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Event

Manufactured History: Memories of Chase

Tuesday, July 30, 2024
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

About the Event

Cost: Free

See a video of this program on YouTube

Many people remember 200 Blue Star Highway in Douglas as the site of the former Haworth factory. But fewer people recall that a plating company named Chase Manufacturing operated there. In 1965, a large multinational conglomerate, Gulf + Western Industries purchased the plant. In the mid-1980s, local and state officials discovered contamination in the city’s municipal wells, and toxic waste behind the elementary school. Ultimately, the state traced the contamination back to Gulf + Western’s operation in Douglas, though seldom is their name mentioned when discussing this still-contaminated site. For this Tuesday talk, Kate Levy, Artist in Residence at GVSU, will present a historical and poetic lecture about what she has learned about this site through historical research and conversations with various people in the community.

Location

Outdoors, behind the History Center
130 W Center Street
Douglas, MI 49406 United States