The Historical Commission’s display can be seen at the Sterling Heights Community Center.
By: Eric Czarnik | Sterling Heights Sentry | Published February 19, 2024
STERLING HEIGHTS — The Sterling Heights Historical Commission recently turned a display showcase at the Sterling Heights Community Center into a portal to the past.
According to the Sterling Heights Public Library, the Historical Commission recently set up a showcase full of old newspaper articles about Sterling Heights that take viewers down the path of city history between the 1970s and the 1990s. The featured articles, which are taken from The Advisor and The Source newspapers, cover everything from infrastructure to historical events.
Natasha Rogers, the public relations and programs coordinator for the Sterling Heights Public Library, described how the display ties in with the start of a new year.
“They are… old newspaper articles from the beginning of the year – so, like, January or the first week of January – from various years for Sterling Heights,” she said.
Mitchell Mulroy, a local history librarian with the library, said he worked with the Sterling Heights Historical Commission to put the display together so it fit the new year’s theme.
“I took a bunch of scans from collected newspaper record books … from the first week of January and then tried to look for ones that seemed the most eye-catching or recognizable,” he said in an email.
Among the articles on display is one about former Sterling Heights Mayor Richard Notte, near the end of his first term, Mulroy said. Another article describes the construction of city center buildings like City Hall, the police station and the library, he said.
“I like these articles because readers can easily connect their own experiences in Sterling Heights to them,” Mulroy said. “Perhaps someone remembers, or has a relative or friend who does, when City Hall was still being built, or recalls meeting Mayor Notte in person at a city event.”
Mulroy said the Historical Commission intends to have the newspaper display up until mid-March, when it then plans to switch the display to one about “farming in the city.”
Learn more about the Sterling Heights Community Center, 40250 Dodge Park Road, by visiting sterlingheights.gov or by calling (586) 446-2700.