Abandoned Flint by Kyle Brooky (review)

Book Reviews Kyle Brooky. Abandoned Flint. Mount Pleasant, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2020. Pp. 96. Illustrations. Paper: $23.99. This is an illustrated book with eight chapters which uses text and color photographs to describe abandoned places, both exterior and interior, which appeared since General Motors began closing several manufacturing operations in Flint starting in the 1980s. The eight chapters cover Business & Industry, Neighborhoods & Community, Schools, Churches, Hotels & Apartments, Health & Government, Attractions and Entertainment, and Homes. While many of the abandoned places are familiar to Flint residents, there are also abandoned places mentioned that the author chose which could easily have been overlooked, including a funeral home, roofing contractor, party store, trailer park, a child molester’s home, a clinic, music store, bar, and even a suburban amusement park. While each abandoned place is described in words, the book lets the numerous photos tell what became of those places, which makes the adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” appropriate letting the numerous color photos tell the story. Wisely, the author chose not to mention the location of abandoned places so they would not attract unwanted attention. Preceding the chapters is an introduction by James Peterman III, which offers in a page and a half a brief synopsis of how Flint grew as well as its decline, leading to the city’s budget problems as well as the Flint Water Crisis. These abandoned places are mostly the result of job losses prompting those who found employment opportunities elsewhere to leave the area. Many of those who stayed behind lived in poverty. The resulting rise in crime was not helped by police layoffs, with the police force falling from 265 in 2007 to 122 in 2012. (6) Two notable abandoned places spotlighted were abandoned for reasons other than Flint’s falling population. One was Swanson Funeral Home, which was forced to close in 2017 due to numerous violations. Police and inspectors found “unrefrigerated bodies stacked in boxes.” (13) The owner had his mortician license revoked and was convicted on two charges, fined $75,000, and sentenced to eleven months in prison. Unclaimed ashes of nearly 200 people were properly laid to rest. Another abandoned place was a home occupied by Chester Lamar Kelly, who was nicknamed by police “Chester the Molester.” He had numerous sexual assault allegations when he preyed on “young black women with children or relatives living in low-income rental houses . . . 188 The Michigan Historical Review breaking into the women’s homes, holding them hostage with a pair of long-bladed scissors. In at least one instance, he raped a young mother along with her underage daughter.” (24) He is serving his sentence and will not be eligible for parole until 2058 when he turns 100. The abandoned suburban amusement park was Pirates Park, which was located in Flint Township behind a strip center. It closed when a coowner died. Redevelopment attempts on the site have so far been unsuccessful. Most impressive in the book is the bibliography in smaller print than the regular text and spread over three and a half pages, with many of the citations providing URLs of web sites where the citations can be found. As this review was written in April 2020, the libraries were closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing researchers from looking up material from hard copies. Since the libraries may remain closed for some time, including internet links in the citations is much appreciated. Gary Flinn Author of Remembering Flint, Michigan: Stores from the Vehicle City and Hidden History of Flint Linda Campbell, Andrew Newman, Sara Safransky, and Tim Stallmann, eds. A People’s Atlas of Detroit. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2020. Pp. 352. 52 photographs. 52 maps. 6 charts. Paper: $34.99 Detroit is often written about, but rarely engaged with. Many people come to the city to tell stories about it, without listening to the voices, perspectives, and ideas of the almost 700,000 people that call the city home. This is even more problematic because many people who treat the city as a “blank slate” or “urban frontier” are white, while Detroit’s population is approximately 85% African American. Much of this recent writing...