The Lake Line: The Grand Rapids, Grand Haven & Muskegon Railway by Carl Bajema, Dave Kindem, and Jim Budzynski (review)

Book Reviews 135 within their communities and because of stereotyping from outside. In a most engaging article, Nabeel Abraham discusses relations between Arabs and non-Arabs in a system he calls “Containment.” Examining tensions in schools and businesses, and at parks and sporting events, Abraham discusses both Arab and non-Arab attempts to resolve problems between the two groups and improve their respective images—and how these attempts unravel in daily life. Finally, the editors present a useful overview of how these articles portray “current understandings of how citizenship and pluralism are shaped (and compromised) by the relentless merger of national security and national belonging” (p. 22). This book is a valuable and unique work at this time of growing intolerance due primarily to foreign political events. The articles are scholarly and truly engaging. Arab Detroit 9/11 should be used extensively in school and university classes and read by the general public. It has obvious importance for Michigan as well. Barbara C. Aswad Wayne State University Carl Bajema, Dave Kindem, and Jim Budzynski. The Lake Line: The Grand Rapids, Grand Haven & Muskegon Railway. Chicago: Central Electric Railfans’ Association, 2011. Pp. 224. Appendix. Bibliography. Index. Maps. Photographs. Timetables. Cloth. $55.00. The intercity electric railway—the interurban—began its growth in Michigan in the 1890s and then abruptly disappeared at the end of the 1920s. For more than two decades it provided residents of rural southern Michigan with an ease of travel never before available with the horse and buggy. The increased availability of the automobile and the extensive construction of paved highways were the principal causes of the demise of the interurban. The Grand Rapids, Grand Haven & Muskegon was a small interurban company that linked Grand Rapids, west Michigan’s largest city, with the Lake Michigan port cities of Muskegon and Grand Haven. At both ports it connected with Lake Michigan steamships of the Goodrich and Crosby lines to provide passenger and freight service to Chicago and Milwaukee. The line also provided convenient service to the summer resort community at Highland Park just outside of Grand 136 The Michigan Historical Review Haven. With just over 40 miles of line, and using city streetcar lines to reach downtown Grand Rapids and Muskegon, the road began operations early in 1902 and ran its last train in April 1928. The authors have researched and documented the company thoroughly, and done so despite the loss of virtually all corporate records. They have accumulated an impressive number of photographs of the railway, which has resulted in an exceptionably readable book that is also very satisfactorily illustrated. The company’s life from construction through abandonment, its financial travails and changes in ownership and management, its attempts to gain traffic, the summer resorts it served and in one case owned, its freight and express service, all receive detailed treatment. The Lake Line deals with many of the technical problems of operating an electric railway, particularly the unique problem of dealing with Lake Michigan snow and ice. Closing chapters cover accidents, the company’s rolling stock and structures, and the preservation of several stations and the shops building that was used to repair cars. The last chapter is devoted to the ongoing restoration of Grand Rapids, Grand Haven & Muskegon car 8— Merlin—in Coopersville, Michigan. One pleasing touch is an appendix that lists all of the road’s employees that could be identified. The authors and the Central Electric Railfans’ Association deserve considerable thanks for bringing us The Lake Line. The thorough examination of this small Michigan electric road will satisfy any rail historian. General historians, who are interested in the development of corporate institutions and how they relate to society more broadly, will also find value in this work. Graydon M. Meints, a retired banker, has written extensively on Michigan railroad history Elton J. Bruins and Karen G. Schakel, eds. Envisioning Hope College: Letters Written by Albertus C. Van Raalte to Philip Phelps Jr., 1857-1875. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2012. Pp. 519. Bibliography. Illustrations. Index. Cloth, $49.00. Envisioning Hope College is a meticulously edited compilation of ninety-six letters Rev. Albertus C. Van Raalte, Holland’s founder, wrote to Dr. Philip Phelps...