NOTICE: Kalamazoo Public Library is currently experiencing an interruption with our YouTube channel. We are working to resolve the issue and hope to have access restored soon. We appreciate your patience.

Book

The mayor, the maestro, and the mansion : Martin Sweet, Ottokar Malek, and the Sweet house

Call Number

  • H 720.977456 D644 (CEN)

Browse similar titles by call number

Publication Information

Grand Rapids, Michigan : Sweet House Foundation, [2023]

Physical Description

260 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color maps, portraits (some color), plans, genealogical table ; 29 cm

Summary

"The Mayor, the Maestro, and the Mansion is a welcome addition to publications chronicling the history of Grand Rapids, Michigan and an inside look at the mansion at 254 Fulton Street East in Heritage Hill. Martin L. Sweet served as mayor of the city in 1860. He was an entrepreneur who owned banks, flour mills, furniture factories, railroads, and plank roads. In 1869 he built a hotel at the intersection of Pearl Street and Monroe Avenue where the Amway Grand Plaza stands today. The Maestro, Ottokar Malek, operated a school of music in the mansion from 1914 to 1919. He was a concert pianist and founded the Grand Rapids Civic Orchestra, known today as the Grand Rapids Symphony. The Mansion, built by Martin Sweet in the 1860s, was home of the Women's City Club for 90 years from 1928 to 2018. The club hosted celebrities, entertainers, and politicians at its social and educational events and filled the house with art and antiques. This book closes the gap in the history of Grand Rapids which has largely omitted the legacy of Martin Sweet and Ottokar Malek. It establishes the importance of preserving the venerable Sweet House."--Back cover.

Notes

Includes list of websites.

Contents

  • Book one: The mayor - Martin Sweet
  • Book two: The maestro - Ottokar Malek
  • Book three: The mansion - The Sweet House.

Subjects