It was fear mostly that kept free black men from being accepted for enlistment in the early days of the Civil War (1861-1865). Although they had fought in both the American Revolution and the War of 1812, the uprisings and revolts of later years encouraged government worry about arming black men. Yet while riots and desertion were plentiful when it came to drafting white men into the war, those black men who were committed to fighting for freedom were turned...
Seventy four years ago the country was poised for war. Europe was unsettled and those fresh faces graduating from the University of Detroit were well aware that they faced an uncertain future. In 1939, Britain and Italy had already declared war on Germany and in December, 1941, the U.S. entered the conflict by declaring war on Japan. By the beginning of 1943, heavy fighting was taking place in most of the eastern part of the world. It seemed the dreams of those...
On the 50th Anniversary of the July 1967 Detroit Riots, there has been a lot of discussion in the media as to how it affected the people in the area during that time period. What started as a quiet Sunday morning of July 23rd turned into an unforgettable civil disturbance that lasted about a week. During that period members of the National Guard were posted at the McNichols campus as well as additional private police were on patrol. No disorder...
Colonization is the process by which one power dominates another. This can be the way a more powerful country takes control of another, but it’s also the way one culture seeks to control another by usurping the established cultural civilization of another. This has happened time and again since human beings migrated out of Africa — as they defeated tribes and gained territories, as they morphed languages and destroyed religions, they also changed their own culture. Societies have evolved by...
When the 1918 edition of the Tamarack was published in June of that year, the first few pages held more advertising than content. Slowly over time, ads had gone from simple product mentions at the end of each issue to full page graphics at the beginning. It was obvious the Tamarack’s days were numbered. Even the tone of the content had changed. The early literary volumes filled with poetry and prose were now offering a more somber tone, concentrating more on engineering,...
On June 28, 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to Austria-Hungary’s throne, and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated while they were visiting Bosnia. By July of that year, Austria-Hungary and Serbia were at war; and by the end of August Germany, Russia, France, Great Britain, and Belgium were all involved in what would become the first World War. While President Woodrow Wilson worked to keep the U.S. out of the hostilities, the entire world shook with rage and horror over...
One of the best resources for information about the history of this university lies in the yellowing pages of the Tamarack. Through the words of the students then, it’s easy for readers to put themselves into that year and that space, and feel the slow pace of that time. The academic atmosphere of those hallowed university halls comes into sharper focus as visitors to the Tamarack archive linger with each issue. Within most of the Tamarack publications is a section called, Items...
The current political climate has made sanctuary cities in the United States a hot topic for discussion. Besides the many resources of books and journal articles that can be accessed through the library site, the library archives also contains the CLASA Collection. CLASA stands for Carney Latin American Solidarity Archives. The collection consists of books, reports, bulletins, newsletters, articles, correspondence, media, etc. from 1975-2001 (predominantly, 1980′s). The documents come from Detroit’s merged Latin American solidarity groups, including Michigan Inter-faith Committee...
OK- well not exactly ON campus, but you can’t miss it. McDonald’s set up shop at the corner of McNichols and Livernois in 1989. Originally on that corner was Gregg’s Pizza, which just moved to another building nearby on Livernois. When it opened in January 1989, it became the 35th McDonald’s franchise to open in the city of Detroit....
