Cheryl Pierce-Reid, July 25th, 2015
In this interview Cheryl speaks of her upbringing in Detroit and her early years as a nurse at Detroit Receiving and Kirwood Hospital. She also recalls her time at nursing school and seeing the events of 1967 first hand.
Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI
11/04/2015
Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI
audio/WAV
en-US
Sound
Detroit, 1967
Donna Palmer, August 11th, 2015
In this interview Donna Palmer discusses her experiences living in Detroit over the past sixty years. From her childhood in Corktown to her apartment on Clairmount, Donna discusses her ups and downs in the city. Living only blocks away from Twelfth and Clairmount during the unrest in July 1967, she lends insight into the anxiety and fear that gripped the city.
Detroit Historical Society
11/18/2015
Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI
audio/MP3
en-US
Sound
Joann Castle, December 16th, 2015
In this interview, Joann Castle discusses how, as a suburban Catholic housewife, she was inspired by Father Bill Cunningham and his role in civil rights movement. Joann and her first husband decided to move into the Boston-Edison neighborhood of Detroit to perform community-based charitable work. She describes how she and her neighbors coped with the 1967 civil disturbance going on around them, and how she co-founded the Hourglass group to challenge the Archdiocese of Detroit to use its material resources in concrete forms of support for Detroit’s African American population. She discusses her role in creating and leading Control, Conflict, and Change, under the umbrella of the Motor City Labor League and the League of Revolutionary Black Workers. She discusses the intense political environment, police surveillance, and the circumstances leading to her exit from the movement. She finally discusses how she and her second husband focused on building careers in community service and raising their family, and shares her perspective on the future of Detroit.
Detroit Historical Society
04/12/16
Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI
Audio/Mp3
en-US
Sound
Jonathon Jackson, December 16th, 2015
In this interview, Jonathon Jackson discusses his experiences growing up in Detroit, Michigan, in the 1950's and 1960's.
Detroit Historical Society
Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI
en-US
Michael Krotche, June 15th, 2016
In this interview, Krotche discusses growing up in a Polish community in Hamtramck and his experiences as a Detroit police officer on duty during the summer of 1967,
Detroit Historical Society
06/21/2016
Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI
Audio/WAV
en-US
Oral History
Jerome Pikulinski, August 14th, 2015
In this interview, Pikulinksi discusses his work with the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations and running the Community Action Program. He discusses the goals of this group, its successes and failures. He also talks about conflict resolution and other broad concepts.
Detroit Historical Society
07/05/2015
Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI
audio/WAV
en-US
Oral History
Robert Martin, August 8th, 2016
In this interview, Martin describes his upbringing and his adolescent longing to be part of something bigger than himself. He talks at length of the influence Martha Jean “The Queen” had on the city and on himself, the events of the unrest, and his later joining of the ministry of The Queen.
Detroit Historical Society
09/16/2016
Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI
Audio/WAV
en-US
Oral History
Jay Butler, August 26th, 2016
In this interview, Jay Butler discusses moving to Detroit from the south in the late sixties and the impression that southerners had of Motown. He explains how he heard about the unrest, what he saw, and how it affected his time working at the radio in Inkster. He believes that while Detroit may currently be improving in some ways, it is not improving for black people. He discusses the historical changes that have struck majority black areas and cities.
Detroit Historical Society
09/27/2016
Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI
Audio/WAV
en-US
Oral History
Michael Schiavi, August 28th, 2016
In this interview, Schiavi discusses growing up in a non-integrated Detroit neighborhood and his subsequent experience with the more integrated Wayne State University area. He discusses how the '67 unrest affected his college fraternity house (TKE) and the eventual implications it had for the relocation of his family.
Detroit Historical Society
11/01/2016
Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI
Audio/WAV
en-US
Oral History
Darryle Buchanan, December 13th, 2016
<p class="Normal1"><span>In this interview, Buchanan discusses his experiences growing up primarily in Virginia Park during the 1960s. He notes the escalated police presence in the community, and details several anecdotes of police brutality he experienced as a child. During the unrest, his mother was transported to and from work by the police and National Guard, once in an armored personnel carrier. He recalls the events in great detail, remembering the smell of burning buildings “everywhere” and the constant police sirens which sounded like “wailing.” Buchanan discusses the importance of Twelfth Street as a site of black economic self-sufficiency, which he claims no longer exists, and will not exist in the near future despite the revitalization of Midtown and Downtown Detroit.</span></p>
<br /><strong>***This interview contains profanity and/or explicit language</strong>
Detroit Historical Society
02/03/2017
Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI
Audio/WAV
en-US
Oral history
Sharon McNeil, December 6th, 2017
In this interview, McNeil discusses her divergent experiences as a student in the suburbs (Clawson and Madison Heights) as compared to her brief time living in Highland Park and working at her father’s store there. In contrast to the suburbs awash with “rumors and fears” after the unrest, McNeil describes McNeil’s Market as a site of interracial harmony where black patrons offered to protect the store, and did, in July 1967. McNeil is today optimistic about Detroit, but does not share the same optimism for the future of her native Highland Park.
Detroit Historical Society
03/17/2017
Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI
Audio/WAV
en-US
Oral History
Melvin Dismukes, August 3rd, 2017
In this interview, Dismukes discusses his childhood growing up in the Jeffries Projects and the many jobs he had. He talks about his memories of the week of July 23, 1967 and specifically his memories of what he witnessed at the Algiers Motel and the trials in the aftermath. He also discusses his life after 1967 and the implications that week had on him and his family.
Detroit Historical Society
08/25/2017
Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI
Audio/WAV
en-US
Oral History