DETROIT – A big piece of American history sits in a Detroit neighborhood on the eastside at the home of Dr. Ossian Sweet and Gladys Sweet.
Their story was the center of a national housing discrimination movement nearly 100 years ago.
On Thursday (April 27), the city hosted its first community meeting for an outdoor museum and plaza to honor that legacy.
Local 4 went to the East Village neighborhood on Charlevoix and Garland streets, where the historic Sweet House is located.
Crews worked to preserve it, but the City of Detroit said it was not enough.
“It’s important for us to read books,” said Jamon Jordan. “It’s important for us to see films, but it’s always important to go to the place where the historical events happen.”
There’s a plan to add an educational plaza next to the home.
Jordan, the city’s first historian, says the project will teach what happened when Dr. Ossian Sweet and his wife Gladys moved in September 1925.
“There have been a number of these incidents that summer in spring of 1925, where African Americans have moved into all-white neighborhoods and been forced out by white mobs,” Jordan said. “That’s what the plan is for this family is to move them out. They defended the home.”
Two people in the mob were shot, leaving one dead. Everyone inside the home at the time was charged. It went to trial, and they were acquitted.
Director of Arts and Culture Rochelle Riley made sure it’s not forgotten.
“What we’re trying to do is make sure that we embrace all of who we are,” said Riley. “And that’s what this is about; This is Detroit history; This is U.S. history.”
As a national park service grant is paying to restore the home, the city believes the outdoor plaza and interactive learning elements should be designed by the people.
“We want everyone in Detroit to feel like this is one of the things that exist here that people around the country should know about, should come and visit, should come and learn,” Riley said. “And we want to make sure that if you are anywhere in the vicinity of it, it’s your neighborhood.”
Rayshaun Landrum is the city’s architect and project manager who just so happens to live blocks away and proudly says that the community is theirs.
“This is in our community,” said Landrum. “There’s going to be a footprint and a gem. So we should have a say of what it’s going to look like but also kind of actually see what that’s going to unfold to be.”
You can get involved by attending Thursday night’s meeting at Butzel Family Recreation Center on Kercheval from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. There’s also a survey here.