Discrimination in housing--Michigan

Damon J. Keith Papers

drice — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:20:02 -0400

Judge Damon Keith served in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Judge Keith delivered several landmark rulings in civil rights and civil liberties cases and played an active role in various civic, cultural and educational associations, including the Detroit YMCA, the United Negro College Fund, and the Detroit National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He is the recipient of the NAACP’s Springarn Medal, the American Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award, the Edward J. Devitt Award for Distinguished Service to Justice, and over thirty honorary degrees. Judge Keith’s papers document important milestones in his career, his precedent-setting judicial decisions, his role in ensuring equal justice for all Americans, and the many honors and awards bestowed upon him for his dedication to civil rights and to the City of Detroit.

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.

Michigan Welfare League Records

drice — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:44:42 -0500

The League is interested in physical and mental health, mental retardation, juvenile and adult corrections, family and child welfare, public assistance, recreation and group work, special education, aging, youth problems, migrant labor, and human relations. Minutes, newsletters, correspondence, and other documents reflect the League's work in these areas. Among the correspondents are Jerome Cavanagh, Anthony Celebrezze, Philip Hart, Walter Heller, Patrick McNamara, George Romney, George Smathers, Robert Weaver, and Leonard Woodcock.

Part 2 contains meeting minutes, research reports, and newsletters created by the League. Additionally, the collection holds correspondence between other nonprofit organizations and Michigan’s legislators. There are also documents about the formation of specific programs, and informational materials handed out to Michigan citizens.

George Schermer Papers

srafferty — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 14:22:55 -0500

George Schermer worked to improve housing, human relations, and urban social problems throughout his career. First with the Chicago Housing Authority as a Supervisor of Tenant Selection and Tenant Services, before moving to Detroit where he worked with the Detroit Housing Commission as Assistant Director for Management. In 1945, Mayor Jeffries appointed Schermer as Director of the Detroit Mayor's Interracial Committee, which he created to help ease tension within the city, especially in the wake of the 1943 riot. Schermer left Detroit in 1953 to begin working as the Director of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, where he worked for 10 years before resigning. Schermer opened a consulting firm, George Schermer and Associates, and worked with organizations like the Ford Foundation and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, around the country on urban social issues.

In his spare time, Schermer helped initiate the creation of the National Association of Human Rights Workers. He also served as the first President of the Michigan Committee on Civil Rights, as well as being heavily involved in neighborhood communities where he lived, namely Boston-Edison in Detroit and West Mt. Airy in Philadelphia.

The Schermer papers contain materials primarily from his career in Detroit, Philadelphia, and as a consultant. It also contains some personal material from his life outside of work including correspondence as well as his involvement in neighborhood associations and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.

Detroit's Black Bottom and Paradise Valley Neighborhoods

Public Relations Team — Fri, 04 May 2012 09:15:49 -0400

In the Winter 2012 semester, the Reuther Library worked with students in the Graduate Certificate in Archival Administration program at the Wayne State School of Library and Information Science to produce a series of student-written, guest blog posts.

Cathy MacDonald is a student in the Archival Administration Program at Wayne State University. She is currently interning at the Arab American National Museum’s Library and Resource Center.

Detroit’s Black Bottom and Paradise Valley neighborhoods provided both housing and entertainment for the city’s African American community from the 1920s through the 1940s. read more »

Detroit's Walk to Freedom

eclemens — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 22:48:12 -0400

This Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we recall Detroit's Walk to Freedom, described by Dr. King as “one of the most wonderful things that has happened in America." Dr. King led the march and shed light on the status of African Americans in northern industrial cities. Organized by the Detroit Council on Human Rights (DCHR), the Walk to Freedom was the largest civil rights demonstration in the nation’s history. Its purpose was to speak out against segregation and the brutality that met civil rights activists in the South while at the same time addressing concerns of African Americans in the urban North: inequality in hiring practices, wages, education, and housing. The date of the march, June 23, 1963, was chosen to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 1943 Detroit Riots in which 34 people, the majority of them African American, were killed. read more »

Guest Post: Ciera Casteel on the Wayne State University Oral History Course Oral Histories

aorchard — Fri, 19 Apr 2019 11:05:31 -0400

Please note: The oral history course collections mentioned in this post have been consolidated into one collection: Wayne State University Oral History Methodology Course Oral Histories. Please refer to the finding aid here: https://archives.wayne.edu/repositories/2/resources/3381.

Over the course of the last few months I had the opportunity to work at the Reuther Library processing oral history collections. This was an incredible experience through which I was able to create tools to increase researchers' access to four relatively new collections: the Wayne State University Oral History Course Oral Histories. These four collections are a treasure for researchers studying a number of topics. read more »

HistoryPin Tour: Detroit's Chinese Community

eclemens — Fri, 26 May 2017 19:58:42 -0400

Many people are surprised to learn that Detroit once had two Chinatowns, both built by a resilient community that thrived in the city for nearly 100 years. As Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month draws to a close, we invite you to visit our latest HistoryPin tour: a look back on Detroit's Chinese Community. read more »

Records of Jewish Community Council Reveal Mid-Century Concerns and Actions on Social and Racial Justice

aergas — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 09:30:45 -0500

A lesser-known, and maybe surprising, source for historians and researchers looking at 20th-century race relations in Detroit are the Jewish Community Council Records, part of the Jewish Community Archives at the Reuther Library.

This large collection documents grassroots discussions and actions in Detroit’s Jewish community and the wider urban community particularly from the 1940s to the 1970s. read more »

Subject focus: Jewish Detroit Experience

wlefevre — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:52:44 -0400

The Reuther Library celebrates the Jewish holiday of Passover with a look at some of the significant collections housed in the library that deal with the Jewish experience in Metropolitan Detroit.

As the repository for the Jewish Community Archives (JCA), the Reuther Library has a wealth of information on the Jewish community in Detroit and surrounding environs. The JCA holdings include, but are not limited to, the papers of: 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 »

(28650) Riots, Housing, Sojourner Truth, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:11:00 -0400

Dozens of African Americans meet outside of a home after families attempting to move into the Sojourner Truth Housing Project were met by over 1200 angry, white demonstrators.

(DN_1119) NAACP, Pickets, Housing Discrimination, Detroit, 1963

eclemens — Wed, 11 May 2011 09:10:05 -0400

Members of the NAACP picket the apartment building at 647 W. Warren for discriminative housing practices, Detroit, Michigan.

(DN_1119_1) NAACP, Pickets, Housing Discrimination, Detroit, 1963

eclemens — Wed, 11 May 2011 09:05:56 -0400

Members of the NAACP picket the apartment building at 4762 Second Street for discriminative housing practices, Detroit, Michigan. At right is Jackson (Jackie) Vaughn, III.

(1188) Flyer, Sojourner Truth Housing Project, 1942

eclemens — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 11:30:59 -0400

A flyer, created by local whites, asks for assistance from people outside their neighborhood at Nevada and Fenkell in keeping African Americans from moving into the Sojourner Truth Housing Project. Courtesy of the Charles A. Hill Collection

(DN_1127_1) NAACP, Pickets, Housing Discrimination, Detroit, 1963

eclemens — Wed, 11 May 2011 09:39:06 -0400

Members and supporters of the NAACP picket outside of the Open Occupancy Hearing at Cobo Hall, Detroit, Michigan.

(24840) NAACP, Demonstrations, Housing Discrimination, Detroit, 1962

eclemens — Wed, 11 May 2011 09:13:24 -0400

Members of the NAACP’s Housing Committee create signs in the offices of the Detroit Branch for use in a future demonstration.

(24841) NAACP, Demonstrations, Housing Discrimination, Detroit, 1962

eclemens — Wed, 11 May 2011 09:12:31 -0400

Members of the NAACP’s Housing Committee create signs in the offices of the Detroit Branch for use in a future demonstration.

(28632) Sojourner Truth Housing Project, Rally, Cadillac Square, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 01:30:59 -0400

Thousands of citizens and delegates from community organizations attend a mass meeting in Cadillac Square in support of housing for African American war workers.

(28633) Sojourner Truth Housing Project, Rally, Cadillac Square, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 01:30:59 -0400

Two women place a wreath of flowers during a mass meeting in Cadillac Square in support of housing for African American war workers.

(28635) Riots, Housing, Sojourner Truth, State Police, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 04:30:59 -0400

Michigan State Police march in formation throughout the Sojourner Truth Housing Project on "moving day." Over 1,400 State and Detroit police and 1,000 Michigan State Troops were brought in to protect the 200 African American families set to move into the war housing projects and Fenkell and Nevada from white neighbors who wished for the area to remain segregated.

(28636) Riots, Housing, Sojourner Truth, State Troops, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 04:39:59 -0400

Michigan State Troops in full dress set up camp in an empty field on Nevada Street across from the Sojourner Truth Housing projects on "moving day." Over 1,400 State and Detroit police and 1,000 Michigan State Troops were brought in to protect the 200 African American families set to move into the war housing projects and Fenkell and Nevada from white neighbors who wished for the area to remain segregated.

(28637) Riots, Housing, Sojourner Truth, State Troops, 1942

eclemens — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 04:33:59 -0400

Michigan State Troops guard one of the many checkpoints set up on the streets that lead into the Sojourner Truth Housing Project on "moving day." Over 1,400 State and Detroit police and 1,000 Michigan State Troops were brought in to protect the 200 African American families set to move into the war housing projects and Fenkell and Nevada from white neighbors who wished for the area to remain segregated.

(28638) Riots, Housing, Sojourner Truth, Families, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 04:40:59 -0400

Three children look on as movers from Russle's Moving and Storage unload the furniture of one of the first African American families to make it into the Sojourner Truth Housing Projects on "moving day."

(28639) Riots, Housing, Sojourner Truth, Injuries, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 04:40:59 -0400

Detroit Police assist an employee from Busy Bee Moving who's hand was injured while attempting to move African American families into the Sojourner Truth Housing Project.

(28640) Riots, Housing, Sojourner Truth, State Troops, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 04:45:59 -0400

State Troops patrol the streets surrounding the Sojourner Truth Housing Project on "moving day." Over 1,400 State and Detroit police and 1,000 Michigan State Troops were brought in to protect the 200 African American families set to move into the war housing projects and Fenkell and Nevada from white neighbors who wished for the area to remain segregated.

(28641) Riots, Housing, Sojourner Truth, Detroit Police, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 04:50:59 -0400

Detroit Police attempt to disperse a crowd of white men, some of whom are armed with bats, from the area surrounding the Sojourner Truth Housing Projects. The men wanted to keep their neighborhood segregated from the African American families who were preparing to move into the adjacent war housing project.

(28642) Riots, Housing, Sojourner Truth, Violence, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 04:55:59 -0400

Tear gas is used to disperse angry crowds as African American families prepare to move into the Sojourner Truth Housing Projects.

(28643) Riots, Housing, Sojourner Truth, Arrests, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 05:09:59 -0400

Two African American men are led away by Detroit Police during the clashes at the Sojourner Truth Housing Project.

(28644) Riots, Housing, Sojourner Truth, Violence, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 05:12:59 -0400

Mounted Detroit Police set upon demonstrators during the clashes at the Sojourner Truth Housing Project.

(28645) Riots, Housing, Sojourner Truth, Arrests, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 06:30:59 -0400

Harold Dillard, 14, is arrested by police during the riot at the Sojourner Truth Housing Project as his sister holds onto him in protest.

(28645) Riots, Housing, Sojourner Truth, Violence, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 06:37:59 -0400

Police, some armed, some mounted on horses, attempt to control the massive crowds that came out to protest African American families moving into the Sojourner Truth Housing Project.

(28647) Riots, Housing, Sojourner Truth, Arrests, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 06:41:00 -0400

Mounted Police arrest an African American during the Sojourner Truth Housing Project riot.

(28647) Riots, Housing, Sojourner Truth, Protestors, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 06:51:00 -0400

Hundreds of white neighbors and their supporters line a street near the Sojourner Truth Housing Project to protest and intimidate African American families that were to move into the adjacent war housing.

(28649) Riots, Housing, Sojourner Truth, Violence, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 06:59:00 -0400

Dozens of men and children happily pose for a photograph around an overturned car. The car belonged to an African American who attempted to break through the crowd of demonstrators around the Sojourner Truth Housing Project.

(28651) Riots, Sojourner Truth, Housing, Arrests, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:28:00 -0400

Four African American men are searched by Detroit Police for weapons during the Sojourner Truth Housing Project Riot.

(28654) Riots, Housing, Sojourner Truth, Arrests, 1942

eclemens — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:56:14 -0400

An African American man is removed from the scene of the Sojourner Truth Housing Riot as uniformed police officer holding his night stick forcibly urges him on.

Podcast: "She Never Gave Up on This City:" Remembering Firebrand Detroit City Councilwoman Maryann Mahaffey

teller — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 10:36:35 -0500

Labor and Urban Affairs archivist Shae Rafferty shares how Maryann Mahaffey's college summer job as recreation director at the Poston Japanese internment camp in Arizona in 1945 strengthened her resolve to fight against discrimination and help those in need later in her career in social work. read more »

Podcast: Assembly Line Housing: Walter P. Reuther, George Romney, and Operation Breakthrough – Part 1

teller — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 09:45:14 -0400

In the first of a two-part series, Dr. Kristin Szylvian explains the role of the American labor movement, and UAW president Walter Reuther in particular, in lobbying for and shaping fair housing programs and legislation in Detroit and nationally after the Second World War. That influence paved the way for an unlikely alliance in the 1960s between Reuther and George Romney, the former Republican governor of Michigan, when they joined together in the late 1960s to launch Operation Breakthrough, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program to use union-made manufactured housing to alleviate the housing crisis in minority communities while also creating job opportunities and encouraging racial and income integration in the larger community. read more »

Podcast: Assembly Line Housing: Walter P. Reuther, George Romney, and Operation Breakthrough – Part 2

teller — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 09:04:23 -0400

In the second of a two-part series, Dr. Kristin M. Szylvian explains how racial segregation and the fear of declining property values ultimately scuttled Operation Breakthrough, a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Program early in the Nixon administration to use union-made manufactured housing to create racially- and economically-integrated housing communities throughout the country. read more »

Seeking "Self-Determination" in Detroit: Housing, Race, and the Activism of the West Central Organization, 1964-1971

teller — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 11:05:25 -0400

Dr. Anna E. Lindner discusses the rise and subsequent downfall of the West Central Organization in Detroit, a coalition of civil rights organizations, community groups, and church congregations that sought to bring attention to housing inequality and other social issues in the 1960s. read more »

[Podcast] A "Most Conscientious and Considerate Method": Grosse Pointe’s Gross Post-War Housing Point System

teller — Fri, 05 Aug 2022 11:42:13 -0400

Emma Maniere describes how homeowners associations in Grosse Pointe, an affluent suburb bordering Detroit, developed a point system following the Second World War to rank and exclude prospective homebuyers to maintain the community’s Anglo Christian whiteness and affluence. The point system, which ranked nativity and ethnicity, accent, skin tone, and occupation, among other measures, was dismantled in 1960 but left a pernicious legacy that continues to reverberate in the community today. Maniere is a doctoral candidate in the history program at New York University. read more »

[Podcast] Communists and Community in Wartime Detroit

teller — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 09:57:06 -0400

Dr. Ryan Pettengill explains how communist activists in Detroit worked with labor activists during and after the Second World War to enhance the quality of life in the community by advocating for civil rights, affordable housing, protections for the foreign-born, and more. read more »

[Podcast] Detroit vs. Everybody: Exploring Race, Place, and Black Superheroes in DC Comics

teller — Mon, 06 Jun 2022 13:46:00 -0400

Dr. Vincent Haddad explains that while Detroit has often served as the inspiration for crime-ridden settings in comics, DC Comics rose above those stereotypes with black superheroes Amazing-Man in the 1980s series All-Star Squadron and the Cyborg solo series in the 2010s. He describes how those two series represented Detroit and issues of race, policing, and culture in a more historically-informed and nuanced manner. read more »