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Detroit 1967 riots stories sought for oral histories project

Detroit photo
Andrea_44 via Wikimedia | CC BY 2.0
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wikimedia.org

The Detroit Historical Society is asking area residents to share their memories of the 1967 race riots that devastated parts of Detroit.

A story collection day is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday by the Detroit 67 Project team at the Detroit Historical Museum in Midtown.

Interviews about Detroit before, during and after the riots will last between 30 and 45 minutes.

Tensions over lack of housing for blacks and open animosity with the mostly white police department erupted following a July 23, 1967 raid on an after-hours club.

A standoff grew into rioting and looting that enveloped 25 city blocks for days and claimed 43 lives.

The riots hastened the exodus of many white residents from Detroit.

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