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Updated February
2007
In 2003 I created PrairieMania
to share my interest in Laura Ingalls Wilder and my travel adventures
related to her and her family. Since then PrairieMania has grown
to encompass my devotion to history.
 I have been busy promoting my latest
co-authored book, Images of America: Sylvania (Arcadia Publishing)
that came out December 2006. Gindy and I believe, if our proposal
is accepted, we will write a second volume. Perhaps a few years
from now.
In 2002 I received a BA in
history from Michigan's Oakland University. Besides working on
local history, museum-based literature, and a handful of articles;
I created two booklets related to Laura Ingalls Wilder and her
daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. (Booklets are available through some
of the Laura Ingalls Wilder homesites and this site, PrairieMania.com.)
I grew up in the Southwest,
where my love of history developed. I started doing living history
programs in 1996 and focused my attention on American history
during the years following the Civil War, particularly that of
the migration west, and the lives of women in the Southwest.
Now that I live in the Midwest, my focus has been local history.
Since many children and adults are familiar with Laura Ingalls
Wilder's books, I often use samples from her text when doing
presentations.
Although I read Laura Ingalls
Wilder's books as a child, I did not discover the real life of
Laura until I was an adult. It was then I started reading everything
I could get about Laura and her daughter, Rose, and joined the
internet Laura Ingalls Wilder following. Laura Ingalls Wilder's
life has lured me all over the country and I have been to all
of the official homesites and several unofficial sites. My journey
from the pages to the prairies of Laura Ingalls Wilder has provided
me with many wonderful memories - from watching the sun set on
Pa's homestead in De Smet to walking in weeds five-feet tall
in the drizzling rain to find Rose's cave in Mansfield. I've
waded in Plum Creek, picked pebbles from the shore of Lake Pepin,
enjoyed a scone in San Francisco, spent hours reading through
Rose's papers at Herbert Hoover Library, and more!
Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose
Wilder Lane were two of many women in history that I have come
to admire. They were strong women and I have come to rely on
strong women throughout history for examples on living life.
I hope that you will enjoy
PrairieMania as much as I enjoyed putting it together!
Articles:
Sylvania History
Published, dot!
newspaper for women, Women in the News, 01/2007
Local women author book
to preserve Sylvania history
By Autumn Lee
Toledo Free Press Staff Writer
Toledo Free Press, 01/10/2007
Local women author book
to preserve Sylvania history
By Autumn Lee
Toledo Free Press Staff Writer
Members of the Sylvania Area
Historical Society and Sylvania residents Gaye E. Gindy and Trini
L. Wenninger have authored a photographic tribute to preserve
the Sylvania area's history in their book, Sylvania.
The 126-page softcover book
reveals a glimpse into Sylvania's history through photographs
that depict images of railroads, booming businesses, school life,
sports, a look into the Underground Railroad and scenes of life
from previous eras.
Gindy, who also serves as the
administrative secretary to the chief of Sylvania police, said
she has been a long-time Sylvania history fanatic researching
the area's buildings, families and businesses for the last 30
years.
The celebration of the 1976
Bicentennial inspired her to develop an interest in Sylvania
history. For years, Gindy has gathered photographs through the
Sylvania Area Historical Society. She credits co-author Wenninger
with organizing the photographs and research information.
Wenninger and Gindy spent a
year compiling research on collected historical photographs,
scanning them and writing captions that summarized their findings.
"We worked on [the book] together.
We made a good team," Gindy said.
Gindy said it was difficult
gathering photographs to find Sylvania veterans to represent
each of the wars.
When Gindy tracked down the
family of Douglas R. Corbin, who was among those remembered in
a memorial garden for their military service at the Veterans
Memorial Park, she learned his father, Ray, editor of the Sylvania
Sentinel, wrote about his death in the newspaper.
One photo was easier to locate.
On page 102, pictured is Gindy's father-in-law, Allan J. Gindy,
who lived in Sylvania for 33 years and was a member of Sylvania's
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3310.
He joined the U.S. Navy and
served as a helmsman aboard the USS Volans during WWII. Later,
after being discharged he joined the U.S. Army in 1948 and served
in the Korean War.
Gindy said she believes readers
would find the chapter on the Underground Railroad to be "very
interesting."
Readers can peek at a home
belonging to the Dewey family, who were heavily involved in anti-slavery
politics.
Gindy said she hopes that,
through reading the book, readers would gain a basic knowledge
of Sylvania's history and spark an interest that helps them join
in the efforts to preserve the area's history.
Wenninger said she helped co-author
the book to share the photographs in the Sylvania Area Historical
Society archives.
?The museum is not open every
day and not many people know we're there,? Wenninger said.
Gindy and Wenninger collected
historical information from old deeds and newspapers, family
collections of journals and letters contained in the Sylvania
Historical Society archives, school board meeting minutes and
census records.
Sylvania contains a very
small portion of the archives' photograph collection, Wenninger
said. However, they picked relevant subjects and tried to represent
those as much as possible.
Wenninger said she and Gindy
made a few "field trips" to compare images in the photographs
with what exists in the locations now.
During her research, Wenninger
said she was surprised to learn of an Indian burial ground reported
to be next to the Ten Mile Creek set of railroad tracks, which
is pictured on page 14 of the book.
"We have not discovered
what happened to the remains," she said.
Wenninger said their research
became "really personal" for them.
When reading about some of
the men who served in the military, Wenninger said she and Gindy
occasionally became "teary-eyed" as they thought about
the families the soldiers left behind.
Wenninger echoed Gindy's hopes
for the book, but added she hoped Sylvania would reach
a younger generation as most members of the Sylvania Historical
Society tend to be older.
Gindy and Wenninger will sign
books from 1 to 3 p.m. Jan. 20 at Angela's Angels and Antiques
at 5774 Main St. in Sylvania.
Sylvania, listed at $19.99, is available at
area bookstores, independent retailers, online bookstores or
through Arcadia Publishing at www.arcadiapublishing.com or (888)
313-2665.
Toledo Blade, Thursday, December 14, 2006
History comes alive in book
on Sylvania: Volume captures city's personality
By JANET ROMAKER
BLADE STAFF WRITER
In 1933, Maynard Giles Cosgrove,
a local historian in Sylvania, put the past, present, and future
in perspective.
"The town pumps, the
pigs, the taverns, the mud in summer and bobsleds in winter,
are all gone. It needs another hundred years to point out the
things we have with us today that are important or trivial, tragic
or funny. We are too close to judge."
Now, several decades later,
the city's history comes to life in a just-published book, aptly
titled Sylvania.
Gaye Gindy and Trini Wenninger, Sylvania residents who are authors
and historians, spent months working on the book. They sifted
through hundreds of photographs; they researched homes, historic
places, landmarks, buildings, maps, deeds, and census records.
Although the book's photographs
are in black and white, the city's personality comes through
in living color.
Ms. Gindy, a native of Sylvania, and Ms. Wenninger, who has lived
in the city for four years, worked independently throughout the
week while they were putting the book together, and they met
on the weekends to combine their efforts.
Much of their work centered
around archival collections at the Sylvania Heritage Center Museum
on Main Street - the museum is located right next door to the
home where Ms. Gindy lived when she was growing up.
"Most of the photographs in the book came from the Sylvania
Area Historical Society," said Ms. Gindy, who is the administrative
secretary to the chief of police in Sylvania. She is a member
of the Friends of the Lathrop House and serves on the Sylvania
Historical Village Commission's board. There are so many more
photographs in the historical society's collections that Ms.
Gindy predicts that the authors might soon launch Sylvania, Volume
II.
Ms. Gindy and Ms. Wenninger
credited Polly Cooper, a volunteer at the historical society's
museum, for making their jobs easier.
"She keeps the records
here and knows where everything is. She was here with us every
Saturday helping out," Ms. Gindy said.
The authors, who are both members
of the Sylvania Area Historical Society, began working on the
book about a year ago after Ms. Wenninger, who has a college
degree in history, decided that she would compile a history of
the city. Ms. Wenninger is a history buff, and has written historical
booklets. She is a member of several Laura Ingalls Wilder memorial
societies. Her booklets are available in Laura Ingalls Wilder
gift shops.
"We wanted to do this
because we love Sylvania history," said Ms. Wenninger.
Other than a history book from
1933, little has been written about Sylvania's history, they
said.
"When Trini said that
she would do the book, I said that I would help," said Ms.
Gindy, who has been collecting local history information for
30 years. "My goal is to write history books about Sylvania
and fill one shelf with them at the library."
Sylvania was finished in October,
and in recent weeks the authors have been signing and selling
the publication. Some stores in downtown Sylvania stock the books for sale to
the public.
The historical society has
purchased 200 of the books, proceeds from the sale of which will
go toward preservation efforts, the authors said.
About 125 pages of the book
are devoted to "little bits of everything. We tried to do
broad strokes," said Ms. Gindy.
The city's early days, its
railroads, business and industry, government and education, sports,
family life, and connections to the Underground Railroad and
to wars are highlighted through photographs and text.
After spending so much time researching the city, "we've
become fond of many of the names mentioned throughout the book.
I wish I could have met some of the people who lived here in
days past," Ms. Wenninger said. "I would have enjoyed
seeing A.R. Chandler's garden. I would have liked to have walked
along Main Street when the blacksmith shop was there, hearing
the clanging of his tools."
Sylvania is a fascinating look
at a city that has been home to gypsies and farmers; merchants
who sold cream separators, and a funeral home that advertised
in 1959 its custom-designed ambulance with a "radio-telephone,
inhalator, resuscitator and aspirator, along with a host of innovations
for the comfort and security of the patients on long trips."
Check out page 56 to learn
about a bank holdup by Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd or
turn to page 17 to read about a 20-mile-long parade that was
held in 1926 to celebrate - get this - the official opening of
the newly paved Monroe Street.
"The cost of paving Monroe
Street, from Central Avenue in Toledo to Main Street in Sylvania,
was over $1 million and was nicknamed the 'Million Dollar Highway,'"
the authors noted.
Thanks
to all who have purchased Sylvania! When the books are
purchased directly from the historical society (or through me
for them) the proceeds go to their preservation efforts.
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