every recent race.

Picking up the current one and flipping through it, I learned just now that it was exactly a hundred years ago that the world’s first mile of poured concrete roadway was built on Woodward Avenue in Detroit. That was the year, by the way, that Michigan had more railroad track than ever before or since - nine thousand miles.

I use this book almost every day. As far as I know, the state has published the manual every two years since we became a state. I collect these wonderful books, which are a treasure trove of Michigan history. I have every one since 1897, and a few earlier than that.

My Michigan Manual from a century ago looks almost exactly like the current one, except that it is hardbound -- the state went to a paperback a few years ago to save money. It also has a couple of beautiful, pull-out maps of the state’s railroad lines.

Michigan has published this book through thick and thin, even during the depths of the Great Depression. But now it is endangered. In a penny-wise and very foolish move to save a pittance, the legislative services bureau wants to publish it only on-line.

This would be a terrible mistake. Cyberspace is fine for here and now. But the Michigan Manual is, as Inside Michigan Politics publisher Bill Ballenger puts it, “literally the only documentation of this state extending back to the beginning of our existence in 1837.”

Here’s something people wiser than me know. We are nothing without our shared history, and the books that record what happened before we came. So far this year, we lost first the state Department of History, Arts and Libraries to budget cuts, and then the Michigan State Fair. Now our official book of records is threatened.

Fortunately, State Rep. Pam Byrnes, a member of the legislative council, says she wants to save the manual, and is trying to find support for doing so. Speaker of the House Andy Dillon has also expressed support. I hope anyone who values our history, and wants this state to have a future, will contact them.

Forty years ago, there were those who wanted to tear down our state’s Victorian capitol building. Instead, the legislature rallied to renovate it. It is now one of the most beautiful state capitols in the nation. Saving the Michigan Manual would cost far less. But for our identity and our future, it may be just as important.

Comments

[Ron F. Rowley]

Jack,
Another thoughtful peice about things that matter in our state. Thank you.
Ron F. Rowley

[JR Hochmuth]

There is an opportunity that exists today to save the printed Michigan Manual and save money at the same time. The answer is on demand printing. Need a copy? The state can provide several Michigan printing companies a copy that can be printed on quality archival paper as needed and still have the e-publication that can easily be downloaded and viewed by many. By using Michigan printers, the money stays within the state and if there are several printers that are able to print the manual pricing will remain competitive and affordable.
It's a win, win - old school, new school technology showdown where creativity helps fill the needs of our ever changing society.

[Chris Lopez]

Certainly the Michigan Manual should be preserved at all cost -- our collective state history is important. However, I don't see how publishing it online fails to do that?

Mr. Lessenberry's complaint strikes one as a generational gripe, which is fine but perhaps not as dire as he makes it seem. He could still utilize the manual on a daily basis if it were online. However, he would not be able to add to his collection.

Mr. Lessenberry states that not publishing the Michigan Manual would only save a pittance, but he doesn't give a precise figure. Why not?

I don't know about other people but I like to have specific facts in order to form an opinion. Impassioned rhetoric is fine, and Mr. Lessenberry is very good at it -- it's one of the reason I regularly read his column -- however it needs to be balanced with some facts -- the amount that is a pittance in this case.

Print on demand sounds like an excellent compromise.

Also, is there not some local publisher that would enjoy the benefits of the publicity if they were to take on the publication of this manual, perhaps charging only the cost of the production for it?

[ms]

No offense Mr. Lessenberry, but I think this article is an example of the problems you typically rail against as causing our State's paralyzation and decline. As everyone knows, our fiscal situation is dire, and while revenue increases may be needed to support beneficial services, each dollar of state tax revenue should be carefully considered to make sure its benefit trumps the lost opportunity cost of being spent productively and innovatively by our citizens. While this book may have made far more sense in the days when the costs were high for distributing this essential information to our citizens, all of the facts you currently cited can be obtained much more cheaply and easily from multiple private and public sources on the internet (provided for free at the same libraries). In my experience, no one in this state disagrees with the statement we need to cut "wasteful spending" and focus on what government expenditures are necessary to bring unique benefits to the citizenry. However, nearly everyone equates essential government expenditures to those which benefit them personally or which they have particular interest in seeing supported regardless of the overall weighing of costs and benefits to the state. I believe this mentality become toxic, especially in a state where we have been fortunate to enjoy the largesse of over a half-century of near-monopolistic automotive income and are now forced to decide which services are those worth supporting with our own hard-earned incomes. When we are scrambling to scrape together couch change to fund education for our states next crop of productive intellects, I find it hard to justify expenditures on this book, or State Fairs, or anything which could be more directly funded privately by those citizens with a special interest in making or enjoying those goods and services.