About Us
Our
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Historical Idlewild Tours and Services (HITS)
Historical Idlewild Tours and Services (HITS) is a heritage preservation and educational initiative dedicated to documenting, interpreting, and sharing the cultural history of Idlewild, Michigan—one of the most significant historic Black resort communities in the United States. Through guided tours, public programming, oral history documentation, and cultural interpretation, HITS connects heritage, environment, and community knowledge to ensure that foundational Black American history is preserved and made accessible for future generations.
Founded through over two decades of research, community engagement, and heritage tourism work, HITS provides educational experiences that highlight the social, economic, and cultural contributions of African Americans who helped shape Idlewild as a nationally recognized center of recreation, entrepreneurship, and artistic expression.
HITS is also the founding organization and parent initiative of the Idlewild Juneteenth Festival, an annual public program celebrating freedom, community continuity, and Black cultural legacy.
Mission Statement
The mission of Historical Idlewild Tours and Services is to preserve, interpret, and share the historical and cultural legacy of Idlewild through education, heritage tourism, oral history documentation, and public humanities programming that promotes community knowledge, cultural continuity, and intergenerational learning.
Founder
Micala Evans Cochran, Ph.D.
Micala Evans Cochran, Ph.D., is a public historian, educator, and cultural program developer specializing in African American history, heritage tourism, and community-based educational programming. She founded Historical Idlewild Tours and Services after more than 20 years of research and interpretive work focused on documenting Idlewild’s historical significance and connecting cultural history to contemporary public learning experiences.
Dr. Cochran holds a Ph.D. in Educational Studies and has taught Africology and African American Studies at the university level. Her professional experience includes curriculum design, cultural program development, museum curation, grant writing, and community engagement initiatives that connect academic scholarship to public audiences.
Her work includes the development of heritage tours, public lectures, oral history documentation projects, and the creation of the Idlewild Juneteenth Festival, now in its twelfth year. Through HITS, she continues to advance initiatives that preserve historical knowledge while supporting cultural education, community identity, and place-based learning.
Dr. Cochran also serves in leadership and volunteer roles supporting historic preservation and cultural institutions, contributing expertise in archival interpretation, heritage education, and public humanities programming.
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The Juneteenth Committee
The Idlewild Juneteenth Festival is supported by a dedicated volunteer committee committed to sustaining an annual community gathering that honors freedom history while supporting education, youth engagement, and cultural continuity. Committee members assist with planning, partnerships, sponsorship outreach, programming coordination, and community engagement efforts that expand the reach and impact of the festival.
Cila’s Cyrnl Branding
Cila’s Cyrnl is the umbrella cultural branding framework used to organize educational, wellness, and heritage-based initiatives developed by Micala Evans Cochran. The brand integrates themes of heritage, healing, knowledge, and cultural continuity, supporting programs that connect historical understanding with personal and community well-being.
Cila’s Cyrnl encompasses educational content, cultural consulting, wellness-centered learning tools, and interpretive programming that reflects an interdisciplinary approach to public history and community education. The branding provides a cohesive identity across projects that bridge scholarship, cultural preservation, and holistic approaches to knowledge-sharing.
Together, HITS and Cila’s Cyrnl reflect a long-term commitment to preserving cultural memory, strengthening community knowledge systems, and creating educational resources that connect past, present, and future generations.
