DETROIT – The Detroit Historical Society is celebrating 100 years of collecting, sharing and preserving the Motor City’s history.
The actual 100th anniversary was in December 2021, but because of the pandemic, the organization couldn’t properly commemorate the milestone -- until now. On Saturday, April 15, the Detroit Historical Museum is waiving admission fees in an effort to encourage visitors, especially as they debut their new The Hustle exhibit.
Rebecca Salminen Witt, chief strategy and marketing officer for the Detroit Historical Society, said the exhibit and program honors 36 Detroit entrepreneurs.
“We wanted to celebrate some of those folks who are making those important Detroit moments right now. And so The Hustle is about that,” said Salminen Witt. “We opened, about a year ago, a nominations process. We wanted to dig deep into the neighborhoods, get people to nominate Black Detroit entrepreneurs who are making a difference in their neighborhoods.”
The society received around 800 nominations in total.
The museum is also featuring a Boom Town exhibition that explores what life was like in Detroit during the 1920s.
The Detroit Historical Society will host an official 100th anniversary celebration event on Saturday, April 29. The VIP portion of the event will feature Detroit Legends like Ben Wallace, sports broadcasters George Blaha and Ken Daniels, and anchor woman Amyre Makupson. The five honorees will put their handprints and signatures into cement casts to be added to the museum’s signature outdoor exhibit, Legends Plaza.
Tickets to the celebration event can be purchased on the DHS website here, though the VIP tickets are sold out.