Other ResOurces
Plans for Progress & Dow
In 1968, Dow president H.D. (Ted) Doan spoke about the company’s commitment to equal employment opportunities, saying, “…we cannot ignore the society in which we live or shirk our share of the responsibility for its ill… Each one of us has an obligation to observe the spirit, as well as the letter, of our Company’s policy and our country’s laws.” Doan had more than words to offer; he had data showing Dow’s strides toward greater diversity.
Sambo’s Restaurant
Midland’s franchise of the national chain, Sambo’s, stood at the corner of North Saginaw and Eastman Roads. The pancake diner once boasted 1,117 restaurants in 47 states before falling on financial hardship and declaring bankruptcy in the 1980s.
Rally for Racial Justice
In the wake of the extrajudicial killing of George Floyd in May 2020, a group of former MPS students organized a Rally for Racial Justice in Midland on June 7, 2020. The students were supported by a local organization, Women of Michigan Action Network (WOMAN). Part of a wave of demonstrations across the nation, Midland’s rally drew a crowd of more than 1,200.
Racist video
In the spring of 2019, a Midland High School student made and circulated a racist video about fellow classmates – a Black male student and a white female student. The video featured only partially rendered human figures, but the presumably white male figure and narrator carries and points a gun while claiming that the interracial relationship would lead to “rape, drug abuse or even murder” – all stereotypes with a long racist history.
Phae Dorman Letter
Phae Dorman’s letter her mom, 1960.
“I told her we were colored and not to ever use that word because it hurt our feelings. Oh, Me!! I hope we don't have too many incidents like that! Linn likes his job and we have been invited so many places don't know which way to turn. Guess what! There. are no taverns here. They voted the issue down in the last election. Everyone here has, on the average, four children.. Lord, deliver me!!”
Midland Black Coalition
Organized officially in 1972, the Midland Black Coalition (MBC) offered support for Black families and worked to address challenges and concerns related to being Black in a predominately white community. It was not intended to be a civil rights or political action group, but rather a point of connection for Black people in Midland. Dr. Betty Jones wrote, “The MBC set the agenda and established an African American presence, and [asserted] the needs of … Black citizens.”
Klan Activity
The Ku Klux Klan’s purpose was to enforce white supremacy and ensure white control in government in the South after the Civil War. The Klan began in 1865 as a means to intimidate and terrorize newly freed Black persons to prevent Reconstruction progress. Wearing white robes and hoods to create a mysterious quality, members conducted “night rides” and killed thousands of Black people in addition to tar-and-featherings, rape, and other acts of violence. The first “Grand Wizard” was former Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Housing Covenants
A housing covenant was a binding agreement attached to a house title that outlined specific rules, rights, and practices for the property. During the twentieth century, restrictive housing covenants were used to prevent nonwhite people from purchasing homes in predominantly white neighborhoods. Between 1939-1947, Midland had at least six housing developments with anti-Black covenants.
Fair Housing
Even though housing covenants were outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1948, discrimination in housing continued. Landlords could choose who they would rent to and homeowners could decide which buyer could purchase their home. In white communities, landlords and homeowners alike favored white people, and Midland was no different.
Do you Remember When
Memories from the early Black community.
Minstrel Shows
Minstrel began in the 1830s and peaked in the late nineteenth century, although it lasted well into the twentieth century. As radios and talking movies began to dominant entertainment, professional minstrel shows tapered off. However, according to the Jim Crow Museum, minstrel remained popular throughout the early to mid-twentieth century with local theater groups, schools, churches and other amateur groups.