Airport Drive 1935

**gnome** · August-07-10, 09:21 PM

Nat, you might want to re-scan the paper using the highest resolution possible. Maybe splitting the article in thirds.... heck I don't know. I'm sure there are brainiacs around here who can tell you the best way to accomplish that.

From what I could read, it does seem that speed was and issue, but it is always and issue. Rare is the case when someone dies from driving too slow.

Thanks for starting this thread, btw.

**Meddle** · August-07-10, 11:19 PM

Originally Posted by nat

I have driven the length of Schaefer and have found nothing.

Originally Posted by nat

I went out and drove it today

Why?

..........

Stosh · August-07-10, 11:41 PM

According to the workman at the scene, he said that he didnt seem to turn the car as it aapproached the curve. I wonder if he was distracted by the Rotunda?

**nat** · August-07-10, 11:57 PM

That is what I was thinking. He was probably distracted by the Rotunda Project.

**rid0617** · August-08-10, 07:05 AM

Nat where can you find old articles like that. My grandfather was an REA driver and was hit and killed by a Detroit city bus. Would love to see if that article is around

**PeachLaser** · August-08-10, 07:52 AM

Very interesting thread and I'm impressed with the manner in which you detectives found evidence and have surmised a possible reason for the accident.

My grandfather was also killed in an auto accident in the early '40s. I would love to be able to find where and why like you did here. When he was killed, it was a time when auto dealers had to drive to Detroit, pick up their new cars and then drive them back home. My grandfather hitched a ride back home with a young driver who was ferrying a new Ford roadster. They ran off a mountain in Kentucky on the way back home. I doubt I'll ever get any more information than that!

**Kathleen** · August-08-10, 07:56 AM

Looks like Nat has the original article in his possession, probably because a family member clipped and saved it.

If you have the date of a death or an event, the best thing is to review the newspaper on microfilm. If you are in the Detroit area, there are numerous libraries that have the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News on microfilm. I recommend a trip to the main Detroit Public Library since you can check the newspapers on microfilm as well as visit the Burton Historical Collection, where they have their Biography Index based on articles published in or clipped from the newspapers and other sources.

If you are not in the Detroit area, you can request the microfilm at your local library through Interlibrary Loan.

**nat** · August-08-10, 08:04 AM

gnome suggested the Dearborn Historical Society or theHenry Ford Centennial Library on Michigan. I found a lot of resources at the Detroit Public Library on Woodward.

**nat** · August-08-10, 08:09 AM

Kathleen your post was not visible when I started to write mine. Sorry if I stepped on it with the reference to the DHS.

**Whitehouse** · August-08-10, 08:14 AM

Are there also some articles in the net about the fire that eventually destroyed the Rotunda?

**nat** · August-08-10, 08:25 AM

I remember seeing another clipping of the accident when I was a kid but don't know who had it. In it there was a photo of the car after it came to rest off the embankment. For that reason I think there is another article out there and I plan to go to the DPL to find it. I would like to know which of the local papers this original article came from too.

I will share something else that is almost eery about this story. Looking down on Leo's second photo you notice that the accident took place literally at one corner of the Ford complex of which you can see The Rouge is a part. Well, the accident was on a Monday at noon and that means that the man who would two decades later become my OTHER grandfather was working his shift at the Rouge Plant at that exact time. He was certainly oblivious to the accident when it happened but would later find out about it when he returned home from work that day because both men were members of the same immigrant community on Detroit's East Side. Of all the places where one grandfather could possibly have had an accident and died, it turned out to be on the same patch of land where my other grandfather happened to be, but unaware as aforementioned. The world is a strange place.

Stosh · August-08-10, 08:50 AM

Originally Posted by nat

I remember seeing another clipping of the accident when I was a kid but don't know who had it. In it there was a photo of the car after it came to rest off the embankment. For that reason I think there is another article out there and I plan to go to the DPL to find it. I would like to know which of the local papers this original article came from too.

I will share something else that is almost eery about this story. Looking down on Leo's second photo you notice that the accident took place literally at one corner of the Ford complex of which you can see The Rouge is a part. Well, the accident was on a Monday at noon and that means that the man who would two decades later become my OTHER grandfather was working his shift at the Rouge Plant at that exact time. He was certainly oblivious to the accident when it happened but would later find out about it when he returned home from work that day because both men were members of the same immigrant community on Detroit's East Side. Of all the places where one grandfather could possibly have had an accident and died, it turned out to be on the same patch of land where my other grandfather happened to be, but unaware as aforementioned. The world is a strange place.

The clipping above is probably from the Detroit News. The typeface in the article corresponds with the one in this article below from 1927. You should be searching in the Free Press and Detroit Times microfilms for the picture.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...w=1245&bih=681

**nat** · August-08-10, 09:27 AM

Thanks for that heads up, Stosh. Would save me some time for sure.

**jerrytimes** · August-08-10, 03:03 PM

I can see in the 4th map, just north of East Detroit you can see Roseville. It's weird to see that some of the streets have so many different names. Also, I never knew there was a part of Grosse Pointe that had a city name of Lochmoor

**nat** · August-11-10, 10:05 PM

I promised you I would get back to you with any information or progress. I went to the Henry Ford Centennial Library on Michigan and for future reference, they have The Free Press on microfilm only back to 1971 and The News back to 1955. So I will be going down to the DPL for that.

**gnome** · August-12-10, 08:15 AM

I'm surprised the librarian didn't direct you to the Dearborn Independent or Dearborn Press & Guide. The DI was mainly a propaganda rag for Henry Ford and whatnot, bt they carried local Dearborn news as well. The Press and Guide was/is your basic hometown news/gossip sheet. It has been in biz since 1918 so I'm sure they would have carried the story.

The trick will be in finding where the microfilm is hiding. I would think the Centennial Library would have both papers, but you might have to go to the Benson Ford Research Center at Greenfield Village.

Word to wise, they are pretty serious there - real white glove folk - so dress up and look professional.

**gnome** · August-12-10, 08:38 AM

just called the library in dearborn, they have microfilm for both the Independent and the Press and Guide going back to when they were first published. In library use only. No loaning allowed.

**nat** · August-12-10, 09:19 PM

Darnit, why didn't he tell me about that? Serves me right for not asking again nicely. Thank you for letting me know and for calling to confirm. I did not know about the Benson Ford Center.

**gnome** · August-12-10, 09:40 PM

Try this

Hi Mary, I'm Nat and I need some help. I'm having a dickens of a time finding out about ____. I do know a little, but being here and surounded by all these choices, yet gosh Mary, it's a little overwhelming. I bet you'd know exactly where I should start, say microfilm or would you recomend something else? Nice earrings by the way, my wife was looking for a pair just like them.

You will soon find yourself draped in source material.

LodgeDodger · August-12-10, 10:06 PM

Originally Posted by nat

Man, you guys are amazing.

They really are.

**nat** · August-21-10, 01:07 PM

Greetings again. I made it to the Henry Ford Centennial Library yesterday just before they closed for the weekend and had time only to check one of the two Dearborn rags you mentioned. The Dearborn Press, as it was called back in 1935, had a combination article on two accidents with fatalities that included our subject accident. A few facts differed from the News article previously posted and I will go through it [[and post a scanned copy) when I have a had an opportunity to get the article from The Independent next week. Thank you again.

**firstandten** · August-21-10, 11:22 PM

Folks, I just wanted to chime in. This is one of the best threads I've seen. There is just a wealth of information on this site.

**wilderness** · August-22-10, 03:31 PM

Originally Posted by rid0617

Nat where can you find old articles like that. My grandfather was an REA driver and was hit and killed by a Detroit city bus. Would love to see if that article is around

Burton Historical offers most of the old newspapers on microfilm [[not online; requires actual visit), however unless you know the exact or approximate publication date, locating anything may become quite time consuming.

**nat** · August-22-10, 10:14 PM

I made my way to the accident intersection today. For those who do not know, Rotunda/Airport Drive crosses over Schaefer. I went down to Schaefer and there is a plaque at the base of the Rotunda Overpass so I took a picture of it. It is attached. Any lingering doubt that Rotunda WAS Airport Drive can now be put to rest.

It was built three years before the accident. Some familiar names, Haggerty and Hines.