http://www.thebattlecreekshopper.com BATTLE CREEK SHOPPER NEWS Thursday, August 8, 2024 41
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James H. Brown’s history tower, or
Cairn, in Monument Park is made up
of stones and artifacts from across
the U.S.ries, to share that great history.”
Through his interest in history,
Thornton has been honored by the
Historical Society of Battle Creek as
a lifetime member.
He is a part of the Battle Creek
Central High School Hall of Fame,
was presented a George Award by
the Battle Creek Enquirer, and been
recognized by the Michigan State
Historical Society for his history
preservation.
He also has written four books on
Battle Creek history, and has created
a local history calendar for more than
40 years.
“When the people at AccessVision
asked me to create a title and adver-
tisement for my programs, along
with creating a video intro to each
program, I remembered that Mom
always wanted to have a history pro-
gram that used the title to a song that
was popular in WWII. It was named
‘I’ll Be Seeing You.’ She thought
it could be used as a clever catch
phrase, ‘I’ll B.C.-ing You,’ using the
shortened named for our city, B.C.,
in the title. So that is the name of
my programs. It tells you what my
program is about and is a tribute to a
wonderful historian, my mom.”
By using historic photos in the
series introduction, Thornton was
also able to insert pictures of his
mom and dad to be part of the pro-
gram, “because they are both such an
important part of me.”
Thornton has created four programs
so far, which run about 35- 50 min-
utes each: “The History of the Battle
Creek Sanitarium,” “The History of
Leila Hospital” and “The 1981 Battle
Creek Sesquicentennial.”
The story of the Stone History
Tower will be aired each Wednesday
in August at 5 p.m. on AccessVision
channel 6.
“My mother was always inter-
ested in the stone Cairn [Scottish
word for a marker made of stones]
in Monument Park,” explained
Thornton. “When she was attending
Lincoln Elementary School in sec-
ond grade, the students were asked to
find a pebble to be a part of the stone
history tower.”
He added, “She was part of a
dedication ceremony where 2,221
pebbles were placed in the base of
the tower by students from all around
Battle Creek.”
Thornton said the Cairn was a work
of love for Brown back in the 1930s.
Brown wanted it to be a tourist
destination that would bring people
into Battle Creek.
He had collected stones
from across the U.S. when
he conducted his auto
tours (explained in the
video).
“He was going to put
them together in this stone
tower, with a guide on
each side to list where
every stone came from,”BC-ING
Continued from Page 40
See HISTORIAN on 49