Darlene Simonds
Title
Darlene Simonds
Description
Darlene Simonds remembers 1967 as a young pregnant bride. She recalls names and locations of multiple impacted furniture, grocery, and fashion storefronts in the area.
Publisher
Detroit Historical Society
Date
10/23/2015
Rights
Detroit Historical Society, Detroit, MI
Format
Text
Language
en-US
Type
Written Story
Coverage
Around Livernois, Grand River, Linwood, and Gladstone
Text
I was a young, pregnant bride. I lived with my mother-in-law, my brother-in-law and my sister-in-law. We heard a ruckus one Sunday afternoon, so my brother-in-law said, “Let’s go see what all the noise is about” because we heard fire trucks and we heard police cars. We went up to Linwood and Gladstone and all we could see was fire, looting and just pure chaos. Up around Blaine, I think, and Linwood there were five brick houses that were destroyed. And as far as you could see, there was nothing but destruction. And at night it was like a war zone. You could hear shooting. You could see the fire from the guns being shot.
My husband was with the 82nd airborne division from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. They brought the troops in and he was stationed at Eastern High School to keep the order. That was a very long time ago, but those are some of the things I remember.
I also remember, over on Livernois. My parents lived in the university district over there. And I remember when Gorman was right there on Livernois between the Lodge and Puritan. All those stores moved away because of the destruction from the riots. All our wonderful furniture stores. Kauffman’s. I can’t recall the store that was there at Dexter and the Boulevard, but people had trailers, just moving furniture out of the store. All along Grand River there were beautiful furniture stores. The same thing happened. And as of today, I notice that Linwood has never been completely restored between Joy Road and the Boulevard. Well, that’s part of my story. Thank you.
My husband was with the 82nd airborne division from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. They brought the troops in and he was stationed at Eastern High School to keep the order. That was a very long time ago, but those are some of the things I remember.
I also remember, over on Livernois. My parents lived in the university district over there. And I remember when Gorman was right there on Livernois between the Lodge and Puritan. All those stores moved away because of the destruction from the riots. All our wonderful furniture stores. Kauffman’s. I can’t recall the store that was there at Dexter and the Boulevard, but people had trailers, just moving furniture out of the store. All along Grand River there were beautiful furniture stores. The same thing happened. And as of today, I notice that Linwood has never been completely restored between Joy Road and the Boulevard. Well, that’s part of my story. Thank you.
Original Format
D67 voicemail message
Submitter's Name
Darlene Simonds
Submission Date
07/25/2014
Search Terms
82nd Airborne, federal troops, Eastern High School, Linwood,
Files
Collection
Citation
“Darlene Simonds,” Detroit Historical Society Oral History Archive, accessed October 9, 2024, https://detroit1967.detroithistorical.org/items/show/99.