The Stars Still Shine at Detroit's Redford Theatre

The Redford Theatre

As a teenager, I saw a handful of movies at the Redford Theatre in Detroit--classics like The African Queen, On the Town, and Shane. Everything about the Redford felt historic, from the organ to the interior architecture to the way they showed Warner Brothers cartoons before the feature and always had an intermission when we could refill our pop and grab more snacks without missing any of the action. I remembered how, once the lights dimmed, the sky-blue ceiling shone with hundreds of tiny lights, giving the audience the feeling that it was watching a movie under the stars.

Until Saturday, it had been a couple of decades since I visited the theater, so my memory was a little fuzzy about the building's architecture. Regardless, I was excited to bring my wife and two girls to the theater. The Redford was showing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and my daughters were excited to see it for the first time in a movie theater.

A Japanese-themed painting in one of the staircases

The theater's yellow-trimmed marquee is not as imposing or ornate as those of other old movie houses in Michigan, which only makes the inside of the Redford Theatre more impressive. When the theater first opened in 1928, it had a larger marquee, but it was later replaced. Part of it was used for scrap metal during World War II, not the only change brought on by the war. The theater's original Japanese-themed interior was removed or painted over after Pearl Harbor, and much of it was still hidden when I last visited in the early 1990s.

Happy Birthday, Detroit!

Happy Birthday, Detroit!

It's been 313 years since French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac pulled his boats ashore and declared that you would be Fort Ponchartrain du Detroit. You've changed nationalities a few times. First, you were French for about 60 years before falling under British control for almost four decades. Since 1796, except for that time the British captured you during the War of 1812, you have been a proud American city.

You loaned $50,000 to the state government to help raise troops for the Union cause during the Civil War. President Lincoln exclaimed, "Thank God for Michigan!" when the Michigan troops you helped finance were the first from a western state to arrive in Washington, D.C. During World War II, your auto industry built the tanks, bombers, and jeeps that helped topple the German and Japanese threats to democracy, and your women answered the call to arms by building these machines of war while your men were storming the beaches of Normandy and Iwo Jima.

You survived a great fire and grew from a small fort and fur-trading post to a cosmopolitan city of almost 2 million people. In the last few decades, a lot of people gave up on you. Many moved to the suburbs or other states and forgot about you. Many others say that we should give up on you, a city that has done so much to make our country the industrial and economic power it is today. These people have short memories, but do not worry about them. You have survived 313 years, and you will live much longer than all of us.

When you burned down in 1805, Detroiters did not give up on you. When riots tore you apart in 1863, 1943, and 1967, you lived on. When you have been alive for 313 years, you are going to have some rough patches. It's inevitable.

On your birthday, please remember your own motto:

"We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes."

And remember that this has been your motto during times of prosperity and times of despair because you are a city of invention and reinvention. Today, young entrepreneurs and wealthy business people are ignoring the naysayers and reimagining your future. Your riverfront is no longer an industrial wasteland, but a place where families can stroll on a beautiful summer day. New gardens arise from the ashes of your old buildings. There is a new energy within your boundaries that is becoming infectious. You will survive, as you have always done before.

So today, when you blow out your candles and make your wish, remember that there are countless people who share your hopes and dreams. You will live to realize better things.

Happy birthday!

An Enduring Monument of Detroit's Achievement

The Detroit Public Library Main Branch

Last week, I visited the Detroit Pubic Library's Main Branch for the first time. It is located on Woodward Avenue across from what is probably the most famous tourist attraction in Midtown, the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Although the DIA is definitely worth a visit, the library is a work of art in itself. The white marble building opened in 1921, six years before the DIA moved into its current location. Architect Cass Gilbert designed the library and was a preeminent architect of his era who designed Belle Isle's James Scott Memorial Fountain, the United States Supreme Court Building, New York's Woolworth Building, and several other iconic buildings throughout the United States.

The Woodward Avenue side of the library is surrounded by trees and lush green lawns, which made it easy to forget that this land was frozen only a few short months ago. A large bust of Nicolaus Copernicus occupies the lawn to the right of the main entrance. 

Copernicus

The large white marble and limestone exterior rises above Woodward, but only a few steps rise up to the library's main entrance, unlike the large series of steps leading to the DIA's main entrance. Perhaps Gilbert wanted a street level entrance to give a sense that books should be easily accessible to the public.

Main Entrance on Woodward Avenue

I entered the library on the Cass Avenue side. The library's entrance and two wings on Cass Avenue were built in 1963. The entrance is not as grand as the Woodward Avenue side, but I did enjoy the combination of the 1960s architecture, rich grass, green trees, clear blue skies, and warm June air.

Cass Avenue Entrance

In addition to some special exhibits, like a room dedicated to legendary Tigers radio announcer Ernie Harwell, the Cass Avenue side has all of the services of a typical public library: computers, reading rooms, and a children's library room. 

Words of Wisdom From Detroit's Past

"Detroit did not have to be. Detroit is–despite every obstacle that had been thrown into its path." -Malcolm W. Bingay, Detroit Is My Own Hometown

#164947922 / gettyimages.com

When I visited Detroit's John K. King Books in October, I stumbled upon Detroit Is My Own Hometown. Published in 1946, the book is a collection of tales by former Detroit News and Detroit Free Press editor Malcom Bingay. The book is not really a history of Detroit or a memoir. Instead, the book reads as if someone recorded Bingay over many nights as he told stories of Detroit's most famous historical characters.

Although Bingay's writing style often feels dated, especially some racially prejudiced comments indicative of his era, he writes with an unabashed pride about the politicians, business leaders, and sports figures who helped make Detroit a metropolis that other cities envied. 

His stories include Detroit's contribution to the war efforts in both World Wars, the founding of all the major automotive companies, political corruption and race riots long before the 1960s, the founding of the University of Michigan, and the construction of many of Detroit's monuments and buildings. Serious sports fans should read Chapters 12 through 15 about the Detroit Tigers' early history, including the Tigers and Chicago Cubs players likely colluding to tie game one of the 1907 World Series so that they could earn more money from gate receipts.

In the end, the book is Bingay's love letter to Detroit. His predictions of a prosperous, late 20th century Detroit turned out to be wrong, but that does not mean that his predictions cannot be realized in our near future. Several quotes from Bingay's book are inspirational reminders of what Detroit always has been and what it can still be:

A little failure in Detroit is OK, so long as we learn from it.

"Men can be trained to be inventors by the simple process of telling them that it is not a disgrace to fail. In research work there is no such thing as failure in the accepted sense of the word. If an inventor does not get what he is after by one experiment he has not failed; he has made progress." -Charles F. Kettering of General Motors

True Detroiters are not afraid of a struggle.

"The true Detroiter accepts conflict as naturally as he accepts milk from his mother's breast. It is part of his life. He yields his opinions to no man's persuasion. The pioneer cast of countenance is upon him." -Bingay

Detroit should continue to welcome new ideas today.

"The people will climb out of their troubles on a ladder of new ideas." -Kettering

Detroit Public Library. Photo by Jason Mrachina

Spend time in the city to feel its spirit. Don't just parachute in and take pictures of blight.

"There is a stability and a strength of character in the town that gives it the undertone of which you speak. Detroit is full of thoughtful, serious-minded citizens....Hang around here long enough to meet the folks, and you'll begin to understand. You cannot learn the real spirit of Detroit by just stopping off between trains." -Bingay

Detroit Riverfront. Photo by Brian Mulloy

Always carry Detroit in your heart.

"The man who does not carry his city in his heart is a spiritual starveling." -Fr. Gabriel Richard

Detroit has always been more than the auto industry.

"Detroit was a city with a soul, an identity carved and shaped from a heroic heritage, long before the honk of the motor horn was heard on any hill." -Bingay

An oath of office needs to mean something.

"I took an oath of office. You know what I mean? An oath! That means something to me. I have not reached the age of fifty to begin breaking my word. I'm the mayor. It's my job to protect the interests of the people the best way I can." -Mayor Hazen S. Pingree (Explaining why he ignored the wishes of his financial backers to do what was best for the people of Detroit).

Detroit has been through bad times before. It will arise.

"Blow after blow has has rained upon this city throughout its history and always it has arisen from its ashes–cleaner and finer and better because it has conquered adversity." -Bingay

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Honor Detroit's past by building a better tomorrow. It is home, after all.

"This is our home: Detroit. Our beloved ones are buried in its soil. Our children sprang from it. We are soil of this soil. Our streets are touched with sacred memories and traditions. Our dreams of a finer life to come are a hallowed heritage. As was written on the seal of the city when we were in ashes: 'We hope for better days.'" -Bingay

Q & A: Jean Scheffler, Author of The Sugar House

I had the opportunity to speak with author Jean Scheffler about her novel The Sugar House. The Sugar House is a gripping tale about Detroit from 1915 to the 1930s [for an in-depth review, click here]. The story’s protagonist, Joe Jopolowski, grows up from a young boy who follows his Catholic school rules to a young man who associates with Detroit’s notorious Purple Gang during Prohibition. The novel gives a rare view of Detroit and the real-life characters that populated it in the early 20th century. 

Shift Change at Ford (1910s). Library of Congress

What inspired you to write a book about Detroit in the early 20th century?

My grandpa used to tell me stories when I was growing up, and some of them were very shocking to me because I was a very naïve little innocent Catholic school girl. They were so shocking to me at the time that I remember a lot of them. I’ve also always had a love for history, and being a gerontology nurse, during my downtime, I went to my patients’ rooms and asked them to share their stories with me. I was extremely fortunate to have sat at the bedsides of such a great generation and to be lucky enough to hear the stories that made up their lives.  

I decided that this was a story I really wanted to write because a lot of people of my generation, much less my kids’ generation, don’t realize the amazing history of Detroit and the surrounding area. I felt that there weren’t many historical fiction novels about Detroit, especially that era or period, and I wanted to record it for future generations.

Have you always been interested in writing, and have you ever written anything before?

I always was interested in writing but I have not written before. I sat down and tried to write a novel a couple times, but it wasn’t the right time and definitely was not the right story. Once I found this was my story to tell, I hoped I would be worthy of the story. Once I did sit down to write it, it was very easy.

While I was writing the story, I went down to Mount Olivet and found my grandparents’ grave markers. I had already written the part about Joe and his little brother Frank, and I am sitting there on a beautiful sunny fall day looking at their gravestones, and I see there’s Frank. I had never known that my grandfather had a brother named Frank because he had passed away before I was born. I looked up at the sky and said, “Who is writing this story?”

Why did you choose to have Joe’s story revolve around the Sugar House Gang?

Because of my grandfather. When I knew him fifty years after this story took place, he wasn’t a gangster. He was a Polish grandpa. We had our Polish traditions, and he worked at McLouth Steel his whole life. I wanted to show how things were so different back then and that it didn’t necessarily make you a bad guy to be on the wrong side of the law. The story works for this day and age when people try to find themselves, and might not make the right decisions. But they try to come back to where they want to be, their families, their faith.

The Sugar House: A Thrilling Tale of Prohibition in Detroit

During the 1920s, no American gang was more feared than Detroit’s Purple Gang, also known as the Sugar House Gang. The Jewish-led gang controlled the transportation of liquor into Michigan from Canada, and their ruthless tactics convinced Al Capone that it was safer to work with them than compete with them. Despite the gang’s infamy during Prohibition, the Purple Gang’s name has not remained in America’s consciousness to the same extent as the 20^th century gangs of Chicago or New York.

In her first novel, The Sugar House, Jean Scheffler takes her readers on an exciting tour of Detroit from 1915 until the 1930s through the eyes of Joe Jopolowski, the son of recent Polish immigrants. The story shows 1915 Detroit as a city busting at the seams due to growth spurred by money from the automobile industry and an influx of European immigrants and southern Blacks.

The story begins with eight-year-old Joe speaking Polish to himself while running through the streets of Detroit. The first chapters are filled with elaborate details about the life of a Polish-Catholic immigrant family in Detroit’s Polish neighborhoods near St. Josaphat’s Church. Anyone who has eaten traditional Polish food will salivate at the descriptions of the pierogi, golabki (stuffed cabbage), and other meals that Joe’s mother serves.

At first, young Joe’s only fears are that his Catholic school nuns will punish him for some minor transgression and that his next-door neighbor cousins will tag along on a family trip to Boblo Island. However, while Joe is worried about childish matters, Detroit keeps growing. Eventually World War I and Prohibition force Joe to grow up with his city, and he associates with the Sugar House Gang to help his family survive.

At first, the story feels like it might be only a portrait of the Detroit that was and the famous people that populated or visited the city. Young Joe travels to many of the city’s famous sites, such as Grinnell Brothers Music House, the Boston-Edison neighborhood, the streetcars of Woodward Avenue, a Tigers game at Navin Field, and the Sanders Candy Palace of Treats. Scheffler describes each building, street corner, and house with the finest details. A reader with an interest in the history of Detroit, like me, will appreciate this detail, but other readers might be waiting for the story to build up.

Luckily, the story matures with Joe. With the onset of Prohibition, Joe becomes caught in an exciting but dangerous world that would have seemed unimaginable to the rule-following boy at the beginning of the novel. His world expands beyond Detroit as he finds himself working in the Downriver communities of Wyandotte and Grosse Ile. Real-life historical figures, including Sugar House Gang members, populate Joe’s world. Boats (and cars in the winter) cross the Detroit River, bringing Canadian liquor to Michigan. Cops are on the take, and speakeasies pop up throughout the city. Gang wars erupt, and drive-by shootings and violent shakedowns become commonplace. Joe struggles to survive in this world without losing the values of his family, community, and church.

The Sugar House is a must-read for anyone who is interested in Detroit’s history or anyone who wants a thrilling tale of a young man trying to remain morally strong in the face of a corrupt world. Detroit area native Scheffler clearly did her research, and the reader is rewarded with characters that feel real and a view of Detroit's past that is not easy to find. 

The Sugar House is currently available in both paperback and Kindle format at Amazon.com here.

For a Q&A with Jean Scheffler in which she talks about her research, writing process, and her grandfather who inspired her novel, click here.