Oakland History Center

One week to go! Freeeee ice cream and history — Be there!

Downtown Rochester, Oakland County, Michigan. Circa 1909 postcard photograph. From the David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography at the University of Michigan Clements Library.

The late Percy “Duck” McConner of Pontiac, Michigan pitched the first perfect game in the history of the American Softball Association World Tournament, among other athletic accomplishments. He’s pictured here later in life, photographed by Doug Bauman of the Oakland Press.

Undated postcard of a bridge over the Clinton River in Pontiac, Michigan. Postcard photograph from the David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography at the University of Michigan Clements Library. Likely circa 1910-1915.

Royal Oak Union School, opened in 1902. Royal Oak, Oakland County, Michigan. Postcard photograph from the David V. Tinder Collection of Michigan Photography at the University of Michigan Clements Library.

When the U.S. entered WWII, Rosie the Riveter became the fictional face of women workers who stepped in to fill new roles previously held only by men. 🔧💪 Read how Ford Motor Company used stories of real-life Rosies to attract wartime factory workers: links.thf.org/4kCVsfh.

Historic bricks stamped with “SAGINAW” lining the driveway and walkway at 56 Vinewood Court in Pontiac, Michigan. Saginaw Paving Brick Company manufactured vitrified paving bricks from 1894-1917, with the factory located in Saginaw, Michigan using clay from a mine near Flushing.

Oakland County Sportsmen’s Club of Waterford, Michigan. Undated photograph postcard. From the Tinder Michigan Photograph Collection at the University of Michigan Clements Library.

Oakland County intense history! 50 years ago now — wow. hourdetroit.com/community/the-…

Grim but important local history, on this day in 1936:

As early organizers, women like Mary McLeod Bethune established networks of social uplift to sustain African American communities. Bethune created the NCNW as “the central Wheel” that would unite and channel the activities of women’s organizations across the country.

An artifact of historic downtown Pontiac’s commercial past: a matchbox for the Dolan Cafe at 47 North Saginaw. Today, Pontiac’s Little Art Theatre is located there.

Arnethia Peters worked for many years as a nurse and manager at Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital (POH) in Downtown Pontiac, Michigan. Decades after retirement, she still carries her business card with the retro logo artwork as a memento of her time there. POH is now McLaren Oakland.

One of the Clinton Valley Center barns photographed after the sprawling psychiatric institution’s closure in 1997, but before demolition in 2000. Pontiac, Michigan. 📸 from Louis McGuinness.

Accent Pontiac students perform during their End of the Year Showcase last month, held outside the 1865 one-room schoolhouse at our Oakland History Center in Pontiac! ☀️🎵🎉

Oakland County history on this day, 100 years ago! Matilda and Alfred would go on to be noteworthy philanthropists who donate their Meadow Brook Hall estate to become present-day Oakland University. @oaklandu

This internet find was shared and is too good not to highlight: An Admit One voucher from 1960 to the Blue Sky Drive-In Theatre in Pontiac Township, present-day Auburn Hills. It operated from 1948 to 1987; demolished in 1989, replaced by Showcase Cinemas (which closed in 2002).

Pontiac attorneys William Waterman and Elbert Hatchett with the Northern Oakland County Branch NAACP pictured after they filed suit against the Pontiac School District for their illegal racial segregation of students and staff in 1969. They won and the School District lost.

Vernors, Diet-Rite Cola, and Royal Crown Cola vending machine at the Vernors Room of The Crofoot Ballroom in Downtown Pontiac, Michigan. @TheCrofoot