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Page 145 DETROIT HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEWS New Exhibits at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum When the spring river breezes swept winter from Belle Isle, they also brought fresh exhibits and events to the Dossin Great Lakes Museum. From one end to the other, there are new things to see and do. The Great Lakes Gallery now features "Smugglers on the Straits." Aaron DeRoy Hall highlights "Fun, Fast & Fancy: Great Lakes Yachts." Other spaces throughout the museum benefit from new and refurbished installations. Our feature exhibit covers over three hundred years of smuggling activities on the river. For almost a hundred miles, a narrow ribbon of water separates two nations, making the Detroit area a Smuggler's Paradise. The story starts with Antoine Cadillac, Detroit's founder, and continues to this day-probably this minute. From furs to liquor to humans, this region has served the bold and adventurous well. Fortunes have been made, freedom won, and many lives lost. Contrary to romantic notions, smuggling is serious business. It has three prerequisites: a border; legislation favoring one side or the other; and people willing to exploit the situation. Except for the period between 1760 and 1796, when Britain controlled the Strait and these factors were removed, the "dark trade" has been at home on our waters. Naturally, certain periods have been more important than others. Profitable, illegal river crossings increased with the advent of the Underground Railroad. Runaway slaves were rewarded with freedom if they could reach Canada. They crossed by the hundreds. Some swam, or walked across winter ice. Many used any vessel available - rowboats, sailboats and rafts. Others simply employed the numerous ferries and steamships that constantly plied the river. Smuggling continued after Emancipation, but it wasn't until the Prohibition Era of the 1920s that it became outrageously profitable. With liquor production halted in the United States, and numerous breweries and distilleries open across the river in Canada, Detroit became a smuggling boomtown. Detroit's expertise in fast boats and fast cars was particularly advantageous, and the flood gates were open. Nearly every old Detroit family has stories of uncles running rum, or aunts running basement speakeasies. Bringing the story to life are artifacts and tableaus representing the various eras highlighted in the exhibit. Featured items include 17th Century French coins. Prohibition era booty and weapons, and parts of a rumrunning speedboat recovered by Museum volunteers from the Detroit River. Perhaps the most intriguing story and artifact relate to James Joyce's book "Ulysses." Originally banned in the United Kingdom and United States, Ernest Hemingway had a box full of the Paris edition shipped to Windsor, and summarily smuggled into Detroit. John King Books generously loaned a text from this period for the exhibit. "Smugglers on the Straits" will be open through April, 2009. For more reading on smuggling, two resources are "Sketches in the History of the Underground Railroad" by Eber Pettit (Chautauqua Region Press) and "Rumrunning and the Roaring Twenties" by Dr. Philip Mason (WSU Press). The story of yachts, yachting, and yacht building is explored in "Fun, Fast & Fancy: Great Lakes Yachts." This exhibit was designed to complement our recently closed "The Clubs" exhibit, which looked at the area's extensive yacht club culture. The pastime of yachting developed after the American Civil War, as an emerging middle class began seeking recreational activities. Across the country, baseball and bicycling exploded. Dossin Museum Collection