Marc K. Shaye

Our family lived in Sherwood Forest at the time of the 1967 riot. The riot began on a Sunday and I had been at a friend's house in Palmer Woods during the day. We had no cell phones then and had no knowledge of the events unfolding during the day. We learned of the situation late in the afternoon and heard that a curfew had been imposed. I had to get home from Eight Mile Road to avoid being in violation of the curfew. My father was alone at home, my mother was in Philadelphia visiting family. My father and I listened through the night to what we thought was gun fire; actually what we were hearing were exploding paint cans as a fire engulfed the paint store on Livernois. The next day, Monday, I drove with my father to work, one of the largest food wholesale warehouses in Michigan at the time. The company, Grosse Pointe Quality Foods, was located near Henry Ford Hospital at Holden and Lincoln. My father, Nathan, was president of the company. As we drove along Hamilton, about 4 A.M., to the company, we saw armored vehicles, National Guard troops, moving south to downtown along Hamilton. Many of the employees of Grosse Pointe Quality Foods, came to work that day and during the week with their personal weapons because they wanted to protect the warehouse, one of the critical sources of food for the city. The business was near 12th St. and Trumbull which had been heavily impacted by the riots. The warehouse survived. Many of our customers did not.

I was in law school at the time and ended up working with an attorney, as a volunteer, in representing those arrested during their arraignments. The jails were so crowded that the arrested individuals were being held on buses and we had to conduct our interviews on the buses.

Our family lived in Sherwood Forest for a number of years after the riot. My father died in 1973 and I had moved to Washington, D.C. to work in a law firm in 1969. My mother sold the house in 1976; sadly, because the neighborhood was devoid of any commercial services and many neighbors had left Detroit. I still consider myself a Detroiter; have lived in Michigan and raised a family since returning to the city in 1973. With all the positives now occurring in the city, we are glad we stayed and will continue to support the efforts of our neighbors in making Detroit a great city once again.