Police-community relations

ACLU Oakland County Branch Records

abarker — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:40:43 -0400

The Oakland County Branch of the American Civil Liberties Union was formed in 1979, with James Lafferty serving as the first elected president. Petitioned by the Metropolitan Detroit Branch of the ACLU, the branch was formed to address issues such as Oakland County jail conditions, lie detector use, senior housing rights, and attempts to reinstate the death penalty.

Contents of the collection include materials relating to the Baldwin Site Proposal for Senior Housing in the City of Birmingham, MI, and the related activities of PRIDE (People Rallying in Defense of Equality); the office files of branch president James Lafferty, and documentation of the war resistance and anti-draft activities of CARD (Committee Against Registration and Draft) and CCOO (Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors).

Mel Ravitz Papers

cwesterman — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 15:22:23 -0500

Professor and Detroit community advocate Mel Ravitz held various posts in Detroit politics, including positions such as the Detroit City Plan Commission Director of Community Organization, on the Detroit City Council and as staff director of the Detroit-Wayne County Community Mental Health Services Board. As a professor at Wayne State University, Mr. Ravitz assisted in the formation of the University’s Department of Urban Planning.

Mr. Ravitz’s papers reflect his interests in community organizing and neighborhood revitalization, and serve to document the history of Detroit politics and the social and economic changes that the city faced during the later half of the twentieth century. In addition there are files relating to his activities to 2005.

The collection is in three parts.

George C. Edwards, Jr. Papers, Parts 1-4

drice — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:39:40 -0400

George Edwards, Jr., son of George Clifton Edwards, attended Harvard University where he became involved with the Student League for Industrial Democracy. After coming to Detroit in 1936, he became a UAW organizer with Walter Reuther, was appointed director of the Detroit Housing Commission, and served on the Detroit Common Council. After serving in WWII, he went into private practice, followed by judgeships in the Wayne County court system. In 1956, Edwards was appointed to the Michigan State Supreme Court. In 1962 he was invited by Mayor Jerome Cavanagh to the post of Police Commissioner of Detroit where he focused his attention on organized crime and discrimination. After serving two years he was nominated to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals by President John F. Kennedy, and eventually served as a Chief Judge. He retired in 1991 and passed away in 1995.

Parts I-III of his papers reflects his early high school and college days, including correspondence with his father and material from his involvement in several student groups. Edward, Jr.'s various judicial campaigns, particularly his Michigan Supreme Court appointment, as well as his directorship of the Detroit Housing Commission are documented. Personal papers, including wartime correspondence with his wife, are included, as are newspaper clippings dealing with a variety of topics relevant to Detroit politics and events.

Part IV of Edwards, Jr.'s contains personal and career related correspondence from his service in the military through the 1980’s, with much focus on his nomination and confirmation to the Sixth Circuit Court. Included are many speeches and writings, his activities with professional organizations, a photocopy of his manuscript of the biography of his father, Pioneers at Law, and memorial tributes and letters of condolence to his family.

Metropolitan Coalition of Women Records

drice — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 12:06:42 -0400

Mrs. Jeannette Cleary, Vice-President of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, organized the Metropolitan Coalition of Women in early 1968. Over forty women's organizations from metropolitan Detroit responded to a call from Mrs. Cleary in the aftermath of the 1967 riot and voted in February to organize a coalition, which would meet monthly to "establish better communications in the community among all peoples in order to reduce tension and create greater understanding towards solutions to problems." The coalition's programs concerned consumer affairs, health care, drug addiction, welfare rights, school integration, ADC grants, discrimination by public utilities, and quality nursing care. They were particularly interested in the Prescription Food Program for medically indigent mothers and children. Pro-grams and conferences relating to these interests were presented by the coalition and they promoted these efforts on television and with mailings and letters to public officials and legislators. In November of 1973 it was concluded that the "winds of change had brought about a decline in membership and attendance" and the group decided to disband.

This collection reflects the programs and activities of the Metropolitan Coalition of Women in their effort to create better relations among the people in the Detroit area.

James H. Williams Papers

abarker — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:41:06 -0400

A founder of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) Louisville branch, Students for Social Action, James Williams was active in various radical, student and labor organizations, such as the Southern Student Organizing Committee, the young People’s Socialist League, and Operation Freedom. Mr. Williams held positions on the staff of the IUE News, the West Virginia Federation of Labor, the American Newspaper Guild, and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Workers Education Local 189, the National Education Association (NEA), and Labor Today.
Mr. Williams’ papers reflect his involvement in various student and radical organizations, and to a lesser degree, his participation in the NEA Staff Organization (NEASO). The Committee for Miners, selective service, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and SDS are among important subjects in the collection.

Box 3 is unavailable.

Stanley J. Winkelman Papers

abarker — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:29:50 -0400

Stanley Winkelman served as president and Chief Executive Officer of the historic Detroit retailer, Winkelman Stores, Inc. An active leader in the Detroit community, Mr. Winkelman served in a multitude of Detroit political and civic organizations, holding posts such as president of the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit, on the Detroit Commission on Community Relations, and as chairman of New Detroit, Inc.

Mr. Winkelman’s papers document his professional life and his activities as an influential community leader, reflecting the affairs of Winkelman Stores, Inc., and his affiliations with community organizations throughout Metro Detroit.

Coleman Young Papers

drice — Thu, 27 May 2010 16:14:06 -0400

With a background in labor activities and civil rights, Coleman Young captured a Michigan State Senate seat in 1964, representing an east side Detroit district, and rose quickly to leadership posts in the Lansing legislature. Michigan Democrats elected him in 1968 to become the first black member ever to serve on the Democratic National Committee. In 1973, pledging to restore peace between the people and police of Detroit, Coleman Young announced as a candidate for Mayor of Detroit. He defeated the City's former police chief, John Nichols, in a bitter election contest in January 1974 and was re-elected in 1977,
1981, 1985 and 1989. He was one of the first African-Americans to be elected mayor of
a major U.S. city and served a total of twenty years. He was considered by many of his
constituents as a champion of the disadvantaged and disenfranchised. During Young’s
mayoral years, the city of Detroit faced numerous economic, political and social
challenges.

The papers in Part I of this collection reflect the years of Young's state senatorial service. The materials in Part II of this collection represent a portion of Coleman A. Young’s
correspondence and other documents from his tenure as mayor of Detroit, 1973-1993.

Subject Focus: African American History at the Reuther Library

wlefevre — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 12:19:12 -0500

The Reuther Library celebrates African American History Month with a look at some of the significant collections housed in the library that deal with African American history.

A gem from Rosa Parks’s collection is a set of her hand written notes from her time at the Highlander Folk School in 1955, shortly before the Montgomery Bus Boycott. These notes showcase her read more »

(29172) Female Police Officers, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1956

aorchard — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:23:23 -0400

Photo caption:
"New Orleans, La., policewomen are shown wearing new uniforms of a tropical weight fabric of "Dacron" polyester fiber and wool. The ability of "Dacron" to hold a press in humid weather in such cool, lightweight fabrics makes it particularly suitable for the Gulf Coast city. Cities which have adopted summer uniforms containing this modern fiber have had proof through actual wear that they wear longer than heavier uniforms of traditional fabrics and have a reliably neater appearance."

(29174) Police Officers, Columbia, 1956

aorchard — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:24:28 -0400

Columbia police officers stand beside a police motorcycle.

(32639) Kenneth Cockrel, Police, STRESS, Rallies, Detroit, 1972

eclemens — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 10:30:33 -0500

Attorney Kenneth Cockrel addresses the audience at an Anti-STRESS (Stop the Robberies and Enjoy Safe Streets) event in Detroit, Michigan.

(32643) Kenneth Cockrel, Police, STRESS, Rallies, Detroit, 1972

eclemens — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 11:07:22 -0500

Attorney Kenneth Cockrel addresses the audience at an Anti-STRESS (Stop the Robberies and Enjoy Safe Streets) event in Detroit, Michigan.

[Podcast] Detroit Under Fire: Police Violence and Racial Justice in the Civil Rights Era

teller — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 15:08:52 -0500

Dr. Matthew Lassiter shares stories uncovered in Detroit Under Fire: Police Violence, Crime Politics, and the Struggle for Racial Justice in the Civil Rights Era, a collaborative digital exhibit created by undergraduate history students documenting nearly 200 civilians killed between 1957 and 1973 by the Detroit Police Department and other law enforcement agencies in the city. Because identifying information was rarely included in official reports or the city’s mainstream media, the students instead searched the archives of local activists and community organizations to identify the victims and the circumstances of their deaths. read more »

[Podcast] Race and Rebellion: Reexamining the Unlearned Lessons of the Kerner Report a Half Century Later

teller — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 20:18:12 -0400

Reuther Library outreach archivist Meghan Courtney discusses the conclusions of the 1968 Kerner Commission report in the context of today’s protests over race relations and police brutality. read more »