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Talkin' Music - Episode 3: Beginnings: Instructional Program for Youth

In the 1960’s Dr. Patterson noticed a lack of participation from students of color in Ann Arbor’s public school music programs, an issue that still persists today. He founded the Our Own Thing Instructional Program to provide free instruments, instruction, and support for local youth. In this episode, we hear a lively discussion between Dr. Patterson and Sylvia Harmon, one of his earliest students.

Johnnie Rush Criticizes Police Investigation of Serial Rape Case, January 1995 Photographer: Kristian Pierson

Johnnie Rush Criticizes Police Investigation of Serial Rape Case, January 1995 image
Year:
1995
Published In:
Ann Arbor News, January 25, 1995
Caption:
Johnnie Rush, in his barbershop at 1031 Broadway, cuts the hair of 14-year-old Brian Ransome and talks about how he thinks police have lost touch with the community. He was critical of the way police have conducted the investigation of the case of Ann Arbor's serial rapist.
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There Went The Neighborhood - Audio Interview: Mary Hinton-Branner

Mary Hinton-Branner attended Jones School in the 1950s, from kindergarten through sixth grade. She remembers going to the Dunbar Community Center and playing in the neighborhood with her eleven siblings. She recalls how the rise in public housing led to the gentrification of “The Old Neighborhood.”

More interviews are available in the There Went The Neighborhood Interview Archive.

Johnnie Rush Barber Shop, May 9, 2020 Photographer: Amy Cantu

Johnnie Rush Barber Shop, May 9, 2020 image
Year:
2020
Copyright
Creative Commons (Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-alike)

Ann Street Black Business District

For most of the twentieth century, the 100 block of East Ann Street was a hub for Black-owned businesses in downtown Ann Arbor. A rotating set of barber shops, shoe shine parlors, dry cleaners, restaurants, blues bars, and pool rooms formed the backbone of Black social life, especially for men. The district stretched around the corner onto North Fourth Avenue where the Colored Welfare League housed Black-owned businesses and community organizations such as the early Dunbar Center.

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