Historic Photos of Detroit in the 50s, 60s, and 70s

By Mary J. Wallace

In 1950 Detroit was the fifth most populous city in the United States with 1.8 million people living within its boundaries. Its downtown streets bustled with activity. Away from the city center, the neighborhoods were vibrant and active. By 1979, however, the Motor City had lost over one third of its residents. Factories, shops, and theaters closed down, businesses moved to the suburbs, neighborhoods began deteriorating, and crime was on the rise. Despite the city’s problems, the bonds of friendship and family along with memories of “the good old days” compelled some Detroiters to remain near their roots and continue life as usual in and around the city.

Historic Photos of Detroit in the 50s, 60s, and 70s documents what a Metro Detroiter would have experienced through those decades, from the commonplace—like bad traffic and bad weather—to the historic—like a visit from John F. Kennedy and a baseball world championship. In this companion volume to Historic Photos of Detroit, Mary J. Wallace gives readers an inside look at the ups and downs of one of the most interesting and relevant cities of the twentieth century.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
• Release date: Sep 20, 2011
• ISBN: 9781618583925

Book preview

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Turner Publishing Company

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Historic Photos of Detroit in the 50s, 60s, and 70s

Copyright © 2011 Turner Publishing Company

All rights reserved.

This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011931483

9781618583925

Printed in the United States of America

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Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PREFACE

LIVING THE AMERICAN DREAM - 1950-1959

WITNESSING PUBLIC TRIUMPHS AND TRAGEDIES - 1960–1969

STRUGGLING FOR A RENAISSANCE AGAINST ALL ODDS - 1970-1979

NOTES ON THE PHOTOGRAPHS

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Girl Scouts salute Queen Juliana of the Netherlands as she visits Detroit on her trip to the United States in 1952. Four years earlier she became queen upon her mother’s (Queen Wilhelmina) abdication. Queen Juliana’s husband Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld is at back right, wearing glasses.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This volume, Historic Photos of Detroit in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, is a result of the cooperation and efforts of many individuals and institutions. It is with great thanks that we acknowledge the valuable contribution of the Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University (WSU) for its generous support.

We would also like to thank the following individuals for their support, contribution, and assistance:

Elizabeth Clemens, Audiovisual Archivist, Walter P. Reuther Library, WSU

Kathleen Schmeling, Associate Director, Walter P. Reuther Library, WSU

Mike Smith, Director, Walter P. Reuther Library, WSU

On a personal note, the author would like to thank her husband, Jim, and daughters, Megan and Lily, for their encouragement and support.

PREFACE

Detroit has thousands of historic photographs from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s that reside in archives, both locally and nationally. This book began with the observation that, while those photographs are of great interest to many, they are not easily accessible. During a time when Detroit is looking ahead and evaluating its future course, many people are asking, How do we treat the past? These decisions affect every aspect of the city—architecture, public spaces, commerce, infrastructure—and these, in turn, affect the way that people live their lives. This book seeks to provide easy access to a valuable, objective look into the not-so-distant history of Detroit in those three pivotal decades of change.

The power of photographs is that they are less subjective than words in their treatment of history. Although the photographer can make decisions regarding subject matter and how to capture and present it, photographs do not provide the breadth of interpretation that text does. For this reason, they offer an original, untainted perspective that allows the viewer to interpret and observe.

This project represents countless hours of review and research. The researchers and writer have reviewed thousands of photographs in numerous archives. We greatly appreciate the generous assistance of the individuals and organizations listed in the acknowledgments of this work, without whom this project could not have been completed.

The goal in publishing this work is to provide broader access to this set of extraordinary photographs that seek to inspire, provide perspective, and evoke insight that might assist people who are responsible for determining Detroit’s future. In addition, the book seeks to preserve the past with adequate respect and reverence.

With the exception of touching up imperfections caused by the damage of time and cropping where necessary, no other changes have been made. The focus and clarity of many images is limited to the technology and the ability of the photographer at the time they were taken.

The work is divided into decades. Beginning with photographs of the Motor City in 1950, at the height of Detroit’s population of 1.8 million, the first section records images through the end of the 1950s of the booming automobile industry, an expanding downtown skyline, and citizens at leisure. The second section spans from 1960 to 1969, a decade in which significant national attention was drawn to the city due to a preliminary I Have a Dream speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at Cobo Hall, Motown Records’ birth and growing popularity, and the infamous race riot in 1967 that resulted in over 40 deaths and hundreds of injuries. Section Three moves from 1970 to 1979, a period of uncertainty over the city’s future, but also characterized by a bold determination to create a lasting legacy for decades to come.

In each of these sections we have made an effort to capture various aspects of life through our selection of photographs. People, commerce, transportation, infrastructure, religious institutions, and educational institutions have been included to provide a broad perspective.

We encourage readers to reflect on this era as they go walking in Detroit, strolling through the city, its parks, and its neighborhoods. It is the publisher’s hope that in utilizing this work, longtime residents will learn something new and that new residents will gain a perspective on where Detroit has been,