Detroit Project Receives National Recognition

Detroit MI

21 September, 2021

12:19 PM

Description

DETROIT — The Michigan State Historic Preservation Office was awarded $15,000 to nominate Vaughn's Bookstore in Detroit to the National Register of Historic Places for the vital role it played in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Monday. A total of $65,000 was awarded from the National Park Service's federal Underrepresented Community Grant Program, with the other $50,000 going to the City of Detroit to conduct a historic study of Latinx communities in Detroit between 1880 and 1980. "The nomination of Vaughn's Bookstore to the National Register will recognize a significant location that served as a center for Black culture and played a meaningful role in the Civil Rights movement in the city of Detroit," Gov. Whitmer said. Live in Detroit? Click here to subscribe to our free breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox and mobile devices. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and download our free mobile app on Android or iPhone. Vaughn's bookstore was founded by Edward Vaughn on Dexter Avenue in the early 1960s and became Detroit's first Black-owned bookstore. The bookstore's focus on African American history, literature and other materials became a focal-point for black intellectual life in the city. And not just for sales, but as a venue for people to gather and learn, as materials focusing on African Americans were hard to come by when the struggle for African American equality became more visible and mainstream in the 1960s. Although the bookstore's building was damaged after the Detroit Rebellion of 1967 and later abandoned, Vaughn remained active in the Civil Rights Movement. He served as chair of the Housing and Redevelopment Committee of the Citywide Citizens Action Committee and as the head of the Black Star Co-op. He also later served several terms in the Michigan State House of Representatives. "As the first Black-owned bookstore in Detroit and a hub of African American journalism and conversation, Vaughn's Bookstore played a key role in the tumultuous Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s," Michigan's State Historic Preservation Officer Mark A. Rodman said. "An important priority of the National Register program is to document those sites associated with significant events that have contributed to broad patterns of our history. We look forward to nominating the property to the National Register as the first step toward its reuse," he added.