How It Happens

How It Happens
Author: Jean Alicia Elster
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2021-09-14
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 081434870X

Intergenerational story of three Black women and their struggle to stake their claim to the American dream. How It Happensfollows the story of author Jean Alicia Elster’s maternal grandmother, Dorothy May Jackson. Born in Tennessee in 1890, Dorothy May was the middle daughter of Addie Jackson, a married African-American housekeeper at one of the white boardinghouses in town, and Tom Mitchell, a commanding white attorney from a prominent family. Through three successive generations of African-American women, Elster intertwines the fictionalized adaptations of the defining periods and challenges—race relations, miscegenation, sexual assault, and class divisions—in her family’s history. A continuation of the plots begun in Elster’s two novels Who’s Jim Hines? and The Colored Car, How It Happens continues the story for an older audience and begins with Addie’s life before the turn of the century in the South as a married Black woman with three biracial daughters navigating the relationship between her husband and Tom Mitchell. Later the story shifts to Addie’s daughter Dorothy May’s experiences both as a child and later, as a teacher who, choosing between her career and marriage to a man she barely knows, moves to Detroit. The story moves along with Dorothy May’s daughter Jean, who, with the support of her mother and the memory of her grandmother, confronts and comes to terms with her role in society and the options available to her as a college-educated Black woman in the post–World War II industrial North. While there is struggle and hardship for each of these women, they each build off one other and continue to demand space in the world in which they live. Written for young adult readers, How It Happens carries the heart through the obstacles that still face women of color today and persists in holding open the door of communication between generations.

100 Years of the Detroit Historical Society

100 Years of the Detroit Historical Society
Author: Joel Stone
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2021-12-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0814348882

A behind-the-scenes look at the creation and evolution of a cultural institution in Detroit. Since its founding in 1921, the Detroit Historical Society (DHS) has been dedicated to safeguarding the history of our region so that current and future generations of metro Detroiters can better understand the people, places, and events that helped shape our lives. 100 Years of the Detroit Historical Society, written by senior curator Joel Stone, captures in words and photographs the little-known story of the people who have been telling Detroit's stories and preserving its material culture for the last century. 100 Years of the Detroit Historical Society leads in a chronological manner through four distinct phases—each with its own successes and failures—with a nod to the future direction of the DHS. Stone begins by laying a foundation of the city's history and describing the era that prompted the organization's founding—first intended as support for the Burton Historical Collection, then as stewards of a growing artifact collection in a "cabinet of curiosities." DHS became the primary support organization for a new municipally owned and managed historical department, resulting in multiple facilities and storytelling capabilities. Later, changing social and fiscal priorities prompted the DHS and its partners to adopt new strategies for interpretation, funding, outreach, and inclusion. Eventually, the DHS would assume stewardship of the Detroit Historical Museum and Dossin Great Lakes Museum, bringing new momentum to regional public history. It is important to note the truism that historical museums and archives can be poor caretakers of their own history. The DHS's history was intertwined with a municipal department for so long that they actually have two histories that are only roughly preserved. Research for this volume has woven many disparate details into a cogent tapestry that is easily digested by museum professionals and visitors alike. It is a fascinating tale that reflects the pride Detroiters have in their city and shows trends in historical preservation and organizational structures across North America.

Detroit's Historic Places of Worship

Detroit's Historic Places of Worship
Author: Marla O. Collum
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2012
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 0814334245

In Detroit's Historic Places of Worship, authors Marla O. Collum, Barbara E. Krueger, and Dorothy Kostuch profile 37 architecturally and historically significant houses of worship that represent 8 denominations and nearly 150 years of history. The authors focus on Detroit's most prolific era of church building, the 1850s to the 1930s, in chapters that are arranged chronologically. Entries begin with each building's founding congregation and trace developments and changes to the present day. Full-color photos by Dirk Bakker bring the interiors and exteriors of these amazing buildings to life, as the authors provide thorough architectural descriptions, pointing out notable carvings, sculptures, stained glass, and other decorative and structural features. Nearly twenty years in the making, this volume includes many of Detroit's most well known churches, like Sainte Anne in Corktown, the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Boston-Edison, Saint Florian in Hamtramck, Mariners' Church on the riverfront, Saint Mary's in Greektown, and Central United Methodist Church downtown. But the authors also provide glimpses into stunning buildings that are less easily accessible or whose uses have changed-such as the original Temple Beth-El (now the Bonstelle Theater), First Presbyterian Church (now Ecumenical Theological Seminary), and Saint Albertus (now maintained by the Polish American Historical Site Association)-or whose future is uncertain, like Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church (most recently Abyssinian Interdenominational Center, now closed). Appendices contain information on hundreds of architects, artisans, and crafts-people involved in the construction of the churches, and a map pinpoints their locations around the city of Detroit. Anyone interested in Detroit's architecture or religious history will be delighted by Detroit's Historic Places of Worship.

Detroit Lakes

Detroit Lakes
Author: Becker County Historical Society
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2012
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780738584041

Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, was incorporated in 1871 as the village of Detroit. The lush landscape of lakes and rivers created a natural vacation destination and tourism pioneers like John K. West began to market to the newly moneyed industrialists of the Gilded Age.

Sterling Township

Sterling Township
Author: Sterling Township Public Library and Historical Commision
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2005-10-31
Genre: Photography
ISBN: 1439632804

Sterling Township, located about 18 miles northeast of Detroit, was first settled after the Erie Canal was opened. The rich soil, relatively flat land, and the vital Clinton River attracted pioneer and immigrant families who arrived to establish farmsteads. The first influx of immigrants came mainly from the British Isles, and by the 1870s, German families had flocked to the area, raising dairy cattle and establishing farms. Belgians, arriving in the early 1900s, developed truck farminggrowing fruits and vegetables to sell every week at the farmers market in Detroit. Farm culture prevailed until the 1950s, when large industrial plants began moving in, bringing with them workers and a need for housing and city services. Sterling Township became the city of Sterling Heights in 1968, and this collection of photographs will showcase the families and the way of life in the early days of this community, a historic community that is now the fourth largest city in Michigan.

How Detroit Became the Automotive Capital

How Detroit Became the Automotive Capital
Author: Robert G. Szudarek
Publisher: Frost Lake Press
Total Pages: 388
Release: 1996
Genre: History
ISBN:

This book traces the history of the automobile industry through profiles of over 125 automobile manufacturers from Detroit and surrounding suburbs. Information on company founders, key personnel, car specifications, and more, help tell the story of the American automobile industry. Over 500 photographs of automobiles, factories, company logos, and personnel, offer readers further insight into the industry's evolution over the last 100 years. Interesting anecdotes on the first gasoline stations, selling cars, roads, steering wheel placement, and more are also included.

"Old Slow Town"

Author: Paul Taylor
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2013-10-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0814339301

Readers interested in American history, Civil War history, or the ethnic history of Detroit will appreciate the full picture of the time period Taylor presents in "Old Slow Town."

Detroit's Historic Fort Wayne

Detroit's Historic Fort Wayne
Author: James Conway
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2007
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780738551128

Michigan's historic Fort Wayne, located on the narrowest point of the Detroit River, is named for Revolutionary War hero Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne. The fort was built in the 1840s to protect Detroit from British invasion following the strife of the 1838 Patriot War in Canada. Originally constructed of earth and wood, the fortifications were rebuilt in masonry during the Civil War, but the fort has never mounted cannons, as peace came to the international border and remains to this day. Fort Wayne has served the military as a training center, home to infantry regiments, supply depot, prisoner of war camp, and major induction center. It was a source of work for the unemployed during the Great Depression, a place of confinement during the Red Scare of 1920, and home for those displaced by civil unrest in Detroit during the 1960s. The fort continues to invite people to its riverfront view, not as soldiers but as guests, to enjoy community events on its broad parade fields and to learn about those who lived, drilled, and worked there.

A Museum on the Verge

A Museum on the Verge
Author: Jeffrey Abt
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2001
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780814328415

The Detroit Institute of Arts is one of America's largest and oldest municipal art museums. However, even as the museum grew into a distinguished collection, there were threats of closure. The DIA has walked a financial tightrope since it opened just over a century ago, and was nearly closed by government funding cuts in the 1970s and 1990s. Now Jeffrey Abt tells how the DIA has had to struggle to maintain its fine art collection with barely enough income to remain open. A Museum on the Verge goes behind the scenes at the DIA to disclose the political, economic, and social forces that shaped the museum from its founding to the present day. Drawing on new archival research, Abt reveals that the growing discrepancy between the museum's size and its operating budget was the result of a century of ad hoc solutions to institutional problems that left the DIA vulnerable to annual income losses -- especially reductions of government funding. He also explains its complex relations with private and government entities and delineates the integral role of the museum's support group, the Founders Society. Abt's account is supplemented by a wealth of material, including legal documents and numerical data taken at five-year intervals from the 1880s through 2000 that is presented in both tables and graphs. The data, which comprehensively survey vital statistics such as attendance, collections growth, and finances, provide a rich resource for comparative research on other museums. As a case study of a prominent public institution, A Museum on the Verge offers an invaluable research model for scholars and museum professionals alike.

Detroit Then and Now

Detroit Then and Now
Author: Cheri Y. Gay
Publisher:
Total Pages: 152
Release: 2001
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

Famous the world over for automobile manufacture and the distinctive sounds of Motown music, Detroit, the Motor City, celebrated its 300th birthday in 2001. "Detroit Then and Now" is a fascinating look at this city's great history, taking historic photographs from the dawn of the camera age and comparing them with full-color photographs of the same scenes today.