Original Heritage Book
The original Heritage Book was created to present a factual and unbiased portrayal of the heritage of the City known today as Madison Heights. The book was the result of three years of extensive research by the Madison Heights Junior Women’s Club, and covered the years prior to 1900 to 1964.
Reference Material
Reference material was gathered from the Royal Oak Tribune morgue files, Madison News and Madison Heights Reporter newspaper clippings, the City’s Annual Progress Reports and the Royal Oak and Madison Heights Libraries. Fond memories of early township days, which never made newspaper headlines but provided flavor to the era, nonetheless, were recalled by early residents through personal interviews.
Original Idea
The original idea behind the Heritage Book was to compile a scrapbook of newspaper articles for the City library. Richard Marshall, the City Manager at the time, assisted in obtaining information from City Departments, while William Tillman, Curriculum Director of Lamphere School District and F. Foster Wilkinson, Superintendent of Madison School District compiled their respective school district sections. Former Councilwoman Elva Mills was also instrumental in the Book’s conception, along with Connie Schmelzle, Irene Hubbard, and Lila Richards.
First Published
The Heritage Book was first published in 1965. In 1994, once again after years of extensive research, a revised first volume of the Heritage Book was published. The Madison Heights Historical Commission was created in 1984 by a City ordinance. In 1985, the Commission formed a committee to update that Heritage Book.
Second Volume
Seven years later, after talking with many early residents, researching newspaper clippings and library files, and sending out questionnaires to hundreds of civic, social, and education groups, the update, which covers the years, 1965 to 1992 was completed. Bill and Dolly Ferries, and Marilyn Kammer, were largely responsible for the writing and editing of this second volume.
