Remember and Reflect

I read that January 27 was Holocaust Remembrance Day around the world. This day is set aside each year to remember the atrocities committed at the concentration camps during World War II. January 27 is the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945. In Hebrew, the day is called Yom HaShoah, which is observed in April this year.  I am reminded of the story of Anne Frank, who, along with her family and a few acquaintances, hid in what Anne referred to in her diary as the Secret Annex. This hiding place was used to keep them away from the evil that was the Nazis. The occupants were discovered and taken to concentration camps. Anne, her mother, Edith, and her sister, Margot. were taken to Bergen-Belsen camp, where they died in 1945. After the war, Anne's diary was found and returned to her father, Otto, who had survived the holocaust. Otto Frank published his daughter's diary, and millions have read the thoughts of a young person in hiding in what is now titled The Diary of a Young Girl. The building the Franks hid in now houses the Anne Frank House Museum, which seeks to educate about what happened during the time they were there. 

Club Cocktails

It's interesting the things you find sometime. This cocktail hour ticket was in one of my late grandmother's old purses, found while cleaning up and out. Traveler's Unlimited was a club from a local travel agency in the metro Detroit area.  Watts' Club Mozambique was a legitimate nightclub at one time, along with Henry's Palace.  Many of the younger generations of Detroiters remember the Mozambique and Henry's as strip clubs, namely all-Male Review club in its later days before the 2015 fire that destroyed it. 

 

YouTube Friday: Trevor Bauer Does Conor McGregor's Strut in Game (Vlog 5 | Trevor Bauer'...

I have been educating myself on the Coronavirus health and safety protocols in both the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association, as well as Major League Baseball, when and if the season gets started for 2021 (this article was from January 12. 2021) When baseball restarted in July for the 2020 season, I was interested in what the players had to go through in this "New Normal", so I went on YouTube, and I ran across Trevor Bauer's vlog on the Momentum YouTube channel, the above video was filmed here in Detroit when the Reds were playing the Tigers.  Trevor also has another vlog series on Momentum, Inside the Off-Season, where he details his offseason activites.

Get help if needed

 Lately, I have been seeing numerous ads for the sportsbooks and other forms of online gaming here in the metro Detroit area since the state of Michigan legalized this form of gambling this month. I am also hearing many ads these past few months for the Michigan Problem Gambling Hotline, knowing there are people that are dealing with a serious problem of not being able to control a gambling habit and are afraid to seek help due to thoughts of losing their jobs and families. I think that, besides inside all casinos, there should be signs in the parking structure, namely on beams near parking spaces, in the elevator lobbies/staircases, and in other high visibility areas, along with signs for the Suicide Helpline (picture taken 2018 in Chicago at the Grand Red Line stop). Whenever I think of these hotlines, I am reminded of Greektown Casino in Detroit. which had a high number of suicides due to lost money at the casino, difficult life circumstances (death of a family member/close friend, loss of a job, relationship dissolution, etc), or other issues. before fencing was put up a few years ago around the window openings and a high fence along the top floor of the parking garage (picture taken August 2020). I hope all casinos can take up putting these signs for their parking decks one day. 

Carnival during the holidays

 I know the Holidays are behind us right now, but I am thinking of the former Detroit Christmas Carnival, which was held, between Thanksgiving and New Years at what is now the TCF Center in Detroit, formerly Cobo Hall. This was always a good time for families and all who chose to attend. The carnival had games, rides, and other fun things to do. The last festival was held in the late '90s-early 2000s. The last festival I remember attending was in 1995. The Detroit Historical Society has an archive of artifacts, with quite a few from the Christmas Carnivals of the past. I have added a picture of one of the scenes from the 1987 Christmas Carnival, taken by my mother. She had taken my older cousins, her nephew and niece, to the carnival in the 1970s, and she took me when I was small in the late '80s and early 1990s

Ting,Ting! You're Home!

I have been uploading pictures from the past 10 years or so to my Google Photos album, and I find this one from July 2011, 4th of July weekend to be exact. This is the City Club Apartment complex in Downtown Detroit. They were formerly known as Trolley Plaza, named for the former Washington Boulevard Trolley line in the 1980s. According to Emporis, the apartment is 28 stories, with 6 stories for parking, with a recreation area on top of the parking deck. These apartments have everything you could ask for in amenities. The apartments opened in 1981, 5 years after the Trolleys first ran in 1976 (side note, the article about the Trolleys I linked, the picture was taken where the apartments stand now! The hotel on the left  behind the people was demolished in 2005). When the apartments opened, rent ranged from $325 to $1,000. In 2021, rent ranges from $1,200 to almost $3,000 dollars a month, depending on what size apartment you would like. 

 

Sights of New Orleans

During this coronavirus pandemic, travel has been curtailed, and when someone needs to travel for work or other necessary means, they must have the proper documentation. Lately, I have felt the itch to travel, so I have been looking through many of my travel pictures from years past. These pictures are from a trip to  New Orleans in July 2017, when I was there for a family wedding. New Orleans is very steeped in history and culture and is a great place to visit. One of the first sights I saw while flying in was the expansive Lake Pontchartrain, and many people on their boats.  Here is the world famous St. Louis Cathedral, the oldest Catholic Cathedral in North America. I had stopped in to say a prayer for my cousin on her wedding day. 

Horse and buggy tours are very popular in the French Quarter. This horse at Jackson Square was being very photogenic to a tourist. 

The famous Cafe Du Monde coffee stand, which sells chicoried Coffee (you can have it straight or Cafe Au Lait) and Beignets. This is a 24-hour operation, open whenever you feel you might need some

The New Orleans Resurrection is a popular cocktail on Bourbon Street. It is made from Rum and Blue Curacao. 

Speaking of Bourbon Street, it was great to see the street in person on days outside of Carnival and Mardi Gras. Many bars and clubs line the street, as well as other tourist attractions

As I was leaving for home, I noticed these flowers in the ladies room after going through security at Louis Armstrong Airport. This was the first time I have seen fresh flowers at the airport. 

 

 

Architecturally Faithful

 As I am going through the suburbs of Detroit this past week, I pass by the ornate Kirk in the Hills, a Presbyterian church in the suburb of Bloomfield Hills. It is a church I have only heard about growing up in the metro area. Looking at their history, they were formed in the 1940s after a businessman in Detroit, Col. Edwin George had the foresight for a church in the area in the 1930s. Services were first held at the current church in 1958. They have had five pastors shepherding the flock since 1958. As with houses of worship of all faiths during the coronavirus pandemic, they are conducting worship services online and in-person to a limited number of parishioners. They have many courses for growth in the Christian faith for parishioners of all ages. 

Thoughtfulness

 I am currently thinking of a post I penned on my personal Facebook page at the end of the year. I wrote about how I saw that some people were feeling upset and cranky about how 2020 turned out with the coronavirus and other things happening, and they felt that life wasn't going the way they wanted it to go. This life does not revolve around you alone. People do not have to cater to you and make you the center of everything all the time. You have to learn to give instead of take and to keep the faith, keep praying if you believe in the power of prayer,  and make do with what you currently have. You can learn a new skill or discover a talent that has laid dormant for a while, and share these gifts and talents with those around you. I feel heartened to see how friends, family members, coworkers and old classmates are using their gifts and talents to help and inform those around them, as well as brighten the days of all around them. As for me, I am discovering more of my family history, as well as the History of certain figures in the Detroit area and across the nation using the Library of Michigan and other websites, and sharing it with people in my circle. I am doing what I can to get by during this time. What are you doing to make use of your gifts and talents? Have you discovered a particular gift or talent that you are using now? All of this makes me think of the song "You Gotta Make Your Own Sunshine" by Neil Sedaka, which is about making your own sunshine when life gets you down and out. 

YouTube Friday: The Beach Boys- Kokomo (HQ)

Since it is pretty chilly in most parts of the country, today's installment of YouTube Friday is from the Beach Boys, courtesy of InnerMusicLove's YouTube channel,  designed to take you to tropical locales.  There are a few places in the United States called Kokomo, one in the state of Indiana and one on the island of Maui in Hawaii, but there is no Kokomo in Florida! 

Newspaper Insurance

Going through some old newspapers on Newspapers.com, and I noticed that many newspapers, the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press included, had accident insurance back in the days. Until at least the 1980s-1990s, newspapers offered accident insurance to their subscribers and covered them in case of injury, accident, or death, and covered your bills if you had to be off work while recuperating. The insurance laws across the country have since changed, and what was covered is now covered by auto insurance agencies.

 

Fast Mail

Here's a real piece of nostalgia. It is an old book that held stamps back in the late 1960s-early 1970s, judging from the old Post Office Pony Express logo. Look how much a stamp cost back in the days! The little postman featured here is Mr. Zip, who reminded people to use a zip code when you mailed your letter instead of a zone, which was common back in those days. According to the Postal Museum, Mr. Zip was introduced in 1963 when the Zip Code was put in effect and debuted in January 1964. 

 

Living under false pretenses

As I am going about Twitter, I run across a post from Ken Coleman about Daniel West, a Michigan State Representative. The interesting thing is, it is not his real identity. it is a con artist using a dead man's name to get ahead in life. The original Daniel West was a lawyer in New York that died in the early 1960s, and a man from Detroit who owned several businesses assumed his identity and ran for office. (here is his legislative biography). After his story came to light, He was refused a seat in the Michigan Legislature, and was on the run in 1965 under the threat of being charged with Tax-related offenses. He was reportedly spotted in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, right across the river from Detroit, in the mid-1970s but it was not him. The man's identity was never known or revealed, and we may never know who he was.  

Grocery shopping in the past

We all have been hearing so much lately about supporting minority businesses. I look through some family archives, and I find old documents from an African-American owned business that opened a supermarket in Detroit, The business was called "Our Enterprises", and it aimed to unite the black community in Detroit after the riots in 1967. A group led by entrepreneur M. Stewart Thompson recruited investors and sold stock in the business in 1968, and after a few setbacks, Our Market opened in May of 1970, Our Market near the intersection of Dexter and Joy Road in northwest Detroit. The business went well for some time, but eventually, the store closed in 1972. I mention Our Market and Our Enterprises because my father always mentioned this store and that he owned stock in the company before it folded. He always mentioned that it was an attempt to bring a positive business to the area after the riot. 

Under Construction

These buildings are parts of Detroit Metro building history in the past 40-50 years. These are the Providence Tower Condominiums and the IBM headquarters in Southfield, Michigan. Southfield is an "inner ring" suburb of Detroit. Providence Towers were built in the early-mid 1970s near Providence Hospital, which moved from Detroit in the mid-1960s, and the IBM building was built between 1975 and 1977, so these were taken betwen 1974 and 1976. I posted these pictures on Facebook on a Detroit Architecture group, and I got a good bit of information on both. Providence Towers were supposed to be an exclusive apartment complex with many amenities but got caught up in financial concerns. The IBM headquarters has a unique design about it, and the outer covering was so unique, it was copyrighted! The IBM building at last check was up for sale. 

 

Labor joins together in Solidarity

As I am scanning a box of negatives that were in my father's collection, I find these pictures from the 1981 Detroit Labor Day parade in downtown Detroit on September 7, and  Solidarity Day in Washington DC. 1981 was a ride on the labor front. the Air Traffic Controllers Union, PATCO, went on an illegal strike and were fired in August of 1981. Many other labor unions were in support of them, and Detroit branches of the labor unions showed this support in the Labor Day parade. Solidarity Day was in Mid September in Washington DC. Labor Unions from across the nation came to the Nation's Capitol in droves to protest perceived cuts in social security and other programs the Reagan administration that the unions disagreed with.. There are more pictures where these came from, and I will try to post some later. 

 

YouTube Friday: Seven Whole Days-Toni Braxton

 

YouTube Friday is here! . Today's selection for YouTube Friday is "Seven Whole Days" by Toni Braxton. I heard this song originally on Detroit Radio, namely WGPR in Detroit before they went Hip-Hop about 10 years ago. This has been on my mind recently, being a cool sounding song and a cool video, as well. 

Research and Learn

 They say that some people and their stories stick with you after you learn about them. There are two people whose stories stick with me, 30 years after their passings. Back in May of 2020, as I am going through my father's possessions after his passing, I go through his yearbook from his senior year of High School, as well as a school newspaper, and a program from his senior breakfast and graduation, and see the name Longworth Quinn, Jr., dad's class president. I think to myself, "Wow, this young man did it all, and was in many school activities. If he is still alive. where is he now, and what did he do with himself after high school?" I did a search online, and learned quite a bit, as I continue to do today. Born in Chicago, Longworth Quinn, Jr. was the son of Longworth Quinn, Sr., who was with the Chicago Defender at the time, later with the Michigan Chronicle, where he rose to the position of  Publisher. After High School, he went to Alma College, and later Wayne State University Law School, where he got his Juris Doctor degree in 1973.  Longworth Quinn was a member of the Wolverine and Michigan State Bar since 1974 and was an attorney for the City of Detroit at one time. In 1982, he was elected to the 36th District Court, later he was elected head judge. He was a member of the Detroit Board of Education, the Detroit Commission of Community Relations, New Detroit, and many other groups. He stayed very involved in the community. He was known to have an active interest in helping the black community in Detroit. In January 1990, he committed suicide. He was 46 years old. His funeral was attended by family, friends, and many 36th District Court staff. Many that knew Judge Quinn personally say that the passings of his father and two close friends of his in 1989, and the suicide of a girlfriend in 1984 may have led to his suicide. When I read about his girlfriend's suicide, I decided to get to researching her, as well. I find this article from May 6, 1984 (part 1, part 2, part 3) about Lisa Likely, a 23-year-old second-year law student who had met Judge Quinn at court when she was a student attorney, helping with Landlord-tenant issues. Born in 1960, she was academically gifted and worked hard at her studies, often while working two jobs. She was friendly with those she encountered while in school and at work.  Friends and those she was closest to said she had emotional issues beginning when she was a teenager and got worse as she got older. She would act inappropriately, get a hot temper when she did not get what she wanted and attempt to harm herself numerous times, and call the suicide hotline to talk about her problems. When she went to therapy, she would stop when she felt better, then relapse. She committed suicide by jumping from Judge Quinn's apartment balcony in February 1984.  Looking at this article from near 37 years later, it sounds like she was dealing with Histrionic Personality Disorder, in which a person will do nearly anything to be the center of attention, including threatening or attempting to harm themselves to get someone to notice them.  I pray that if you are going through a difficult time, especially in these times, call a friend or the suicide hotline if you are feeling like this world is against you, and you cannot bear it. 

Honored Detroiter

 In the waning days of 2020, I learned about various figures in history that had ties to Detroit and the metro area. One of these figures is James Okubo, who posthumously earned the Medal of Honor in 2000 after records of Asian-American soldiers were re-examined.  He was born in Washington State in 1920 to Japanese parents. He was a Technician, Fifth Grade in the Army, and was a medic. He came very close to the enemy line to help fellow soldiers who were injured. After the war, he moved to Detroit with his family, and was an instructor at the University of Detroit's dental school, and operated his own dental practice in Detroit.  He died in January 1967 in a car accident near Flint, Michigan while heading back to Detroit with his family, who survived the accident. He is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit, where the above picture was taken on New Year's Eve, 2020.

Happy New Year!

 Hope everyone is having a somewhat decent 2021 so far. I am doing well, considering. Sometimes, I get a bit panicked, but I go through my pictures and work on my family history, as well as do research on things that interest me or get my attention in some way or another. Hopefully in 2021, I will be able to share with you things that are interesting or historic in nature. Bear with me as I go through different things, and I will be writing some when I get around to it. 

Lauren