Historical Highlights
The Michigan Women's Studies Association, an academic-professional organization, was
founded in 1973 on the campus of Michigan State University. Their goal was to change
what is thought and taught about women's role in history, particularly Michigan women, in
our public schools and at the college level.
In February of 1976, anticipating the need for a broadening role and mission in
community education, MWSA was formally reconstituted as a non-profit corporation and
granted 501(c)3 tax exempt status thereafter.
In 1980, following almost a year of planning, MWSA acquired a lease on the Cooley-Haze
House from the City of Lansing on the condition that the building be brought up to code
and be fully renovated for adaptive use as the site of the Michigan Women's Historical
Center and Hall of Fame.
By February of 1986, approximately $180,000 had been raised in building funds and work
began in the summer of 1986 on the renovation.
The Center was dedicated and opened to the public on June 10, 1987, anniversary date of
the Michigan ratification of the Women's Suffrage Amendment. Since the opening, we have
encouraged the city of Lansing's efforts to restore the Cooley Gardens, and we are now
surrounded by a beautiful garden and picnic area.
The goal of the Michigan Women's Historical Center and Hall of Fame is to give
visibility to Michigan women artists, photographers, sculptors, etc. Over the past
several years, the development of the new Michigan Women's Historical Center and Hall of
Fame has drawn encouragement and support from across the state. Benefits have been
organized and support groups formed in a number of different communities, including
Escanaba and Marquette in the Upper Peninsula, Muskegon, Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo in the
western reaches of the state, and in Saginaw, Grosse Pointe, Birmingham and Detroit as
well as Lansing.
In October of 1983, the First Annual Awards Dinner for the new Michigan Women's Hall of
Fame was held in Dearborn at the Fairlane Manor. This event was attended by over 700
friends and supporters, men as well as women, and of all different race and origin.
Participating in the program in honor of the distinguished Michigan women who were
inducted into the Hall of Fame that evening were such state leaders as Secretary of State
Richard Austin, former Governor George Romney, First Lady Paula Blanchard, Chief Justice
G. Mennen Williams and Justice James H. Brickley of the Michigan Supreme Court, the
Honorable Wade McCree, Jr., former Solicitor General Fishman, and others equally
prominent. The success of this first evening of awards was subsequently repeated in
February of 1985, also in Dearborn, and each year thereafter alternating between Southeast
Michigan and Lansing. The Michigan Women's Hall of Fame Gallery currently displays
over 125 distinguished women including Rosa Parks, Helen Milliken, Betty Ford, Patricia
Hill Burnett, Lily Tomlin, Gilda Radner, Dorothy Comstock Riley, Mother Waddles, Sippie
Wallace, Jean "The Queen" Steinberg, Helen Thomas,and former Lieutetnant
Governor Connie Binsfeld to name a few, who have been inducted since 1983.
Organizations, businesses and private foundations have also contributed greatly to the
current development program. Among the major contributors have been the Michigan Education
Association, the Michigan Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, the
United Automobile Workers, the Michigan Division of the American Association of University
Women, the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, the Women's Coordinating Committee of
Grand Rapids, the Junior League of Lansing, and the Tri-City (Saginaw, Midland and Bay
City) Friends of the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame. The Kmart Corporation, the Ford Motor
Company, the General Motors Corporation, and the Automobile Club of Michigan, along with
other major corporations, have been equally supportive.
The Gannett Newspaper Foundation, the Greater Lansing Foundation and the Ford Motor
Company Fund have also made major contributions to the project. In addition, the project
has received special grant funding from the Board of Commissioners of Ingham County, the
State of Michigan, The Michigan Humanities Council and the City of Lansing, the latter
having made a trust fund amounting to in excess of sixty thousand dollars available for
building renovation purposes on a dollar per dollar matching basis.
Since the opening of the Center, the establishment of the Friends of the Michigan
Women's Historical Center and Hall of Fame has been a significant source of support of
both volunteer effort and operating funds. The Friends Association has grown to 450
members. It is our hope that this group will grow to 1000 individuals and organizations
who will support the Center annually.
The Center has published an anthology, Historic Women of Michigan, edited by
Rosalie Riegle Troester; an educational resource packet, "How the Suffragist Changed
Michigan;" and Michigan Women: Firsts and Founders Volume I and II by Betty
MacDowell and Rachel Brett Harley, and several smaller publications.
The Center has changing exhibits and sponsors many events such as the "Picnic on
the Lawn" in June and a "Victorian Tea in the Garden" in July. The
"Picnic" is one of our major fundraisers for the year and brings together
friends for a fun-filled evening of food, entertainment and conversation. The
"Tea" is co-sponsored with the Greater Lansing Garden Club and The Scott Sunken
Garden. This event is family oriented and makes for a relaxing afternoon. The
Center also pays tribute to mothers on Mother's Day by sending cards and gifts for
individuals for a small price.
The Michigan Women's Studies Association, our parent organization, also sponsors a
Conference each spring on the campus of a university or college to bring more visibility
of women's role in history and make women aware of what is happening and what is available
to them.
Contact Information
- Telephone
- (517) 484-1880
- FAX
- (517) 372-0170
- Postal address
- 213 W. Main St., Lansing, MI 48933
- Electronic mail
- General Information: mwhfame@leslie.k12.mi.us
