Hamtown’s Movers and Shakers …Greg Kowalski

Author Greg Kowalski has written his eighth book on Hamtramck, and he has another one in the works.

By Charles Sercombe
Just when you think every aspect of Hamtramck has been written about, there’s yet another book out on this very special city.
And to the surprise of no one, the author of the newest book on Hamtramck is Greg Kowalski, who has authored seven books on the city. He now has number eight out and it’s called: “Modern Hamtramck,” and it part of a series that Arcadia Publishing is focusing on called: “Modern America.”
The book is filled with photos of memorable events and places in the city. In a twist, most of the photos are in color as opposed to the usual collection of black and white photos.
We asked Kowalski, who is also the Chairman of the Hamtramck Historical Commission and has been busy organizing the city’s Historical Museum, to talk about his newest book.

Tell us a little about the latest Hamtramck book:
Kowalski: Modern Hamtramck is part of a new series of books being introduced by Arcadia. It features photos of towns from the 1950s to the present.
What makes this book series different is that all the photos are in color, which is something new for Arcadia and relatively unusual for historical books. Most historical photos are in black and white.
This book focuses on people, events and businesses of the past and reflects the evolving nature of the city. This book is slightly shorter than a typical Arcadia book because the production costs of color material is greater. But color brings a whole new perspective to a photo. It makes it come alive.

How long does it take you to put this together? Any special challenges?
Kowalski: It typically takes about three months to do an Arcadia photo book. There are always challenges. The first is organization. How do you determine the chapters? Do you have enough photos to create a chapter? Can they be arranged in a logical order?
Usually, the organization of the book is more difficult than writing the copy. Arcadia is very particular in its structure. Photos captions are of a certain length, the introduction has a length limitation. There is a set number of pages that have to be filled. You’re limited to the number of photos per page, etc. All that has to be taken into account when preparing the book. Photos have to be scanned in a certain way and some types of photos are not acceptable.
That being said, Arcadia is really great to work with. They do an excellent printing job, and I have enjoyed working with them on all my books.
The second challenging is assembling the material. Chapters have to be defined and laid out in a logical format. The third challenge is writing the copy.
That involves research and digging through the archives of the Hamtramck Historical Museum.
Fortunately, I have been assembling archives on various aspects of the city since 1998 when the Historical Commission was formed. We now have thousands of files on people, places, events, businesses, schools, churches, etc. in our archives. This makes research vastly easier.

What prompted you to put this together?
Kowalski: I was asked by Arcadia if I would be interested in doing the book. I thought it was an intriguing idea, but first wanted to make sure there were enough color photos to fill a book. Checking in our archives I found plenty of material.

Leo Kirpluk is credited for taking many of the photos, can you tell us something about him?
Kowalski: Leo was a wonderful man. I first met him when I was Editor of The Citizen newspaper back in the 1970s.
He would attend city council meetings, and I got to know him. He was thoroughly dedicated to the community and fought to improve it all the time.
Persons like him have helped maintain the strength of Hamtramck. He also was an excellent photographer – and just an all-around nice guy. I have his photo on my refrigerator at home as a reminder of how much one person can affect a whole community. I truly miss him.

Any favorite photos in this collection?
Kowalski: I love them all, but on Page 63 is a simple photo of the Hamtramck Historical Museum. To be able to have a photo of our museum – and I mean the historical museum for all of Hamtramck – is a symbol of enormous achievement and the fulfillment of a dream. I am immensely proud that Hamtramck now has its own historical museum.

Looking through this, you’d think Hamtramck was jam-packed with activities. What makes Hamtramck so special?
Kowalski: People. A city is made up of people, and in that respect Hamtramck is no different than any other city.
But here there is an extraordinary number of people who have a true community spirit. They love this city.
Hamtramck has a remarkable ability to draw you into it. I discovered this when I was with The Citizen. It has an almost mystical lure that makes you want to be a part of it. Sometimes this can even be overwhelming. But it generates a fierce loyalty. And, incidentally, Hamtramck is jam-packed with activities. There is always some festival or event of some sort going on. These help breathe life into the community and sustain it. We never want to stand still.

Any plans for more books on Hamtramck, and if so, what subjects? If you have no immediate plans for another Hamtramck book, are you working on something else?
Kowalski: I am working on a new book on Prohibition in Hamtramck now for The History Press, a sister company of Arcadia.
It will be published either late this year or early next year. I also have plans for three more Hamtramck books, but no timetable for them yet. I need to focus on the Hamtramck Historical Museum in the immediate future. We are initiating a series of programs to carry through the summer and fall.
The whole Historical Commission is working on that but it is a major undertaking. The museum is a full-time job in itself.

Other books by Greg Kowalski:
Hamtramck: The Driven City
Hamtramck: Soul of a City
Hamtramck: The World War II Years
Hamtramck Then and Now
Wicked Hamtramck
Legendary Locals of Hamtramck
Modern Hamtramck
All are available at the Hamtramck Historical Museum, the Polish Art Center, Pure Detroit, Barnes & Noble, Sam’s Club, Costco and elsewhere.