Third Thursday Speaker Series: Life and Times of Will Robinson

Attendance is free, but pre-registration is encouraged, as space is limited for this popular series. To register for a presentation, please
contact Charnae Sanders, Public Programs Coordinator, at 313.833.0277 or charnaes@detroithistorical.org. Please note: we will not be
hosting a Third Thursday in December due to the holidays, but the series will return in January 2019.

The Life and Times of Will Robinson by Dr. John Telford
Thursday, NOVEMBER 15, 6–8 p.m.
From being a trailblazing athlete to serving as an educator and coach, William Joseph “Will” Robinson was a game-changer. In the wake of the 1943 Detroit race riots, the Detroit Public Schools hired Coach Robinson as the city’s first African American basketball coach. As coach at Miller High School in the Black Bottom neighborhood, Robinson coached basketball champions. He would soon become the first African-American head coach in the NCAA Division 1 basketball and would later work as a scout for the Detroit Pistons and Detroit Lions. Dr. John Telford will describe how Robinson used athletics as a vehicle to prepare his athletes and students to thrive in the harsh, white-dominated America of the 1940s and throughout the following decades.