| Description |
3.5 Linear Feet (7 MB). |
|
Arranged by version of transcript - Drafts (Boxes 1-5), Final (Box 6); and then supplementary material (Box 6); and closed material (Box 7). Transcript versions are each arranged first alphabetically by interviewee last name, and then alphabetically by subject (for group interviews). |
| Note |
Material entirely in English. |
| Summary |
In 1989, the Detroit Urban League initiated a project to create an oral history of Detroit's African American community, underrepresented in traditional histories of the city, focusing on the period of 1918 through 1967, from near the time of the League's founding to the civil unrest of 1967. Elaine Latzman Moon, then on staff at the Detroit Urban League, led the project and interviewed more than 200 participants from all walks of life, ages, and social and economic status, including many prominent citizens as well as those leading more modest lives. The four-year project culminated in 1994 with Latzman's book, Untold Tales, Unsung Heroes: An Oral History of Detroit's African American Community, 1918-1967, featuring interviews with 113 participants, most of them African American, along with a few white people noted in the African American community for their efforts to further civil rights and human rights. The collection consists of draft and final transcripts of 83 oral history interviews with primarily African American Detroiters, interviewed either individually or in groups. Interviewees discuss family and community life, neighborhoods (including Black Bottom and Paradise Valley), religion, education, and work, as well as significant events like the Great Depression, World War II, the 1943 race riot, the civil rights movement, the civil unrest of 1967, and the Vietnam War. Each group discussion focuses on a significant topic, place, or event. Some interviewees participated in multiple group interviews. Also included is a small amount of related images, clippings, and notes. Most draft transcripts contain background clippings as well. Final transcripts have generally been edited significantly for length and content and are similar to what was published in the book. |
| Note |
Processing Information: Processed by Walter P. Reuther Library and Rebecca Bizonet. Finding aid written by Rebecca Bizonet on June 9, 2016. |
| Access |
The following interviews are closed: Robert Cunningham (closed indefinitely); Roy Wilds (closed until October 11, 2041); Sojourner Truth Homes group interview, at the request of interviewee Adam Shakoor (prior permission to access must be obtained from Adam Shakoor). The following interviews are available as final transcripts only; access to draft transcripts is closed: Nancy Allen, Frank Angelo, Kermit Bailer, M. Kelly Fritz, Wendell Harrison, Erma Henderson, William Hines, Annie Williams, and the Crime and Law Enforcement group interview, at the request of interviewee Mackie Johnson. |
| Note |
Refer to the Walter P. Reuther Library Rules for Use of Archival Materials. RESTRICTIONS: Due to the personal nature of oral history, the Library prohibits use of the material in any way that infringes on individual right to privacy, or results in libelous statements or slander, in accordance with U.S. law. The following interviews are restricted from publication: Ed Davis, Herschel Richey, and the Herschel Richey portions of the Virginia Park Community group interview. The following interviews require that permission to publish be obtained from the interviewee: Gloria Manlove Hunter, James Jenkins. |
| Cite As: |
"Untold Tales, Unsung Heroes Oral Histories, [Interviewee Name] Interview, Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University" |
| Note |
In 1989, the Detroit Urban League initiated a project to create an oral history of Detroit's African American community, underrepresented in traditional histories of the city, focusing on the period of 1918 through 1967, from near the time of the League's founding to the civil unrest of 1967. Elaine Latzman Moon, then on staff at the Detroit Urban League, led the project and interviewed more than 200 participants from all walks of life, ages, and social and economic status, including many prominent citizens as well as those leading more modest lives. The four-year project culminated in 1994 with Latzman's book, Untold Tales, Unsung Heroes: An Oral History of Detroit's African American Community, 1918-1967, featuring interviews with 113 participants, most of them African American, along with a few white people noted in the African American community for their efforts to further civil rights and human rights. |
| Summary |
Collection consists of draft and final transcripts of 83 oral history interviews with primarily African American Detroiters, interviewed either individually or in groups. Interviewees discuss family and community life, neighborhoods (including Black Bottom and Paradise Valley), religion, education, and work, as well as significant events like the Great Depression, World War II, the 1943 race riot, the civil rights movement, the civil unrest of 1967, and the Vietnam War. Each group discussion focuses on a significant topic, place, or event. Some interviewees participated in multiple group interviews. Also included is a small amount of related images, clippings, and notes. Most draft transcripts contain background clippings as well. Final transcripts have generally been edited significantly for length and content and are similar to what was published in the book. Individual interviews conducted with the following 63 participants are available as either draft or final tanscripts, or both: Allen, Nancy (final and draft); Angelo, Frank (final and draft); Bailer, Kermit (draft); Barthwell, Sidney (final and draft); Bing, Dave (final and draft); Boggs, James (final and draft); Bradley, Leon (final and draft); Brooks, Roy (final and draft); Brown, Helen Nuttall (final); Buck, Beatrice "Bea" (final and draft); Cain, Waldo, M.D. (final and draft); Croft, Wardell (final and draft); Cummings, James (draft); Cunningham, Robert (draft); Cureton, Fred (final); Curtis, Austin (final and draft); Davis, Ed (final and draft; draft is notes only); Diggs, Charles C., Jr. (final and draft); Dillard, Ernest (final and draft); Dukes, Ofield (draft); Duplessis, Lillian (final and draft); Fritz, M. Kelly (draft); Goodman, Ernest (final and draft); Guinyard, Fred "Freddie" (final and draft); Henderson, Erma (final and draft); Hines, William (final and draft); Holmes, David (draft); Howard, William (draft); Hunter, Gloria Manlove, with Eleanor Manlove (final and draft; on Brewster Housing Project; Hurt, William (draft); Jenkins, James (final and draft; draft is clippings only); Kornegay, Francis (final and draft; on Detroit Urban League); Lang, Winston (final and draft); Lawson, Dorothy (draft); Lee, Oscar (draft); Little, Wilfred (draft); Mack-Lester, Dr. Nina (final and draft); Marks, Richard (final and draft); Mason, Hodges (draft); McRae, Norman (final and draft); Mickens, Marsha (draft); Newman, Alice (draft); Norris, Prof. Harold (final and draft); Nowak, Stanley (final and draft; on ethnic relations); Quock, Frances (final and draft); Ravitz, Mel (draft); Richardson, Lamar (draft); Richey, Herschel (final); Romney, George (draft; on 1967 civil disturbance); Ross, Dr. Mary (final and draft); Rosser, Walter (final and draft); Shirley, Paul (final and draft); Smith, Gerald (draft); Swan, Lionel (draft); Tappes, Shelton (final and draft); Taylor, Marcena W. (final and draft); Ward, Margaret (final and draft); Wheeler, Rosa K. (draft); Wilds, Roy (draft); Williams, Annie (draft); Winter, Carl (final and draft); Wright, Ernestine (final and draft). Group interviews focusing on specific topics were conducted as follows: Black Bottom Neighborhood (draft) (includes Brown, Helen Nuttall); Civil Rights (final and draft) (with Carter, Dr. Arthur M., III; Goodman, Ernest; Hall, Alma Thomas; Marks, Richard; White, John "Jack"); Crime and Law Enforcement (final and draft) (with Johnson, Mackie; Lang, Winston; McClendon, Mary Upshaw; Quock, Frances); Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (final and draft) (with Johnson, Jerrylee; McFadden, Cecil; Pickett, Roberta McGuire; Puryear, Carol A. Sayers; Swanson, Rose Marie Dickens); Education (final and draft) (with Billups, William St. Clair; Poole, Earlie); Employment (draft) (with Biggs, Henry; Larrie, Reginald); Entertainment (draft) (with Duplessis, Lillian; McFarland, Ollie); Green Pastures Camp (final and draft) (with Marshall, Ernest; Jones, Eleanor Boykin; McFadden, Cecil); Hastings Street/ Medical Center (draft); Labor Movement (final and draft) (with Dale, Hildred Drew; Edwards, Gwendolyn Ruth; Guinyard, Freddie; Lee, Oscar; Mason, Hodges; Nowak, Stanley; White, John "Jack"); Metropolitan Baptist Church (final and draft); Music I (final and draft) (with Bowles, Harold "Beans", Sr.; Van Dyke, Earl) (Music I and Music II combined in final transcripts folder); Music II (final and draft) (with Harrison, Wendell; Walden, Donald) (Music I and Music II combined in final transcripts folder); Sacred Heart Church (final and draft) (with Boglin, Harry, III; Humphries, Mary Ann; Johnson, Emma Jean; McCauley, Anthony, Sr.); Second Baptist Church (final and draft) (with Carter, Arthur; Leach, Nathaniel; Means, Wilhelmina Lewis; Reid, Katherine; Wright, Ernestine); Shiloh Baptist Church (final and draft) (with Harris, Mary Chapman; McIntosh, Marguerite Rhodes; McKinney, Davene Ross; Ross, Dr. Mary); Sojourner Truth Homes (final and draft) (with Blakely, Gerald; Booker, Kenneth; Bynum, Robert, Jr.; Jackson, Thornton; Shakoor, Adam); Twelfth Street Businesses / 12th Street (draft) (with Odell, Bernard; Rencher, Odis); Virginia Park Community (final and draft) (with Foster, Ollie; Richey, Herschel; Rosser, Walter); and World War II (final and draft) (with Macon, Richard; Jefferson, Alexander; includes discussion of the Tuskegee Airmen). Some participants were interviewed more than once, separately, or in groups. Many individual interviewees address the topics discussed in the group interviews as well. Included in the draft material are two folders of miscellaneous clippings and notes. |
| Subject |
Detroit (Mich.)
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Civil rights movements.
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Detroit (Mich.) -- Race relations.
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African Americans -- History.
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| Genre |
Oral histories |
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Sound recordings |
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Video recordings |
| Added Author |
Detroit Urban League Sponsor.
|
| Added Title |
Walter P. Reuther Library Oral History Collection
|
| OCLC # |
953044517 |
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