Thomas's ground-breaking study should occupy a central place in the literature of American urban history. Choice
. . . path-breaking . . . a fine community study . . . Journal of American Studies
Thomas's work is essential reading . . . succeeds in providing a bridge of information on the social, political, legal, and economic development of the Detroit black community between the turn of the century and 1945. ?Michigan Historical Review
The black community in Detroit developed into one of the major centers of black progress. Richard Thomas traces the building of this community from its roots in the 19th century, through the key period 1915-1945, by focusing on how industrial workers, ministers, politicians, business leaders, youth, and community activists contributed to the process.
US
Patterned after Gilbert Osofsky's Harlem, the Making of A Ghetto (CH, Oct'66), older African American histories focused on the process of ghettoization. Joining newer works, e.g., Joe William Trotter's Black Milwaukee (CH, Jul'85), Thomas's book emphasizes the process of community building, led by the emerging African American industrial working class and domestic servants. In the period between the world wars, schools, hospitals, newspapers, selfhelp organizations, and a sense of place developed in black Detroit. The Detroit Urban League, the NAACP, The Booker T. Washington Trade Association, and the Housewives League of Detroit all played integral roles in this process. Progress was not without its problems, however; crime, poverty, and despair remained constants. Frequently, skilled African American workers were denied jobs, even in critical defense industries. During this period, African Americans demonstrated their newfound strength by challenging the racist system, first by breaking with the Republican party, and then by turning from the paternalistic support of Henry Ford and joiningg the UAW. Taken with earlier works like Thomas Philpott'slÓÅ
![Life for Us Is What We Make It: Building Black Community in Detroit, 19151945 [Hardcover]](/itemImage/2/9/1/8/2_1301525.jpg "Life for Us Is What We Make It: Building Black Community in Detroit, 19151945 [Hardcover]")