AACHM Oral History Excerpt: Audrey Monagan

Fri, 02/17/2023 - 2:10pm

Audrey Monagan was born in Ann Arbor in 1941, and grew up in a close-knit, predominantly black neighborhood on North Fifth Ave. She remembers attending Bethel AME Church with her grandparents, spending time at the Dunbar Community Center, and helping raise her younger siblings. She attended Jones School and Pioneer High School before working for General Motors, where she was an inspector for eighteen years. Mrs. Monagan has been married to her second husband, Philip, for 48 years.

AACHM Oral History Excerpt: Don Simons

Tue, 02/07/2023 - 3:36pm

Donald L. Simons was born in 1943 and he grew up on Fuller Street in Ann Arbor. He attended Jones School, Ann Arbor High, and Eastern Michigan University. He was a starting football halfback and basketball co-captain in high school, and was recognized as athlete of the month. Mr. Simons recalls segregation and several incidents of discrimination in Ann Arbor. He is proud of his family, his work coaching at the Maxey Boys' Training School and Boysville, and co-hosting the annual neighborhood picnic for 25 years.

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JCC Conversations | Dr. Isaiah “Ike” McKinnon

Wed, 02/01/2023 - 2:03pm

Dr. Isaiah McKinnon, former police officer who became the chief of the Detroit Police Department and the deputy mayor of Detroit. He was one of the first African American officers in the Detroit police force and was almost killed by racist fellow police officers in an incident that was later covered internationally.

AACHM Oral History Excerpt: Audrey Lucas

Wed, 02/01/2023 - 12:14pm

Audrey Lucas was born in 1934 and raised in Ann Arbor where she fondly recalls her school days at Jones School. She talks about activities at the Dunbar Center where she had the pleasure of singing at various city events, and some of Ann Arbor's black neighborhoods and businesses. Ms. Lucas worked for the University of Michigan Health System for 47 years, the last 35 before her retirement as a human resources consultant.

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AACHM Oral History Excerpt: Mary Wheeler McDade

Tue, 01/31/2023 - 4:21pm

Mary McDade was born in Columbia, South Carolina in 1939, but grew up in Ann Arbor. Her parents Albert and Emma Wheeler were active in local politics and civil rights. As a college student, McDade helped found the University of Michigan chapter of the NAACP. She moved to Peoria, Illinois with her husband Joe Billy McDade in 1963. After raising four children, she built a career in law. McDade graduated from the University of Illinois College of Law and she has been a justice of the Illinois Appellate Court since 2000.

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View Mary McDade's full oral history.

JCC Conversations | Leslie McGraw and William Hampton

Wed, 11/09/2022 - 12:19pm

Chuck Newman interviews his guests William Hampton, the President of the Ann Arbor Branch of the NAACP and Leslie McGraw whose uncle was lynched in Tennessee for attempting to help blacks register to vote.

Intergenerational Dialogue on the Great Migration: Highlights

Sat, 10/01/2022 - 3:32pm

Intergenerational Dialogue on the Great Migration: Alvesta Smith

Sat, 10/01/2022 - 3:24pm

Intergenerational Dialogue on the Great Migration: Betty Thomas

Sat, 10/01/2022 - 3:23pm

Intergenerational Dialogue on the Great Migration: Delores Washington

Sat, 10/01/2022 - 3:22pm