Detroit (Mich.) -- Riot, 1943

Detroit Commission on Community Relations (DCCR) / Human Rights Department Records

drice — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:47:48 -0400

The Commission on Community Relations evolved from the City of Detroit Mayor's Interracial Committee in 1953 and was renamed in 1974 as the Human Rights Department. All three iterations served a common purpose: to make recommendations to improve governmental services affecting racial relations, and to promote understanding between the races. Minutes, correspondence, and case studies document the Commission's efforts to achieve these goals.

Topics covered include affirmative action, the Coordinating Council on Human Relations, discrimination in housing, health care, the 1943 & 1967 race riots, southern migration into Detroit, police-community relations, welfare, and school redistricting.

This Finding Aid was revised in July 2019, citations attributed before this date may no longer match current folder locations/numbers. If you need help locating a folder from an old citation, please ask an archivist for assistance.

Charles A. Hill Papers

drice — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:36:11 -0500

Reverend Charles A. Hill served as a Baptist minister in Detroit for many years. Interested in labor unions, he encouraged his parishioners (men employed by the Ford Motor Company) to unionize and, in 1941, to strike. He was active in the Sojourner Truth Housing Project in 1942, and was a member of the committee investigating the 1943 race riot in Detroit. These activities are covered in the papers, as is the Lantz Hill interrogation. Correspondents include Prentiss Brown, John Dingell, William R. Hood, Thurgood Marshall, and C. F. Palmer. An oral history interview with Mr. Hill is available.

NAACP Detroit Branch Records

drice — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:04:32 -0500

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was established in 1910 to help African-American citizens secure their rights, obtain legal justice and gain equal political, economic and social opportunity. The Detroit Branch was established in 1912 and has worked to improve conditions in housing, employment, education, and police-community relations and in doing so has received community-wide and national recognition. Their records reflect these accomplishments, including material on the Detroit race riot of 1943, scattered records concerning police brutality and discrimination in housing, employment, and education, civil rights complaints, membership campaigns, events and programming, and administrative materials.

Lewis B. Larkin Papers

cwesterman — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:17:55 -0500

Best known as a pioneer in the fight against juvenile delinquency in the 1940s, Larkin later became an associate professor of education at Wayne University. Born in Schenectady New York in 1901, he earned his B.S. degree from Springfield College Massachusetts, his masters in Social Work from the University of Michigan and his Ed.D. from Wayne. Larkin first taught educational psychology at Wayne in 1939. He worked with Detroit youth and community groups for over 20 years. His work with the Council of Social Agencies from 1940 to 1951 gained him recognition for his work with juvenile delinquents. In addition to his work as director of the Western Area Project from 1940 to 1942, Larkin served as community coordinator for the Davison Area Project and the Northern Area from 1943-1951. It was Lewis Larkin who caused the formation of the Commission on Children and Youth, the Detroit Police Department Youth Bureau and the Detroit Metropolitan Youth Council.

Gallery Announcement: Stills from the World at War - The Home Front (1939-1945)

eclemens — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 09:17:17 -0500

In honor of Veteran's Day, the Walter P. Reuther Library is pleased to share a new image gallery: Stills from the World at War: The Home Front (1939-1945). The new gallery serves as a celebration of the extraordinary service of individuals, both military personnel and civilian, during the Second World War, a commemoration of the sacrifices made, and a glimpse back to Detroit as it developed into the industrial heart of the war effort. read more »

NAACP Detroit Branch Records - An addition to a long history of fighting for civil rights and community improvement

srafferty — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 14:11:00 -0500

The Walter P. Reuther Library is happy to announce an addition to the NAACP Detroit Branch Records collection.

The Detroit Branch of the NAACP was established in 1912, making it one of the oldest branches in the country. Over the past century, this organization has worked to support and improve the lives of African Americans, particularly in areas of housing, employment, education, police-community relations, and voting. read more »

The 1943 Detroit Race Riot

jruss — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 15:07:36 -0400

On June 20, 1943, a fight broke out between African American and white Detroiters spending their Sunday on Belle Isle, the city’s large park in the middle of the Detroit River. Fighting spread to the mainland, and rumors crisscrossed the city, stoking racial tensions that had been running high and threatening to boil over into violence for months. Rioting spread, with little attempt from the police to stop it (in fact, much evidence points to many white police facilitating and even participating in violence against African Americans), and by the time President Franklin Roosevelt sent in federal troops on the evening of June 21, hundreds had been injured, and 34 people had died: 25 African American (17 of whom were shot by police), and 9 white. Of the arrests made later, 85% were African American. read more »

(28609) Detroit Police Department, Riot Squad, Belle Isle, Detroit, 1943

eclemens — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 15:02:53 -0400

A new unit of police officers, drawn from the motorcycle, traffic and mounted divisions, are trained in "commando tactics" on the Belle Isle Athletic Field. According to a Detroit News reporter, nearly 250 "husky police minutemen" were trained for riot duty in response to the civil unrest of June 1943.

(28591) Race Riots, Violence, Detroit, 1943

eclemens — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 12:19:16 -0400

A car, turned on its side, burns in front of the Mayfair Theater during the 1943 race riot. The fate of its African American driver is unknown.

(28592) Race Riots, Violence, Detroit, 1943

eclemens — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 12:22:57 -0400

Tear gas disperses a crowd of people from the area near Woodward and Stimpson during the 1943 race riots.

(28593) Race Riots, Violence, Detroit, 1943

eclemens — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 12:25:40 -0400

A group of young white men turn a car on its side, in front of a White Tower Hamburger restaurant in during race riots of 1943.

(28594) Race Riots, Violence, Detroit, 1943

eclemens — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 12:41:11 -0400

A mob overturns a car near the intersection of Woodward and Charlotte Street during the 1943 race riots. The fate of the driver is unknown.

(28596) Race Riots, Detroit, Violence, 1943

eclemens — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 14:39:35 -0400

Street cars and automobiles barely escape damage as a fire ball erupts from a car that was tipped over by a mob during the 1943 race riots.

(28597) Race Riots, Detroit, Aftermath, 1943

eclemens — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 14:43:17 -0400

Ten ruined automobiles sit in the impound lot of the Detroit Police Department. The vehicles were destroyed by mobs during the race riots of 1943.

(28599) Race Riots, Detroit, Violence, 1943

eclemens — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 14:54:36 -0400

Burning fuel spills from a car destroyed during the 1943 race riots. The location is identified as the corner of Woodward and Stimpson.

(28600) Race Riots, Detroit, Violence, 1943

eclemens — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 14:59:44 -0400

FIrefighters race to the scene of burning car during the 1943 race riots.

(28601) Race Riots, Detroit, Violence, 1943

eclemens — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 15:02:44 -0400

A young woman examines a car destroyed by a mob during the 1943 race riot.

(28602) Race Riots, Violence, Detroit, 1943

eclemens — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:44:59 -0400

Firefighters attempt to put out a car set on fire during the 1943 race riots. On Woodward at Charlotte Street.

(28603) Race Riots, Violence, Detroit, 1943

eclemens — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:47:33 -0400

Crowds gather to witness the aftermath of a mob scene during the 1943 race riots.

(28604) Race Riots, Violence, Detroit, 1943

eclemens — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 10:50:30 -0400

A car, destroyed by a mob, burns in front of the Vilos Soda Shop at the corner of Cass and Stimson during the 1943 race riots.

(28606) Race Riots, Violence, Arrests, Detroit, 1943

eclemens — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:35:11 -0400

Robert Cattone (17), Anthony Saraceno (18), Armando Mastantuono (20) and Aldo Trani (16) wait in a Detroit Police Station. The youths were convicted in the murder of Moses Kisks, an African American man, during the 1943 race riot.

Kisks was gunned down as he waited for a streetcar at the corner of Chene and Mack on Detroit's East Side. The racially motivated murder was particularly heinous due to a lack of remorse from the youths and their statements that they simply "wanted to have some fun."

(28608) Race Riots, Violence, Arrests, Detroit, 1943

eclemens — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 15:00:28 -0400

Portrait of Leo Tipton, sitting in chair holding his hat. Mr. Tipton and Charles (Little Willie) Lyons were charged with inciting a riot after they told a black crowd at the Forest Social Club, 700 Forest, that whites had thrown a black woman and her baby off the Belle Isle Bridge.

(28770) Political Cartoon

jruss — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 13:50:47 -0400

This political cartoon appeared in an issue of the UAW Education Department's publication Ammunition in the 1940s. It draws attention to the negative impact racism had on the war effort. This particular version was scanned from the Reuther Library vertical files Race Riots 1940s folder.

(28771) Detroit Housing Has not Kept Up with Population

jruss — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 13:59:26 -0400

This chart appears on page 15 of a pamphlet entitled Why Race Riots? Lessons from Detroit, produced by the Public Affairs Committee and written by Earl Brown in 1944. The pamphlet examines the reasons behind Detroit's 1943 race riot. The pamphlet appears in the Reuther Library vertical file Race Riots 1940s folder.

(28773) Work stoppages over advancement of African Americans

jruss — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 14:08:56 -0400

This chart appears on page 8 of a pamphlet entitled What Caused the Detroit Riot? An Analysis produced by the NAACP and written by Walter White and Thurgood Marshall in July 1943. The chart from the Bureau of Labor Statistics details work stoppages enacted in Detroit factories from 1943 March 1 - 1943 May 31 over issues related to the job advancement of African Americans.

The Detroit Interracial Committee and Racial Pragmatism, 1944-1950

teller — Mon, 30 Nov 2020 17:04:26 -0500

Sean Henry discusses the Detroit Interracial Committee’s (IRC) pragmatic attempt to ease racial tensions in the city following the 1943 Detroit riots. Assuming that it could not completely eliminate racial antagonism, the IRC instead used its Community Barometer initiative and the Detroit Public Schools program for intercultural education to identify and manage systemic racial inequities in the city. read more »