The Making of Black Detroit in the Age of Henry Ford

The Making of Black Detroit in the Age of Henry Ford PDF Author: Beth Tompkins Bates
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 0807837458
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
In the 1920s, Henry Ford hired thousands of African American men for his open-shop system of auto manufacturing. This move was a rejection of the notion that better jobs were for white men only. In The Making of Black Detroit in the Age of Henry Ford, Beth Tompkins Bates explains how black Detroiters, newly arrived from the South, seized the economic opportunities offered by Ford in the hope of gaining greater economic security. As these workers came to realize that Ford's anti-union "American Plan" did not allow them full access to the American Dream, their loyalty eroded, and they sought empowerment by pursuing a broad activist agenda. This, in turn, led them to play a pivotal role in the United Auto Workers' challenge to Ford's interests. In order to fully understand this complex shift, Bates traces allegiances among Detroit's African American community as reflected in its opposition to the Ku Klux Klan, challenges to unfair housing practices, and demands for increased and effective political participation. This groundbreaking history demonstrates how by World War II Henry Ford and his company had helped kindle the civil rights movement in Detroit without intending to do so.

The Making of Black Detroit in the Age of Henry Ford

The Making of Black Detroit in the Age of Henry Ford PDF Author: Beth Tompkins Bates
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 0807837458
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
In the 1920s, Henry Ford hired thousands of African American men for his open-shop system of auto manufacturing. This move was a rejection of the notion that better jobs were for white men only. In The Making of Black Detroit in the Age of Henry Ford, Beth Tompkins Bates explains how black Detroiters, newly arrived from the South, seized the economic opportunities offered by Ford in the hope of gaining greater economic security. As these workers came to realize that Ford's anti-union "American Plan" did not allow them full access to the American Dream, their loyalty eroded, and they sought empowerment by pursuing a broad activist agenda. This, in turn, led them to play a pivotal role in the United Auto Workers' challenge to Ford's interests. In order to fully understand this complex shift, Bates traces allegiances among Detroit's African American community as reflected in its opposition to the Ku Klux Klan, challenges to unfair housing practices, and demands for increased and effective political participation. This groundbreaking history demonstrates how by World War II Henry Ford and his company had helped kindle the civil rights movement in Detroit without intending to do so.

Turkey Stearnes and the Detroit Stars

Turkey Stearnes and the Detroit Stars PDF Author: Richard Bak
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
ISBN: 9780814325827
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
In recalling the early part of this century in baseball history, casual fans tend to glorify legends like Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth. While these remarkable players dazzled fans and grabbed headlines, black players who were every bit as good went unnoticed outside the Negro leagues. Because a "gentleman's agreement" among the white owners of organized baseball banned blacks from the major and minor leagues from the 1880s through 1946, the Negro National League provided black players the sole opportunity to display their talent. In Turkey Stearnes and the Detroit Stars, Richard Bak documents the extraordinary history of Detroit's first and foremost black professional baseball team. This groundbreaking analysis of Detroit's entry in the Negro National League brings to life a fascinating story of skill, pride, and perseverance. As a charter member of Andrew "Rube" Foster's National Negro League, the Detroit Stars quickly evolved into an integral part of black culture. From the team's beginning in 1919 to its demise in 1933, the Stars offered Detroit's black community entertainment and a short respite from the hardships of daily life. Moreover, the Detroit Stars represented a rare example of successful black entrepreneurship. The greatest Star of them all was Norman "Turkey" Stearnes, the brilliant longball-hitting center fielder. Stearnes established virtually all of the team's individual and career records during his nine seasons with Detroit.

Life for Us Is What We Make It

Life for Us Is What We Make It PDF Author: Richard W. Thomas
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253113153
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Book Description
"Thomas's ground-breaking study should occupy a central place in the literature of American urban history." -- Choice "... path-breaking... a fine community study... " -- Journal of American Studies "Thomas's work is essential reading... succeeds in providing a bridge of information on the social, political, legal, and economic development of the Detroit black community between the turn of the century and 1945."Â -- Michigan Historical Review The black community in Detroit developed into one of the major centers of black progress. Richard Thomas traces the building of this community from its roots in the 19th century, through the key period 1915-1945, by focusing on how industrial workers, ministers, politicians, business leaders, youth, and community activists contributed to the process.

Before the Ghetto

Before the Ghetto PDF Author: David M. Katzman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 284

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Book Description


Black Detroit

Black Detroit PDF Author: Herb Boyd
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062346644
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 470

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Book Description
NAACP 2017 Image Award Finalist 2018 Michigan Notable Books honoree The author of Baldwin’s Harlem looks at the evolving culture, politics, economics, and spiritual life of Detroit—a blend of memoir, love letter, history, and clear-eyed reportage that explores the city’s past, present, and future and its significance to the African American legacy and the nation’s fabric. Herb Boyd moved to Detroit in 1943, as race riots were engulfing the city. Though he did not grasp their full significance at the time, this critical moment would be one of many he witnessed that would mold his political activism and exposed a city restless for change. In Black Detroit, he reflects on his life and this landmark place, in search of understanding why Detroit is a special place for black people. Boyd reveals how Black Detroiters were prominent in the city’s historic, groundbreaking union movement and—when given an opportunity—were among the tireless workers who made the automobile industry the center of American industry. Well paying jobs on assembly lines allowed working class Black Detroiters to ascend to the middle class and achieve financial stability, an accomplishment not often attainable in other industries. Boyd makes clear that while many of these middle-class jobs have disappeared, decimating the population and hitting blacks hardest, Detroit survives thanks to the emergence of companies such as Shinola—which represent the strength of the Motor City and and its continued importance to the country. He also brings into focus the major figures who have defined and shaped Detroit, including William Lambert, the great abolitionist, Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown, Coleman Young, the city’s first black mayor, diva songstress Aretha Franklin, Malcolm X, and Ralphe Bunche, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. With a stunning eye for detail and passion for Detroit, Boyd celebrates the music, manufacturing, politics, and culture that make it an American original.

Pullman Porters and the Rise of Protest Politics in Black America, 1925-1945

Pullman Porters and the Rise of Protest Politics in Black America, 1925-1945 PDF Author: Beth Tompkins Bates
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807875368
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
Between World War I and World War II, African Americans' quest for civil rights took on a more aggressive character as a new group of black activists challenged the politics of civility traditionally embraced by old-guard leaders in favor of a more forceful protest strategy. Beth Tompkins Bates traces the rise of this new protest politics--which was grounded in making demands and backing them up with collective action--by focusing on the struggle of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) to form a union in Chicago, headquarters of the Pullman Company. Bates shows how the BSCP overcame initial opposition from most of Chicago's black leaders by linking its union message with the broader social movement for racial equality. As members of BSCP protest networks mobilized the black community around the quest for manhood rights and economic freedom, they broke down resistance to organized labor even as they expanded the boundaries of citizenship to include equal economic opportunity. By the mid-1930s, BSCP protest networks gained platforms at the national level, fusing Brotherhood activities first with those of the National Negro Congress and later with the March on Washington Movement. Lessons learned during this era guided the next generation of activists, who carried the black freedom struggle forward after World War II.

Black Baseball in Chicago

Black Baseball in Chicago PDF Author: Larry Lester
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 9780738507040
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
When the Negro National League was formed in Kansas City in 1920, a new chapter in sports history began. The city of Chicago played no small part in the creation and content of this historic chapter. Black Baseball in Chicago chronicles the history of the teams and players that spent time in the "Windy City." In 1911, the Chicago American Giants were born. This team drew some of the best players from the league, including such legendary stars as Bruce Petway, Pete Hill, Grant "Home Run" Johnson, and future hall-of-famer John Henry "Pop" Lloyd. On any given Sunday afternoon, the Chicago American Giants games often outdrew those of the cross-town rivals, the White Sox and the Cubs.

Arc of Justice

Arc of Justice PDF Author: Kevin Boyle
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
ISBN: 1429900164
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 445

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Book Description
Winner of the National Book Award for Nonfiction An electrifying story of the sensational murder trial that divided a city and ignited the civil rights struggle In 1925, Detroit was a smoky swirl of jazz and speakeasies, assembly lines and fistfights. The advent of automobiles had brought workers from around the globe to compete for manufacturing jobs, and tensions often flared with the KKK in ascendance and violence rising. Ossian Sweet, a proud Negro doctor-grandson of a slave-had made the long climb from the ghetto to a home of his own in a previously all-white neighborhood. Yet just after his arrival, a mob gathered outside his house; suddenly, shots rang out: Sweet, or one of his defenders, had accidentally killed one of the whites threatening their lives and homes. And so it began-a chain of events that brought America's greatest attorney, Clarence Darrow, into the fray and transformed Sweet into a controversial symbol of equality. Historian Kevin Boyle weaves the police investigation and courtroom drama of Sweet's murder trial into an unforgettable tapestry of narrative history that documents the volatile America of the 1920s and movingly re-creates the Sweet family's journey from slavery through the Great Migration to the middle class. Ossian Sweet's story, so richly and poignantly captured here, is an epic tale of one man trapped by the battles of his era's changing times.

Black Bottom Saints

Black Bottom Saints PDF Author: Alice Randall
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062968653
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 397

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Book Description
An enthralling literary tour-de-force that pays tribute to Detroit's legendary neighborhood, a mecca for jazz, sports, and politics, Black Bottom Saints is a powerful blend of fact and imagination reminiscent of E.L. Doctorow's classic novel Ragtime and Marlon James' Man Booker Award-winning masterpiece, A Brief History of Seven Killings. From the Great Depression through the post-World War II years, Joseph “Ziggy” Johnson, has been the pulse of Detroit’s famous Black Bottom. A celebrated gossip columnist for the city’s African-American newspaper, the Michigan Chronicle, he is also the emcee of one of the hottest night clubs, where he’s rubbed elbows with the legendary black artists of the era, including Ethel Waters, Billy Eckstein, and Count Basie. Ziggy is also the founder and dean of the Ziggy Johnson School of Theater. But now the doyen of Black Bottom is ready to hang up his many dapper hats. As he lays dying in the black-owned-and-operated Kirkwood Hospital, Ziggy reflects on his life, the community that was the center of his world, and the remarkable people who helped shape it. Inspired by the Catholic Saints Day Books, Ziggy curates his own list of Black Bottom’s venerable "52 Saints." Among them are a vulnerable Dinah Washington, a defiant Joe Louis, and a raucous Bricktop. Randall balances the stories of these larger-than-life "Saints" with local heroes who became household names, enthralling men and women whose unstoppable ambition, love of style, and faith in community made this black Midwestern neighborhood the rival of New York City’s Harlem. Accompanying these “tributes” are thoughtfully paired cocktails—special drinks that capture the essence of each of Ziggy’s saints—libations as strong and satisfying as Alice Randall’s wholly original view of a place and time unlike any other.

Detroit’s Birwood Wall: Hatred & Healing in the West Eight Mile Community

Detroit’s Birwood Wall: Hatred & Healing in the West Eight Mile Community PDF Author: Gerald Van Dusen
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1467142018
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
In 1941, a real estate developer in northwest Detroit faced a dilemma. He needed federal financing for white clients purchasing lots in a new subdivision abutting a community of mostly African Americans. When the banks deemed the development too risky because of potential racial tension, the developer proposed a novel solution. He built a six-foot-tall, one-foot-thick concrete barrier extending from Eight Mile Road south for three city blocks--the infamous Birwood Wall. It changed life in West Eight Mile forever. Gathering personal interviews, family histories, land records and other archival sources, author Gerald Van Dusen tells the story of this isolated black enclave that persevered through all manner of racial barriers and transformed a symbol of discrimination into an expression of hope and perseverance.