Lecture Detroit Modern; 2 pm on Sunday, April 7, Alger House on The War Memorial campus.

Detroit Modern, 1935 – 1985

2 pm on Sunday, April 7, the Alger House on The War Memorial campus

For this lecture, art historian and recognized expert on Mid-Century Modern Deborah Kawsky will interview Peter Forguson on his book Detroit Modern: 1935 – 1985. 

In his book, Forguson reminds us that metropolitan Detroit is a stunning showcase of mid-century modern houses. Endowed with old growth trees, rolling topography and miles of lakefront, the Detroit area inspired talented architects and their progressive clients to create uniquely beautiful residences that were seamlessly integrated with lush natural surroundings. Detroit landscape designer and contractor Peter Forguson has shaped and maintained the grounds of many of these structures, and the comprehensive list he has compiled of the best examples is now a breathtaking book, Detroit Modern:1935-1985.

Events

Lecture: Black Bottom | I-375 with Ken Colman and John Gallagher, 2 pm, Sunday, March 10, Alger House on The War Memorial campus.

2 pm, Sunday, March 10, with Ken Colman of Michigan Advance and John Gallagher, a Detroit Free Press contributor

This is a case study. The Federal government is starting a grant program designed to reconnect communities affected by highway projects in the 1950s and ’60s when:

• the Lodge plowed through Corktown
• I-96 devastated parts of Northwest Detroit
• I-375 wiped out historic Black Bottom.

In this lecture, journalists Ken Colman and John Gallagher will focus on Black Bottom/I-375.

Colman will remind us of the vibrancy of Black Bottom when it was a cultural hub. Then he and  Gallagher will take a close look at MDOT’s current plans for I-375 and question if it is the right solution.

Calendar

Planet Detroit Lecture; 2 pm, Sunday, Feb.11, Alger House on The War Memorial campus.

Meet the Planet Detroit team

2 pm, Sunday, Feb. 11

Alger House on The War Memorial campus

A team of reporters and editors from Planet Detroit, including the news outlet founder Nina Ignaczak, will lead a discussion on environmental, public health and climate change issues impacting metro Detroit. As good news gathers, they will encourage participation from the audience, asking them about the topics and information they’d like to learn more about.

Planet Detroit is a nonprofit news outlet launched in 2019. Its mission is to produce public interest stories on climate, equity, health and the environment that honor grassroots voices and hold those in power accountable.

Calendar

Lecture: the making of Detroit with Jonathan Quint, 2 pm, Sunday, Jan.14, Alger House on The War Memorial campus.

Looking at colonial Detroit with Jonathan Quint, 2 pm, Sunday, January 14

Some of the influential people Quint will introduce include:

• Indigenous people including the Huron (Wendat), Ottawa, Potawatomi, Lenape (Delaware) and the Ojibwe
• French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, founder of Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit
• Anthony Wayne
• Moravian missionaries from Germany

He will also share stories about daily life, describing for example how German-born, protestant missionaries interacted with the indigenous people, local settlers and British military.

He will also explore how Detroit and its residents became involved in the American Revolution. For the British, Detroit was a staging point for organizing raids against Americans in the backcountry settlements in Kentucky and Virginia. For American Revolutionaries, it became a place of confinement. For instance, Daniel Boone and other soldiers were captured and imprisoned in the British fort here.

Exploration of these varied experiences will shed light on this relatively unknown period of Detroit’s history.

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