The Detroit Institute of Arts came first as an idea by James E. Scripps after writing an article in the local newspaper after a tour of Europe. He gathered and recorded the places his family visited when they went to see art in Italy, France, and Germany. Portions of this tour is what he put into the newspaper called The Detroit News. It would become a popular piece with locals that it was published into book form and the title read “Five Months Abroad.” The popularity spread massively and it inspired the newspaper’s advertising manager, William H. Brearley, to create his own art exhibit in 1883 which was received very well.Brearley convinced the locals that they should establish their own art museum. Many donors began contributing to the mass construction of the facility likes James Scripps and D.M. Ferry &amp; Co. owner Dexter M. Ferry. In 1888, the museum had been open for three years and Brearley (along with Schipps’s help) managed to get over 70 pieces of artwork inside the Institute. The museum was one of the most popular attractions in Detroit at the time. In 1883, a board of trustees was created for the museum with the purpose being to raise enough funds to build a permanent art museum in Detroit.In 1919, the museum would be sold to the City of Detroit as the new owners. The board of trustees renamed themselves to the Founder’s Society, a group that would help raise funds for other museum needs. The museum officials would find leadership under German art scholar Wilhelm Valentiner. Under his leadership, the museum was booming more than ever and generated lots of money from customers. The DIA became the first museum in the United States to obtain a van Gogh and Matisse painting in 1922.After the events of World War II, the museum was able to recover a piece of art looted by the Nazis. It was called “The Seine at Asnineres” painted by Claude Monet and he repaid the museum for returning his portrait back to him. Today, the museum has over 65,000 pieces of art from all over the world, including local favorites such as the Works Progress Administration murals of Diego Rivera. Funding for this large museum comes from private donations, the state legislature, and a ten-year bond approved by voters that will fund the museum through 2022. As the city of Detroit headed towards bankruptcy, it was feared that the assets of the museum might be liquidated and priceless works of art would be placed on the auction block. As part of the 2014 "Grand Bargain," charitable foundations throughout the city and country provided a source of funding while city workers and retirees accepted lower pensions. The terms of the deal allowed the museum to become a private organization and prohibited that organization from selling artwork while also making those works of art safe from seizure by the city's creditors, because they were no longer owned by the City of Detroit.

Established in 1885, the the Detroit Institute of Arts remains one of the most revered art museums in the nation owing to the strength of its vast collections. The original building utilizes white marble and was designed by Paul Cret. The museum includes over one hundred galleries and is the fifth largest art museum in the country. The museum also includes a 1,150-seat auditorium, a 380-seat lecture and recital hall, an art history library, and an art conservation services laboratory. The museum is a contributing property to the Cultural Center Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Detroit Institute of Arts was founded in 1888 and moved to this location in 1927.

The Detroit Institute of Arts

The Detroit Historical Society was founded in 1921. The
mission of the society is to “tell Detroit’s stories and why they matter.” Attorney
Clarence M. Burton was instrumental in the organization’s founding, bringing
together a group of local historians after he had generated interest in Detroit’s
history by donating an important collection of historical documents to the
Detroit Public Library. In 1928, the society founded the Detroit Historical
Museum, collecting and preserving artifacts important to Detroit’s past. The museum
opened on the 23rd floor of the Cadillac Tower downtown (then known
as the Barlum Tower) and was billed as “the highest museum in the world.”1 The museum joined the American Association of Museums in
1940, and fundraising began to find a larger space to house its collection. In
July 1944, the historical society handed over management of the museum to the City
of Detroit while it continued to raise funds for a new building. The museum was temporarily
moved to the Homer Williams historic home on Wayne State University’s campus,
to allow students better access to the collection. A new museum was built in Detroit's Cultural Center and dedicated on July 24, 1951. 2 On the bottom level of the museum, is the popular “Streets
of Old Detroit” permanent exhibit, which takes visitors through a recreated
Detroit of the 1840s, 1870s, and 1900s. Other permanent exhibits include “The
Motor City” (how Detroit became known for its auto industry), “The Arsenal of
Democracy” (Detroit’s role during WWII), and “Frontiers to Factories:
Detroiters at Work, 1701 – 1901.” &nbsp;The museum
was remodeled with new exhibits and upgrades and a more “customer-focused orientation”
in 2006 and again in 2012.&nbsp;3
 Overall, the historical society maintains a
collection of over 250,000 artifacts, archives, and photos. It also manages the
Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle (see other Clio entries). The society offers
numerous programs and events, including lectures, historic house tours, seasonal
film series, and workshops. Finally, the society has a variety of educational online
resources for historical research, such as a “Building Detroit” game, an “Encyclopedia
of Detroit,” and an interactive map showing important sites that make Detroit
an “Arsenal of Democracy” during WWII.

The Detroit Historical Society was founded in 1921 and opened the Detroit Historical Museum in 1928. The society and its museum seek to "tell Detroit's stories and why they matter." The current museum building was dedicated in 1951 and features exhibits on Detroit's growth from a frontier town to one of the largest urban areas of the nation. 

The Detroit Historical Museum was established in 1921 and moved to its current building in 1951.

Detroit Historical Society and Museum

The Ford Piquette Avenue Plant was built by
Henry Ford in 1904. It was the first building owned by the newly formed Ford
Motor Company. Ford became the largest manufacturer of automobiles while the
plant was in production between 1904 - 1910. He also designed and built the
first 12,000 Model Ts here.1

The Piquette plant is three stories tall, 402
feet long, and 56-feet wide. The brick building cost $76,500 to build. It had
state-of-the-art fire safety features for the time, including fire walls, fire
doors, fire escapes, and an automatic sprinkler system. 355 windows provided
natural light and ventilation. Most of the offices and the sales department
were on the first level. Henry Ford had his office on the second floor, and the
third story had drafting and “experimental rooms” to serve as think-tanks for
engineering innovative car ideas. 2

The Piquette plant began by producing Ford Models
B, C, F, K, N, R and S. The Model N was already the world’s best-selling car. But
cars were still considered a luxury item. When Ford began manufacturing the
Model T in September of 1908, it was considered the first automobile the middle
class could reasonably afford. The popularity of the Model T was due to its being made of lightweight steel, inexpensive, easy to drive
and repair, along with good performance on bad roads, and a seating capacity of five.2 The
car sold for $825 at first, $575 just a few years
later, and only $300 in 1925. It was affectionately nicknamed "Tin Lizzie." By the time Model T production ended in 1927, 15 million had been sold.3

The Ford Motor Company outgrew the Piquette
plant in just six years. Operations were moved to the Highland Park facility in
1910. The plant was then used by Studebaker until 1933 and other various
manufacturing operations until the 1980s. 

Today, the Piquette plant is preserved as
a museum dedicated to telling the story of this internationally-significant industrial
site. The building was purchased in 2000 with donations from the Henry Ford
Preservation Association and is being continuously restored with new exhibits
and expanded outreach programs.4 It became a National Heritage Landmark in 2006
and is run as a non-profit by volunteers. It can also be rented for weddings and
events.

The Ford Piquette Avenue plant holds a very significant place in  automotive history. Built in 1904, this plant was the first building built for Ford Motor Company. This is where Henry Ford and his team built the first 15,000 Model Ts, the first affordable car to be accessible to the average family. 

Ford Piquette Avenue Plant

Berry Gordy, Jr. was born in Detroit in 1929 and had an interest in music from a young age. When he was 27, he quit his job on the assembly line at Lincoln-Mercury to pursue a career in songwriting. His first successful song was Jackie Wilson’s hit “Reet Petite.” Gordy soon decided to start his own record company and borrowed $800 from his family to form Tamla Records in 1959. On April 14, 1960, Gordy incorporated Motown Record Corporation, coining a term that reflected the Motor City nickname for Detroit. He began working with friend Smokey Robinson’s group, The Miracles, and their recording of “Shop Around” became Motown Records’ first Top 10 hit the same year.1 Gordy set up his recording headquarters in a home on West Grand Boulevard that he called Hitsville, USA, living in the upstairs apartment with his young family. He began taking on new talent, and some of the early performers who recorded with Motown included Mary Wells, The Temptations, The Supremes, and Stevie Wonder (then an 11-year-old prodigy). With Gordy’s direction, the company developed the “Motown Sound,” a mix of gospel, rhythm and blues, and pop. With the Civil Rights Movement raging in the 1960s, Gordy saw an opportunity for African-American performers to appeal to a broader white audience. Motown Records would become the largest Black-owned company in the United States and the most successful independent record label in the industry.1 In Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock &amp; Roll, Charlie Gillett writes that, <blockquote>“Although Gordy showed an
outstanding flair for combining good business sense with a seemingly infallible
instinct for new, commercial sounds, perhaps his most important ability was his
gift for recognizing good performers, writers, producers, and musicians, and
for inspiring them to fulfill their potential. Within four years of forming his
company, Motown had ten performers capable of making the pop market's top ten,
any one of whom could compare with the best singer any other company could
offer. Yet none had any kind of reputation before Gordy signed them. […] The
system enabled the Motown Corporation to have an unparalleled ten-year run in
the singles market, with 79 records making the top ten."2 </blockquote>Just five years after forming, Motown Records was bringing in $15 million. The Studio A space where musicians recorded their Motown hits was open and running for 24 hours. Around 75% of its releases made it into the charts, from artists such as The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight &amp; The Pips, The Jackson 5, and Lionel Ritchie. Motown Records moved its headquarters from Hitsville, USA to a larger building on Woodward Avenue in 1968 and then to Los Angeles in 1972. Around this time, Gordy was dealing with disgruntled singers and songwriters who felt that their contracts under Motown were very unfair; some of these disagreements developed into lawsuits and the departure of the artists. Gordy sold Motown Records to MCA in 1988 for $61 million.1 The Motown Museum was opened in 1985 by Gordy’s sister Esther Gordy Edwards. When Motown Records moved their headquarters, Edwards, who had been Senior Vice President, stayed to run a corporate office out of the original Hitsville, USA building. According to the museum’s website, “As she worked, people would knock on the door, asking to ‘take a peak’ at Studio A, the original Motown recording studio where their favorite songs had been recorded. Ever gracious, Mrs. Edwards would stop working and take these uninvited, but nonetheless welcomed, guests on an impromptu tour of the facility. It soon occurred to her, after eventually touring thousands of people from around the world, that the building at 2648 West Grand Boulevard, Hitsville, USA, had become a monument to the music Motown created."3 The museum preserves Motown’s legacy and encompasses a vast collection of memorabilia from the era. It was renovated with a new gallery space, offices and the upper apartment where Gordy lived was restored. Awestruck visitors can see the Studio A space where dozens of artists recorded the most famous Motown songs. The studio and control room still contain original instruments and equipment. The collection includes clothing, photographs, records, and promotional items. The museum has drawn international visitors since it opened, including many musical artists who come to pay their respects to the Motown legacy. On display are a hat and sequined glove donated by Michael Jackson that he wore the first time he did his famous moonwalk dance at the Motown’s 25th anniversary. In 2011, Paul McCartney visited the museum and learned that the 1877 Steinway grand piano that was used in the recording studio was no longer functioning, so he paid to have it repaired.

The Motown Museum is located at Hitsville USA, the original home of Motown Records from 1959-1972. Founded by Berry Gordy, Jr., Motown Records would become the most successful independent record label in the industry and the largest Black-owned company in the U.S. at one time. The "Motown Sound" jump-started the careers of notable artists like The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, and the Jackson 5. Visitors to the museum can see Studio A, where some of the most famous Motown songs were recorded, along with a collection of other memorabilia from the era. 

Hitsville, USA, home to the Motown Museum

The Motown Museum

<div></div><div></div><div></div><div>&nbsp;Emanuel Steward who was born in Bottom Creek, West Virginia moved to Detroit, Michigan when he was 11 years old with his mother. After being in trouble over fighting numerous times his mother sent him to the Catholic Youth Organization where he pursued a boxing career. He was the youngest boxer there and found his long term nickname, “Sonny.” After the closing of the C.Y.O. Emanuel found himself in trouble once again, but this time the authorities gave him the ultimatum, join the Lasky Recreation Center or spend time in juvenile custody. After that his boxing career took off, he was began his “golden years.” In 1962 Steward won the National Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions title in the bantamweight division and received his diamond-studded gloves pendant. Although, he was the only boxer to win an individual title in Detroit, the team won its first team title in 24 years through its teams performance. Steward soon got married and took a break from boxing to focus on his career at Detroit Edison Company. His half brother, James Steward left West Virginia to come to Detroit and live with him. James wanted Steward to train him in boxing and the two headed out to Kronk Recreational Center. The center was used for general recreation, but the two story building whom housed children playing and elders playing bingo, the two used the basement and the boxing equipment there to train. James Steward won the 1970 Detroit Golden Gloves Championship. And that same year, Emanuel Steward took a coaching position at Kronk Gym that paid $35 a week. Eventually, Steward left Detroit Edison and put his full attention on his mentors and spent a lot of time with the younger ones, for instance, Bernard Mays. The Gym dominated the 80's with many wins and championships. The price to pay was devotion, hard work, sweat and tears. On March 2, 1980, exactly eight years after Emanuel quit his job at the Detroit Edison company, Kronk had it's first champion in Hilmer Kenty. Although a big underdog, Kenty shocked the world by winning the lightweight championship of the world, knocking out Ernesto Espana in the 9th round. The fight took place at the sold out Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. That night, history was made with Joe Louis himself in attendance. On the same card, Thomas Hearns won the USBA welterweight title by knocking out Angel Espada in four rounds. Hilmer Kenty had a great amateur career. In 1974, he became the National AAU lightweight champion and brought home the National AAU lightweight champion title in 1975. After the passing of Emanuel Steward there was no real plan in place for the business, the gym closed down but re-opened years later at a new location in 2015. </div>

The Kronk Gym  is a boxing gym located in Detroit, once led by legendary trainer Emanuel Steward. It was run out of the basement of the oldest recreation center of the City of Detroit, and became a household word in the sport of boxing. 

Kronk Gym

Metropolitan Detroit is one of the most diverse places in
the country, while the demographics in the City of Detroit proper remains
predominately African American. There are surrounding suburbs such as Dearborn,
whose population consists of the highest number of Arabic Americans in the
United States; while the cities of Southfield and Warren are primarily
Caucasian and part of Oakland county, one of the wealthiest counties in
Michigan. &nbsp;Detroit and its surrounding
suburbs continue to be segregated along racial lines. &nbsp;Unfortunately, the idea of keeping
neighborhoods racially homogeneous continues today and was the principal reason
for the creation of the “Eight Mile Wall” or “Detroit’s Wailing Wall” in
1941.&nbsp; The Eminem movie “8 Mile”
illustrates the still prevalent importance of the eight-mile barrier for
Michigan residents that divides communities “geographically, culturally,
socio-economically, and racially.”There is a six-foot-long, one foot thick wall that was built to separate white and Black residents. The construction began in the 1930s and was finally completed in 1941. &nbsp;The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) halted the construction and were reluctant to fund the wall initially because of the disapproval of Black land owners in the area. The wall was meant to be like the Berlin wall with two significant differences. First, it did not reach the level of development that the Berlin wall accomplished. Secondly, it is still standing today unlike its counterpart. The wall is located by 8 Mile and Wyoming where there are other nice subdivisions, which are rare in the city. Ironically, the fuel behind building the wall was to promote segregation, yet in 2017 both neighborhoods on either side of the wall are predominately African American due to “white flight”. Regardless of where you are standing on the Detroit side of 8 Mile, there is one guarantee - you will always view &nbsp;a profoundly different area and a place more aesthetically appealing than where you are currently standing.&nbsp;<div><div>The effect of the wall &nbsp;continues beyond those who were around to see the construction. Even to this day, Detroit is the most segregated city in America. This is a figurative wall in which Detroit citizens may still not cross. The 8 Mile Wall has evolved from being a physical deterrent to a symbolic one. Whichever side of 8 Mile that one resides influences viewpoints. While the physical construct may remain, it is the figurative wall that we have grown accustomed to. The Eight Mile Wall no longer represents a negative divisive memory, but is now often seen as a symbol of hope and growth. &nbsp;Various local artists paint inspiring murals and messages along the walls surface and the wall is being used as a teaching tool.&nbsp;</div></div>

The Eight Mile Wall, also known as The Detroit Wall, is a little-known piece of history that stands as testament to Detroit’s racial segregation. There is a six-foot-long, one foot thick wall that was built to separate white and Black residents. The wall was constructed by land developers in 1941, after planning since the 30s as a visible barrier to separate a predominately Black neighborhood from a prospective white neighborhood. All of this began after the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) refused to approve loans in a racially-mixed area.

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A Taste of Detroit

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