The following is a brief introduction to self-guided historical research of southwest Detroit by local historian Kevin Lane.  Kevin is retired from the Detroit Recreation Department where he served, among other capacities, as the official historian collecting and maintaing a personal collection of primary sources, articles, ads, maps, plans, and other information relevant to the uncovering of our community’s and city’s past.  Kevin has written several articles locally and works in cooperation with historical societies around metro Detroit.  Please enjoy his first contribution to Inside Southwest Detroit designed to help the visitor guide their personal research.

There are many histories of Detroit proper.  From books to newspapers, magazines, and periodicals to primary sources, photographs, and other sources there are clues to our communities’ histories.  Below there are several that haven proven helpful in uncovering information that provides us with a perspective of the southwest Detroit of earlier days.  First there is a list of books.  Most were written between the late 1890’s and early 1980’s.  Some were written by the official historiographers of the city which was an actual position in city government.  Many of these books have information on southwest Detroit in them, but the focus is usually concentrated on the downtown area.  Still, they are interesting to become familiar with.

• History of Detroit; Clarence Burton, 1924
• History of Detroit; Silas Farmer, 1898
• Story of Detroit; George Catlin, 1924
• City of Destiny; George Stark, 1948
• Detroit, Wayne County, and Michigan; Detroit Public Schools, E. Forster, 1972
• American Odyssey; Robert Conot, 1974
• The Detroit Almanac
• This Is Detroit; Milo Quaife, 1951 (picturebook)
• Detroit Perspectives; Hendrickson, 1991
• Detroit First! And Western Made It: Growing Up In Western High Area In 1908; Crandell, 1963

There are also several magazines, newspapers, and periodicals which have been helpful to researching information on southwest Detroit.  Most newspapers are on microfilm and available at the Detroit Main Library at 5201 Woodward near Warren Avenue in the Wayne State University area.  They are generally located in two areas of the library: General Information and the Burton Historical Library section.  The latter is free to residents and available to non-residents for a fee.

• Detroit In Perspective
• El Barrio
• Southwest Journal
• Delray Times (early 1900’s)
• Detroit Free Press
• Detroit News
• Detroit Saturday Night (1900-1940 weekly publication)
• Detroit Times

Certain microfilms are only available for specific years and months and there is a no general index for searching them.  Good luck!

-Kevin Lane