Mighty Greenville, Michigan!

I recently had the opportunity to spend a magical and historical day in Greenville, Michigan!

After giving my Rosie the Riveter Presentation (on behalf of Michigan Rosies – Rosie the Riveter Association of Michigan, our nonprofit organization based in Ypsilanti) at the invitation of Maureen Burns to her wonderful audience of Lifelong Learners at Montcalm Community College, I was whisked away by my knowledgeable tour guides Judy Gager and Robin Walters to learn all about Greenville, Michigan –– a small but mighty city that accomplished so much during World War II.

First, we toured the Fighting Falcon Military Museum with docent Bill Garlick, and I am simply amazed at the sheer number of WWII heroes who hail from Greenville, including one of the few survivors of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in the shark-infested waters of the Pacific, and the officer who accepted the Japanese surrender of the Marshall Islands (the actual signed surrender papers are on display in the Museum), and Captain Frederick Bock of Bockscar fame (Bockscar was the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the bomb nicknamed Fat Man on Nagasaki, bringing about the end of WWII.)

I was especially fascinated by the depth and breadth of Greenville's WWII wartime production contributions and the many female workers, known as ‘Rosie the Riveters’ who helped to keep things running in wartime. At the center of Greenville’s war activities was the Gibson Refrigerator Company. Gibson was contracted to produce Waco CG-4A glider aircraft for the war, and retooled their factory in only six months to switch from producing refrigerators to gliders. Six months, wow! Gliders are engineless aircraft that are used to transport troops and equipment into enemy territory without being detected. They are towed by a regular aircraft with an engine until they are released, after which they glide silently on their own to their destination. Gibson built 1,078 of these gliders during WWII, and one is on display at the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. The Fighting Falcon Military Museum (FFMM) has a gorgeous display depicting Gibson’s production of the glider, with one side of the glider cut away to show the lightweight wooden framework, the interior of the plane, and the male and female workers assembling the glider, while the other side of the glider sports its finished skin and paint job, with accurately uniformed mannequins representing members of the glider infantry preparing for a mission. The Museum’s glider sports invasion stripes… the three white stripes alternating with black that all Allied aircraft carried during the D-Day invasion at Normandy, France on June 6, 1944, to reduce loss due to friendly fire. Glider landings played an important part in D-Day operations. According to the American Flying Museum, 258 gliders landed 3,937 troops as part of Operation Overlord, as D-Day was called by the military. In 1944, Greenville schoolkids set out to raise enough money to pay for one Gibson glider for the military. In two months, they raised $72,000, which actually paid for four gliders! One glider, serial number 42-46574, was picked out and named by the students, "The Fighting Falcon."  The glider on display at the FFMM carries this name in honor of the students’ accomplishment. 

Let’s see what else Gibson built for the war: B-24 wing flaps, 500lb Navy practice bombs (I actually own one of these beauties and was delighted to see its twin on display at the FFMM and learn that it was made in Greenville!), thermite incendiary bombs, chemical bombs, parachute flares, lens polishing machines for the Norden bomb sight, parts for 20mm cannon, aluminum computer cabinets, aircraft engine parts, and…yes…

Refrigerators, for military housing!

Other Greenville companies contributed, too. Metzgar Ltd. provided dehydrated potatoes for the armed forces; Belshaw Manufacturing Company built pilot and co-pilot seats for the Gibson gliders; Wolverine Shoe and Tanning Corporation made all-leather heavily insulated gloves for bomber flight crews; Ranney Refrigerator Company made and ammunition crates and computer case parts and anti aircraft gun parts under subcontract to Gibson; R.J. Tower Iron Works made grommeting machines and stampings for the military; Greenville Machine Company produced parts for products built by Gibson, Ranney, and R.J. Towers; and Federal-Mogul produced castings for marine propellers for PT and rescue boats and for the DUKW amphibious vehicles. A mighty little city indeed!

The fabulous FFMM tour was followed by lunch at the historic Winter Inn on Greenville’s main street. The atmosphere and great food can’t be beat, and it’s still a working hotel, so visitors can stay there when they visit Greenville!

Next we stopped in at the Flat River Historical Museum, which is truly a gem, and I learned about the many phases of Greenville's history and its great contributions to our state's, and nation's economy. From the ice age, to trapping, to lumbering, to potato farming, to becoming such an important hub of manufacturing and innovation... this museum takes you along on Greenville’s journey from the 1840s to today.

This little Museum boasts really spectacular exhibits, beginning with an ice age mastodon bone and other fascinating fossil finds. Then we move to Greenville’s early days as a trapping and trading frontier outpost. You can see an authentically constructed Native American wigwam, animal skins, hide tanning tools, and items you’d see at a typical mid 19th century trading post. Then the lumber companies came to town, and in the short span of 20 years, relieved the area of its old-growth forest, leaving behind acres of stumps. Enterprising Greenvillians set about removing the stumps, inventing some new and ingenious devices and methods in the process. The recently deforested land, even with stumps gone, was not yet ideal for traditional field crops, but was great for growing potatoes. Thus began Greenville’s reign as the potato capital of the nation! Meantime, manufacturing was taking hold as Greenville companies started making plows and farming implements, lumber edging machines, iceboxes, and more. Many inventions and patents have come out of Greenville, and you can see the patent diagrams on display. Manufacturing really ramped up when the railroad came to town, and continued as old-fashioned iceboxes became modern refrigerators, with the Ranney company joining Gibson in producing the appliances. Greenville grocer Hendrik Meijer had the innovative idea of providing shoppers with wooden carts and letting them browse and select their items themselves instead of waiting for the proprietor to fetch things from behind the counter. Thus the modern grocery store was born, and Meijer’s store grew into the Michigan-based national retail chain we know today.

The second floor of the Museum is an immersive experience as you can stroll along Greenville’s main street circa the 1880s. You can peer into the post office, doctor’s office, and optometrist’s office, the Western Union telegraph office, a farmhouse, a pioneer cabin, a school house, a milliner’s store and a jail. It’s truly a step back in time. The basement features a similar step back to an even earlier time, with a blacksmith’s shop, a carpenter’s workroom, and a harnessmaker’s shop.

And don’t miss the lovely outdoor rock garden with a spectacular garden waterfall, a corncrib gazebo, and the Flat River itself meandering by. This Museum is definitely worth a visit!

I also learned about Greenville’s Danish heritage, as the home of a Danish Cultural Center that serves not only Michigan but several other states as well. The lovely building with its authentic Danish thatched roof strikes an unexpected Olde European note on a midwestern downtown street. Visitors can experience and celebrate all things Dansk at Greenville’s annual Danish festival every summer.

I have fallen in love with Greenville, where Rosie’s “We Can Do It” spirit is alive and well, and you will, too!

Click on the links for more information on the can-do city of Greenville, Michigan:

https://www.thefightingfalcon.com/
https://flatrivermuseum.org/
https://www.thewinterinn.com/
https://danishfestival.org/

Learn more about Michigan Rosies — Rosie the Riveter Association of Michigan, and add your family Rosie to our Rosie Registry, here:
https://www.michiganrosies.org

‘Rosie the Riveter’ female worker at the Gibson Refrigerator Company during World War II / Photo courtesy of the Flat River Historical Museum