Lectures & Films

 

Film Series

The Detroit Historical Society Film Series screens documentaries that cover a range of Detroit History subjects. Films are screened on select Saturdays and Sundays and are free with museum admission. Past documentaries have included “The Hudson’s Building,” Keith Famie’s “Our Story Of…” series, and “Detroit Mob Confidential.”

Please visit our event calendar to learn about upcoming presentations.

Third Thursday Speaker Series & Panel Discussions

The Detroit Historical Society hosts monthly evening presentations on Detroit history topics in our popular Third Thursday Speaker Series. We also host speakers and discussions related to exhibitions and current events on an occasional basis.

Current Film Events and Lectures:

Black Heroes of Detroit’s Eastside, 1900-1990: Presentation, Workshop & Panel Discussion
April 7 2024 | 1:30pm to 4:00pm

Join us for an enriching afternoon discussing the Black Heroes of Detroit’s Eastside, 1900-1990: Where they lived, worked, played...

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Women in Public Art Lecture & Discussion
April 28 2024 | 2:00pm to 4:00pm

Join us for a lecture and discussion on Women in Public Art - Women Artists & Sculptors presented by Preservation Detroit in...

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Woman and baby walking in front of a Kosher butcher shop.
Lecture: Catherine Cangany, PhD, "Kosher Meat Riot of 1910"
May 5 2024 | 2:30pm to 4:00pm

To feed their families amid rapid inflation, fed-up Orthodox women took on the Gilded-Age robber barons' "Beef Trust." Join JHSM...

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Black and white aerial photograph depicting a view along I-75, looking south from the Division Street pedestrian bridge, with the I-375 interchange under construction. In the lower right is the Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects. In the lower left is Bishop Union School. In the background is the downtown skyline.
Panel Discussion: Black Bottom & I-375: Past, Present, and Future
May 16 2024 | 6:30pm to 8:00pm

Black Bottom was a thriving Black neighborhood when it was torn down to create a freeway in the name of “urban renewal.” Sixty...

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Still from the 1932 film Uncle Moses, showing a man with a beard wearing a vest and bow tie, holding a cigar.
Yiddish Film Night: "Uncle Moses"
June 20 2024 | 6:30pm

When poverty and persecution compel his Polish landsmen (person from the same town or region) to leave their shtetl, "Uncle"...

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Lecture: Julia DiLaura "Schlussel Bathhouse Archaeology"
June 30 2024 | 2:30pm to 4:00pm

In 1907 Louis Schlussel opened a bathhouse at the corner of Alfred and St. Antoine streets, featuring Detroit’s first documented...

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Panel Discussion: Immigration Past & Present
July 11 2024 | 6:30pm to 8:00pm

From its 1701 origins through today, Detroit has been enriched by and depended on immigrants.  In partnership with JCRC/AJC, our...

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