Detroit Commission on Community Relations Timeline

This department was focused on monitoring rumors happening in neighborhoods for the expressed purpose of avoid this type of outcome, so these are reports from commissioners in the field and from community members just calling in to report the things they were witnessing. This timeline represents their call log from day 1.

What types of information does this list gather? What might it miss? 
 

July 23^rd  1967

11am - 20 DCCR people circulating on 14^th Street to spread the word to be calm. 

11:45 - Crowds gathering around police with rifles on 14^th and Clarimount

1:30pm - Windows broken at Gladstone and Clarimount

2:00 -  Looting at Atkinson and 12^th, fire at 12^th and Clairmount

2:20 -  “Trouble” at 12^th and expressway

2:43 -  Looting at 3500 West Warren, National Guard moving into Rouge Park

2:58  - 12^th and Seward liquor store looted, rumor of boy killed nearby on 12th

3:01  - “Conditions were deteriorating in 12^th and Blaine area”

3:20 -  Gathering of people at Linwood and Carter

3:23 -  Looting at 8788 Linwood (drug store)

3:30 -  Fire at 12^th and Clairmount

3:43 - Linwood and Gladstone liquor store looted, 200 people moving down Linwood

4:00 -  Community leaders meet at Grace Episcopal Church

4:01  - Man stabbed by police bayonet at Hazelwood and 12^th, reported laying in street

4:02 -  Linwood and Monterrey supermarket broken into

4:20  - Linwood and Philadelphia, looting and fighting

4:21 -  Linwood and Gladstone looting, 12^th and Davison looting (rumored)

4:24 -  Linwood and Lawton looting, large crowd looting and moving down the street

4:37 -  Fire at 12^th and Lee Place, another 4 blocks south of 12^th and Clairmount

4:45 - Fire at Linwood and Philadelphia, firetrucks blocked

5:06 - Fires on Linwood threaten to spread to houses in Linwood-Pingree-Lawton area

5:10 - Linwood-Euclid fire spreading, fire trucks being stoned

5:20 - Looting at Davison and Dexter, Dexter and Elmhurst, Grand Blvd. and 12^th (drugstore)

5:33  - Hillsboro and Grand River arrests (rumor), looting at Grand River and Joy. 3 major fires, Linwood block may all    burn. Oakland and Goodwin looting.    

5:38 -  Looting liquor store at Seven Mile and Livernois, Linwood and Nebraska

5:45 -  Hutchens Pool opened since 2

5:55 -  2^nd and West Grand rumor of “black power movement” gathering

6:00  - 14^th north of Ferry Park – looting

6:10 -  Oakland and Clay, 500-1000 people milling around, looting. Also Oakland and Gladstone.

6:15 -  Looting of clothing stores on Washington Boulevard

6:20 -  DCCR to pull out of Virginia Park office, 12^th street burning

6:36 -  Poe and Pallister looting

7:00  - Navin Field baseball game ends

7:05 - Fire east of Ford Hospital

7:06  - Atkinson and 12^th - fires

7:20  - Crowd gathered in front of Linwood Hotel

7:28 - Report gunshots at 14^th and Grand River

7:28 - Fires at 12^th and Atkinson

7:41 - 9010 12^th on fire

7:45 - Senator Coleman Young reports Dexter-Grand River-Hamilton full of people

7:49  - Lawrence and Hamilton south of Webb – A&P broken into, crowd moving down street

7:55 -  Crowd at Livernois and Seven Mile

7:57 -  Linwood and Blaine has been on fire since 1 pm

8:00  - Crowds looting Livernois and Seven Mile

8:23 -  3516 Grand - man had heart attack, police/fire department did not respond

8:28  - Dexter and Davison – looting,

8:38 - Shots heard at 12^th and Warren

8:41 - Woodward and Calvert looting, Woodrow Wilson and Cortland looting

8:50 - Jeffries project area and expressway – looting

9:10 - Dexter and Richton looting, Charles Furniture store looting; Oakman and Grand River - Sears store looting

9:15 - 8037 Dexter - residence being robbed

9:25 - Dexter and Joy looting at Lindy’s, A&P, and Wrigley’s

9:29 - Large fires reported seen from roof of Kiefer Hospital – North of the Fisher Building on the East Side, South of Kiefer west of Lodge Freeway

9:35 - Selden and Gibson looting

9:35 - Fire at Livernois and north of Expressway on east side of the street

9:47 - Rumor – man shot in Jeffries Homes #1005

9:59 - Fire at Livernois and Seven Mile

10:10 - Looting at East Forest and Mt. Elliott

10:19 - Inside Jeffries Homes okay, stores on perimeter wrecked, especially grocery store and drug store. Looting, no rioting.

10:24 - Shots heard at Livernois and Seven Mile

10:25 - Drugstore at Chrysler and Theodore looted and burned

10:28 - 2839 Chrysler Expressway party store trying to fight off looters

10:34 - General Hospital Grand Blvd and Tireman, request more security

10:35 - Kercheval and Pennsylvania store broken into

11:00 - Gang of white youth at Livernois and Vernor, fears of retaliation squad

11:00 - Looters at City-County building, caught

11:08 - Brewster-Douglas area looting, 

11:46 - Famous Furniture on Trumbull and Selden burning, fear it’ll spread to Jeffries Homes boiler house

11:59 - Rumored man shot on Foster School playground