In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

2 3 5 A P P E N D I X C Letter from William Patrick about Joining New Detroit William T. Patrick Jr. served as the first president of New Detroit, Inc. Dear Arthur, You asked me how I came to be part of New Detroit. First, let me back up a moment to contemplate my thoughts and feelings as our town was engulfed in flames and devastation during those fateful days in late July 1967. During those days, I would go to my office high in the Michigan Bell building each day and look out the window to see the smoke rising from various locations in the 12th Street area as fires and destruction held sway. It left me with the dreadful feeling of frustration and futility as I would sit there and realize that, however much I wished to play a role in curbing the disturbances, there was nothing I could do. I felt utterly powerless. After the flames died down and the rebuilding process began, there was a continuance of this aching to do something to help. It did not matter how small or insignificant. There was just the driving urge to do something, which I shared with many people. Our town and our citizens were in trouble, as unfortunately was the case in other cities all about our country during that racially charged hot summer. There were many who wanted desperately to help. In the news media, I followed reports of the formation and convening of the New Detroit Committee in response to the joint call from Governor George Romney and Mayor Jerry Cavanagh, and I was heartened with the realization that important forces in our metropolitan area were being mobilized in an herculean effort to bring the city back from the brink and to seek solutions to the misery of masses of people living in dehumanizing conditions of poverty and want. This was heady stuff, and there was a glimmering of hope. The New Detroit Committee represented all segments of our urban community. It included earnest and impatient young militants, older 2 3 6 | A P P E N D I X C people who had been in the struggle for improvement for much of their lives, the leaders of labor, the heads of the major institutions, and the captains of the great industries of Detroit. They numbered thirty-nine strong at the beginning. Joseph L. Hudson Jr., chairman of the J. L. Hudson Company, one of the finest retail establishments in the country, was named chairman of the committee. Staff for the new organization, some fifty strong, came from people in the member institutions. The committee was made part of the Metropolitan Fund headed by Kent Mathewson. The rebuilding of the city was launched. Then one day a few weeks later, I was summoned to the office of Bill Day, president of Michigan Bell, who informed me that Joe Hudson wanted me to go over to New Detroit and head up its staff operation, and he asked me if I would be interested. I eagerly assented and went immediately to meet with Hudson to be appointed head of the day-today operation. The next day I reported to the New Detroit offices to start my official duties, and I ushered in the beginning of more than three years of great effort to erase the causes and scars of the rebellion and to return Detroit to its place as one of the great cities of the world. A short time thereafter, when the committee was incorporated and became New Detroit Inc., it was separated from the Fund and I was made president. The years I was with New Detroit were memorable and purposeful, and I treasure my association with all facets of the group. July 26, 2006 ...

Share