EMU prof: ‘Detroit must be recognized among America’s great centers of Black civil rights’

Eastern Michigan University’s (EMU) Preservation Studies Program held an event on Sunday to lift up its effort to help restore several historic sites on Detroit’s east side. 

“Black Heroes of Detroit’s Eastside,” which was held at the Detroit Historical Museum, celebrated “outstanding work achieved by previous generations along with the people today working to preserve their memories, stories, and places,” said Dan Bonenberger, EMU professor of historic preservation. 

“Such places should stand as venerated sites where stories of community and collective action can inspire today’s activists and future generations,” Bonenberger added. “Although few people realize it, Detroit must be recognized among America’s great centers of Black civil rights.”

The school’s work includes efforts to research and promote the Ossian Sweet House, a home where Malcolm X , and the Sarah Ray Project in Detroit. Sweet was a leading physician and civil rights leader in Detroit during the 1920’s, ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s. Malcolm X was a noted civil rights leader during the 1950s and early ‘60s. Ray pushed back against racial in discrimination in the 1940’s and is a member of the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame.

Using its Digital Heritage Preservation Lab, a geodatabase, the EMU program effort will continue to seek public input and participation over the next two to three years. Bonenberger said the program is also looking to help restore and document a home where Gladys Mitchell Sweet, Ossian’s wife, once lived. It, too, is located on Detroit’s east side. 

Detroit’s African American population increased from about 5,700 in 1910 to about 120,000 in 1930 and doubled from about 149,000 in 1940 to more than 300,000 in 1950. In 1940, Detroit was America’s fourth largest city. Only New York, Chicago and Philadelphia had more residents. Detroit is Michigan’s largest city. It is 77% African American today. 

“Such places should stand as venerated sites where stories of community and collective action can inspire today’s activists and future generations,” Bonenberger added. “Although few people realize it, Detroit must be recognized among America’s great centers of Black civil rights.”

Founded in 1979, EMU’s Preservation Studies Graduate Program “explores digital and hands-on tools that help identify, analyze, preserve, and interpret significant places, objects, and people important to American history and its cultural heritage,” according to the university.