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There were major, systemic reasons Black people did not settle in Midland in larger numbers. When Herbert H. Dow began his chemical company in 1897, Black people were not allowed to work as full-time employees, only as supplemental day workers. Some of the best jobs the community had to offer were denied to Black people. It wasn’t until 1960, when Dow hired Dr. Linneaus Dorman as its first Black chemist that professional jobs would finally become available to non-white people.

The time between Oliver Highgate’s death in 1943 and the arrival of the Dorman family in 1960 is marked by discriminatory housing covenants , another tool of systemic oppression, which may account for the lack of a Black community in Midland during that time. Housing covenants, or restrictive addendums to housing titles, in the twentieth century prevented white people from selling their houses to Black people. In Midland, housing boomed following World War I and again in the 1930s, as Willard Dow sensed another world war on the horizon that would increase production. However, the new developments – many of which were orchestrated by Dow Chemical – all came with restrictive covenants that not only barred the sale of the house to a Black person but also barred any rental agreements with Black people.

Even if Black people could get hired for the good blue-collar jobs in Midland, they could not find housing. So the effect was that Black people simply did not live or work in Midland for about twenty years. Such housing covenants were outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1948.

Civil rights became a national focus in the 1950s. The U.S. government encouraged corporations to pilot an early, voluntary version of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, and Dow Chemical along with its sister company Dow Corning became the drivers behind Midland’s increasing Black community. The families and individuals that came and stayed in the first decade after Lin Dorman – the Haughtons, Edward Flagg, the Gants, the Greenes, the Lindseys, the Richards, the Hamptons, the Joneses and the Staffords – are often called the First Families.

These pioneers stood out among the mostly white Midlanders and were often tasked with educating their new neighbors about cultural differences. They recount that most Midlanders were friendly and curious, if a bit naïve, so many took turns speaking to clubs, churches, and school groups to educate their neighbors about Black culture and history.

Eventually, the Midland Black Coalition (MBC) formalized that service work. Founded in 1972, the MBC provided support to and advocated for the small Black community, offered social opportunities, and worked on education. When the First Families arrived, they had to travel to Saginaw or Bay City just to find barber shops and salons that could properly care for their hair. While there, they could shop for personal care items and foods that weren’t available here, so one subcommittee worked to bring consumer products to Midland.

Black individuals and families have continued to call Midland home since those first families arrived in the 1960s and 1970s, although their numbers remain a small percentage of the overall population. Many were drawn here by Dow. Many kids completed most, if not all, of their K12 education in Midland Public Schools.