Third Thursday Speaker Series: The Economic Roots of 1967

January 18 2018 | 6:00pm to January 19 2018 | 7:55pm

Our popular Third Thursday Speaker Series resumes this winter at the Detroit Historical Museum. Attendance is free, but pre-registration is encouraged, as space is limited. To register for a presentation, please contact Charnae Sanders, Public Programs Coordinator at 313.833.0277 or charnaes@detroithistorical.org.

 

The Economic Roots of the 1967 Uprising in Detroit
by Thomas A. Klug, Marygrove College
THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 6–8 P.M.

This presentation will examine the long-term economic change that hit Detroit beginning in the 1950s – namely, the dramatic loss of manufacturing employment due to the geographic decentralization of the auto industry, automation, plant closings and corporate mergers. The massive loss of manufacturing jobs in Detroit affected all working-class people, but it had a disproportionately negative impact on the employment hopes of young African-American men. Soaring auto sales and
factories flush with work during the economic boom of the 1960s appeared to herald a prosperous future for the city and its residents, but the uprising in July 1967 revealed this to be an illusion.

Thomas A. Klug is professor of history at Marygrove College. His research and publications focus on the history of labor, employers and immigration in Detroit. He is the editor of the Great Lakes Books series of Wayne State University Press and a member of the editorial board of The Michigan Historical Review.