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Current Exhibits



There are several exhibitions that are currently open:

Click on an exhibition to learn more:
 
  • 1914 Anderson Detroit Electric

  • This vehicle was purchased by Mrs. Helen Newberry Joy on Oct. 11, 1921. She was the wife of Henry Bourne Joy, Sr., president of the Packard Motor Car Company. While he drove Packards, Mrs. Joy enjoyed her Electric, and kept its license active until 1947.

  • Detroit Toy Stories

  • Drawing on over 7,000 items in the Society’s collection, this exhibit features a variety of playthings from multiple generations of metro Detroit children, including games, dolls, wardrobes, doll houses, pedal cars, hula hoops, toy soldiers, toy trucks and much more.

  • Fabulous 5: Detroit’s Destinations

  • The Fabulous 5 exhibits highlight outstanding things about Detroit. Occasionally, these wonderful elements of local culture are places. Detroit’s Destinations is a salute to five such places. Some are historic sites with a long history of visitors while others are more recent and have more of a “cult” following.

  • Saying I Do: Metro Detroit Weddings

  • This exhibit will highlight three centuries of these personal stories and community rituals as it examines the traditions surrounding marriage and weddings.

  • William B. Stout

  • William Bushnell Stout was an inventor whose technical imagination was years ahead of his time. This display features numerous illustrations, design drawings and models he donated to the Society’s collection.

  • Detroit's Official Symbols

  • Learn about the City of Detroit's flag and official seal in this great exhibit!

  • Doorway to Freedom - Detroit and the Underground Railroad

  • Learn about Detroit's important role in the Underground Railroad in this exhibit.

  • Frontiers to Factories

  • Come see what Detroit was like before the advent of the automobile!

  • Glancy Trains

  • A crowd favorite for years, The Glancy Trains are from the collection of Alfred R. Glancy Jr. (1908-1973), real estate financier and former co-owner of the Empire State Building in New York City.

  • Janet Anderson

  • This exhibit will feature an array of images by Janet Anderson including the Detroit skyline, the Penobscot Building and the Bob-Lo boat.

  • Lorenzo Cultural Center Exhibit - 1950s: Affluence and Anxiety in the Atomic Age

  • This exhibit invites you to discover the many often contradictory facets of post-WWII American society by examining the decade’s pervasive affluence and drive for societal conformity, the emphasis on the nuclear family, and the rise of suburbia — as well as the chilling Cold War fears and atomic anxiety that dominated the last half century.

  • Meier's Wonderful Clock

  • An unique item on display and one that visitors frequently take photographs of is Meier’s “Wonderful Clock,” built in Detroit to demonstrate the skill of clockmaker Louis Meier, Sr. It served to advertise his jewelry store located on Gratiot and East Grand Boulevard.

  • Motor City

  • The Motor City exhibit is one of the Detroit Historical Museum’s most highly visible exhibitions, of interest to school groups, families and auto enthusiasts alike. Opened in December 1995, the goal of this exhibit was to provide a permanent display that would tell the stories of both how cars built metro Detroit and how metro Detroit built cars!

  • Streets of Old Detroit

  • Ask any visitor what they remember most about the Detroit Historical Museum and their response will probably be “The Streets of Old Detroit.” As the museum’s signature exhibit, “the Streets” transport visitors to 19th and early 20th century Detroit through a visit to commercial shop settings furnished with artifacts from the 1840s to early 1900s.



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