Hastings Street, on Detroit’s near-Eastside was once the crowded, bustling landing spot for the tens of thousands of Jewish immigrants, as well as other migrant groups, who began settling in the area in 1881 to escape pogroms and violent antisemitism in Eastern Europe. The neighborhood has long disappeared, buried beginning in the late 1940’s under the concrete of the Chrysler Freeway, a victim of what used to be called “urban renewal.”
But the experiences and cultural contributions of those immigrants and of the Black Detroiters who began to move into the neighborhood from the South after World War I are an important chapter in the history of the city. Now, Jewish Historical Society of Michigan has created an exhibit at the Detroit Historical Museum, honoring this heritage. Entitled “In the Neighborhood: Everyday Life on Hastings Street,” it captures the struggles and vitality of these new Detroiters.
Two years in the making, the exhibit is a masterpiece of innovative scholarship and storytelling. The re-creation of the humble households of these most working-class families includes furniture, utensils, place settings and religious artifacts that come primarily from the descendants of Hastings Street residents. The exhibit also makes use of virtual reality, century-old maps and arresting historic family photographs (some improved by use of artificial intelligence).
And the Black community’s role in the Hastings Street saga also is featured prominently. It is perhaps even better known, because of its musical and entertainment legacy. Jewish-owned integrated nightclubs, like Club Harlem and the Flame Show Bar, are where Detroiters of many backgrounds came to hear and dance to the artists who were later to put the city on the musical map as the backbone of The Sound of Young America, Motown. In fact, Berry Gordy’s sister, Gwen Gordy Fuqua, worked as a house photographer at the Flame Show Bar, leaving a visual record of the people and places that made this a remarkable cultural moment in time.
As the city debates what to do with the freeway that obliterated life on Hastings Street, this exhibit pays homage to all that was lost and all that should be remembered.
Be sure to go check it out before July 14.
I watched it today. Great conversations!