During the summer of 2025, I had the special opportunity to participate in the Humanities@Work internship program offered by the Humanities Center on Wayne State's campus. I was paired with Dr. Todd Duncan, a WSU English and African American studies professor who taught an oral history course titled, "Black Detroit: Stories of OldTimers" from 1997 to 2012. For three months, I assisted Dr. Duncan in accessing, inventorying, and selectively digitizing the audiovisual materials from his collection, which is now in the process of being donated to the Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs.

It was a privilege to learn about Dr. Duncan's research and his connection to Black labor organizers, activists, athletes, and philanthropists in Detroit. His courses connected students to wise Detroiters, many of whom lived in the historic Black Bottom neighborhood and participated in the Brewster OldTimers philanthropic organization. This vast collection of oral histories, recorded on audiocassette, VHS, and optical disc, presents researchers with thoughtful intergenerational conversations and provides our elders with the opportunity to pass the torch to young people to continue the ongoing efforts for a better Detroit.

This photo is a frame taken from a VHS recording of a "Black Detroit: Stories of OldTimers" class session on December 5, 2001.

Left to right: Dr. Todd Duncan, Grace Lee Boggs, Jim Embry, two unidentified students.

Photo courtesy of Todd Duncan