Current Exhibitions

Detroit’s rich heritage lies with the men and women who’ve always called Detroit “home,” even as they went on to help shape our nation’s cultural landscape.

We cheered their accomplishments on the field, welcomed them into our lives through television and radio and were thrilled to see them perform on stage. Their championships became our championships and their hit songs formed the soundtracks of our lives.

Origins: Life Where the River Bends is a story of many Detroit beginnings. It invites guests to explore the lives and events that have shaped - and been shaped by - the area on the river now called Detroit. This region’s First People called it Waawiiyaataanong, or “where the river bends,” but it would earn many monikers over the years including “le détroit” and the “Motor City.”

“Get me a Michigan Regiment… quick!” –General Philip Kearny

Although no battles occurred on state soil, Michigan residents played a crucial role in the American Civil War, from the first shots at Fort Sumter, South Carolina until the final surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. Not all Michiganders were in favor of going to war, but when the war came, thousands of Michigan men and women willingly stepped forward to help secure the Union.

Before television, visual advertising was dominated by talented illustrators.  During World War II, the U.S. Government leveraged these artists’ talents to create posters that delivered important messages in a single glance.

Transportation was his passion.

Born in 1913, Jerome Biederman was a nationally recognized illustrator of transportation. Whether his subject was an automobile, aircraft, or locomotive, his renderings were technically accurate and highly detailed. His medium of choice was tempera paint on illustration board.

After graduating from the American Academy of Art in Chicago, he entered the advertising world where he did almost everything except illustration. By 1940, he chose to leave the corporate advertising world and return to the creative atmosphere of a studio.

From 1972 to 1984, the Detroit Historical Museum partnered with the Center for Creative Studies (now the College for Creative Studies) to create the Documenting Detroit photography series. Students explored aspects of documentary photography using the people and landscape of Detroit as their subjects. Many of the photographs were exhibited at the museum, and all became part of the Detroit Historical Society Collection.

From 1972 to 1984, the Detroit Historical Museum partnered with the Center for Creative Studies (today the College for Creative Studies) to create the Documenting Detroit photography series.

Starting in 2015, the Detroit Historical Society convened diverse groups and communities around the effects of a historic crisis with its Detroit 67: Looking Back to Move Forward project. From the hundreds of oral histories in our archive, the assistance and input of our many partners, and the latest historical scholarship, we have developed the Detroit 67: Perspectives exhibition to allow visitors to better understand the events of July 1967, what led up to them, where we are today, and how to connect to efforts moving Detroit forward