Urban Affairs Collections
The Reuther Library holds the records and papers of organizations and people, including prominent and working class members of the community, who have contributed to the historical development of metropolitan Detroit. Focusing on the 20th and 21st centuries, the records and papers of these organizations and people document individual and collective efforts focusing on the urbanization and empowerment of people adjusting to a rapidly changing urban landscape marked by population and demographic shifts, wars, social transformations, and economic/industrial fluctuations.
Browse some of our popular collections below, keeping in mind that more material exists for any of the themes listed.
Collections by Popular Subject Area
- Damon J. Keith PapersJudge Damon Keith served in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Judge Keith delivered several landmark rulings in civil rights and civil liberties cases.
- Kenneth and Sheila Cockrel PapersWhile working at the Detroit News to pay his way through school, Cockrel co-founded the League of Revolutionary Black Workers as an umbrella organization uniting local Revolutionary Union Movements, such as the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM), and related groups. In 1971, Cockrel and Motor City Labor League defectors formed the Labor Defense Coalition, which was instrumental in forcing the dismantling of STRESS, a notorious Detroit Police unit. At the same time, Cockrel helped found the law firm, Philo, Maki, Ravitz, Pitts, Moore, Cockrel & Robb. Over the next ten years, he and his colleagues earned reputations as crusaders for working and poor people by winning a number of high-profile lawsuits —cases such as New Bethel, James Johnson, Hayward Brown and Madeline Fletcher. In 1977, Cockrel was elected to a seat on the Detroit City Council as an "independent socialist".
- Wade H. McCree Jr. PapersWade Hampton McCree, Jr. served on the state’s Workmen’s Compensation Commission and as a judge in the county and U.S. court system. During his tenure on the bench, McCree took part in a number of school desegregation cases and, as the government’s lawyer, he argued a number of significant cases before the Supreme Court. He resigned in 1977 to accept appointment as U.S. Solicitor General in the Carter administration.
- Dalton Roberson PapersRoberson worked as an assistant Wayne County prosecutor and as an assistant U.S. attorney after years in private practice. He also served as a member and then chair of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. Roberson was elected to the Detroit Recorders Court in 1974 and eventually became its chief judge in 1987.
- James Lopez Watson PapersA former New York State Senator and New York City Civil Court Judge, Watson is best known as a judge with the United States Court of International Trade. The Papers of James Lopez Watson, however, primarily concern his affiliation with the National Bar Association, where he was a founding member of its judicial council. The collection also contains correspondences with a number of African-American judges, including judge George Crockett, Jr.
- James and Grace Lee Boggs PapersJames and Grace Lee Boggs played a leading role in organizing radical groups in Detroit and nationally and contributed to the founding of the National Organization for an American Revolution (NOAR). Their papers relate largely to their publications and speaking engagements, reflecting their involvement with radical organizations and in updating radical political theory, as well as their community activism in Detroit.
- Chris and Marti Alston PapersChris Alston worked as an organizer for the the CIO during the 1930's, founding what became the Tobacco Stemmers' and Laborers' Industrial Union (CIO) in Richmond, Virginia. He served as president of United Auto Workers Local 429 from 1958 to 1962. Mr. Alston worked as a community organizer in Detroit, founding what became the Forest Park Citizens' District Council. Marti Alston served as an officer of the Forest Park Citizens' District Council and founded with her husband Chris the Michigan Committee for a Democratic Haiti. The bulk of the Chris and Marti Alston Collection documents their experiences as community activists in the redevelopment of the Forest Park urban renewal area.
- Martin and Jesse Glaberman PapersMartin Glaberman was active in the labor movement from 1942-1965, primarily in the UAW. He has written extensively on labor both as managing editor of national labor newspaper in the 1950s and as a freelance writer. He also lectured in sociology and political science at several Detroit colleges.
Jessie Glaberman was actively involved in labor and civil rights movements, playing an important role in the women's rights movement in Detroit, particularly at Wayne State University. - Dan Georgakas PapersAn author of poetry and non-fiction, Dan Georgakas’ publications include the book: Detroit: I Do Mind Dying: A Study in Urban Revolution. Mr. Georgakas’ papers represent research collected for Detroit: I Do Mind Dying, documenting the activities of Detroit African American radical groups in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
- Rosa Parks PapersRosa Parks, often referred to as the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement, is most famous for her refusal to give up her bus seat to a white rider in segregated Montgomery, Alabama in December 1955. She was secretary of her local and state NAACP and was a member of Michigan Congressman John Conyers staff after her family moved to Detroit. Her papers reflect mainly her years in Detroit and her association with numerous church, community, and civil rights organizations.
- Detroit Revolutionary Movements RecordsThe Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement was formed in May, 1968 at the Chrysler
Dodge Main Plant in Hamtramck, Michigan. Among those active in its founding
were General Baker, Mike Hamlin, John Watson, Ron March, Luke S. Tripp, Jr.,
Kenneth Cockrel, John Williams and Charles J. Wooten. - Ernie Goodman PapersA founder of the Detroit Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, Ernest Goodman served as NLG President, and formed the nation’s first (known) interracial law firm: Goodman, Crockett, Eden and Rob. He was deeply involved with the labor movement, with clients ranging from Communists, Black Panthers, prison inmates, and African-Americans during the civil rights movement.
Mr. Goodman’s papers reflect his involvement in civil rights, constitutional law and labor issues, focusing on the Michigan Smith Act trial, the Sherrill School desegregation case, and the Black Panther trial for the murder of a Detroit Police officer.
They also reflect his activities as counsel in controversial cases, particularly first amendment and civil rights cases, courts martial, deportation and denaturalization, and the 1971 Attica prison uprising.
See also:
- Detroit Commission on Community Relations (DCCR) / Human Rights Department RecordsThe Commission on Community Relations evolved from the City of Detroit Mayor's Interracial Committee in 1953 and was renamed in 1974 as the Human Rights Department. All three iterations served a common purpose: to make recommendations to improve governmental services affecting racial relations, and to promote understanding between the races. Minutes, correspondence, and case studies document the Commission's efforts to achieve these goals.
Topics covered include affirmative action, the Coordinating Council on Human Relations, discrimination in housing, health care, the 1943 & 1967 race riots, southern migration into Detroit, police-community relations, welfare, and school redistricting. - NAACP Detroit Branch RecordsThe National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was established in 1910 to help African-American citizens secure their rights, obtain legal justice and gain equal political, economic and social opportunity. The Detroit Branch was established in 1911. Their records reflect their work over the years, including material on the Detroit race riot of 1943; civil rights complaints (1960-66); membership campaigns (1960-65); and scattered records concerning police brutality and discrimination in housing, employment, and education (1960-66).
- Civil Rights Congress of Michigan RecordsThe Civil Rights Congress was organized in 1935, and, until 1937, aided the cause of labor; protected academic freedom; and attacked police brutality, censorship, the Black Legion, the Ku Klux Klan, fascism, and discrimination. In 1938, its name was changed to the Civil Rights Federation and the group then turned to problems concerning discrimination against blacks and political minorities. The group dissolved in 1955.
- Jewish Labor Committee RecordsThe Jewish Labor Committee was organized by Detroit Jewish workers and labor organizations in 1934 to fight totalitarianism abroad and discrimination at home. Among topics discussed are civil rights, NAACP, discrimination in housing and employment, bombings in the South, school prayer issue, and Soviet anti-semitism. Records are those of the Michigan Regional Office, focusing on Detroit civil rights issues, however there is material on JLC programs elsewhere in the U.S.
- Norman McRae PapersNorman McRae was a longtime teacher and administrator in the Detroit Public School System, playing a major role in the development of multicultural and human rights curricula. His papers mainly reflect his avid research on African-American history and the African-American experience.
- Center for Community Change RecordsIn 1968, the Citizens' Crusade Against Poverty merged with several other organizations to form the non-profit Center for Community Change. It began operations by working with six community groups across the United States. The Center provides a wide range of assistance in program and organizational development for local community development groups in low-income communities, both urban and rural.
- New Detroit, Inc. RecordsFormed immediately after the Detroit Rebellion of 1967, New Detroit not only serves as a forum for identifying urban problems, but also promotes strategies to reduce them by providing financial and technical assistance to grassroots community development programs and to a multitude of New Detroit-initiated projects.
- United Community Services - United WayUCS was an umbrella organization for a wide range of social welfare agencies in the Metropolitan Detroit area, and sought to promote social services (including child care, family, health, recreation, and community planning) through the centralized planning, coordinating, and budgeting of those agencies.
- Detroit Federation of Community CouncilsThe Federation was founded in 1935 to coordinate the work of individual neighborhood councils and to maintain a relationship between itself and the central agency for health and welfare planning for the city of Detroit at that time, the Council for Social Agencies. The purpose of the Federation is to stimulate and provide an opportunity for active citizen participation in decision-making and action on matters which affect the general community. Initially the Federation consisted of 13 member councils spanning the metropolitan Detroit area, but over the years it expanded to include several smaller branch councils as well.
- ACLU Oakland County RecordsThe Oakland County Branch of the American Civil Liberties Union was formed in 1979, with James Lafferty serving as the first elected president. Petitioned by the Metropolitan Detroit Branch of the ACLU, the branch was formed to address issues such as Oakland County jail conditions, lie detector use, senior housing rights, and attempts to reinstate the death penalty.
- Detroit Committee for Responsible Banking RecordsThe Detroit Committee for Responsible Banking (DCRB) grew out of awareness that banks in Detroit were under-funding city development while frequently supporting development in suburban areas. The DCRB was formed by James M. Edwards and Patrick J. Murray, both Detroit lawyers, and backed by an advisory board of community members. Initially, they focused their efforts on one bank – Comerica – and later went after Standard Federal, National Bank of Detroit, Manufacturers Bank, First of America, Michigan National Bank, and First Federal of Michigan.
- Edward Connor PapersMr. Connor was executive director of the Detroit Citizens Housing and Planning Council (1943-48), a member of the Detroit Common Council (1948-66), chairman of the Wayne County Board of Supervisors (1954- 58), and a Detroit Recorder's Court judge (1966-1967). Mr. Connor also served as secretary of the Southeastern Michigan Community Research Corporation (1958-63), director of the National Association of County Officials (1959), and as a member of the National Advisory Committee on Urban Health Affairs (1963-64).
- Fair Housing Campaign in Birmingham, Michigan RecordsCorrespondence, printed informational material, newspaper clippings, and memorabilia of a group of volunteers who worked for the passage of Ordinance 692, which disallowed discrimination in the sale or lease of real estate in Birmingham, Michigan. Correspondents include Kent Mathewson, Mary Augusta Rogers, and George Romney.
- Carl Almblad PapersAn urban planner, Carl Almblad worked with the Chicago Plan Commission, the Detroit Plan Commission, the City of Detroit Community and Economic Development Department and the Detroit Historic District Commission. The papers of Mr. Almblad relate to urban planning, urban renewal, and historic district development in the cities of Chicago and Detroit.
- International Institute of Detroit RecordsThe purpose of the International Institute, which opened its Detroit Branch in 1919, is to promote the welfare, education, and social integration of immigrant and minority peoples, both permanent residents and visitors.
The papers reflect the Institute's work with particular groups like Japanese war brides, war refugees, Polish- and Lebanese-Americans, and others living in established ethnic communities in the Detroit area, its effort to educate metropolitan Detroiters about foreign cultures, and its campaign to fund the construction of the Kirby building.
The collection also includes "International Institute News," from 1945-1980, which was published several times a year. - Charles Hyde PapersHistorical surveys of Detroit engineering projects and industrial structures, including Dodge Main, Chrysler Jefferson Avenue, UAW Local 7 Hall, Davison Freeway, and Willow Run Expressway Bridges.
- Mel Ravitz PapersProfessor and Detroit community advocate Mel Ravitz held various posts in Detroit politics, including positions such as the Detroit City Plan Commission Director of Community Organization, on the Detroit City Council and as staff director of the Detroit-Wayne County Community Mental Health Services Board. As a professor at Wayne State University, Mr. Ravitz assisted in the formation of the University’s Department of Urban Planning.
Mr. Ravitz’s papers reflect his interests in community organizing and neighborhood revitalization, and serve to document the history of Detroit politics and the social and economic changes that the city faced during the later half of the twentieth century.
- George C. Edwards PapersEdwards became a UAW organizer with Walter Reuther, was appointed director of the Detroit Housing Commission, and served on the Detroit Common Council. After serving in WWII, he went into private practice, followed by judgeships in the Wayne County court system. In 1956, Edwards was appointed to the Michigan State Supreme Court. In 1962 he was invited by Mayor Jerome Cavanagh to the post of Police Commissioner of Detroit where he focused his attention on organized crime and discrimination. After serving two years he was nominated to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals by President John F. Kennedy, and eventually served as a Chief Judge.
- Police Commissioner Ray Girardin Oral History, 1971Detroit Police Commissioner Girardin describes on the first hours of the 1967 Riot including: description of the people who were arrested during the Blind Pig raid that sparked the 1967 Riots; his opinion on why the first arrests were unnecessary; the conditions in the city and at the police department that exacerbated the events; conspiracy theories. Note: Contains profanity.
- Jerome P. Cavanagh PapersDetroit Mayor Cavanagh served from 1962-1970. These papers represent his time in office and his campaign for mayor.
- Maurice Kelman PapersAttorney Maurice Kelman taught at Wayne State University Law School and served as Special Counsel to Mayor Jerome Cavanagh. Mr. Kelman’s papers, which reflect his career as an attorney and arbitrator, primarily relate his work as Special Counsel to Mayor Cavanagh.
- Michigan Federation of Teachers RecordsFrom the perspective of organized teachers, this collection deals with teacher working conditions, education reform, and education policy.
- Detroit Federation of Teachers RecordsIssues in these papers are Bradly v. Milliken, class size, desegregation, collective bargaining, strikes and salaries.
- Detroit Public Schools Community Relations Division RecordsDr. Freeman Flynn served on the Detroit School Board for many years. His personal interests led him to focus upon human relations, and the problems associated with inter-cultural and inter-racial education. During the period 1965 through 1976, when the city sought to implement plans for the desegregation of its schools, Dr. Flynn served as the Director of the Division of School-Community Relations. The files of the Community Relations Division reflect the effort of the Detroit School
Board and key administrative staff, such as Dr. Flynn, to confront and deal with issues involved in achieving school desegregation and improved relations between the city's blacks and whites. - Detroit Public Schools Decentralization Study Committee RecordsOn 17 December 1976, the Detroit Central Board of Education had officially requested "a management audit" of the decentralized school system from its establishment in 1970. An outline of a proposed "task force" was discussed on 7 March 1977. Three weeks later, State Representative Stopczynski introduced House Bills 4401 and 4466 respectively proposing greater parental control over school curricula and abolition of the Detroit Regional School Boards.
Subjects include: Community participation in city government, Detroit politics, Urban education and Women in education administration and community affairs. - Remus Robinson PapersDr. Robinson was the second black physician to receive advanced residency training in Detroit, and the first elected to the Detroit Board of Education (1955). He was prominent in the struggle for social justice in Detroit's public schools and hospitals. The bulk of the collection comprises correspondence, minutes, and a variety of printed material relating to his years on the Detroit Board of Education. Also included are correspondence and some campaign literature on his unsuccessful bid for a seat on the Board of Education in 1953 and the successful attempt in 1955. Major correspondents are Charles Diggs, Jr., Clarence Hilberry, Frank J. Kelly, and Roy Reuther. Subjects include: desegregation; Northern High School Incident of 1966; Sherrill School Parents vs. Board of Education.
- Detroit Board of Education ProceedingsThis series consists of bound volumes of the proceedings of the Detroit Board of Education, 1893-1968.
- American Association of University WomenThe American Association of University Women Detroit (AAUW Detroit) is a branch of the AAUW, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower women and improve their lives. Established in 1889, AAUW Detroit is the oldest branch of the AAUW of Michigan. It is also the oldest continuously active women’s organization in Detroit. They advocate for issues related to education, politics and economics, promoting their mission through education, and research.
- Harriet Cooper Alpern PapersHarriet Cooper Alpern served as Vice President of Public Relations for the Detroit chapter of NOW (National Organization of Women) from 1970 to 1973 and was a member of the Women's Advisory to TV station WXYZ from 1971 to 1975. In 1978 Ms. Alpern formed the company, Program Resources to produce media material for the women's movement and other educational purposes.
- Detroit Feminist Women's Health CenterThe Detroit Feminist Women’s Health Center emerged in the wake of Roe v. Wade, along with other centers in California, Utah, Iowa, Massachusetts and Florida, as part of the national women’s health movement. The Center provided gynecological services, pregnancy screening, nutritional counseling, prenatal care, and abortion and birth control services to women in a community-based, self-help atmosphere.
- National Organization for Women (NOW): Downriver Chapter RecordsThe Downriver chapter of NOW was formed in 1974 by Loretta Moore, a Wayne State University professor, who was elected the chapter’s first president. The chapter was
active in supporting local, state and national policy concerning women’s rights,
participated in marches, rallies and walkathons and also endorsed pro-women’s rights
candidates. - Joyce Hennessee PapersJoyce Hennessee worked for Chrysler Corporation Management Information Systems. Her papers reflect her membership in various organizations concerned with working womens' issues.
- Joan Israel PapersOne of the first members of the Detroit chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), Joan Israel served two terms as president of the chapter. Ms. Israel organized and chaired the NOW Child Care Committee and acted as head of a Detroit Common Council committee that led to the formation of the Wayne County Child Care Council.
- Loretta Moore PapersAn active member of the National Organization of Women (NOW), Loretta Moore held various posts, including founder and first president of the NOW Downriver Chapter, and was named "Feminist of the Year" by NOW in 1977.
- Toni Swanger PapersAn active member of the Detroit women’s rights movement, journalist Toni Swanger worked with the Detroit Women’s Radio Workshop on programming for the Detroit public radio station WDET, and served in various roles for Detroit newspaper, Metro Times, including production manager and managing editor. (Note: digitized collection material available upon request)
- Coalition of Labor Union Women RecordsThe Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) was founded in Chicago in 1974 with the goal of bringing women to the forefront of the workforce as full and equal participants. The records of CLUW document the administration and activities of the national organization and its various chapters undertaken toward this goal.
- SEIU District 925 RecordsSEIU District 925 was formed in March of 1981 when Karen Nussbaum's Working Women joined forces with SEIU in a national campaign to organize office workers. It lobbied for equal pay, affirmative action, child care, office health and safety and against age discrimination.
- UAW Women's Department RecordsSubjects include: civil rights; Equal Rights Amendment; health issues; National Organization for Women; worker education
- Jerome P. Cavanagh PapersThe papers of Mr. Cavanagh, mayor of Detroit from 1962 to 1970. They include correspondence, reports, studies, speeches, minutes, and other materials of the mayor's office and commissions and departments of the city.
- Ernest C. and Jessie M. Dillard PapersAn active member of United Auto Workers Local 15, Ernest Dillard was the first African American elected to a succession of UAW leadership posts. Jessie Dillard was one of Detroit’s leading block club organizers and civil rights activists. Both Mr. and Ms. Dillard played prominent roles in the Detroit NAACP and held leadership positions in the Michigan Democratic Party.
- Patrick V. McNamara PapersPatrick V. McNamara was Detroit Area rent director for the OPA (1942-45), member of the Detroit Common Council (1946-47), member of the Detroit Board of Education (1949-55), and a U.S. senator (1954-66).
- Al Fishman PapersAl Fishman and his wife, Margaret, were activists for peace and justice. Al was a long time leader of Peace Action of Michigan, serving as co-chair and representative on the national board of directors. He joined in the 1980s when the group was called the SANE/Freeze, working on the Nuclear Freeze Campaign. He was also involved with the New Jewish Agenda, Detroit Area Peace with Justice Network, Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, and Democratic Socialists of America.
- Mildred Jeffrey PapersMildred "Millie" Jeffrey worked as an organizer for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, as Educational Director of the Pennsylvania Joint Board of Shirt Workers, as a consultant to the War Labor Board, as Director of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Women’s Bureau, and as Director for UAW Community Relations and Consumer Affairs Departments. Ms. Jeffrey was also active in the Democratic Party and was a founding member and chair of the National Organization of Women’s (NOW) political arm, the National Women’s Political Caucus.
- Stanley Nowak PapersStanley Nowak emigrated to the U.S. from Poland in 1913. He became a UAW organizer in 1936 and was elected to the Michigan Senate in 1938 where he served for ten years.
- Max M. Fisher PapersMax M. Fisher (1908-2005) was a successful Detroit industrialist and investor, influential Republican Party fundraiser and power broker, Jewish community leader, and major philanthropist. Fisher served as the leader of most of the major Jewish community organizations in the United States. He chaired the Board of Directors of the Jewish Agency for Israel for many years and was a prime actor in Israel's economic development. Fisher's expertise on Middle East affairs and Jewish issues made him a key advisor to the Republican Party and to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
Note:
Most labor organizations maintain policy and/or political fundraising and organizing departments. Check our full website for more details.
- Focus: HOPEThe largely volunteer civil and human rights organization has created an astonishing variety of innovative programs aimed at overcoming racism, poverty and injustice by fostering integration and bringing the urban unemployed into the economic mainstream, programs which have become a model for urban revitalization worldwide.
- Citizens' Crusade Against Poverty RecordsThe UAW provided the most continuing support for the CCAP, a coalition of persons and organizations concerned with poverty problems. Walter Reuther was chairman. In 1969, CCAP merged with the Center for Community Change. The CCAP established a national training program, a Citizens Advocate Center, published poverty information, and was involved in other activities focused on poverty.
- Patrick V. McNamara PapersPatrick V. McNamara was Detroit Area rent director for the OPA (1942-45), member of the Detroit Common Council (1946-47), member of the Detroit Board of Education (1949-55), and a U.S. senator (1954-66). With the exception of scrapbooks dating from 1942, the collection covers his term of office in the Senate while serving on the Public Works Committee (chairman, 1963-66), Labor and Public Welfare Committee, Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or Management Field, Select Subcommittee on Poverty, and the Special Committee on Aging. Subjects covered include problems of the aged, civil rights, atomic energy, education, taxes, public works, federal highway acts, and labor. Correspondents include all major political figures of the period and many labor leaders.
- Michigan Welfare League RecordsThe League is interested in physical and mental health, mental development, juvenile and adult corrections, family and child welfare, public assistance, recreation and group work, special education, aging, youth problems, migrant labor, and human relations. Minutes, newsletters, correspondence, and other documents reflect the League's work in these areas.
- Welfare Employees Union RecordsSubjects include: Michigan Civil Service Commission employees; welfare rights; welfare reform; Detroit, Wayne Co. and Michigan welfare agencies
Reading Room Hours
Monday-Friday: 9:30am-noon; 1-3:30pm
Saturday-Sunday: Closed
Appointments: Reference Archivist
Urban Affairs Primary Collecting Focuses
- Social Welfare
- Deindustrialization
- Poverty
- Urban Development Issues
- Urban renewal and neighborhood dislocation
- Urban planning
- Housing
- Migration to and within metropolitan Detroit
- Urban farming/agriculture
- Food deserts
- Local transportation
- Education
- Publication education
- Educational activism and equity
- Alternative schools
- Charter school movemnt
- Civil Rights and Social Activism
- Rights of AFrican Americans
- Rights of Women
- Rights of LGBT community
- Social justice
- Human rights
- Affirmative action
- Anti-war/pacifism
- Environmental justice
- Politics
- Political activism
- Civic engagement
- Healthcare
- Health and well-being efforts
- Communicable diseases
- Health advocacy
- Reproductive rights
- Community life
- Neighborhood associations
- Changing nature and demographics of metropolitan Detroit neighborhoods
- Community centers
- Working class culture
- Fine and Performing Arts