Fascinating Photos Capture Street Scenes of Detroit After the Riot 1967

The 1967 Detroit Riot, also known as the 12th Street Riot or Detroit Rebellion, was the bloodiest of the urban riots in the United States during the “Long, hot summer of 1967”. Composed mainly of confrontations between black residents and the Detroit Police Department, it began in the early morning hours of Sunday July 23, 1967, in Detroit, Michigan.

The precipitating event was a police raid of an unlicensed, after-hours bar, known as a blind pig, on the city's Near West Side. It exploded into one of the deadliest and most destructive riots in American history, lasting five days and surpassing the scale of Detroit's 1943 race riot 24 years earlier.

Governor George W. Romney ordered the Michigan Army National Guard into Detroit to help end the disturbance. President Lyndon B. Johnson sent in the United States Army’s 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions. The riot resulted in 43 deaths, 1,189 injured, over 7,200 arrests, and more than 400 buildings destroyed.

The scale of the riot was the worst in the United States since the 1863 New York City draft riots during the American Civil War, and it was not surpassed until the 1992 Los Angeles riots 25 years later.

These fascinating color photos were taken by Kevin Mueller that show street scenes of Detroit after the riot in 1967.

Grand River and 16th, Detroit, July 30, 1967

Pingree Street, Detroit, July 30, 1967

Trumbull, Detroit, July 30, 1967

Blaine Street, Detroit, July 30, 1967

Detroit, July 30, 1967

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Michigan in the Early 1940s Through Arthur S. Siegel’s Lens

Born 1913 in Detroit, American photographer and educator Arthur Sidney Siegel began photographing in the mid-1920s as a youth. He worked as a photojournalist for the New York Times, and took journalism assignments for newspapers, magazines, and government agencies for several decades. During World War II, he photographed for the U.S. Army Air Corps and the Office of War Information.

After the war, Siegel returned to the New Bauhaus (by then the IIT Institute of Design) as an instructor, at the request of Moholy-Nagy. He eventually became head of the school’s photography department. He left in 1955 to work in photojournalism full-time, and returned in 1965; in 1971, he was named president of the IIT Institute of Design. In 1955, he married Irene Yarovich, an artist whom he met at IIT.

Siegel’s photography was included in several major exhibitions at art galleries, including two shows devoted exclusively to Siegel at the Art Institute of Chicago and as part of the “Image of America” exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. He was noted for his use of experimental color techniques, and from the 1950s often explored abstract use of color as a vehicle for expression. He worked with light in novel ways by “introduc[ing] creative methods of back-lighting and projecting light onto surfaces”. He also wrote extensively on photography and influenced the development of photographic education programs.

Siegel died in 1978 in Chicago, aged 64. These photos are part of his work that Arthur S. Siegel took life of Michigan in the early 1940s.

A Venetian night party at the Detroit yacht club, whose members represent the wealthier class of manufacturers and their friends, Detroit, Michigan, 1940

A Venetian night party at the Detroit yacht club, whose members represent the wealthier class of manufacturers and their friends. Cabin cruisers and sailboats decorated with lights, 1940

A Venetian night party at the Detroit yacht club, whose members represent the wealthier class of manufacturers and their friends. Crowd dancing, 1940

A Venetian night party at the Detroit yacht club, whose members represent the wealthier class of manufacturers and their friends. Small cabin cruiser, summer 1940

Sailing boat at a Venetian night party at the Detroit yacht club, whose members represent the wealthier class of manufacturers and their friends, 1940

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Steel Barrel Tested in 200-Foot Drop, 1933

An eighteen-story plunge in Detroit, Michigan, tested the strength of a new-type beer barrel in 1933. Made of steel, the barrel was filled with water and carried to the eighteenth floor of a hotel.

It would really suck if someone picked that moment to walk out to their car.

Here it was dropped from a window, plunging more than 200 feet to a hard-packed gravel parking space at the rear of the building. The barrel is said to have survived the shock without springing a leak, although the side was badly dented.

In a second test, another barrel was not even dented by the long drop, according to the manufacturer.

Men Standing With Pile of American Buffalo Skulls at Michigan Carbon Works in Rogueville, 1892

The most famous photograph of bison extermination is a grisly image of a mountain of bison skulls. It was taken by an unknown photographer outside of Michigan Carbon Works in Rougeville, Michigan, in 1892. At the close of the 18th century, there were between 30 and 60 million bison on the continent. By the time of this photograph, that population was reduced to only 456 wild bison.

In 1892, bison skulls await industrial processing at Michigan Carbon Works in Rogueville (a suburb of Detroit). Bones were used processed to be used for glue, fertilizer, dye/tint/ink, or were burned to create “bone char” which was an important component for sugar refining. (Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library)

Increased colonization of the West led to the large-scale slaughter of bison. The arrival of white settler hunters with their weapons, as well as growing market demand for hides and bones, intensified the killing. Most herds were exterminated between 1850 and the late 1870s.

The photograph shows the massive scale of this destruction. A man-made mountain emerging from the image’s grassy foreground, the pile of bones as appears part of the landscape. The image can be read as an example of what Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky has called “manufactured landscapes.”

The Rougeville photograph is often used to illustrate the scale of bison extermination. It appears in conservation publications, magazines, films and recent protest memes. The photograph has become an icon of this animal’s slaughter. But this photograph is more than just a symbol of human-caused destruction and hubris. Analyzing the image with multiple lenses illustrates a history of relationships.

Around Michigan in the Late 1970s

From Detroit to Whitmore Lake, these pictures were taken by Don Hudson, an experienced amateur photographer based in South Lyon, Michigan, in the late seventies.

Pinckney, 1979

In 1972, after three years in university, Hudson decided to get serious about his love of photography and enrolled in the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts, now called College for Creative Studies. “It was there that I began to study the history of photography and look seriously at the major practitioners of the game.” Said Hudson. “The FSA photographers, and in particular Walker Evans and Russell Lee, made a big impression. Their straight-on, literal-looking, richly informed images, began to resonate with me as to how a camera can record the visual world. 

“At the same time, Winogrand’s and Friedlander’s more personal response to the documentary look of the straight camera image, and their almost architectural construction of the photograph,” he continued, “began telling me that one should be careful about how that camera can transform what we are looking at, and what we can derive as to meaning.”

Take a look back at life around Michigan in the late 1970s through these fascinating black and white pictures. For more photographs, visit Hudson's brilliant Flickr site.

Ann Arbor, 1977

Detroit, 1977

Detroit, 1977

Detroit, 1977

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Fascinating Black and White Photos of Detroit, Michigan in 1973

These pictures were taken by Don Hudson, an experienced amateur photographer born on December 29, 1950 in Detroit, Michigan, during his student days at the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts, now called College for Creative Studies. 

“After dithering around in liberal arts at a university, in 1972 I decided to commit myself to what I really loved, photography.” Said Hudson. “As it turned out, I only stayed two years, but probably the most important thing I learned during that time was the ability to imagine a lifetime engagement with the photographic experience.”

Take a look back at life in Detroit in 1973 through these fascinating black and white pictures. For more photographs, visit Hudson's brilliant Flickr site.

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Amazing Vintage Photographs of Fountain of Ice on Washington Boulevard in Detroit From the Early 20th Century

One of the unique features of Detroit in winter is the famous ice fountain on Washington Boulevard. Several jets of water are allowed to play all winder, and the result is a massive berg of ice which sometimes reaches a height of nearly thirty feet, and contains many tons of the crystal.

The tradition of forming ice sculptures in the city dates back to at least the early 1900s. These amazing vintage photographs show winter scene on Washington Boulevard in Detroit from between the 1900s and 1920s.

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Elvis Presley Haircut Fever Among Young Ladies of Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1957

In 1957 the top-selling single in America was Elvis Presley’s “All Shook Up,” and the top hairstyle in Grand Rapids, Michigan was a tribute to the man who sang it. America was so wild for Elvis at this time that when the singer made his debut on the Ed Sullivan Show, 82.6 percent of America’s televisions were tuned in. Glenwood Dodgson, who operated a chain of beauty salons in Grand Rapids, read the market and began offering women an Elvis hairdo. He knew what he was doing.

In six weeks more than 1,000 women came to Dodgson’s shops and had themselves made over in the image of Elvis. The makeover cost the not-outrageous price of $1.50 (which would be about $14 today).

The group photograph here shows that there was some variety in the hairdo approach. While every woman was given Elvis’ sideburns, each took a different tack to the forehead locks, and some went all the way and dyed their hair black.

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The Story Behind the Iconic Photo of Kurt Cobain With Creepy Dolls’ Heads by Mark Seliger

“Things were going pretty darn well for him. Six months later, I was shocked to learn he had passed.” – Mark Seliger

Mark Seliger, Kurt Cobain, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1993. Courtesy of the artist.

This image of Kurt Cobain is from a session that was taken about in October 1993, six months before he passed. It was for an article in Rolling Stone about the making of In Utero. This particular image feels more or less like a portrait but in a still life situation, with these antiquated doll heads on a shelf behind this cascading wall of red roses.

“I first photographed Nirvana in 1992 for Rolling Stone magazine in the midst of the band’s world tour for Nevermind, their breakthrough album. Kurt Cobain had something of a reputation, and the day before the shoot I asked Dave Grohl [the band’s drummer] and Krist Novoselic [bass] if they would be so kind as to ask Kurt to wear a T-shirt without writing or slogans on it. 

“The next day, the guys arrived for the shoot laughing. Kurt was in sunglasses, with a sweater all buttoned up. When he took it off, it turned out he was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words: “Corporate Magazines Still Suck.” Thankfully, Rolling Stone saw the humor in it and ran it on the cover. 

“This photo came about in October 1993, when the band were touring the U.S after the release of the album In Utero. Kurt remembered our previous shoot, and I think he was grateful that we hadn’t tried to interfere. The shoot took place in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was pretty smooth sailing, I think because we already had that bond. My sister helped me to order the dolls’ heads from New York, and we arranged them on an altar with rose bushes I’d picked up from a florist and left to wilt. The image was intended to be surreal – more of a still life than a portrait – but Kurt got it, and the band were really enthusiastic about the concept. 

“I tried variations with the whole band, but nothing worked quite so well as Kurt alone. There was something about him that pulled the image together. There was such intensity in his eyes and beauty in his face – even with the wear and tear of the road and the physical pain he had gone through.

“Great photography is not about lighting or technical stuff: it’s about how to engage your subjects. Having your picture taken isn’t necessarily easy, and in many ways it’s very unnatural to sit in front of the camera. But you need your subject to trust you in what is, frankly, quite a weird experience. That connection is essential to your work.

“He was quiet, but things seemed to be going pretty darn well for him at the time. He had his daughter with him, and the tour was in full force. I was in total shock when I heard the news six months later that he had passed. I couldn’t get my head around it. But I don’t think this image needs to be seen with a sense of foreboding. If anything, there’s something life-affirming about where he’s at, even if the framing is grotesque. It’s overwhelmingly about the beauty of him as a man. I only photographed him twice, but I always found him generous and gentle.”

(Interviewed by Edward Siddons for The Guardian)

Michigan Loggers Pose Alongside Their World Record Haul, a Load of More Than 36,000 Board-Feet of Lumber Destined for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair

To show off Michigan’s forest industry at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, lumberjacks from the Great Lakes State cut and stacked 145 tons of white pine logs on the sled shown here. The timber formed part of the Michigan’s Loggers’ Camp exhibit, which included a 20-by-70-foot log cabin staffed by real lumberjacks who were shown chowing down on their diet of pork and beans, johnnycake, and black coffee. Besides a sleigh displaying the 18-foot-long logs, the camp included a 200-by-125-foot sawmill and various other tools for cutting, shaping, and transporting wood from the forest to mills.

This load of white pine was cut on the Nestor Estate near Ewen, Michigan, in Ontonagon County in the Upper Peninsula. It was a world’s record load of more than 36,000 board-feet of lumber. The two horses did indeed pull the load approximately a quarter of a mile. It was then loaded onto railcars, along with the sled, and sent to Chicago. The load was reloaded as part of the Michigan Lumber exhibit at the 1893 Columbia Exposition.

On the skidways were small piles of logs to be hauled out on the big sleighs to the rollways on the river bank, where they would await the spring drive. The sleighs used to haul the great loads of logs were from eight to ten feet wide at the double runners and shod with inch-thick steel. Twelve and fourteen cross beams or bunks were fastened across the sleigh with “king bolt” in the middle in order that the bunks could be swung back lengthwise on the return trip so that sleighs could pass each other more easily at the “turn-outs.”

The sleighs were drawn to the side of the skidways and the logs were rolled onto the bunks, at first by the loading and decking crew with canthooks, then as the pile became higher, decking chains were placed around the middle of the logs and the logs pulled onto the high load with horses. The entire load was bound by chains at each end and was ready to go. The teamster climbed to the top and drew up his reins. Again speaking quietly to his horses, the driver reined his team to the right to “break” the runners. Then straightening the animals out for a forward pull, he eased them into their collars. Digging their sharp-shod feet into the ice and snow, the horses started the load. Once the load, weighing from ten to fifteen tons at times, gathered momentum, it did not stop until the rollway was reached.

Each teamster endeavored to haul a record load. There was spirited competition and lively small betting between the drivers. In the bunkhouse each crew bragged about the loads hauled during the day.

The largest load of logs ever hauled out of the woods consisted of 36,055 feet of virgin Michigan pine. The logs averaged 18 feet in length. The height of the load was thirty-three feet and three inches. The weight was one hundred and forty-four tons. This load was decked by a chain and a team of horses. It was hauled by a team on iced roads to the Ontonagon river, then rafted in the spring to the nearest railroad where it was loaded onto nine flatcars and shipped to the Chicago World’s Fair to be used in buildings there. As many a forty million feet of logs were taken out of the woods by one outfit in one season.

Vintage Photographs of Children and Animals at a Hospital in Michigan That Encourage Therapy Through Animals

In September 1956, LIFE photographer Francis Miller visited the children at the University Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to document the hospital’s animal therapy program, which had already been in operation for over 30 years. At the time, the hospital treated about 3,000 children every year, and the staff operated a “perpetual animal show” to help ease their pain and anxiety.

Today, animal-assisted therapy is common in hospitals, nursing homes, rehab clinics and other places where the pain and solitude that so often come with illness and the stress associated with recovering from injuries or sickness can be almost paralyzing. Whether or not spending time with animals can actually help spark long-lasting improvements in mental health is an open, and controversial, question. But anecdotal evidence suggests that patients offered the opportunity to play with and otherwise interact with animals appear to be more optimistic about their prospects for recovery, while certain animals (especially social animals, like dogs) can often help decrease the sense of isolation and loneliness that so often plagues those stuck in hospitals for long periods of time.

As LIFE noted, “for hurrying a child out of the sickbed, the Ann Arbor hospital has found that nothing can match a youngster’s natural fascination with animals.”

A room full of children, nurses and animals watching as a ferret is crawling across the high-wire as one of the hospital’s methods of using therapy with animals.

A nurse holding a ferret while the little boy is feeding it - part of a method of using therapy with animals.

A little girl is being held up while petting and feeding the kitten as one of the hospital’s method of using therapy with animals.

Three little boys reaching into a water bin of baby ducks as one of the hospital’s methods of using therapy with animals.

Nurse tending to a child playing with a puppy as one of the hospital’s methods of using therapy through animals.

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Waiting for Summer: A Beautiful Photo Shoot of Michigan Girls in 1977

A photo set titled “Waiting for Summer” was taken by Dan Pieniak that shows beautiful portraits of his young model friend Michelle McLellan and her sister Donna. This photo shoot was at Metro Beach park in Harrison Township, Michigan in spring 1977.

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Beautiful Color Photos Show the Flower Garden of a Michigan House in the 1950s

These beautiful color pics were found by Christine in a box of View-Master reels. The View-Master Personal Reel line was introduced in 1952 but was discontinued 10 years later. As far as a date on these, one frame shows a 1953 Chrysler New Yorker Deluxe with a Michigan license plate and the year '53' stamped on the bottom.

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