Untold Tales, Unsung Heroes: An Oral History of Detroit’s African American Community, 1918-1967

An oral history of more than one hundred Detroiters and their experiences in the city through the early and mid-twentieth century.

Over one hundred Detroit residents share personal stories of everyday life spanning from 1918 to 1967--families, neighborhoods, school, work, religious life, and community. Their accounts also reflect extraordinary events like the Great Migration, the Great Depression, World War II, the 1943 race riot, the Civil Rights Movement, the 1967 Civil Uprising and the Vietnam War. These testimonies offer invaluable insights into the institutions, relationships, and politics that shaped the Black experience in Detroit. The development of the city and its people over these pivotal decades is recounted firsthand in these voices and enlightening stories.

Elaine Latzman Moon (1939-2020) was the executive assistant to the president for research and communications for the Detroit Urban League. She taught writing courses at Wayne State University, the Freedom House, and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.