Jeremy Williams: "Detroit" The Black Bottom Community

Between 1914 and 1951, Black Bottom’s black community emerged out of the need for black migrants to find a place for themselves. Because of the stringent racism and discrimination in housing, blacks migrating from the South seeking employment in Detroit’s burgeoning industrial metropolis were forced to live in this former European immigrant community. Local historian Jeremy Williams combines careful research with archived photographs for an insightful look at Black Bottom’s early beginnings, its racial transformation, the building of a socioeconomically solvent community through various processes of institution building and networking, and its ultimate demise and the dislocation of its residents.