Twenty-Six members of the Leland Chapter gathered at 5:30 PM on December 1st at the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, MI, with social distancing in place. Unfortunately, our friends in Canada were unable to cross the border to be with us. We socialized for the first hour to allow for long-delayed in-person greetings.
SAH member Nick Gargaro, of the Automotive Hall of Fame staff, gave a presentation on his travels with Brian Baker to the National Assosciation of Automotive Museums (NAAM) conference in November, hosted by the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY. Nick shared behind the scenes images of their visits to seven museums along the way in Dayton, Louisville, Elizabethtown, Indianapolis and Auburn. Brian and Nick conducted field research in Greenfield, OH of the C.R. Patterson and Sons Automobile Company, which was the only known African American-owned automaker. Nick concluded his presentation with an appeal for SAH members to provide their expertise to improve the tribute pages at the Hall of Fame.
The keynote speaker for the evening was Dr. Chris Lezotte. Chris’s article “McCann and Me: One Woman’s Experience in Detroit Automotive Advertising” was the cover story of the SAH Automotive History Review Spring, 2021 issue. Chris covered her journey in more detail in her presentation and fielded questions from those in attentdance.
A special thank you to the Automotive Hall of Fame for its continued support of the SAH. The Leland Chapter invites others to join us in our efforts to strengthen this bond.