Discover the rich literary history of Mackinac Island

“Great Women of Mackinac, 1800-1950”

Most people who visit Mackinac Island never get beyond Arch Rock, the Grand Hotel porch, the Pink Pony and the fudge shops. That’s why tourists are called “fudgies,” and not always affectionately.

If you want to move beyond tourist status and steep yourself in the history of one of Michigan’s most venerable destinations, author Melissa Croghan’s new book, “Great Women of Mackinac, 1800-1950,” deserves your attention.

Mackinac Island is in Croghan’s blood. She’s been summering there for decades and even worked as a tour guide at one point.

In the book, published by Michigan State University Press, the author provides the histories of 13 women who played a large role in the island’s lore and development. Included in that group is Croghan’s great-grandmother Daisy Peck Blodgett, who, along with another island woman, Stella King, “worked together to bring civic change to the island and to safeguard the heart of the community as it transitioned from the fishing industry to a tourist mecca.”

King and Blodgett helped establish the island’s first library and community center and provided medical care for its residents. Both lived well into the mid-20th century, and they were great friends, despite hailing from different backgrounds.

Blodgett ended up on the island after marrying a lumber baron, and King was the daughter of a commercial fisherman who worked on the island. Blodgett was key in the island’s horse and bicycling culture. King helped establish the annual lilac parade. 

“Without these women, Mackinac Island would be just a tourist city,” Croghan said.

Blodgett was an equestrian who believed horses and bicycles should be the only modes of transportation on the island. She could often be seen on horseback or on her bicycle, traversing the landscape.

Ironically, it was a terrible riding accident in 2015 that inspired Croghan to begin writing the book. During her long recovery, she said the women’s stories “kept teasing my mind.”

She begins the book with the legendary fur trader Madeline Marcot LaFramboise, who was a shrewd businesswoman in the island’s earliest days. LaFramboise identified closely with her Anishinaabe culture. 

“She wore Native dress every day of her life,” Croghan writes.

LaFramboise is one of seven Native American women whom Croghan profiles. Others include Elizabeth Therese Baird, whose book “O-de-jit-wa-win-ning, or, Contes du temps passe” highlights life on the island from 1800 to 1814, and Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, who’s considered one of the first literary writers with Native roots.

Johnston, who was the spouse of Indian agent Henry Schoolcraft, also has the distinction of being one of the first Native writers to have her work stolen. She originally wrote many of the stories published in her husband’s book “Algic Researches,” which Henry Wadsworth Longfellow drew upon for his poem “The Song of Hiawatha.”

Croghan also delves into some of the more influential women writers who called Mackinac Island home at various times, including Anna Brownell Jameson, author of “Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada,” published in 1838. Jameson is considered one of the most important women writers to touch on women’s rights and was one of the first to form a personal bond with Jane Schoolcraft. 

“I believe it was important to show how Native and white women worked together on the Island,” Croghan said.

Another famous author whom Croghan profiles is Constance Fenimore Woolson, who only spent three summers on the island but published a hugely successful book, “Anne,” that was serialized in Harper’s Weekly and outsold a contemporary book written by one of her best friends, Henry James. Woolson’s novel, about a mixed-race family on the island, is one you’ll likely want to read after Croghan’s. One of Woolson’s earlier historical essays, “Fairy Island,” is also set on the island.

Margaret Fuller, a major leader in the transcendentalist movement and co-editor of The Dial, the movement’s chief publication, also appears in the book. Fuller’s novel “Summer on the Lakes, in 1843” covers the topic of women’s freedom and delves into the lives of Native Americans. Alongside Jameson, she was one of the first authors to consider the important lives of LaFramboise and Schoolcraft.

The next time you visit Mackinac, hike the East Bluff to Anne’s Tablet, which was laid to commemorate Woolson’s book — but keep in mind it recognizes only one of the amazing women who gave life to the island.