Illustrations

Figures

I.1. General Motors’ Golden Carnival, 1954 3 1.1. Aerial view of “The Buick,” n.d., ca. 1925 27 1.2. Substandard working- class housing, n.d., ca. 1910 29 1.3. Restrictive housing covenant, 1945 33 1.4. Flint Masonic Temple Association minstrel show, 1944 36 2.1. Community education leaders, 1960 57 2.2. The Great Flint Sit- Down Strike, 1937 59 2.3. Mott Foundation adult education leafl et, n.d., ca. 1950 64 2.4. Racial segregation at Fairview Elementary School, 1960 75 3.1. Roscoe Van Zandt and fellow UAW members celebrate the victorious Flint Sit- Down Strike, 1937 81 3.2. Black foundry workers at Buick, n.d. 83 3.3. “Bowl with the Ball of Fair Play” leafl et, 1950 90 3.4. Protest against employment discrimination at General Motors, n.d. 96 4.1. A sewer expansion project in the suburb of Davison, 1958 112 4.2. A modern residential subdivision in suburban Fenton, 1960 115 5.1. Aerial view of GM factories in Flint Township, 1954 125 5.2. Homes bordering a GM factory in Flint, n.d. 127 6.1. Industrial pollution in the St. John Street neighborhood, 1971 155 6.2. A dilapidated North End home, 1962 157 6.3. Floyd McCree speaking to voters, 1954 165 x illustrations 6.4. Open housing demonstration, 1967 172 7.1. Aerial view of downtown Flint and freeway construction projects, 1972 184 7.2. Children playing in front of the Atherton East Apartments, 1967 191 7.3. Olive Beasley, 1972 192 8.1. An abandoned Section 235 home in Beecher, 2012 209 8.2. Paul Cabell, n.d., ca. 1970 214 9.1. Flint Public Schools superintendent Peter Clancy, 1974 231 9.2. Flint- area residents protesting school segregation, 1979 238 10.1. The shuttered Vogue clothing store in downtown Flint, 1986 244 10.2. A crowd of people waiting to enter AutoWorld, 1984 261 10.3. Filmmaker Michael Moore at the world premiere of Roger and Me, 1989 264 10.4. A sign posted in front of GM’s demolished Buick City facility, 2005 266 E.1. An abandoned home in Flint, 2007 272 E.2. Back to the Bricks Cruise and Car Show, 2012 278 E.3. A home on Jane Avenue in Flint, 2012 284

Maps

I.1. Genesee County, Michigan xviii I.2. Flint, Michigan xix 1.1. Black population by census tract, Flint and vicinity, 1940 35 1.2. Residential security map for the city of Flint and Genesee County (1937) and the distribution of the black population, Flint and vicinity, 1940 42 2.1. Public elementary school attendance boundaries in the city of Flint and the distribution of black student enrollment, 1955 71 5.1. The major General Motors facilities in metropolitan Flint and their opening dates, 1900 – 60 124 5.2. New Flint, 1958 137 6.1. Black population by census tract, Flint and vicinity, 1950 148 6.2. Black population by census tract, Flint and vicinity, 1960 149 6.3. Floral Park, 1966 152 6.4. St. John Street, 1966 153 7.1. Public housing site locations and the distribution of the black population by census tract, Flint and vicinity, 1970 190 illustrations xi 7.2. Black population by census tract, Flint and vicinity, 1970 196 7.3. Black population by census tract, Flint and vicinity, 1980 197 10.1. Black population by census tract, Flint and vicinity, 1990 253 E.1. Black population by census tract, Flint and vicinity, 2000 274 E.2. Black population by census tract, Flint and vicinity, 2010 275