Subject Matter Resource Collection

Project Logo Welcome to the White Lake Environmental History Project's Subject Matter Resource Collection. In this section, we have organized written accounts and other historical materials (not photos nor oral histories) that tell the story of White Lake's Environmental History.

These materials are organized by subject or topic. Click on the title to view the information; it will be displayed in a new window. Once the new window is opened, you may print it or save it to your computer.

Wherever possible, you will find links below the title to other materials in the resource collection related to that subject matter item. "Oral" refers to a related entry in the Oral Histories Resource Collection while "Photo" refers to a related entry in the Photo Resource Collection.

Environmental History Dates and Events

Download a PDF* of the WLEHP banner to review important White Lake environmental history dates and events.

* Adobe Reader is required to open and view PDF documents. Depending upon your browser, the downloaded document will either open in a new window or be downloaded directly to your computer. You may then print it and/or save it to your computer.

Blighted Great Lakes—A Life magazine Article from 1968

Download a PDF* of an article entitled Shocking Case of Our Inland Seas Dying from Man-Made Filth, Blighted Great Lakes from the August 23, 1968 issue of Life magazine.

This is a very large file, 26 MB, and it may take awhile to download. Please be patient, it is worth the wait.

Explore The Collection

Use these links to jump to a topical section of the Subject Matter Resource Collection:

Whitehall Leather Company ("the Tannery")
Hooker Electrochemical Company

Whitehall Leather Company ("the Tannery")

Svensson Family's Battle

Campground Couple Confront City Council
An excerpt from the Montague Observer, May 21, 1975
Click on the link to view the article. It will open as PDF*.
See also Oral and Photo entries.

The Murder of a Lake: A Report to the White Lake Area

The Murder of a Lake: A Report to the White Lake Area From the White Lake Area Improvement Association
This report was printed and circulated to the White Lake area community in the summer of 1967 by the White Lake Improvement Association, requesting donations for legal action to address pollution in the lake. It describes a survey done for the Association of the White River and White Lake drainage basin during the summer and fall of 1963 that concludes that municipal sewage and wastes from the tannery, Genesco/Whitehall Leather Company were accelerating aging in the lake, or increasing its eutrophic condition. The report describes problems in the lake and unsuccessful efforts by the Association to encourage the city of Whitehall, tannery management, and state and federal pollution control authorities to address the pollution issue. Mr. Everett Gee was listed in the report as the Association’s Secretary-Treasurer and Freeman M. Jones was listed as the group’s fundraising committee chairman. Other members of the fundraising committee included Charles H. Schwartz and John A. Dyer. This document is from the files of Tanya Cabala.
Click on the link to view the article. It will open as PDF*.
See also Oral and Photo entries.

Hooker Electrochemical Company

Blueberry Ridge Association Letter to Michigan Governor Milliken

Blueberry Ridge Association
The residents press Governor Milliken for a meeting and assistance in getting clean drinking water from Hooker Chemical Company, August 28, 1978.
Click on the link to view the article. It will open as PDF*.
See also Oral and Photo entries.

U.S. Representative Guy Vanderjagt Letter to Blueberry Ridge Association Resident

Vanderjagt Letter
U.S. Representative Guy Vanderjagt responds to Jane Hanna of the Blueberry Ridge Association, thanking her for a meeting and letting her know what he has done to assist the Association in their effort to obtain clean drinking water from Hooker Chemical Company, August 31, 1978.
Click on the link to view the article. It will open as PDF*.
See also Oral and Photo entries.

The Tragedy of White Lake: A Documentary Film

The Tragedy of White Lake is documentary film produced by Grand Valley State College in 1978 about White Lake’s pollution issues. It features interviews with attorney and local activist A. Winton “Wint” Dahlstrom, Montague resident and activist, Marion Dawson, Whitehall businessman James Tate, Warren Dobson, former Hooker Chemical Company worker and “whistleblower,” former Hooker Chemical Company manager Duane Colpoys, Howard Tanner, then director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and assistant attorney general, Steward Freeman, who pursued cleanup when pollution was brought to light by local citizens.
Click on the link to view video which is just under one hour.
See also Oral and Photo entries.

This is Not a Chocolate Factory: A Documentary Film

This Is Not a Chocolate Factory was produced in 2003 by former local resident and filmmaker David Ruck for the Lake Michigan Federation (now the Alliance for the Great Lakes). It is a dramatic retelling of the story of Hooker Chemical Company’s pollution problems, featuring clips from the 1978 documentary film “The Tragedy of White Lake,” and interviews with the late Montague Mayor Henry Roesler, Jr. and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials.
Click on the link to view the video which is just over eighteen minutes.
See also Oral and Photo Entries.

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