DETROIT – Detroit has dedicated a historic plaque at the Sojourner Truth Homes on the city’s east side.
Like every city in the world, the location has an exciting history and also some dark moments that should never be forgotten. Still, on Tuesday (Oct. 17), Detroit took steps to honor the past and present.
“Detroit’s history is important, some history we’re proud of makes us happy,” said Detroit historian Jamon Jordan. “But some history makes us uncomfortable, but we have to talk about that history too.”
The Sojourner Truth Homes still stand on Nevada Avenue on the city’s east side. While some things have changed, the history and the significance of the complex has not.
In the 1940s, Blacks migrated north to help build weapons for the war. There was just one problem.
“When they got here, they found a city with established racial patterns,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.
Those patterns included housing discrimination, so the federal government built a new development to house 200 Black families.
“Sounded like a step in the right direction, except when it came time to move in, people from the surrounding neighborhoods said, ‘We don’t want Black families living that close to us,’” Duggan said.
The protests were so intense that Detroit decided no Black families would be allowed.
When then First Lady Elanor Roosevelt was made aware, she pushed back, and Black families were allowed to move in. But there was still controversy.
“When the first Black families went to move in, the protests were such it took national guards to move families,” Duggan said.
That history was acknowledged on Tuesday (Oct. 17), as the Sojourner Truth Homes received its rightful place in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Sojourner Truth Homes is one of 14 places in Detroit registered in the National Register of Historic Places, meaning that it will be preserved and protected for generations to come.