May

Photo Friday: Whatever Floats your Boat

Memorial Day Weekend marks the beginning of summer, and in Michigan, what better way to celebrate than with a typical summer activity: boating.

Florence Louise Booth and Warren Scripps Booth rowing on Glastonbury Lake (now Kingswood Lake) in 1906. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives.

Florence and Warren are pictured in a rowboat at what was known as the Booth family’s summer retreat, two years before the building of Cranbrook House. In 1906, Henry Wood Booth recalled, “The millpond was enlarged and made into a lake by deepening and extending to the old millrace at the north-west end.” The lake was called Glastonbury Lake, after a pond near the village of Cranbrook, Kent, England (Henry Wood Booth’s birthplace). It has since been renamed Kingswood Lake.

Warren Scripps Booth sits in a boat near the original frame boathouse on Glastonbury Lake (now Kingswood Lake) in 1906. Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives.

So, as summer begins, remember to be safe while boating. Although Florence (4) and Warren (12) may be missing their life jackets 115 years ago, a new Federal Law now requires children under 13 years of age to wear one when a vessel is underway.

– Leslie S. Mio, Associate Registrar, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research

2 years ago Short URL 1 Comment

Cranbrook House/Images

Author: Leslie Mio/boating/boats/children/Florence Booth/Kingswood Lake/Summer/warren scripps booth

Jun

The Swans of Cranbrook

For many decades, Kingswood Lake was graced with the elegant beauty of imported mute swans. Mute swans (which have orange beaks and a distinctive nob on their forehead) are not native to Michigan or even North America. Around 1870, mute swans were imported from Europe to the U.S. to adorn city parks, zoos, and large estates. In 1919, the first pair of mute swans was introduced to Michigan in Charlevoix County and by 2010, there were more than 15,500 mute swans throughout the state.

While white swans are visible in Cranbrook photographs as early as 1931, we do not know if these were imported European mute swans. The first pair appears to have arrived at Cranbrook in the early 1950s, and by 1955, a news article described eight new arrivals as a “majestic flotilla of white swans.” They joined the “old-timers” who were less than pleased with the newcomers, and in fact, spent a good deal of time hissing at them with outstretched necks.

Swans on Kingswood Lake, 1953. Courtesy Cranbrook Archives.

Mute swans (which are not really mute) feed primarily on water plants, and can eat up to eight pounds a day! This large appetite for aquatic vegetation can reduce wetlands for native wildlife species. Since swans must have open water at all times in order to survive, Cranbrook Foundation staff either had to open up ice for them, or provide a waterfowl shed for safety. The shed was equipped with a deep bed of straw and a large tub of water.

Waterfowl Shed, 1999. Courtesy Cranbrook Archives.

While swans are highly intelligent, they can sometimes attack people–especially those who come close to their nesting habitats. At Cranbrook, there are no reports of swans endangering people, but there are reports of swan endangerment. Several times over the years, swans, especially the cygnets, were killed by dogs on campus. In 1974, Robert Bowen (then director of the Institute of Science) appealed to Cranbrook to help minimize the risks to swans and allow the parent birds to raise their young as unencumbered as possible. This meant making sure that the swans had a clear path to the middle of the lake in order to escape from predators.

Swan to ‘duck’ limelight at Cranbrook. Oakland Press, Jul 20, 1980.

While it is not known exactly when mute swans were first introduced at Cranbrook, nor when the last pair was purchased, we can say with certainty that they share in our storied history and continued to survive at Cranbrook for more than forty years.

– Leslie S. Edwards, Head Archivist

6 years ago Short URL 3 Comments

Archives/Cranbrook Educational Community/Cranbrook Institute of Science

Cranbrook Foundation/Kingswood Lake/mute swans/robert bowen/swans/waterfowl

Dec

The Name Game

From the beginning of Cranbrook’s history in 1904, place names at Cranbrook have evolved and changed. Once the Booths turned the original mill pond into a lake, they named it first Glassenbury Lake (after Glassenbury, England), then it was known as Cranbrook Lake for a very short time, and ultimately Kingswood Lake. The man-made Jonah Lake (or Lake Jonah as it is also known) was originally called Lake Manitou. Brookside School was originally called Bloomfield Hills School and Cranbrook School was Cranbrook School for Boys. Although Brookside School retains its name, since 1985 when the boys and girls schools merged, they are jointly known as Cranbrook Kingswood Schools.

Building names have also changed, often due to an alteration in use or sometimes because they were dedicated to an influential or long-time faculty member. The Garden House became the Cranbrook Pavilion and is now St. Dunstan’s Playhouse. The Cranbrook School academic building became Hoey Hall after former Headmaster Harry Hoey and what was originally called the “Arcade” is now known as the Peristyle at the Cranbrook Art Museum. Lyon House was first called Stonelea (after its owner Ralph Stone, a long-time friend of George Booth), then Belwood, then the Kyes House before being acquired by Cranbrook.

And even Cranbrook Educational Community is not our first name. In 1927, the Booths established The Cranbrook Foundation as the legal and financial entity that oversaw the then six institutions: Brookside School, Christ Church Cranbrook, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Cranbrook Institute of Science, Cranbrook School, and Kingswood School.

So, what is really in a name? How do we name our campus buildings and landmarks going forward and what legacy will we be imparting with them?

That said, I wish you all a Happy New Year! Or should I say Bonne année? Feliz Año Nuevo? Or maybe Xin nian kuai le?

(And thank you Stefanie Dlugosz-Acton for getting me thinking about names at Cranbrook!)