What to keep, what to throw away? The eternal question for the archivist. Some of Michigan’s top historical archivists join us for a roundtable discussion at historic Abick’s Bar on their unusual world–sometimes spent in dusty shelves and digging through dark basements and mysterious attics–but often waiting for you at the reference desk. They’ll share some familiar […]
Author Archives: Kevin Walsh
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 […]
Episode 9 – Henry the Hatter – History & Haberdashery
Digging Detroit meets Paul Wasserman, owner of Henry the Hatter on Broadway in Detroit, whose father Seymour purchased the haberdashery from the original Henry in the early 1950s and suddenly moved his family from New York. Hats and history go hand-in-hand as Wasserman shares the ups and downs of hat popularity as well as the trending […]
New Student-Documentary: Paris Burton on Restoring Theaters, Revitalizing Neighborhoods in Detroit
Updated June 14, 2015: Digging Detroit is excited to support the next generation of storytellers. Below is a student documentary and journey with producer Paris Burton, a new graduate from University Liggett. We also take an exciting look at the school’s unique senior year Academic Research Program. (See press release on Paris and her collaboration with Digging Detroit.) […]
Episode 8: Cinema Detroit – 100 Year-Old School Thrives as Indie Film House
As the Cinetopia Film Festival opens in Detroit on June 5th, a film festival of all great film festivals, one of its venues is a 100 year-old school on Cass Avenue–Cinema Detroit, owned and operated by husband and wife Tim and Paula Guthat, who followed their dream to create a venue in Detroit for independent films that were […]
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 […]
Tiger Stadium: What Makes a Ballpark
Updated post from Kevin’s blog, MyMediaDiary from April 2013. I’ve often wondered about the emotional hitching post that is a ballpark. And when anyone says “ballpark” we all know that it’s not referring to any other sports field besides baseball’s. I only live a few miles from five little league fields that I spent five summers of […]
New Podcast: GM’s “Google Years” of the 1950s and 1960s with Ken Pickering
Ken Pickering, GM’s retired Executive Director, Engineering and Design Services, joins Digging Detroit’s Kevin Walsh and Pete Kalinski to discuss his career in the exciting years of design in the 1950s and beyond. Moving from western Pennsylvania to WWII to GM Hard work combined with some great breaks Harley Earl & Bill Mitchell How long a car […]
Episode 6: The Navin Field Grounds Crew
Professional baseball was played at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull for nearly a century. The Detroit Tigers played their final game in 1999 and it took 10 years for the city to complete its demolition. In just 5 years, the weeds and trash had grown so thick that few signs remained of the once manicured lawn […]
Episode 5: Detroit’s Nain Rouge
The legend of Detroit’s ominous red dwarf goes back over 300 years, to Cadillac’s ill-advised decision to abuse the little guy while foolishly ignore a fortune teller. In Episode #5, Digging Detroit explores the legend of the little guy as he has morphed quite a bit from the mischievous house-elf of Normandy who might […]