In the links today: a Harry Potter conference at Eastern Michigan University in March, archives of the history of the passenger pigeon at the Bentley Historical Library, and changes to an AATA bus route are welcomed by the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living.

Harry Potter conference at Eastern, May 15 2010 via Motown Writers Network

The Fifth House (E. Michigan Univ's Harry Potter Book Club & Reading Group) is proud to announce that it will be hosting EXPEDITIOUS, a 1 day Harry Potter Conference, on May 15, 2010 in Ann Arbor, MI! Our website (thefifthhouse.org) has been expanded a little bit to include pages with information on the conference, programming submission guidelines, and registration info! Registration for the conference will open VERY soon, so check back often.

History of the passenger pigeon, papers at Bentley

From Joel Goldberg's "Birdzilla" weblog, "Ann Arbor Rendezvous"

Earlier I wrote of my trip to Saginaw to examine the papers of William Butts Mershon, who among many other things was the first great historian of the passenger pigeon. He loved the out of doors, and pursued hunting and fishing with all the vast resources at his disposal. He was a self-admitted “game hog”, back in the day when few people knew any better. [...] But when it became clear that the profligate slaughter engaged in by “sportsmen” and market hunters alike was ridding the country of its wildlife, he became a passionate proponent of conservation measures. (In fact, many of those involved in the last-minute effort to save the passenger pigeons from extinction had a history of shooting them.)

Well it turns out that most of Mershon’s papers are not in Saginaw, but rather at the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. (I accidentally learned that fact in the course of perusing a 1954 doctoral dissertation.) So that is where I headed recently. It only took me three and a half hours to get there, and the motel was only five minutes from the library.

A finding aid to the Mershon papers is online at the Bentley.

Allies for Transportation 24/7, a project of United Cerebral Palsy of Michigan, celebrates the improved bus access to the Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living:

The Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living (Ann Arbor CIL) has worked closely with Ann Arbor Transit Authority (AATA), and now the community has a safe and secure bus stop at the Ann Arbor CIL, located at 3941 Research Park Drive. AATA’s inbound bus route #6 from Ypsilanti to Ann Arbor has added stops along Research Park Drive at both the Social Security Administration and the Ann Arbor CIL. The Ann Arbor CIL is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the success of children, youth, and adults with disabilities. Ann Arbor CIL has been in the community for 34 years. Two years ago they needed to move with the closing of Georgetown Mall. The building, where the Ann Arbor CIL, is now is more accessible and twice the size of their old facility. When they moved, they knew they would benefit from increased transit options.

The new bus stop now allows individuals with disabilities and the general public to make a safe and independent trip to and from the Ann Arbor CIL. “Before the bus stop, getting to or from here by bus was difficult, especially for many individuals with disabilities. Members of our community had to get off the bus in heavy traffic and travel long distances to receive our services and participate in events. We now have 50% more access via public transportation than we had before,” states Carolyn Grawi, Ann Arbor CIL Director of Advocacy and Education.

The new AATA Route 6 schedule and map are available online.  

Edward Vielmetti reads Harry Potter on the AATA Route 6 bus for AnnArbor.com.  SMS him at 734-330-2465.