Belle Isle by Bus
Our trained guide will hop on your bus as your group explores this unique oasis on the Detroit River. Visitors will learn about the history of the island and visit some of the fountains, sculptures and landmarks that make Belle Isle so popular. The tour lasts approximately 90 minutes.

Milwaukee Junction
Your group will visit a host of historic sites related to our region’s automotive history during this unique tour. The Society’s trained tour guide will hop on board your bus and delight your group with a 90-minute narrative. Milwaukee Junction Guidebooks are also available for purchase so that your group can follow along with the tour!

University of Detroit Mercy
Saturday, May 17 / 11am-1pm

$20m/$25nm
Take a stroll around the campus that housed the first Lion’s game and numerous other historic events. Learn more about the chapels and get perspective from a professor involved with the campus for 40 years.
Click here to make reservations and to buy tickets now.

Etiquette Tea Party
Sunday, May 18 / Noon - 3 p.m.
Detroit Historical Museum
This event, presented by the Detroit Historical Society Guild, is for children ages 7 to 14 and adults. Guests will enjoy desserts, tea or lemonade, followed by an interactive and fun etiquette lesson in the New Cadillac Cafe. Everyone will receive a free etiquette booklet to take home. Admission is $12 per person. Call (586) 777-5898 for information and reservations. NOTE: Due to limited seating, no tickets will be sold on the day of the event.

Featured Author: Joe Grimm, Windjammers
Tuesday, May 20 / 6pm-8pm
Dossin Great Lakes Museum
White-winged schooners once dominated commerce and culture on the Great Lakes, and songs relieved the hours on board, but that way of life and its music ended when steam-driven mechanical boats swept schooners from the inland seas. Recognizing in the late 1930s, almost too late, that this rich oral tradition was going to the grave along with the last generation of schoonermen, Ivan H. Walton undertook a quest to save the songs of the Great Lakes sailors. Walton reconstructed songs from one of the most colorful periods in American history, discovering melodies and lyrics to more than a hundred songs. With its stories, lyrics, musical scores by folksinger/historian Lee Murdock, and accompanying CD, Windjammers ensures that sailing chanteys that have not been heard for over one hundred years can be heard again and again far into the future.
Click here to make reservations and to buy tickets now.

Historic Fort Wayne & Tuskegee Airmen Museum
Saturday, May 31 / 11am-1pm

$20m/$25nm
Travel back in time as you explore the stories held within over one and a half centuries of history. Enter the old fort, see the Potter Barracks and garrison, and have your questions answered. You will also have the chance to visit the Tuskegee Airmen Museum, located on the grounds of Historic Fort Wayne.
Click here to make reservations and to buy tickets now.

June 2nd
SOLD OUT!
Bethel A.M.E.
Spirit of Hope
Ebenezer A.M.E.
St. Cecilia Roman Catholic
SOLD OUT!

Detroit Festival of the Arts
Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 6-8 Detroit Historical Museum and Cultural Center
Now in its 22nd year, the festival presents outstanding visual and performing artists from around the world, while showcasing the City's premier cultural institutions clustered within its boundaries – including the Detroit Historical Museum.

As part of that celebration, special Museum hours will be observed and feature FREE admission on the following dates and times:

Fri., June 6: 4 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Sat., June 7: Noon – 9 p.m.
Sun., June 8: Noon – 8 p.m.

Please note that the Museum parking lot is closed to visitors that weekend.

Be sure to stop by the tent outside of the Museum Store during that weekend for incredible deals on clearance items. All items in the tent will be $10 or less and will include household items, home and garden décor, craft materials, books and Museum logo merchandise. Plus, find the perfect gift by browsing the huge selection of Arcadia books available.

Edmund Fitzgerald 50th Anniversary of Launch Commemoration
Saturday, June 7th Dossin Great Lakes Museum
Stop by the Dossin Great Lakes Museum to see the anchor of the Edmund Fitzgerald and stroll through the museum.

Featured Author: Greg Kowalski, Hamtramck: The World War II Years
Wednesday, June 11 / 6pm-8pm
Detroit Historical Museum
* Special Behind the Scenes tour June 21st!
With a population made up overwhelmingly of Polish immigrants and descendents, Hamtramck was especially hardhit by the impact of World War II. Most of the city’s residents had family contacts with the old country. When Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, Hamtramckans reacted with shock and anger. Thousands of residents fought in the war, hundreds died. And those who remained at home dealt with the wartime life as best they could. This book presents a portrait of the city at war and shows how residents—of all ages, races, and backgrounds—coped with shortages, the threat of attack, and the everpresent dread that the next telegram may bring news of a soldier’s death.
Click here to make reservations and to buy tickets now.

“Borderline: The Story of 8 Mile Road”
Saturday and Sunday, June 14th and 15th / 1pm
Detroit Historical Museum
Gary Glaser, Running time: 30 min ,br .
This program captures the spirit and eccentricity of metro Detroit's most provocative thoroughfare.
No other road in Michigan evokes a response like the one you get when you mention 8 Mile. From topless dancers and the neighborhood groups that battle them, to storefront preachers and the homeless people they minister, 8 Mile remains our areas most notorious boundary.
Thoughtful commentary from Jerry Herron, Director of American Studies, and Ronald Stephens; associate Professor of Communication (both from Wayne State University) provide context and analysis. The documentary also features an interview with Mr. Belvedere (his office is on 8 Mile) as well as clips from some of his classic commercials. Part history, part pop culture, this film like a ride down 8 mile, is both thought provoking and entertaining. 1997 Emmy Winner

Detroit’s Riverwalk Experience
Saturday, June 14 / 11am-1pm

SOLD OUT
Linda Yellin with FeetOnTheStreet Tours will guide this walking tour of the new RiverWalk. Hear about the river's rich history and its impact on trading, ribbon farms, shipping, prohibition and the Underground Railroad. Experience and enjoy the views of the newly transformed Detroit International Riverfront, along with the new fountains, granite and glass maps, 33-foot mural, and the custom designed carousel.
SOLD OUT!

Featured Curator: Joel Stone, curator of “Smugglers on the Straits”
Thursday, June 19 / 6pm-8pm
Dossin Great Lakes Museum
The Great Lakes may not have blood thirsty Pirates, but the Detroit River has been a Smuggler’s Paradise for centuries! Join Joel as he takes you back in time to the 1700s when furs were being smuggled across the river, later humans through the Underground Railroad up to alcohol being smuggled in from Canada during the Prohibition years and even today smugglers attempt to evade Customs Inspectors. Attendees will also have a chance to visit the other exhibits throughout the Dossin Great Lakes Museum.
Click here to make reservations and to buy tickets now.

Hamtramck Walking Tour
Saturday, June 21 / 11am-2pm

SOLD OUT!
Join author and historian Greg Kowalski as he leads his popular tour of Hamtramck just a few days after his lecture and book signing at the Detroit Historical Museum. This is a great chance to experience firsthand the buildings and culture he will be discussing. This tour includes a traditional lunch at a local restaurant!

Elmwood Cemetery Memorial Art Walking Tour
Saturday, June 28 / 11am-1pm

$20m/$25nm
Take a closer look at the memorial art including mausoleums and monuments throughout historic Elmwood Cemetery. Chancey Miller, historian and former manager, will guide you and share stories surrounding various historic structures, including the final resting place of Martha Jean “The Queen” Steinberg, highlighted in our Classic Radio Voices exhibit.
Click here to make reservations and to buy tickets now.