English professor creates local history website

Delta College English professor Mary Beth Looby has created a website, ‘Mid-Michigan Remembers Stories about Us,’ that displays her students’ literary work. This website collaboration also features various faculty members at Delta.

Looby has been an English professor at Delta College for over 27 years and continues to teach in the English Division. She said she takes her students on field trips to local museums and resident places of histories, and she also explained how she eventually came to create her website in 2008 for both her English 111 and 111A classes.

“When I first came to Delta, I wanted to find something that students would be interested in reading and writing about,” Looby said. “That’s when I came upon some things about Saginaw and Mid-Michigan, which later became a real focus in my classes.”

Although the website was created six years ago, Looby explained that it includes assignments dating back 15 years ago. These assignments, or short stories, are not limited to the history of certain memorials, people, places or things inside Saginaw or Mid-Michigan. Rather, many of the stories are research papers of people, places or things within that student’s life.

“What all of my students brought to the table were different things about their communities and I just thought that it’s too good to leave in my drawer or to throw away. I wanted to be able to publish it in some way,” Looby explained. “I’m going to continue to add to this (website).”

The ‘Mid-Michigan Remembers Stories about Us’ website is all about memories, tradition, legacies and memories. It contains over 200 articles from nearly 80 different authors, students and faculty, including topics such as family history, personal stories, local memorials or landmarks and family artifacts.

“This website is a great place for celebrating our community and celebrating my students’ work,” Looby said. “It brings to light things about both large and small communities within Michigan and about the ordinary people in them.”

Visit the website at http://www3.delta.edu/michiganremembers/. For more information, contact Mary Looby at mblooby@delta.edu.