Detroit 1942

[EastsideAl]

The entire length of Hastings, save for a few industrial blocks between Harper and Grand Blvd. and a couple of blocks south of Jefferson [[which were renamed Schweizers Pl. for a now long-gone German restaurant), was removed for the building of the Chrysler Freeway. Taking with it Detroit's long-time black business and entertainment center known as Paradise Valley.

[casscorridor]

damn shame about Hastings. I imagine what it could have been if not demolished, as with much of the near east side. It was a devestating blow to the urban fabric keeping neighborhoods together. There was once seemless connection between neighborhoods, now there are waterless rivers of concrete, metal and exhaust. Gone are street cars, walkable neighborhoods, storefronts, culture and history erased for a planner's vision... a vision without the input of the prople. Remember that Hastings was gone when the 1967 Rebellion occured. Remember that most the abandonment, including areas such as Chene St [[mentioned in this thread), happened in the 1980s, because a sharp acceleration of forces alreadt at play, such as stagflation, unemployment, crack cocain, and neoliberal globalization. Hastings can never be brought back. But we can bring back this city.

[old guy]

Riots of 1942 at Sojourner Truth Homes. February.
Attachment 4049
Real estate operator who had been inciting the riot being arrested. Feb./42 / FSA photos
Attachment 4050

[Isle_of_fun]

great photo's old guy,

some of the photo's are of my old neighborhood. I saw many changes with the freeway dividing cultures,
and friends and families. It was a big thing to walk to the grandparents home on the other side of the freeway.
Our Parents were always afraid that the surges of wind on the freeway bridges would blow us little kids over. We had to promise to stick together and hold on tight when we walked across the freeway. Ahh such warm memories.
Our Family lived right above the hole in the ground we used to call it the hell hole[[ we were allowed to swear if we were talking about it). The traffic noise was painful and the dust was endless.

[old guy]

Real Estate offices around Detroit 1941/1942/FSA photos.
Attachment 4106
On the sign under Hess Co. it looks like it might say 9 mile & Ryan?
Attachment 4109
Attachment 4107

Attachment 4108
Photo title reads - Tank Plant refers to the Hudson Ordinance Plant.

[MikeM]

Although the caption refers to the Hudson Ordnance Plant, the sign itself is probably correct. The tank plant was completed earlier that year [[1941) and the photo was taken in August. Although the Hudson plant was still under construction then, and it was already producing guns, I think the person writing the caption assumed the sign referred to Hudson, since pictures of Hudson are on the same roll.

[EastsideQT]

My Parents Got Married in 1942 when my Dad was in the Army. When he got back a couple of years later they bought a house on Conner near Jefferson where I grew up.

[barnesfoto]

What a great gift from the Roosevelt Admin and the American People , to us and future generations.

These photos, as well as many mural projects [[i.e. the murals in the Hamtramck Post Office) kept artists, writers and photographers employed and gave future generations a glance of what life looked like 70 years ago. Naturally, such projects were rabidly denounced by right wingers of the day as foolish, wasteful socialist spending.

[old guy]

What a great gift from the Roosevelt Admin and the American People , to us and future generations.

These photos, as well as many mural projects [[i.e. the murals in the Hamtramck Post Office) kept artists, writers and photographers employed and gave future generations a glance of what life looked like 70 years ago. Naturally, such projects were rabidly denounced by right wingers of the day as foolish, wasteful socialist spending.

That's true. In some ways, it was part of a stimulus package that was put out during the great depression. To me, it's one of the greatest photographic collections that exist. There are over 164,000 black & white photos in the collection from all over the country. They were shot from 1935-1945. With a few exceptions, the black & white collection is owned and can be used by anyone in the U.S. because the photographers were hired by the government to shoot them. I believe that does exclude commercial use.

It also had to take a lot of guts to send people out all over the country to take photographs of what terrible shape the country was in. If you browse the collection and punch in keywords like sharecroppers, cabins or traveling, as examples, you'll see a side of America that can really humble you. You can also find a large number of photos that document young people working in the WPA camps and building roads and structures for the National Parks. Another project that was highly criticized at the time.

I would strongly urge anyone that's interested in American history and specifically the Great Depression to spend some time browsing the FSA/OWI photographic collection. I've found approximately 1600 photos in the collection that were shot in Detroit.

One more note. I would also urge people to go out and shoot more photos of their community. What might seem like mundane photos to us, might give someone else, 50 years from now a glimpse into our lives.

[jgavrile]

What is that photo website called? I don't do well with acronyms. What is the website??

[old guy]

............Here
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsaallquery.html

[MikeM]

FSA = Farm Security Administration
OWI = Office of War Information

A lot of those photos were published in this book:

http://wsupress.wayne.edu/books/236/Michigan-Remembered

[gregster]

Sorry for the late reply. I needed to reinstall the photo editing software. I believe the street today may be narrower than it was in 1942, or perhaps the two vantage points provided a skewed perspective.

The main house on the left matches perfectly, so I am confident this is the right street.

Kinda looks nice with all those trees today [[but with the houses from 1942). Now there's a novel idea: build houses and keep the trees!

[Detroitnerd]

Gregster! That looks awesome! Thanks!

[Fury13]

The entire length of Hastings, save for a few industrial blocks between Harper and Grand Blvd. and a couple of blocks south of Jefferson [[which were renamed Schweizers Pl. for a now long-gone German restaurant), was removed for the building of the Chrysler Freeway. Taking with it Detroit's long-time black business and entertainment center known as Paradise Valley.

Actually, the southbound service drive for I-75 and I-375 is the remnant of Hastings. This is the service drive along the west side of the freeway. It isn't as wide as it was when it was Hastings, though. If you check old Polk city directories, you'll find that some commercial buildings that faced the service drive [[Hastings) lasted well into the '60s. Now, through attrition, they're all gone, except for Holy Family Catholic Church.

Question: The Edsel Ford [[I-94) service drive, for the portion that it follows the Harper Ave. alignment, is still called Harper and still has Harper street signs. The same is true for the Lodge freeway and James Couzens. Why can't they do the same with Hastings and bring the name back [[and include restoring the Hastings name to Schweizer Place as well)?

Perhaps someday, new buildings could be built in infill spots facing the service drive, and the street could be widened [[while keeping it one way) and we'd have a little of Hastings back.

After all, Memphis had to re-create Beale Street. We could do it here with Hastings. And with its proximity to Greektown and Harmonie Park, it could be a new entertainment district, with clubs' neon lighting visible from the freeway.

[Lowell]

I came across this painting of mine from 1983. The original drawing was made on one of those streets, possibly the one under discussion. I lost track. That neighborhood north of Hamtramck was still very much intact. I chose it for its classic tidy working-class neighborhood setting and included a couple of workers heading off to the factory. It speaks 'Detroit' very clearly to anyone familiar with that area.

[Ray1936]

It's not fair.

There are those who are just naturally brilliant artists, like Lowell, and then there are guys like me who can't draw a straight line even with a straightedge.

Now y'all know why I flunked mechanical drawing at WSU and gave up engineering. Sigh.

[Stosh]

Sorry for the late reply. I needed to reinstall the photo editing software. I believe the street today may be narrower than it was in 1942, or perhaps the two vantage points provided a skewed perspective.

The main house on the left matches perfectly, so I am confident this is the right street.

Kinda looks nice with all those trees today [[but with the houses from 1942). Now there's a novel idea: build houses and keep the trees!

Nice work Gregster. I don't know about the street being narrower either, It's all perspective I suppose. The street corner probably has changes which gives proper photo placement fits. In any event, it works great.

[EastsideAl]

I believe the street today may be narrower than it was in 1942, or perhaps the two vantage points provided a skewed perspective.

Nice work! I think the difference is mostly accountable to the perspectives being slightly askew, but the strip of grass on the right is definitely wider in the recent view. In the 1942 view it appears that there is no curb on that side of the street. I remember a lot of streets like this from when I was a little kid, including some my relatives lived on up on the northeast side, but by the late '60s the city seemed to have put in curbs on pretty much every street.

[old guy]

Is anyone familiar with this place. Supposedly it was at Woodward & 10 mile in the 40's. Hedges Wigwam.
http://inlinethumb33.webshots.com/46...600x600Q85.jpg

[Detroitnerd]

Reminds me of Bwana Don.

[zitro]

Is anyone familiar with this place. Supposedly it was at Woodward & 10 mile in the 40's. Hedges Wigwam.
http://inlinethumb33.webshots.com/46...600x600Q85.jpg

Here are some matches from there

[EastsideAl]

The Wigwam building was later known as The Trading Post [[kind of a big antique/junk shop) and stood into the '70s before it burned down.

[Isle_of_fun]

Is anyone familiar with this place. Supposedly it was at Woodward & 10 mile in the 40's. Hedges Wigwam.
http://inlinethumb33.webshots.com/46...600x600Q85.jpg

If I remember correctly, that buiding used to have small shops inside with Hippie type cloths, a candle shop,etc. I bought my first Greek cookbook there 1971/72. [[ I love ethnic cookbooks, I still use that one). Kind of darkly lit inside. If that was not the place then there was something like that close to that intersection.

[Fury13]

I don't know if these are photos of two different streets. There is no 3667 on Chene. However, the sign in the first picture looks like it might read "Cut Rate Dept Stores". There was a Cut Rate at 3701 Hastings and 1231 Holbrook. 3701 Hastings was the northwest corner of Livingston. Across the street at 3708 was Schwartz Bros Drugs. I think the first photo is Hastings.

I think the photos are of the same street. In the bottom photo, the rooflines and gables of the buildings in the distance on the right side of the street look the same as the ones in the middle photo, which are right across the street there.

It does look like Hastings.