As we look ahead to the S-USIH annual meeting this November, one might ask what makes the host city an appropriate, interesting, even extraordinary site for such a gathering. The City of Detroit has obvious historical importance—as a final terminus on the Underground Railroad of the 19th century, for example; as the cradle of Henry Ford’s assembly line and the birth of the United Autoworkers; as the capital of the “Arsenal of Democracy” in WWII, as the model for the boom-and-bust (and boom?) dynamics of the evolving technological and industrial capitalist order; as a crossroads; as a destination of promise and complexity for those who made the Great Migration from the south, and for immigrants coming from all parts of the globe.
Today Detroit is no longer a “best keep secret” for informed travelers. It appeared twice in the past decade as one of The New York Times’ “52 places to visit in the world” list. There is no better symbol of the city’s resurgence from the bankruptcy years of the early 2010s than the renovation (underwritten by the Ford Motor Company) of the mammoth Michigan Central Train Station (pictured here), once a dark, windowless, hulking reminder of abandonment and decay, which (re)opened to great fanfare in June of last year as the ornate nexus of a technology hub in the city’s oldest intact neighborhood, Corktown. Woodward Avenue and the once-dormant downtown hums with pedestrians and all kinds of new activity. Will the momentum reach into the neighborhoods? There are signs in the affirmative, but the answers remain ambiguous and contested.
Detroit’s appeal to the visitor has many facets, among them:
- a metro area of 4 million, where over 200 languages are spoken. This includes vibrant SW Detroit, with its first and second generation population of Mexican immigrants, and the largest Arab American community in the U.S., centered in Dearborn and Hamtramck
- an array of world class museums and cultural landmarks, including the Detroit Institute of Arts (with its monumental Diego Rivera mural series, “Detroit Industry”) the Wright Museum of African American History and the Detroit Historical Museum
- a lively, cross-fertilizing culture in arts and music, and a constellation of dining and entertainment options– reflecting the diversity of the city
Detroit is a place in the continual process of “re-invention,” existing in a particularly interesting phase of development. Attendees joining us at #USIH2025 are strongly encouraged to get out and experience it for themselves.
0