Black American Veterans | Ann Arbor District Library

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Legacies Project Oral History: Titus McClary

Thu, 01/16/2020 - 9:22am

Titus W. McClary was born in 1937 and spent his childhood in Georgetown, South Carolina. After moving to Detroit, he attended Highland Park High School and worked at his uncle’s North End restaurant. During his time in the army in the early 1960s, he picketed a segregated theater and restaurant in Killeen, Texas. In 1965 he became the third Black police officer in Highland Park. McClary ran the juvenile division and helped found a Black officers’ organization. He served as mayor of Highland Park and remained a city council member until he passed away in 2017.

Titus McClary was interviewed in partnership with the Museum of African American History of Detroit and Y Arts Detroit in 2010 as part of the Legacies Project.

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Legacies Project Oral History: Marlene Laws

Thu, 01/16/2020 - 9:09am

Marlene Laws grew up in Detroit and graduated from Sidney D. Miller High School in 1958. She served in the military at Fort Sam in Houston, Texas from 1960 to 1962. Upon returning to Michigan, she was a nurse at Pontiac State Hospital for two years. Laws dedicated 43 years of her career to the United States Postal Service as a clerk and then as a Human Resources specialist. She and her former husband Kenneth had one daughter, Dr. Dawn N. Laws. Marlene Laws passed away on February, 4, 2017.

Marlene Laws was interviewed in partnership with the Museum of African American History of Detroit and Y Arts Detroit in 2010 as part of the Legacies Project.

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Legacies Project Oral History: Ernestine Bull

Wed, 01/15/2020 - 9:58am

Ernestine Bull grew up in Detroit after moving there with her uncle in 1943, and she recalls attending concerts by the young Aretha Franklin at New Bethel Baptist Church in the 1950s. She joined the United States Army Women's Army Corps (WAC) and did her basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama. She was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where she was a member of the basketball team, and in Yokohama, Japan. After her service in the army she was a teacher at Dexter Ferry Elementary School in Detroit for many years.

Ernestine Bull was interviewed in partnership with the Museum of African American History of Detroit and Y Arts Detroit in 2010 as part of the Legacies Project.

Media

Legacies Project Oral History: David Griffis

Wed, 01/15/2020 - 9:50am

David Griffis has lived in Detroit for his entire life except for two years of service in the military, when he went to Korea. He worked as a Personnel Technician for the Michigan Employment Security Commission and for Chrysler’s personnel department. He received a degree in business administration from Wayne State University, and went on to run two nursing home facilities in Detroit for over fifteen years. He has two daughters, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

David Griffis was interviewed in partnership with the Museum of African American History of Detroit and Y Arts Detroit in 2010 as part of the Legacies Project.