There Went The Neighborhood - Studio Interview: Audrey Lucas
Audrey Lucas was a student at Jones School during the 1940s, from third to ninth grade. She recalls having white teachers and classmates of many ethnicities, primarily Black Americans and Greek Americans. At this time many Ann Arbor businesses were not welcoming to Black people.
This interview was filmed during the making of the documentary film There Went The Neighborhood: The Closing of Jones School, produced by the Ann Arbor District Library and 7 Cylinders Studio. More interviews are available in the There Went The Neighborhood Interview Archive.

There Went The Neighborhood: Old Neighborhood Walking Tour
This filmed walking tour was created during production of There Went The Neighborhood: The Closing of Jones School by the Ann Arbor District Library and 7 Cylinders Studio (7CS). Led by three former Jones School students–Roger Brown, Cheryl (Jewett) O’Neal, and Omer Jean (Dixon) Winborn–the tour describes changes that have taken place in the neighborhood surrounding the school over the past several decades. Key stops in order of appearance include the former Jones School, Ann Street Black Business District, Dunbar Center, Bethel AME Church, Wheeler Park, and Second Baptist Church.
The route (although filmed in a different order) was inspired by the Living Oral History Project’s Walking Tour of a Historically Black Neighborhood in Ann Arbor, which was created in partnership between the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County (AACHM) and the Ann Arbor District Library. Check out that tour to view these locations in person alongside historical photographs and interview excerpts!
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House, 215 W Summit St, Water Hill Neighborhood, July 14, 2024 Photographer: Steve Jensen
Year:
2024
Tennis Court, Hunt Park, 1035 Daniel St, Water Hill Neighborhood, July 14, 2024 Photographer: Steve Jensen
Year:
2024
Hunt Park, 1035 Daniel St, Water Hill Neighborhood, July 14, 2024 Photographer: Steve Jensen
Year:
2024
Big City Small World Bakery, 500 Miller Ave, Water Hill Neighborhood, May 17, 2024 Photographer: Steve Jensen
Year:
2024
Houses, 200 Block W Summit St, View from N Main St, Water Hill Neighborhood, April 20, 2024 Photographer: Steve Jensen
Year:
2024

There Went The Neighborhood: The Closing of Jones School
As part of Ann Arbor 200, the Ann Arbor District Library and 7 Cylinders Studio (7CS) have produced a documentary film about the closing of Ann Arbor's Jones School. In 1965, the Board of Education closed the majority-Black school. Ann Arbor joined a nationwide trend of school desegregation during the Civil Rights Era. But for these young students, the loss of a neighborhood school foreshadowed changes to their close-knit community. Gentrification came to Ann Arbor on the heels of desegregation.
In the making of this film, 7CS filmmakers and AADL archivists interviewed over thirty former Jones students and Black community leaders. They shared memories of Jones School and "The Old Neighborhood"—the areas now known as Kerrytown and Water Hill. A filmed walking tour, studio interviews, and historical photos form the core of the film. Run time is approximately 40 minutes.
The AADL Archives has many additional materials to explore relating to these topics, including dozens of Ann Arbor News articles that appear in the film:

Graffiti, Ann Arbor Railroad Underpass, 200 Block Felch St, Water Hill Neighborhood, August 18, 2023 Photographer: Steve Jensen

Year:
2023
Dinosaur with Shopping Cart, Yard Art, 520 Spring St, Water Hill Neighborhood, August 18, 2023 Photographer: Steve Jensen

Year:
2023