In 1904, Henry Ford purchased three acres beside a railroad line off Woodward and moved his new car company from Mack to Piquette Avenue. Join Digging Detroit with special guest Tom Genova and come explore the historic Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, rescued from demolition and transformed into an amazing collection of priceless cars and fascinating […]
Category Archives: Episodes
Treasures from the Burton Historical Collection at the DPL
For Episode 13, curators Mark Bowden and Romie Minor share six of their favorite treasures from the Detroit Public Library’s Burton Historical Collection, celebrating its 100th year this fall. Mark shares the story of Clarence Burton, a Detroit attorney whose passion for history sent him into attics, cellars and even chicken coops to save […]
New Episode 11! Four Generations, One Detroit Home – The Sisoy Family
Meet Pete Sisoy and his family. In the 1920s his Russian immigrant father moved his young family from the crowds of Hamtramck to the wide-open country near the intersection of Southfield Rd. and Warren Ave.–the village of Warrendale under the watchful eye of Henry Ford–whom a young Pete met several times. Their large home held […]
Episode 10 – The Assassination of Jerry Buckley, Detroit’s Voice of the People
On the 85th anniversary of the assassination of famous Detroit radio voice Jerry Buckley, Digging Detroit is proud to release its 10th episode: The Assassination of Jerry Buckley – Detroit’s Voice of the People. Author of The Purples (Amazon), Warren Berger and Professor Thomas Klug of Margrove College’s Institute for Detroit Studies join host Pete Kalinski as […]
New Episode 7: The Ernie Harwell Sports Collection at the Detroit Public Library
Digging Detroit tours the incredible Ernie Harwell Sports Collection at the Detroit Public Library with curator Mark Bowden. In 1966, Hall of Fame radio announcer Ernie Harwell donated over 7,000 sports photos to the library and began the massive collection of sports memorabilia that also includes equipment, sports cards, clippings, broadcasting equipment and even […]
Fostering Detroit’s Next Generation of Storytellers…
As a video productions teacher, I realized that the most important grade a student can receive on a project wasn’t from me but from a client. One of my favorite assignments was to have the students find someone in the community that needed an ad or a story to be told, do the research, conduct […]
New Episode of Digging Detroit! Inside Detroit’s Music Vault at the DPL
In Episode 3, Digging Detroit’s Thomas J. Reed, Jr. joins curator Romie Minor as they explore the fabulous treasures inside the Detroit Public Library’s E. Azalia Hackley Collection (link). The collection and its corresponding concert started in 1943 by Detroit musicians and artists to honor the legacy of Ms. Hackley, a former Detroit Public School teacher who went on to […]
Digging Detroit: Episode 1 – Inside a Speakeasy – Tommy’s Detroit Bar & Grill
Read about the making of Episode 1 on Huffington Post In our first episode from October 2014, “Tommy’s,” Digging Detroit takes a look at a 170-year-old building that has served spaghetti, soldiers and gangsters. Take a look inside a speakeasy with its generous host, Tom Burelle. On March 30, 2015, Channel 4’s News also ran […]