During the early 19th century through 1865, Detroit was an integral part of the network known as the Underground Railroad. Given the code word “Midnight,” our city was the last stop for many freedom seekers as they sought passage to Canada. However, the Underground Railroad was only the first of many acts of civil disobedience our city has witnessed.
Detroiters have played a large role in the movement for Civil Rights, and today our city continues to be home to many change-makers creating a brighter future. Join OAC educators, Kimmie Dobos Wolfe of the Detroit Historical Society and Jamon Jordan of the Black Scroll Network History & Tours for a historical walking tour of the Detroit riverfront and surrounding areas. This walk will begin and end at the Outdoor Adventure Center. This program is recommended for participants 10 and older.
Jamon Jordan is an educator, writer and historian. Also known as Baba Jamon, he has been a teacher of African and African American history for 20 years and a researcher of Black history for decades. Since 2013, he has been running Black Scroll Network History & Tours, where he leads tours and presentations dealing with African and African American history in the Detroit area, throughout Michigan and the United States. He has led a series of Black history classes for the docents and volunteers at the Detroit Institute of Arts and has been the historical consultant for over a dozen documentaries and a number of film and television projects. He is also the cofounder of the Black Scroll Study Group, an educational research organization that takes a study tour to a different site each year that is important to African and African American history.
From 2016-2021, Jordan served as the president of the Detroit branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH Detroit), which is the Detroit chapter of the organization responsible for Black History Month. Since 2017, Baba Jamon also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Historical Society of Michigan, the organization that facilitates the research and dissemination of the history of Michigan and publishes Michigan History Magazine. In February 2021, he was appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to serve on the Michigan Freedom Trail Commission, the state organization responsible for research on and teaching of the people, places and events associated with the Underground Railroad and the fight against slavery. He also teaches a course on Detroit history at the University of Michigan, and was appointed as the official historian for the City of Detroit.
Kimmie Dobos Wolfe is the manager of Education and Public Programs for the Detroit Historical Society. She has a Master's in historic preservation and has spent her career in Detroit, working for cultural institutions like the Detroit Institute of Arts and Pewabic Pottery. Her programs focus on making history accessible and interesting to all ages.
Fee: $5 per person. Preregistration required.
1801 Atwater Street, Detroit, Michigan, 48207Start: June 15, 2023 6:00 PM
End: June 15, 2023 8:00 PM
During the early 19th century through 1865, Detroit was an integral part of the network known as the Underground Railroad. Given the code word “Midnight,” our city was the last stop for many freedom seekers as they sought passage to Canada. However, the Underground Railroad was only the first of many acts of civil disobedience our city has witnessed.
Detroiters have played a large role in the movement for Civil Rights, and today our city continues to be home to many change-makers creating a brighter future. Join OAC educators, Kimmie Dobos Wolfe of the Detroit Historical Society and Jamon Jordan of the Black Scroll Network History & Tours for a historical walking tour of the Detroit riverfront and surrounding areas. This walk will begin and end at the Outdoor Adventure Center. This program is recommended for participants 10 and older.
Jamon Jordan is an educator, writer and historian. Also known as Baba Jamon, he has been a teacher of African and African American history for 20 years and a researcher of Black history for decades. Since 2013, he has been running Black Scroll Network History & Tours, where he leads tours and presentations dealing with African and African American history in the Detroit area, throughout Michigan and the United States. He has led a series of Black history classes for the docents and volunteers at the Detroit Institute of Arts and has been the historical consultant for over a dozen documentaries and a number of film and television projects. He is also the cofounder of the Black Scroll Study Group, an educational research organization that takes a study tour to a different site each year that is important to African and African American history.
From 2016-2021, Jordan served as the president of the Detroit branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH Detroit), which is the Detroit chapter of the organization responsible for Black History Month. Since 2017, Baba Jamon also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Historical Society of Michigan, the organization that facilitates the research and dissemination of the history of Michigan and publishes Michigan History Magazine. In February 2021, he was appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to serve on the Michigan Freedom Trail Commission, the state organization responsible for research on and teaching of the people, places and events associated with the Underground Railroad and the fight against slavery. He also teaches a course on Detroit history at the University of Michigan, and was appointed as the official historian for the City of Detroit.
Kimmie Dobos Wolfe is the manager of Education and Public Programs for the Detroit Historical Society. She has a Master's in historic preservation and has spent her career in Detroit, working for cultural institutions like the Detroit Institute of Arts and Pewabic Pottery. Her programs focus on making history accessible and interesting to all ages.
Fee: $5 per person. Preregistration required.