Detroit Civil Rights Project

2017-2021: The Detroit Civil Rights Project

The Michigan State Historic Preservation Office in conjunction with the City of Detroit Historic Designation Advisory Board are undertaking a project to document Detroit’s 20th Century Civil Rights History and the historic sites associated with it. The project is funded through an African American Civil Rights program grant by the National Park Service (NPS). Research topics are based on four themes identified by NPS:

Rekindling Civil Rights, 1900-1940
Birth of The Civil Rights Movement, 1941-1954
Modern Civil Rights Movement, 1955-1964
The Second Revolution, 1965-1976

For more information on these themes see the NPS 2008 report Civil Rights in America: A Framework for Identifying Significant Sites.

Quinn Evans Architects of Ann Arbor and Detroit was contracted to undertake the field work for this project. They researched Detroit’s Civil Rights history and identified the people, places, trends, and time periods associated with it and prepared the following end products:

1. The Civil Rights Movement and the African American Experience in 20th Century Detroit Survey and Inventory Report to document existing Civil Rights-related sites and context

2. National Register of Historic Places nominations for five undesignated sites and a Multiple Property Documentation Form; all were formally added to the National Register in January and February of 2021:

3. Research and installation of three Michigan Historical Markers to interpret Civil Rights-related sites (planned for 2021)

4. Creation of a public bike tour of the sites, which is complete and you can explore the tour by smartphone, tablet or computer.

For more information on the Detroit 20th Century Civil Rights Sites Project contact:

Amy L. Arnold, Civil Rights Project Manager
State Historic Preservation Office
arnolda@michigan.gov or 517-335-2729

Ruth E. Mills, Historian/Architectural Historian
Quinn Evans Architects
rmills@quinnevans.com or 734-926-0433

For information on the National Register of Historic Places visit https://www.nps.gov/nr

This project is partially funded by the African American Civil Rights program of the Historic Preservation Fund, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, through the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Interior or the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products herein constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Department of the Interior or the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.

Newly-listed Detroit Civil Rights sites join the National Register of Historic Places

Birwood Wall

The Birwood Wall is significant for its association with the federal policy of redlining that ensured neighborhoods would remain racially segregated the mid-twentieth century. The wall is a six-foot-high solid concrete wall that stretches for three blocks. It was constructed in 1941 to physically divide two growing neighborhoods, one White and one Black. It is a rare surviving, tangible, human-scale example of the lengths to which the government, the real estate profession, private developers, and White residents were willing to go to keep neighborhood populations the same race. Explore the Birwood Wall National Register nomination.

New Bethel Baptist Church

New Bethel Baptist Church is significant for its association with the Reverend C. L. Franklin and the extensive leadership the church showed during in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Franklin was a gifted and influential pastor whose radio show and recordings attained a national following. He was a supporter of the non-violent activism of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and was the originator of the Walk to Freedom march held in Detroit in 1963, the first major civil rights march in the nation’s history. New Bethel Baptist Church it is also the venue where singer Aretha Franklin began her musical career. Explore the New Bethel Baptist Church National Register nomination.

Rosa L. and Raymond Parks Flat

When Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a White passenger in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, she changed the course of civil rights history. Her strength and courage led to the Montgomery bus boycott organized by a new, young activist, Martin Luther King Jr. and focused national attention on discriminatory practices. To escape the harassment she faced in Alabama, Parks and her husband Raymond moved north eventually settling in Detroit, where she had family. They moved into the ground floor flat of this duplex in 1961 and lived there until 1988. During this time, Parks continued her activism and the flat became a place for meetings and discussions on civil rights. She served as an aid to Congressman John Conyers Jr. and participated in numerous civil rights events while advocating for equal treatment under the law for African Americans around the country. Note that this house remains a private residence. Explore the Rosa L. and Raymond Parks Flat National Register nomination.

Shrine of the Black Madonna

This church is significant for its association with the Reverend Albert B. Cleage Jr. (later Jaramogi Abebe Agyeman). Cleage was a nationally known civil rights leader, a champion of the Black Nationalism Movement, and a fiery community organizer in Detroit. He advocated for unity among African Americans, and championed separatism over integration. On Easter Sunday 1967, Cleage shocked the Black community when he rechristened his Central Congregational Church in Detroit as the Shrine of the Black Madonna, and unveiled an 18-foot mural of a Black Madonna and child commissioned from Black artist Glanton Dowdell. The Shrine became one of the largest and most influential Black Nationalist churches in the country and the mural an iconic symbol of the Civil Rights Movement. Explore the Shrine of the Black Madonna National Register nomination.

WGPR-TV Studio

WGPR-TV is significant as the first Black-owned and operated television station in the United States. Founded by attorney William R. Banks, the station debuted in September 1975,a decade after African Americans challenged the FCC on the lack of Black programming. WGPR-TV aired an Afro-centric focused newscast, a dance show, and public affairs features. In addition to providing an African American perspective on news and current affairs, it also afforded career and training opportunities behind the camera for Black students and professionals. The station was eventually sold to CBS in 1995 when it transitioned to general programming and changed its call sign to WWJ. The interior studio space retains a high degree of integrity from the WGPR-TV television station era. It has since been transformed into the William V. Banks Broadcast Museum which chronicles the origins and influence of WGPR. Explore the WGPR-TV Studio National Register nomination.

The Civil Rights Movement and the African American Experience in Michigan

2017-2021: The Detroit Civil Rights Project