Tom Deitz is the former curator of the Kalamazoo Valley Museum and an expert on Kalamazoo history. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in history from Wayne State University and then served as the curator of urban history at the Detroit Historical Museum from 1984 until 1992. That’s when he came as the curator for the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, a post he held for nearly 22 years before his retirement.