Blog

Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.

Posted January 17, 2012 by DHSdigital

In recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we would like to share this powerful image of “The Great March on Detroit,” led by the Reverend himself down Woodward Avenue on June 23, 1963. That same day he delivered an early version of his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. This picture was likely taken from the First National Building and, looking north, we can see 1001 Woodward in the early phases of construction on the corner of Michigan Avenue.

Perpetual Day

Posted December 2, 2011 by Brendan Roney

While examining photos of Detroit around the turn of the last century, we frequently noticed strange towers which taper from a single pole at the base into a very tall latticed structure.  Seldom is the entirety of one in view.  Initially we took them to be utility poles supporting the city’s electric streetcar, telegraph, or phone lines.  After doing some digging we discovered that these were actually “

No Stranger to Precious Cargo

Posted November 22, 2011 by Brendan Roney

[slideshow]This cane with an ornate gold-plated handle was recently found at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum. While the golden handle is certainly the most eye-catching feature, the humble wood below has quite a story to tell—it was once part of a steamship called the Independence. Built in Chicago in 1843, the 118 foot long Independence was the first propeller-driven ship built on Lake Michigan and eventually the first steamship to operate in Lake Superior.

Don't Forget the Stove City

Posted November 16, 2011 by Brendan Roney

Detroit had been considered a center of industry long before Charles Brady King built and drove the city’s first car in 1896.  One of our previous claims to fame was as a stove manufacturing capital.  The “Big Three” of those days consisted of the Michigan Stove Company, the Detroit Stove Works, and the Peninsular Stove Company, but they were by

1891 National Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic

Posted November 11, 2011 by Brendan Roney

In honor of Veterans’ Day, we have unearthed a series of cabinet cards depicting the 1891 National Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic in Detroit.  As the Civil War was just twenty-six years past, the organization’s ranks were sizable, as was the turn out of the crowd.  This first photo of

Back to School

Posted November 8, 2011 by Brendan Roney

Ah, it’s fall—a time to take in the changing of the leaves, discretely do away with the leftover Halloween candy, and, of course, settle into a new school year.  Recently I was fortunate to be able to work on a box in the Documenting Detroit Collection

Washington Boulevard

Posted October 13, 2011 by Brendan Roney

This past week, postcards have been the primary focus of the digitization team’s efforts.

A Taste of History Anyone?

Posted September 13, 2011 by DHSdigital

This find really takes the cake. While visiting a little-traveled area of the Detroit Historical Society's collection, our Curator came upon an unassuming glass jar that contained porous, brown chunks of what appeared to be sea sponges. What are these things? Or perhaps more to the point-what were these things? The mystery was short lived as a label became visible on the other side of the jar.

The Photogenic Hook and Ladder Company No. 8

Posted September 13, 2011 by Brendan Roney

Over the past couple weeks we have been scanning a series of boxes of photographs donated to the Detroit Historical Society by the Detroit Fire Department primarily in the mid-1950s.  Within have been a multitude of portraits of chiefs, entire companies proudly posing alongside their early horse-drawn apparatuses, action shots, and even a fe

Pages