South Bend man donates artifacts to Dowagiac museum

Published 8:00 am Friday, August 11, 2017

By Ted Yoakum

From a nearly 80-year-old advertisement calendar from Caruso’s Candy Kitchen to an engraved table that once belonged to Dowagiac business maven P.D. Beckwith, the massive collection of Dowagiac artifacts recently donated to the Dowagiac Area History Museum could best be described as the holy grail of local history.

Earlier this summer, South Bend resident and former Chieftain David Bainbridge gifted his extensive collection of photographs, memorabilia and items spanning nearly 150 years of Dowagiac history to the local museum, located at 201 E. Division St. Dowagiac Area History Museum Director Steve Arseneau and several volunteers recently visited Bainbridge’s residence to pick up the collection, which the director estimates to contain hundreds of, if not more than 1,000, artifacts.

“In terms of sheer scope and focus on Cass County, this is probably the largest donation [to the museum] I’ve seen to date,” Arseneau said.

Bainbridge, a 1966 graduate of Dowagiac Union High School and the longtime curator of The History Museum in South Bend, has collected pieces of Dowagiac history — especially those related to the famed Beckwith and Lee families — for more than 50 years. He got a taste for gathering historical artifacts after collecting items from the former Beckwith Memorial Building before its demolition in 1966, and continued to amass relics from Dowagiac’s past in the years that followed. He befriended many local residents in the process, including Dorothy Lee Armin, a member of the Lee family who helped him gather many old items from her ancestors.

“I’ve known about his collection for quite a few years,” Arseneau said. “I’ve always hoped we would be able to work something out to get it, but I never fully expected to.”

In spring, however, Bainbridge reached out to Arseneau to let him know he was considering donating his collection to the museum, as he was looking to downsize, the director said. In June, the two finalized the donation.

Among the highlights of the collection is an old chair from the Lee family’s box at the Beckwith Theater, a baton once used by the conductor of the former Round Oak Stove Company Band around the turn of the century, a small box from the Hirsch-Phillipson clothing store and a charcoal-pastel portrait of P.D. Beckwith.

However, the item that Arseneau is most excited about showing off is a granite-top table gifted to Beckwith by his employees in 1882, which has the name of the Round Oak founder engraved on top. The item is first one of Beckwith’s personal possessions the museum has acquired, something Arseneau said he is quite proud of.

The director said that he and the museum’s volunteers will spend the next year sorting, organizing and cataloging Bainbridge’s collection. Visitors will likely begin seeing some of the items on display by next year, whether as part of a temporary exhibit on the second floor or added to one of the permanent ones on the first floor or basement.

“Some items will have to be put on permanent display,” Arseneau said. “They are that important to Dowagiac’s story.”

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