Ten years before I was born, Michigan was undergoing a pivotal transformation with the drafting of a new state constitution.
1961–1962 Constitutional Convention
On October 3, 1961, 144 delegates from every walk of life assembled at the Lansing Civic Center to draft a new Constitution for Michigan.
The delegates’ task was difficult. Michigan’s existing Constitution, which had been amended 70 times, no longer suited the dynamic national industrial leader the state had become. For eight months, the delegates listened, proposed, debated, and compromised. The document they produced greatly changed the workings of Michigan’s executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. Significant revisions were also made in the powers granted to local government, the administration of public education, and the terms of office for elected officials. The new Constitution revitalized the guarantee of civil rights to every Michigan citizen and established a civil rights commission to safeguard those rights.
The Constitution was approved by the voters in a close election on April 1, 1963. Despite their many differences, the delegates produced a charter that has stood the test of time and served the people of Michigan well.
- Constitutional Convention: Following a voter-approved measure in 1960, Michigan held a constitutional convention (“Con-Con”) to revise the state’s 1908 Constitution.
- The convention was the top news story in Michigan for 1961.
- In October, the Republican Party won an election for control of the convention.
- Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower addressed the convention in December, advocating for civil rights language to be included in the new state constitution.
- Detroit mayoral election: Thirty-three-year-old attorney Jerome Cavanagh was elected Mayor of Detroit on November 7, defeating the incumbent, Louis Miriani.
- Peace Corps launch: President John F. Kennedy’s idea for the Peace Corps began in 1960 during a late-night campaign stop at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The organization was formally launched in 1961.
This historic plaque was placed by the State Bar of Michigan and the Ingham County Bar Association in 1989. (The plaque was rededicated and placed on June 15, 2007, at Constitution Hall in Lansing)
Ironically, the original plaque was dedicated in 1989, which happened the same year I graduated from high school and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. I was born and raised in Jackson, Michigan, in 1971, in a small town called Vandercook Lake.
This pivot in Michigan’s political, economic, and educational history is also an important part of my studies of cultural upbringings, paths of educational attainment, and my own personal and professional development.
More historic insights and points of reference from Michigan 1961
In 1961, the Michigan economy and industry experienced turmoil in the automotive sector, including UAW negotiations and leadership changes at Chrysler.
Michigan was also involved in the “Tractors for Freedom” campaign, a Detroit-based initiative to exchange tractors for prisoners captured during the Bay of Pigs Invasion. A factory closure also occurred when Norge moved its Muskegon Heights plant to Arkansas.
Stay tuned to Mackinder Post for more “Truth in History” moments.
