Urban Affairs and Planning
Metro Detroit Ethnic Communities
Ever since its formation, Detroit has had a long and distinguished history. This history has been significantly affected by the continuous efforts its ethic communities, which call metro Detroit home. The Reuther houses an extensive array of images that capture this region's diversity of culture.
Curator: Elizabeth Clemens and Paul S. Neirink
Photos courtesy of multiple collectionsThere are 336 images in this gallery
Last updated: Mon, 06/10/2013 - 16:50
Tony Spina Collection
Anthony “Tony” Spina (1914 -1995) served as Chief Photographer for the Detroit Free Press from 1952 until his retirement in 1989 and worked locally, nationally, and internationally to photograph the pivotal events and the people who shaped the latter half of the twentieth century. Widely regarded as one of the finest photojournalists of his time, Spina was the recipient of over 450 state, national, and international awards for his photography, including the Sprague Memorial Award from the National Press Photographers Association and a shared Pulitzer Prize awarded to the Free Press for its coverage of the Detroit Riots of 1967.
Curator: Elizabeth Clemens
Photos courtesy of the Tony Spina CollectionThere are 751 images in this gallery
Last updated: Fri, 08/31/2012 - 16:29
Equality & Civil Rights Activism in America
The photographs in this gallery highlight twentieth-century civil rights activism and the struggle for equality in the United States. Important topics include: The "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom"; The "Poor People's Campaign"; The "Meredith March Against Fear"; The Detroit "March to Freedom"; The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); Housing Discrimination; Martin Luther King, Jr.; and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Curator: Elizabeth Clemens
There are 127 images in this gallery
Last updated: Fri, 08/23/2013 - 18:03
NAACP ― Gallery
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. Established on February 9, 1909, its objective was to help African-American citizens gain equal political, legal, economic and social opportunities. Since then it has worked to improve conditions in housing, employment, education and police-community relations. This gallery highlights the activities of both the National NAACP and the Detroit NAACP, its largest regional branch.
Curator(s): Elizabeth Clemens and Paul S. Neirink
There are 52 images in this gallery
Last updated: Tue, 05/29/2012 - 14:06
Prohibition in Southeastern Michigan
The ratification of the 18th Amendment nationalized Prohibition in 1919. As a city with strong cultural ties to alcohol, and subsequently a large number of breweries, Detroit had a different take on the law. During the Prohibition years, rum running was said to be Detroit’s second largest industry next to automobiles. This was made possible by the city’s close proximity to Canada, where spirits were still available for export, and the entrepreneurial spirit of its citizens who supplied and ran the estimated 5,000-25,000 illegal drinking establishments scattered throughout the city.
Curator: Elizabeth Clemens
Photos courtesy of the Detroit News Photonegative CollectionThere are 55 images in this gallery
Last updated: Thu, 07/19/2012 - 14:43
Social Forces, Foundations & Change
Photographs in this gallery document people, events and the movements that helped shape twentieth-century social history. Topics include: dissident movements; riots; rebellions; militancy; as well as larger social forces such as the Great Depression, the Atomic Age, and much more.
Curator: Elizabeth Clemens
Photos courtesy of The Detroit News CollectionThere are 228 images in this gallery
Last updated: Wed, 07/24/2013 - 10:36
SWE (Society of Women Engineers)
The Society of Women Engineers was founded in 1950 by women engineering students and professionals who sought to support women in engineering as well as to encourage young women to pursue and excel in the male-dominated field. Although membership has swelled from 61 founding members in 1950 to more than 17,000 members in 2008, women remain a minority in the engineering and technology fields and SWE continues its mission to support and promote practicing and aspiring women engineers.
Curator: Troy Eller
Photos courtesy of SWE CollectionThere are 999 images in this gallery
Last updated: Thu, 06/30/2011 - 13:01
Dale Rich Collection
The photographs of longtime newspaperman Dale Rich (1948 -) document the modern political, cultural and grassroots movements of the Detroit, as well as the larger issues of the modern civil rights movement, African Americans in politics and organized labor. It is a unique collection in the Reuther Library’s urban holdings, inasmuch as it is an entirely modern collection, with its dates spanning 1995-2011.
Curator: Elizabeth Clemens
Photos courtesy of the Dale Rich CollectionThere are 42 images in this gallery
Last updated: Wed, 02/15/2012 - 15:49