Growing up, I never understood how my classmates weren't aware of all of the museums everywhere around them. Every town has a historical society and maybe a building or two from a notable architect. You can find them if you know where to look. I have my dad to thank for that knowledge.
One of my first memories is visiting the teddy bear museum at Peter White Library in Marquette Michigan. Dad could answer questions about everything from the history of Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt to the process of modern toy manufacturing. Imagine a kid pestering his dad with questions, but at the end of his explanations there's a crowd of other kids and their parents gathered around to listen to him talk.
James Quirk was a professor at Northern Michigan University. He taught in the Art and Design department. One of his courses was called "Why America Looks This Way." It was an art and architecture course that filled a humanities graduation requisite. A lot of NMU students wound up learning a lot more than they were expecting. Professor Quirk would cover the history of how America was built, starting from the colonial era to modern day, with every design choice fit into the context of the politics and attitudes of the time.
Dad was meticulous about his research. Pretty much every summer vacation was a reason to travel. He was also extremely frugal - we never stayed in a hotel if there was a campground nearby. The zippered cloth doors of our tent were covered in logos and souvenir patches from all of the parks and museums that we visited. On one memorable occasion our schedule was pushed back a day because a moose wandered into the campground showers and couldn't figure out how to get back out.
When dad retired he gave his successor his collection of 35mm slides and original photography. I've put the word out that I'd like to get copies of them so that they can be added to our study collection and shared with scholars around the world. In time, perhaps, everyone will be able to see Why America Looks This Way.
