Browse Items (80 total)
Sort by:
Regina Vaugn, October 10th, 2016
In this interview, Vaugn discusses her experiences during the events of July 1967 when her family lived just around the block from some of the violence.
Glendly Thompson, August 23rd, 2016
In this interview, Glendy Thompson remembers her childhood in Detroit and her education – most notably her participation in the Northern High School walk-out and attending Freedom School. She remembers the summer of 1967 and the changes she has seen…
Frank Watts, November 14th, 2016
In this interview, Watts discusses growing up in the north end and moving to the west side as a teenager. He talks about living near Twelfth Street during the unrest, and describes what the area was like during and after the disturbance.
John McCandless
John McCandless worked on Twelfth Street in the summer of 1966. In the summer of 1967 he was in Rhode Island and came back to find everything had changed.
Collette Cullen, August 20th, 2016
In this interview, Cullen discusses how she felt with cultural norms in her all girls, Catholic school, and also when her family moved to Grosse Isle. She could see a lot of the unrest from outside her window because her house was close to…
Pat Watts, November 14th, 2016
In this interview, Watts talks about growing up in Detroit and traveling downtown. She also describes racial tensions in the city and the chaos that ensued during the unrest of 1967.
Jacqueline Mills, August 20th, 2016
In this interview, Jacqueline Mills talks about her memories of growing up in the city, her neighborhood, and her family’s connection the Martin Luther King. In the summer of 1967, her family had recently moved away from the affected area but they…
Patricia Burnett, August 20th, 2016
In this interview, Burnett discusses what it was like growing up in the Black Bottom neighborhood and how it was affected by Urban Renewal. Her family moved to the east side. She shares two memories of 1967; she recounts how she lied about curfew in…
Deborah Ferella, August 20th, 2016
In this interview, Ferella discusses going downtown, observing the mounted unit, and talking to police on the street during the disturbance. She talks about the reactions of her neighbors in Redford.
Bruce Foster, August 19th. 2016
In this interview, Foster discusses how he felt visiting blues and jazz clubs in Detroit. He also describes an uncomfortable interaction when he was volunteering to pack lunches for police and troops.**NOTE: This interview contains explicit language…
Walter and Wallace Crawford, October 20th, 2016
In this interview, Walter and Wallace Crawford discuss growing up in Detroit and their experiences during the 1967 disturbance.
Brent Ausgood, July 23rd, 2016
In this interview, Ausgood describes growing up in her neighborhood and her experiences during the unrest. She also discusses the effects of the unrest, how she perceives that week, and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Valeria Jones, August 25th 2016
In this interview, Vilaria Jones remembers growing up on Detroit’s East Side during the 50’s and 60’s. She describes the demographics of her neighborhood, a scuffle between school girls, and her family’s reactions to the civil unrest during the…
Michael Smith, August 5th, 2016
In this interview, Smith discusses his experiences during the week of July 23, 1967 including seeing the unrest as he was going to church and being confronted by the National Guard, both at his apartment and while out playing basketball with friends.…
Victory Johnson, August 4th, 2016
In this interview, Johnson describes growing up on the west side and her experiences during the unrest of witnessing people looting and her taking her baby to her mother’s house for safety. She further discusses her opinions on how the city has…
Carmen Abrego, July 23rd, 2016
Carmen Abrego was a teenager in 1967. She remembers looking out her bedroom window and seeing tanks and smoke. She also discusses her memories of the year after, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech, and her mother’s death.
Crystal Edwards
Crystal Edwards remembers scenes from her neighborhood in July 1967.NOTE: Edwards' account was previously published inJuly 25, 2007 by the Michigan Chronicle - Volume 70, Number 45, called "Eyewitness Account of the 1967 Riot"and
Then published…
Paul Sgriccia, July 23rd, 2016
In this interview, Sgriccia describes what it was like growing up in Redford Township and tells the story of attending the Tiger’s baseball game the day of the unrest, followed by attempting to take the bus home but getting lost.
Sandra Langford, July 1st, 2016
In this interview, Langford discusses the racial tensions taking place in Detroit during her childhood and recalls her memories of the 1967 unrest. She also offers her opinion on Detroit today.
Lucille Schaffer, July 23, 2016
In this interview, Lucille Schaffer describes her childhood growing up on the east side of Detroit and tells the story of when she and some friends went driving down Woodward during the unrest. Moreover, she shares her hopes for the future of Detroit…