Detroit Historical Museum

Saturday-Sunday, February 11 & 12

1 p.m.

Featured film: The Freedom Train (released in 1996) produced by Kingberry Productions in Association with WDIV-TV

The National Negro Labor Council (NNLC), formed in 1951, was a forerunner of the civil rights movement that followed in the 1960s. Its mission was to advance blacks in the workplace and eliminate racism inside the unions. Little has been written about the NNLC, and its history can only be found in the collective memory of the surviving members.

In this film, members of the group recall their first convention and the difficulties they encountered finding a Cincinnati hotel to house them. At that convention, it was decided to fight for black women in the work force as well as men, and to open up jobs currently barred from black workers. Although the Council was ultimately disbanded, its efforts were not in vain. Ten thousand people received jobs

as a result of its activities. The torch was passed on to the 1960s activists.

Running time: 28 minutes

FREE with museum admission!

Presented by the Comerica Charitable Foundation.

Detroit Historical Museum

Wednesday, February 15

6 p.m.

Featured author: Grace Lee Boggs author of The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century

A world dominated by America and driven by cheap oil, easy credit, and conspicuous consumption is unraveling before our eyes. In this powerful, deeply humanistic book, Grace Lee Boggs, a legendary figure in the struggle for justice in America, shrewdly assesses the current crisis—political, economical, and environmental—and shows how to create the radical social change we need to confront new realities.

A vibrant, inspirational force, Boggs has participated in all of the 20th century’s major social movements including civil rights, women’s rights, workers’ rights and more. She draws from 70 years of activist experience, and a rigorous commitment to critical thinking, to redefine “revolution” for our times. From her home in Detroit, she reveals how hope and creativity are overcoming despair and decay within the most devastated urban communities. Her book is a manifesto for creating alternative modes of work, politics, and human interaction that will collectively constitute the next American Revolution. 

Boggs, the recipient of many human rights and lifetime achievement awards, is an activist, writer, and speaker. She is celebrated in the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and is the coauthor, with James Boggs, of Revolution and Evolution in the Twentieth Century and the author of Living

for Change: An Autobiography. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, she is 95 years old.

This presentation is hosted by the Detroit Historical Society’s Black Historic Sites Committee.

Presented by the Comerica Charitable Foundation.

Tickets:

FREE – Society members

$10 - Guests

CLICK HERE to purchase tickets or call (313) 833-1801.

Detroit Historical Museum

Sunday, February 19

1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Admission to the museum will be FREE!

Bring your family to the Detroit Historical Museum and enjoy free admission, performances and activities related to the Underground Railroad.

Activities will include:

·         Making a signal lantern while learning about the difficult journey from the South to freedom, and the safe houses along the way;

·         Creating an anti-slavery broadside, while learning about the important work of abolitionists;

·         Decoding an Underground Railroad message while learning about the codes and words used to conceal Freedom Seekers on their journey;

·         Learning your family’s history by starting a family tree and tracing the routes they took over time to settle in Detroit.

In addition, from 2 - 3 p.m., Kim and Reggie Harris will perform their “Music and Stories of the Underground Railroad” program.

Presented by the Comerica Charitable Foundation.

Saturday, February 25

Washtenaw Community College’s Morris Lawrence Building, Ann Arbor

Sponsored by the Ford Seahorses Scuba Diving Club, this conference looks at the history of shipwrecks on the inland seas. 

Detroit Historical Museum

Wednesday, March 7

7 p.m.

Featured author: Donald R. Hickey author of Don’t Give Up the Ship: Myths of the War of 1812

Professor Donald R. Hickey of Wayne State College in Nebraska is highly respected as one of the nation’s leading experts on the War of 1812. Having published numerous books and articles on the war, his knowledge of the era is sure to provide you with new information as we  commemorate the bicentennial.

In his book Don’t Give Up the Ship! Myths of the War of 1812, he dispels the many misconceptions that distort our view of America’s second war with Great Britain. Embracing military, naval, political, economic, and diplomatic analyses, Hickey looks carefully at how the war was fought and how it was remembered thereafter.  Hickey peels away fantasies and embellishments to explore why certain myths gained currency and how they contributed to the way that the United States and Canada view themselves and each other.

Tickets:

FREE – Society members

$10 - Guests

CLICK HERE to purchase tickets or call (313) 833-1801.

Check out these additional lectures:

Tuesday, March 6

“James Madison: War President” in Grand Rapids — Presented in cooperation with the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies, GVSU, www.allpresidents.org.

Thursday, March 8 at 7 p.m.

“Forgotten Conflict: The War of 1812” in Lansing — Presented in cooperation with the Historical Society of Michigan, www.hsmichigan.org.

The primary sponsor of this lecture series is the Michigan Commission on the Commemoration of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812, a unit of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

The series is co-sponsored by the Michigan Council for History Education.

Detroit Historical Museum

Saturday-Sunday, March 10 & 11

1 p.m.

Featured film: Our Italian Story

An Italian was present at the city’s 1701 founding, and since then, thousands of Italian immigrants have chosen us as their new homeland, helping to weave Detroit’s colorful tapestry.

This documentary follows Italian Americans through their toughest challenges, their boom times, wars, and economic downturns. It traces their seamless integration into business, politics and art, all the while rejoicing in an essential Italian zest for life. This film is another installment of local producer Keith Famie’s “Our Story Of…” series.

Running time: 56 minutes

FREE with museum admission!

Detroit Historical Museum

Wednesday, March 21

6 p.m.

Featured author: Paul R. Kavieff author of The Violent Years: Prohibition and the Detroit Mobs

This book plunges deep into the Prohibition-era gangs of the Detroit area, and showcases the “glamorous” gangster lifestyle. It covers the origins of the infamous Italian Mafia — including the dreaded Black Hand.  Founders of Detroit’s modern Mafia family, including the Irish Legs Laman mob, who specialized in brutal kidnappings, and the River Gang are illuminated with shocking detail. The author captures the flavor of the era and throws readers into the gritty and

dangerous atmosphere of the region, including gruesome gang warfare, in this frightfully true book. Learn more about this work and the history that encouraged its writing as Paul R. Kavieff explores Prohibition and its impact on Detroit’s underworld and the ultimate effects on organized crime in this country.

Kavieff is the author of The Purple Gang, a staple on the Sunday Detroit News/Detroit Free Press bestsellers list in 2000 and 2001. Because of local interest in his first book and the unceasing questions from his fans, Kavieff wrote The Violent Years as a companion to The Purple Gang.

Tickets:

FREE – Society members

$10 - Guests

CLICK HERE to purchase tickets or call (313) 833-1801.

Detroit Historical Museum

Saturday – Sunday, April 21 & 22

1 p.m.

Metro Detroit is home to one of the largest, most diverse Arab communities outside the Middle East. Arab Americans living here number nearly 200,000, having begun their immigration more than a century ago.

This film by Emmy-Award winning director Keith Famie presents an in-depth look at the group’s customs, holidays, religious alliances and the complexities of being Arab American though the eyes of several local entrepreneurs, artists and community leaders who have made an impact in Metro Detroit.

The film, part of Famie’s groundbreaking “Our Story of…” series on ethnic Detroit, tracks the predominant Arabic groups in Detroit: Lebanese, Palestinians, Iraqis and Yemenis — and pays special attention to their two major religious communities, Muslim and Christian. It also shares an honest overview of their triumphs and tragedies.

Running time: 56 minutes

FREE with regular museum admission!