Videos

Known as the birthplace of Motown, Detroit’s music history goes further back than the soul sounds of Smokey Robinson and Aretha Franklin. In his book Heaven Was Detroit, author M.L. Liebler chronicled the history…

Marc Greuther, chief curator at The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, explored the history of steam power in the “Made in America: Power” exhibit and explained the origins of the innovations that…

Tour Greenfield Village at The Henry Ford on an authentic Ford Model T and learn about the complex, which was founded by Henry Ford in 1929. C-SPAN’s Local Content Vehicles (LCVs) made a stop in their…

In 1941, a developer built the Birwood Wall in northwest Detroit that was meant to separate white and black homeowners in the city. Historian and tour guide Jamon Jordan showed the wall, which runs north to 8 Mile…

Detroit saw tremendous growth from 1700 to 1900. Bill Pringle, curatorial assistant at the Detroit Historical Museum toured the “Frontiers to Factories: Detroiters at Work” exhibit and…

The “Walk to Freedom” happened in Detroit on June 23, 1963. It was the largest civil rights march in history at the time, drawing a crowd of about 125,000. Historian and tour guide Jamon Jordan traveled to the site where…

The Second Baptist Church is one of the only remaining structures used as a stop on the Underground Railroad in Detroit. Guide Priscilla Robinson talked about how Second Baptist became a temporary safe haven…

The first race riots in Detroit happened in 1833. Those riots were sparked by the imprisonment of Thornton and Rutha Blackburn, an African American coupled who had escaped from slavery. Historian and tour…

The United States and Canada are the two biggest trade partners in the world, and the border crossings from Detroit to Windsor, Ontario are worth $16 billion in trade a year for both…

Paradise Valley was the business and entertainment district in Detroit for African Americans from the 1920s through the 1950s. Historian and tour guide Jamon Jordan traveled to the area that was once known…

Detroit became known as “The Arsenal of Democracy” after a fireside chat delivered by President Franklin Roosevelt. He called on Americans to “arm and support” the Allied powers. Because of its strength as…

Detroit’s auto industry began in the 1890s, and by the early 1900s the city was attracting workers from around the world looking for high paying factory jobs. Joel Stone, senior curator at the Detroit Historical Museum, toured the…

C-SPAN’s Local Content Vehicles (LCVs) made a stop in their “2019 LCV Cities Tour” in Detroit, Michigan, from May 18-24, 2019, to feature the history and literary life of the…

Known as the “Motor City,” Detroit was the automotive capital of the world. Historian Joseph Cabadas explained how the city got that title and the state of the industry. C-SPAN’s Local Content Vehicles…

Recent college graduate Drew Philp bought a house in Detroit for $500. In his book A $500 House in Detroit, he recounted his experience restoring the house and some of the biggest challenges making his home…

Detroit native Aaron Foley gave a driving tour of his city to discuss some of the issues plaguing Michigan’s largest municipality and what was being done to address those problems. C-SPAN’s Local…

In her book Whose Detroit?, Heather Ann Thompson examined the racial and political tensions that plagued Detroit for much of the 20th century and how these continued tensions led to an uprising in 1967.…

Once one of the richest cities in America, Detroit in 2019 was among the poorest. In his book Detroit: An American Autopsy" Charlie LeDuff examined how his hometown got to this point and…

C-SPAN’s Local Content Vehicles (LCVs) made a stop in their “2019 LCV Cities Tour” in Detroit, Michigan, from May 18-24, 2019, to feature the history and literary life of the…

C-SPAN visited a class at Chapman University to see how author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel’s books were being used to help students learn about the Holocaust during World War II. C-SPAN’s Local…