Message from your Team Leader and Executive Director of Meadow Brook Hall:
Why is it so important to preserve and interpret
Meadow Brook Hall . . . The Great Estate?
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved into monuments,
but what is woven into the lives of others.” – Pericles
John Dodge, Matilda Dodge Wilson and Alfred Wilson lived and helped to define the American dream – a dream that the Wilsons ultimately passed along to countless young people through their founding of Oakland University. Their stories, and the lessons that can be learned from them, can best be preserved, examined, interpreted, retold and shared at the source.
And, as suburban sprawl consumes former farms, country estates and historic structures – and the maintenance and preservation costs for the remaining historic resources increase dramatically – Meadow Brook’s role as a tangible, three-dimensional resource to learn about the automotive aristocracy and the development of Southeastern Michigan’s heyday becomes even more critical.
In case you are not that familiar with the property, I encourage you to check out our 3-minute video presentation, and to consider the following facts:
- Meadow Brook Hall is the largest historic American house west of the Appalachian Mountains, and the fourth largest overall.
- The Hall is renowned as one of the finest extant examples of Tudor-Revival architecture in the United States.
- The estate, including farm buildings, was designated as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service in March 2012.
- The Hall’s extensive collections (exceeding 75,000 pieces) of art, furniture, ceramics, glass, silver, textiles and costumes are highly valued for being original to the house as well as for their intrinsic value.
- Dodge and Wilson family and Dodge Motor Car Company archival materials, including a large collection of building and detail blueprints, are an invaluable research resource.
- A self-supporting auxiliary of Oakland University, The Hall serves the campus of 19,000+ students and faculty and an international research community as a robust cultural and historical center.
- By openly sharing the property, The Hall is a vital cultural asset to the community.
I invite you to join us in our educational mission by volunteering, attending one of our special events or becoming a supporter through a gift to the All-University Fund Drive. Gifts of $100 or more entitle donors to membership in our Friends organization or Cornerstone giving society. Your involvement will be both rewarding and much appreciated.
Geoff Upward
Executive Director
Please Consider this Fund:
| Fund Name |
Fund Purpose |
Fund Number |
| Meadow Brook Hall Gifts |
When selecting this fund please specify in comments section either Museum Enrichment or Preservation/Conservation. |
35122 |
| |
| 0% |
percent achieved towards goal
|
Goal
110% |
|
|
