Grand Hotel (Mackinac Island, Mich.) records, circa 1855-2017 (majority within 1946-2012)

Summary

Creator:

Grand Hotel (Mackinac Island, Mich.)

Abstract:

The Grand Hotel records comprise documents, photographs, audio and videographic material collected about the hotel by its management. The strength of the collection is in its documentation of the guest experience at the hotel, and the evolution of amenities offered by the hotel during the mid-to-late 20th century. A small number of items also provide a glimpse of the hotel's earliest days as a summer resort.

Extent:

27.5 linear feet (in 29 boxes)
2 oversize folders
94.4 GB (online)

Language:

English

Call Number:

05146 Bb 2 Bb outsize; UBB1

Authors:

Finding aid created by Christie Peterson, December 2005 Polly Reymolds, March 2007 Michigan Historical Collections Staff

Background

Scope and Content:

The Grand Hotel records are arranged in six series: Printed Material, Miscellaneous, Press Clippings and Publications, Photographic Material, Audio Material, and Videographic Material.

Biographical / Historical:

Grand Hotel opened on July 10, 1887 as a venture of the Mackinac Island Hotel Company. In 1910, the hotel was purchased by Henry Weaver, its manager since 1900. The hotel was sold again in 1918, this time to J. Logan Ballard, who died only five years later. In 1925, William Stewart Woodfill purchased the hotel with two other men, to whom he later sold his shares. In 1933, Woodfill would purchase the hotel again, this time as sole owner, after it fell into receivership. Woodfill, who also managed the hotel for a number of years, retained ownership throughout the mid-20th century, though he gradually turned responsibility for the hotel's management over to Dan Musser beginning in 1951. The Musser family purchased the hotel from Woodfill in 1979, and continue to run it today.

Since its opening, Grand Hotel has become a popular family vacation destination and conference location with its upscale accommodations and dining facilities. Features of the hotel include an elaborate, multi-course dinner included for every guest, 18 holes of golf, a 660-foot front porch overlooking the water, and a pool that Esther Williams made famous in the movie This Time For Keeps in 1946.

Information for this History was taken from Grand Hotel: The biography of an American institution by John McCabe. This book, published by the hotel on the occasion of its centennial season, is available in box 1 of the papers, and includes images of historical documents owned by the hotel and other repositories that are not included in this collection.

Acquisition Information:

The record group was received from Grand Hotel (donor no. 9662 ) beginning in October 2005; additional materials have been received.

Processing information:

In preparing digital material for long-term preservation and access, the Bentley Historical Library adheres to professional best practices and standards to ensure that content will retain its authenticity and integrity. For more information on procedures for the ingest and processing of digital materials, please see Bentley Historical Library Digital Processing Note. Access to digital material may be provided either as a direct link to an individual file or as a downloadable package of files bundled in a zip file.

Accruals:

Periodic additions to the records expected.

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS).

Related

Alternative Form Available:

Digitization: The Library has undertaken the digitization of a number of sound recordings within this collection. The resulting audio files are available for playback only in the Bentley Library Reading Room. Links to item images and additional information are available within this finding aid. Original sound recordings are only available for staff use.

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Hotels -- Michigan -- Mackinac Island.
Summer resorts -- Michigan -- Mackinac Island.
Construction -- Michigan -- Mackinac Island.
Motion picture locations -- Michigan -- Mackinac Island.
Hotels -- Michigan -- Mackinac Island.
Resorts -- Michigan -- Mackinac Island.

Formats:

Menus.
Digital file formats.
Photographs.
Sound recordings.
Videotapes.

Names:

Grand Hotel (Mackinac Island, Mich.)
Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946-
Clinton, Hillary Rodham.
Dewey, Thomas E. (Thomas Edmund), 1902-1971.
Engler, John, 1948-
Milliken, William G., 1922-
Reeve, Christopher, 1952-2004.
Seymour, Jane, 1951-
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972.
Warren, Earl, 1891-1974.
Williams, G. Mennen, 1911-1988.

Places:

Mackinac Island (Mich.)
Mackinac Island (Mich.)