I Metro
Dec. 1, 1955
What was going on in Detroit on the day of Rosa Parks' historic civil rights . stand.
Irwin Cohen
Special to the Jewish News
F
fifty years ago, the first day
of December fell on a
Thursday; same as this
year. Dec. 1, 1955, became a his-
toric date because of seamstress
Rosa Parks' stand by refusing to
give up her seat on a
Montgomery, Ala., bus to a white
,
man.
Over the course of time, Mrs.
Parks would live, die and be
buried in Detroit. The bus she
boarded that day is now perma-
nently on display in what was, 50
years ago, our area's most.segre-
gated suburb — Dearborn.
What was Thursday, Dec. 1,
1995, like in Detroit?
Fifty years ago, Detroit was a
place to live, hot a place to leave.
were still getting used to new
surroundings in the recently
opened City County Building on
Woodward and Jefferson. From
an upper floor window, Mayor
Albert E. Cobo could see the rap-
idly developing Civic Center. The
area that would eventually
become Cobo Hall and
Convention Arena was cleared,
with construction slated to start
in April. -
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Jewish Activity
Detroit's Jewish center of shop :-
ping and houses of worship were
still in the Dexter section.
However, the area was bleeding
families as northwest Detroit,
Huntington Woods, Oak Park •
and Southfield were becoming
the desired destinations.
that day did not make ,any of Detroit's three
dailies in the following days. That's because
striking typesetters shut down Detroit's
papers after the morning editions went to
press on Dec. 1.
December 1 2005
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The courageous stand taken by Rosa Parks
It was a city, according to a 1954
Wayne County population study,
that had 2 million inhabitants.
Sonny Eliot was on the air that
day, forecasting a sunny day with
temperatures in the 30s.
Downtown was buzzing with
shoppers looking for holiday
gifts and gawking at the bright
decorations. Hudson's, Kern's,
Crowley's and surrounding stores
had cash registers humming.
Policemen were stationed on
Woodward and some of the side
streets, making sure the throngs
of bag-bearing shoppers crossed
safely.
City and county employees
.
During the previous week,
congregations Beth Shalom and
B'nai David had groundbreaking
ceremonies and Temple Emanu-
El's excavation .was proceeding
rapidly at suburban sites. Bar
mitzvah boys George Benison,
Dennis Collins, Larry Docks,
Michael Gordon, Howard Kaplan,
Marvin Rosenblatt, Barry Tanner
and Ronald Weitzman were pol-
ishing up for their big day in var-
ious Detroit synagogues.
The Book Fair, a three-day
event, would open in three days
at the Jewish Community Center
on Davison west of Dexter. On
•
Monroe Street in downtown Detroit was aglow in this photo taken more than 40 years ago..
on WWJ at 8:30.
behalf of the Israel Bondsdrive,
For those who wanted to see a
Abba Hushi, mayor of Haifa, and
movie in the neighborhood, the
Sidor Belarsky, world-famous
basso soloist, appeared in person Studio•Theater at Livernois and
Davison boasted having the first
at Beth Aaron Synagogue on
motion picture in English pro-
Wyoming in an event sponsored
duced in Israel: Hill 24 Doesn't
by the Zionist Council, the
Answer, starring Haya Harrarit
Landsmanshaften Council and
and Edward Mulhare. The Avalon
other organizations.
Temple Beth El, which pur- . on Linwood and Davison offered
Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in To
chased a 22.5 acre tract at James
Catch A Thief The Dexter had
Couzens and 9 1/7 Mile in
William
Holden and Jennifer-
Southfield Township in 1952,
Love Is A Many
-Jones
in
decided to remain at its
Splendored Thing. Further north-
Woodward and Gladstone loca-
west, on Seven Mile and Meyers,
tion. During the three-year peri-
the Royal carried Mister Roberts,
od that the Reform congregation
starring Henry Fonda and James
held the suburban property,
membership increased by 183 to - Cagney.
Football fans were still talking
1,707 families.
about the Lions' 53-14 drubbing
of the Chicago Bears at Briggs
Around The Community Stadium four days earlier. Fans
werelooking forward to the team
Families that loved to stay put
and loved The Lone Ranger loved playing again in three-days at •
Thursdays. The television version Chicago's Wrigley Field. Hockey
-fans were worried about the
of the program starring Clayton
fourth-place Red Wings' losing
Moore aired at 7:30 on Channel
record.
7, the fifth season in the 'same
Local baseball fans were look-
time slot. The national radio ver-
ing
forward to spring training
sion, originating from Detroit the
and
wondering if Al Kaline, the
last three decades, starring Brace
20-year-old
batting. champ, could
Beemer as the masked man, was
duplicate his great season. The
Tigers were readying contracts to
send to 40"players on their major
league roster. The players ranged
from Alabama to Texas and all ,
had one thing in-common —
they were all white.
The courageolis stand taken by
Rosa Parks that day did not make
any of Detroit's three dailies in
the following days. That's •
because striking typesetters shut
down Detroit's papers after the
morning editions went to press
on Dec. 1.
The strike lasted 46 days_ and
reporters from the three dailies
started a newspaper from
scratch and called it the Detroit
Reporter. The slimmed-down
- paper printed 300,000 copies on
a daily basis during the - strike,
but had no coverage of Rosa
Parks and the happenings in
Montgomery.
When the regular papers
returned and had capsule news
highlights of events of the past
46 days, there was no mention of
Rosa Parks and the events that
would make Thursday, Dec. 1,
1955, so historic. 1-1
41