Welcome
A letter from Kenneth Pott, Executive Director of the Heritage Museum & Cultural Center
The Heritage Museum and Cultural Center (HMCC) is proud to offer Preserve the Fruit Belt: An Educational Guide to Local and Regional History. Preserve the Fruit Belt was created to promote student and public understanding of the culturally rich and far reaching role that fruit growing and its allied industries have played in the history of Southwest Michigan. The goals of the Fruit Belt Project were to:
Document and analyze the roles of the fruit industry in the historical development of Southwest Michigan
Preserve a sense of local and regional identity
Foster a sense of shared experience along family, ethnic, racial and religious lines
Strengthen community pride and agricultural awareness of regional heritage
The Fruit Belt story is a timely tale with great relevance for both present and future generations. Most remarkably, it is a story that has never been told before! Although designed for educators and school groups, we are pleased to say that youth clubs, civic agencies, history museums and other organizations may effectively use this guide.
Preserve the Fruit Belt was produced with the academic support and involvement of scholars and students from the Department of History at Western Michigan University and the associated Frederick S. Upton Fellowship Program in Public History – a program jointly administered by WMU and the Heritage Center. Equally benevolent monetary gifts were received from the Guido A. and Elizabeth H. Binda Foundation and the Berrien Community Foundation. The production of this valuable resource would not have been possible without the involvement and generous support of these programs and foundations.
As an outreach tool, Preserve the Fruit Belt promises to both deepen and extend the educational mission of the Heritage Society. We look forward to sharing this guide and the role it will play in preserving and presenting the rich agricultural heritage of Southwest Michigan for generations to come.
Kenneth R. Pott
Executive Director
Heritage Museum and Cultural Center
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WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY / THE HERITAGE MUSEUM AND CULTURAL CENTER