Macomb County’s Place for Discovery L. Lorenzo Cultural Center At Macomb Community College

Twenties: From Riches to Rags

February 22–May 4, 2014 Wednesday–Saturday 10am–4pm • Sunday 1–4pm

Speakers and programs are subject to change. Events are free of charge and held in the Lorenzo Cultural Center (44575 Garfield, Clinton Twp.) unless otherwise noted. Pre-registration is required for all presentations. Event and activity descriptions as well as information about advance registration, group tours, directions and parking are available at www.LorenzoCulturalCenter.com or by calling 586.445.7348. EXHIBITS The Roaring Twenties: From Riches to Rags The iconic Model T Ford, Art Deco fashion, gambling, Prohibition accoutrements, and household items will all be used to demonstrate the opulence of the 1920s juxtaposed against such social issues as Prohibition and segregation. The stories will be told through artifacts and information from the collections of program partners including the Historical Museum, and Gardens, Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, and other local museums and collectors.

The Power of Refined Beauty: Photographing We Don’t Want Them: Race and Housing in Society Women for Pond’s, 1920s–1950s Metropolitan Detroit, 1900–1968 From Duke University’s Hartman Center for Sales, From the Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion Advertising & Marketing History Through reproductions of historic documents and The J. Walter Thompson Company’s distinctive campaign photographs, viewers will learn about the history, causes, for Pond’s tapped into consumer interest in newspapers’ and effects of residential segregation in Detroit, including society pages, pairing fine art photography with personal minority migration to Detroit, the Ossian Sweet case, and testimonials from elegant socialites. This exhibit features the discriminatory practices of restrictive covenants. advertisements and photographs from the campaign, which helped Pond’s become the leading U.S. cold cream. Welcome to Idlewild: The Black Eden of Real to Reel Film Series: Scarface Michigan Feb. 27 (Thur.)...... 1pm From the Michigan State University Museum Elton Weintz, professor of history at Macomb Community College, presents Scarface, the 1932 film based on Idlewild, located in rural northwestern Michigan, was the 1929 novel of the same name, which portrays the one of only a few resorts in the country where African unbridled gang warfare that came about during Prohibition Americans could vacation and purchase property. At its in the 1920s. (95 minutes) peak in the 1920s, it was the most popular resort in the Midwest. This exhibition, created in collaboration with The Prosperity Decade: Consumerism, Credit current residents and scholars of Idlewild, consists of and Advertising photographs, interpretive banners and a reproduction of an Idlewild history quilt. Feb. 28 (Fri.)...... 11am Macomb Community College Professor Elliott Meyrowitz, J.D., Ph.D., discusses how American society was transformed by new technologies such as electrical VIDEO SHOWINGS appliances and automobiles, and how consumerism was Visit www.LorenzoCulturalCenter.com for a listing and stimulated by mass distribution, chain stores, installment descriptions of videos shown as part of the exhibit. buying, and modern advertising on the radio and in national magazines. The Great Gatsby Feb. 28 (Fri.)...... 1pm Macomb Community College Professor Philip Barrons PRESENTATIONS shows the 1974 film The Great Gatsby, based on the Pre-registration is required for all presentations. Call classic book by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which captured the 586.445.7348 or visit www.LorenzoCulturalCenter.com spirit of the Jazz Age. (144 minutes) to register. March February The Silent Syndicate: The History of the Mafia Detroit’s Boom Decade in Detroit Feb. 22 (Sat.)...... 1pm Mar. 1 (Sat.)...... 1pm Detroit has never experienced another decade like the The history of the Detroit underworld is explored in this Roaring Twenties. Jack Lessenberry, radio commentator presentation by Scott M. Burnstein, journalist and author of at WUOM–FM, columnist with , and journalism the book Motor City Mafia: A Century of Organized Crime professor at , describes how the in Detroit. Burnstein tracks the bloodshed, exploits, and city underwent a fantastic population boom, put the world leadership of crime syndicates in . on wheels, and helped much of the Midwest violate the Volstead Act, even while tiny seeds were planted that Nash Motors and the Hudson Motor Car would lead to Detroit’s eventual decline. Company in the Roaring Twenties: A Contrast We Have Decided We Are Not Going in Management and Cars to Run Mar. 2 (Sun.)...... 2pm Feb. 23 (Sun.)...... 2pm In the 1920s, Nash Motors produced stodgy but reliable Roger Rosentreter, Ph.D., professor of history at Michigan cars. In contrast, the Hudson Motor Car Company State University and former editor of Michigan History introduced several revolutionary automobiles. Charles Magazine, recounts the story of Dr. Ossian Sweet, whose K. Hyde, Ph.D., professor emeritus at Wayne State confrontation with Detroit’s segregated housing practices University, analyzes the two very different strategies for led to mob violence, the death of a white protestor, and success used by these companies during the decade. Dr. Sweet facing murder charges. The subsequent seven- week trial did not end segregation in Detroit, but stood as Meadow Brook Hall: The Great Estate an important victory for integration. Mar. 5 (Wed.)...... 11am Madelyn Rzadkowolski, curator at Meadow Brook Hall Michigan Women of the 1920s and Gardens, presents the transformation of Meadow Feb. 26 (Wed.)...... 11am Brook Estate from a humble country retreat to one of the Emily Fijol, assistant director of the Michigan Women’s largest, grandest historic homes in the country. The Hall, Historical Center and Hall of Fame, introduces some of the built between 1926 and 1929 by Matilda Wilson, impressive women from Michigan’s history, and describes is considered one of the finest examples of Tudor-revival the impact they had during the 1920s, when women architecture in America. were voting and being elected to office for the first time, suffragists were reorganizing into the League of Women Voters, and women were making important advances in education, sanitation, and public welfare. The Early Days of Radio in Michigan Art Deco: Art and Architecture Mar. 6 (Thur.)...... 11am Mar. 19 (Wed.)...... 11am Program Source International’s Al and Dave Eicher Professor Michael Farrell of Art House Lectures and Tours present the history of the first commercial radio stations highlights significant examples of Art Deco, or “Le Style and programs. Beginning in the 1920s, both public interest Moderne,” which swept Europe and the U.S. during the and radio set sales skyrocketed, and radio became an 1920s, not only in the decorative arts, but also in painting, American pastime, with some of the best shows originating sculpture, and, perhaps most notably, architecture. from Detroit, Chicago and New York City. Boom Town: Detroit in the Roaring Twenties The Golden Age of Fly Fishing in Michigan Mar. 20 (Thur.)...... 11am Mar. 7 (Fri.)...... 11am In the 1920s, Detroit’s automobile business was at full Wayne Snyder, fly fishing expert and author of the book throttle, resulting in a city that grew faster than any The Golden Age: Fly Fishing in Michigan 1880–1960, other on the continent. Joel Stone, senior curator for the recounts how fly fishing changed throughout the turmoil Detroit Historical Society, presents on this era in Detroit’s of the 1920s, as well as the story of the men and women history, which also includes Prohibition, rumrunning, and who shaped fly fishing in Michigan: the conservationists, organized crime. fly dressers, rod crafters, guides, artists, and authors. F. Scott Fitzgerald: His Life and Craft Art Deco in Detroit Mar. 26 (Wed.)...... 11am Mar. 8 (Sat.)...... 1pm F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote of the times in which he lived: the Rebecca Binno Savage, writer, preservationist, and board Jazz Age, a term he both coined and personified during member of the Detroit Area Art Deco Society, surveys the the 1920s. Robert Carlson, founder of Eclectic Lectures wide-ranging examples of Art Deco in Detroit, from famous and member of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society, presents landmarks such as the Fisher and Penobscot buildings the story of this great American author’s life. to commercial buildings, theaters, homes, and churches. From the 1600s, to the 1920s, to Today: An The Golden Age of Public Transportation in Artistic Collaboration Detroit Mar. 28 (Fri. )...... 11am Mar. 9 (Sun.)...... 2pm Salvador Salort-Pons, head of European Art at the DIA; In the 1920s, Detroit’s Department of Street Railways and Madelyn Rzadkowolski, curator at Meadow Brook successfully moved millions of transit passengers Hall, will discuss a special painting acquired by Alfred and throughout the rapidly expanding city. Kenneth Schramm, Matilda Wilson in 1926,”Saint John the Baptist and Lamb,” transportation historian and author of Detroit’s Street by Bartolome Esteban Murillo. They will also discuss the Railways, discusses the electric streetcars and the restoration collaboration between the DIA, Meadow Brook interurban railway system that once operated throughout Hall, and . Detroit and southeast Michigan. Music of the Jazz Age Prohibition in Detroit Mar. 29 (Sat.)...... 1pm Mar. 12 (Wed.)...... 11am Music played such an important part in society during the Author Armando Delicato profiles Prohibition, the dramatic 1920s that the period has often been referred to as the and fascinating period in Detroit history when, as an Jazz Age. John Bowditch, director of exhibits emeritus international border town with a waterway boundary and at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, will explore the low support for Prohibition, the city became an epicenter wonderfully rich legacy of popular music in America during for illegal liquor smuggling and related criminal activity. the 1920s by sharing original recordings made during the decade. Big Band Beginnings: Popular Dance Music of the 1920s Puttin’ on the Ritz: Fashion in the Jazz Age Mar. 15 (Sat.)...... 1pm Mar. 30 (Sun.)...... 2pm This live performance by the Hotel Savarine Society The curators of touring exhibit Fashion and the Automobile– Orchestra, a ten-piece musical group that authentically Lynn Anderson, Victoria Mobley and Elaine Vermeersch– recreates the sounds, songs, and appearance of the describe how fashion in the Roaring Twenties was 1920s, showcases well-known and less-familiar pop and influenced by function, environment, lifestyle, and world blues songs of the era. events. The show will include fashions from the past and present, as what’s old becomes new again. The Flapper, The Feminist, The New (and True) Woman: Struggle and Progress After the Vote Was Won Mar. 16 (Sun.)...... 2pm Katherine H. Adams, Ph.D., Hutchinson Distinguished Professor and chair of the English department at Loyola University, New Orleans, looks at women’s organizations, legal battles, education, and participation in changing social expectations as women made their mark on American history long after the 19th Amendment was ratified. Tiger Hitters Roar in the 1920s April Apr. 11 (Fri.)...... 11am Retailing in the 1920s and The Tigers’ hitting performance during the 1920s was Beyond the greatest in team history, and yet they didn’t win a pennant during the decade. William M. Anderson, Ph.D., Apr. 2 (Wed.)...... 11am founding director of the Michigan Department of History, By the 1920s, Detroit’s Woodward Avenue had become Arts and Libraries, and baseball historian, tells tales of a mecca for retail, restaurants, and services. Michael the Tigers of the 1920s, including highlights of Ty Cobb’s Hauser, author of Twentieth Century Retailing in Downtown managerial career. Detroit, details the heyday of the department store, and shares images and artifacts from establishments such as The KKK in Michigan in the 1920s: An the J. L. Hudson Company, Crowley Milner and Company, Overview and the Ernst Kern Company. Apr. 12 (Sat.)...... 1pm Real to Reel Film Series: Wings Michael V. Placco, professor of history at Macomb Apr. 3 (Thur.)...... 1pm Community College, will offer an overview of the Ku Klux Klan in Michigan during the 1920s, including why the The 1927 silent film Wings, the first to win the Academy organization came to such prominence and size, and the Award for best picture, tells the story of two men from the role it played in the backlash from the Progressive Era. same town who fight together in the Great War. Macomb Community College Professor of history, Elton Weintz, The Making of Black Detroit in the Age of Henry presents. (144 minutes) Ford Detroit’s Infamous Purple Gang Apr. 23 (Wed.)...... 11am Apr. 4 (Fri.)...... 11am Beth Bates, Ph.D., professor emeritus at Wayne State Paul R. Kavieff, a recognized authority on the Detroit University, traces allegiances within Detroit’s African underworld and organized crime, traces the evolution American community as reflected in its opposition to the of the Purples from their days as a juvenile street gang Ku Klux Klan, challenges to unfair housing practices, through their rise to power and eventual self-destruction. and demands for effective political participation. She demonstrates how Henry Ford and his company helped ’s Architectural Legacy: The kindle the civil rights movement in Detroit without intending Ubiquitous Mr. Kahn to do so. Apr. 5 (Sat.)...... 1pm The U.S. Economy in the Late 1920s In the first half of the 20th century, Detroit architect Albert Apr. 24 (Thur.)...... 11am Kahn revolutionized the design of industrial buildings Mark L. Trueman, instructor of economics at Macomb around the world. This presentation, with Joel Stone, Community College, discusses the economic climate senior curator for the Detroit Historical Society, examines leading up to the infamous stock market crash of 1929, Kahn’s career and the vast legacy of architectural including the Florida real estate boom, and the key treasures he created for the people of Detroit. players, companies and investment trusts of the era, and 1920: The Year of Six Presidents reveals some facts vs. fiction. Apr. 6 (Sun.)...... 2pm Splish, Splash, Boom: The Early History of David Pietrusza, presidential historian, tells the story of Radio Theatre the presidential election of 1920, when six once-and- future presidents—Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, Apr. 25 (Fri.)...... 11am and 1pm and Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt—had influence on the Before television, radio theater captured the imaginations race for the White House, the results were broadcast on of Americans across the country. Donald Ramlow, founder, the radio, and women voted for the first time. director, and performer with the classic radio All Ears Theatre in Kalamazoo, describes the radio of the 1920s The Great Inflation in Germany and demonstrates the sounds, styles, and effects of the Apr. 10 (Thur.)...... 12pm early days of radio. Gary Flemming, Ph.D., professor of international studies Prohibition: How Did THAT Happen? at Macomb Community College, discusses hyperinflation in post-World War I Germany, which peaked when one Apr. 26 (Sat.)...... 1pm trillion marks were equal to one dollar, and makes the Daniel Okrent, historian and author of the national case that this hyperinflation contributed to the start of the bestseller Last Call, which was used as the basis for Ken in the U.S. Burns’ documentary, Prohibition, covers the rise and fall of that “Noble Experiment.” Okrent describes the era from start to finish, including the reasons for Prohibition, what it was like, and its impact even after its repeal in 1933. Jazz and Blues in Detroit in the 1920s Apr. 27 (Sun.)...... 2pm Tours & Field Trips Just as the city was booming in the 1920s, so was its The Lorenzo Cultural Center welcomes field trips and nightlife; and jazz and blues were a major part of it. Lars group tours and provides complimentary resources for Bjorn and Jim Gallert, authors of the book, Before Motown: teachers. Call 586.445.7348 to plan your trip. A History of Jazz in Detroit, discuss the major artists and venues found in Detroit during the Roaring Twenties. Speakers and programs are subject to change. Events are free and held in the Lorenzo Cultural Center Black Resorts in Michigan During the (44575 Garfield, Clinton Twp.) unless otherwise noted. “Nervous Generation” Pre-registration is required for all presentations. Event Apr. 30 (Wed.)...... 11am and activity descriptions as well as information about Benjamin Wilson, Ph.D., professor emeritus at Western advance registration, group tours, directions and parking Michigan University, describes how white Americans, are available at www.LorenzoCulturalCenter.com or by fearful of social change, developed a paranoia in the calling 586.445.7348. 1920s; and how in spite of this, African Americans in Michigan developed rest and relaxation spots far from the racism of this “nervous generation,” at resorts like Idlewild, Woodland Park, and Rainbow Inn. Macomb Multicultural International Initiatives MMII events are intended to increase knowledge, sensitivity, and skills in cross-cultural interactions. Events May count toward the cultural competency certificate, a non- Real to Reel Film Series: M academic certificate awarded by Macomb Community May 1 (Thur.)...... 2pm College and MMII. For more information visit www. macomb.edu/mmii. The 1931 German filmM , set in Germany during the rise of the Nazi party, has been described as a “portrait of a Real to Reel diseased society.” Gary Flemming, Ph.D., professor of international studies at Macomb Community College, By examining the dramatization of history by the film presents this classic film, which remains the blueprint for industry, the Real to Reel program seeks to set the record the psychological thriller. In German with English subtitles. straight by comparing Hollywood’s sensationalized version (110 minutes) with the historically accepted interpretation of events. Rainbow’s End: The Crash of 1929 May 3 (Sat.)...... 1pm Maury Klein, Ph.D., professor emeritus at the University of Rhode Island and Pulitzer Prize finalist, explores the social, political, cultural, and economic events that led to the great crash, its relation to the Great Depression, and parallels to the Panic of 2008. Idols of Modernity: Movie Stars of the 1920s May 4 (Sun.)...... 2pm Patrice Petro, Ph.D., professor of English and film studies at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and author of the book Idols of Modernity, explores key differences between cinema and stardom in the U.S. during the 1920s, and looks at the careers of both well-known and now-forgotten stars of the silent and early sound eras.

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