With 2017 being the 50th anniversary of those troubled times, a unique historical project hopes to shed light on the past while encouraging all to look toward a brighter future.
If you, or someone you know, was either a Red Cross employee, volunteer or the recipient of Red Cross assistance during the events of 1967, please let us know . . . we want to share your story!
The Red Cross is proud to be part of an innovative history project focused on the civil unrest that swept our nation 50 years ago during the summer of 1967, culminating in large-scale turmoil in a number of major cities. The unrest caused far reaching damage and emotional trauma, yet perhaps no other community was as severely impacted by these events more than Detroit, Michigan.
With 2017 being the 50th anniversary of those troubled times, a unique historical project hopes to shed light on the past while encouraging all to look toward a brighter future. The “Detroit '67: Looking Back to Move Forward” project is a multi-year community engagement that brings together diverse voices and communities around the effects of a historic crisis to find their place in the present and inspire the future.
In cooperation with Detroit ’67, the Red Cross initiative “Crossing the Divide: The American Red Cross & the Summer of ’67” is a documentary project aiming to record the people, places and stories associated with Red Cross humanitarian relief efforts surrounding the civil unrest of 1967.
The Red Cross joins a number of prominent area cultural institutions to mark 50 years since 1967, including the Detroit Historical Society, The Detroit Institute of Art, The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, The Michigan Science Center, and MOCAD. The effort encompasses a wide range of activities, including an oral history project, book releases, art exhibits, a community grant making program and ongoing strategic partnerships, each in its own way making an urgent call to all to learn from our past.
For more information, or to share a story, contact: Perry Rech, perry.rech@redcross.org, 313-989-9008