When the State of Michigan transferred the Michigan History magazine to the Historical Society of Michigan (HSM) they did not transfer copyright or ownership of issues or content prior to the magazine moving to HSM on October 1, 2009. This was a decision by the Department of History, Arts and Libraries. Because of this decision HSM cannot offer content before the first issue we publish which will appear in mid-December 2009. It is our understanding that the State will be implementing a process to provide some access to older Michigan History Magazine content, back issues and possibly other items that were offered on the old Michigan History online website.
In the meantime, there are a few ways to access certain pre-October 1, 2009 content from Michigan History magazine and Michigan History for Kids:
Several years are available in full text through electronic subscription databases provided by many libraries. Michigan residents have free access to these databases through MeL, the Michigan Electronic Library. Listed here are the years available through MeL:
Michigan History magazine
from 01/01/1998 to present in General OneFile, General Reference Center Gold, InfoTrac Student Edition and Kids InfoBits
from 09/01/2006 to present in InfoTrac Junior Edition
Michigan History for Kids magazine
from 03/01/2001 to present in Kids InfoBits
from 03/22/2001 to present in General Reference Center Gold and InfoTrac Student Edition
from 09/01/2006 to present in InfoTrac Junior Edition
Very early years of the magazine are available through Google Books. The years 1917-1922 are available with “full view” through this site. You can use the search terms “michigan history magazine” to find available content.
If you would like to order back issues of either Michigan History magazine or Michigan History for Kids you can contact the Michigan Historical Center’s Museum gift shop by calling, (517) 373-1663. Back issues before October 1, 2009 are NOT available from the current Michigan History magazine office. We apologize for the inconvenience this causes our subscribers.
Please feel free to contact us with further questions about Michigan History magazine via email at MHM Circulation (subscription questions or concerns) or MHM Editor (editorial questions or concerns).
