OU Professor Emeritus has unique connection to Fort Gratiot Hospital Museum

Fifty years ago, Oakland University Professor Richard Stamps led a group of students to the Port Huron area for the first of many archaeological digs in partnership with the Port Huron Museums and city of Fort Gratiot to discover and excavate artifacts from the past. It was a relationship that would last for decades.

Their work that summer, and in subsequent years, has led to the rediscovery, renovation and revitalization of the Fort Gratiot Hospital Museum. The museum held a ribbon-cutting celebration on August 6, welcoming visitors to revisit the region's past and celebrating those who made it possible, like Professor Stamps and his OU students.

Now, a professor emeritus, Richard Stamps, joyfully returned to the museum with his daughter Lisa for the ceremony to reflect on his and his former student and current colleague Bruce Hawkins' contributions over the years.

"I am an OU alumna (CAS '90) and I am so proud of my father, his legacy and all he has done for the university and the communities he has worked in over the years," Lisa said. "It was wonderful to go back and see this historic hospital building and to see their tribute to my dad as a permanent display during the museum's grand opening."

Over the years, Stamps and his students discovered a couple of buildings that turned out to be the fort's old hospital buildings. After many years of restoration and archival work, the Fort Gratiot Hospital Museum now teaches community members about the fort and it's hospital's historic past.

"It was a great pleasure to be a part of the field investigations that led to today's celebration event," Dr. Stamps said at the ribbon-cutting. "Being able to share the past with future generations has been a rewarding part of my professional journey as an educator in archaeology and anthropology."

Over the years, the Fort Gratiot Hospital project has been a coordinated effort between Oakland University, Michigan State University, St. Clair County Community College and the Port Huron Museum.

Learn more about the Fort Gratiot Hospital Museum. It is now available for tours as part of the regular admission to the Fort Gratiot Light Station. Email [email protected] to learn more about and join the Fort Gratiot Hospital Heritage Committee.