Film, Motion Picture

250th Anniv. Parade '51

Silent color amateur film shot from a window overlooking the parade along Woodward Avenue commemorating Detroit's 250th anniversary on July 24, 1951.

The film opens with a series of physical and partially stop-motion animated title cards providing the date, "July 24 1951," followed by the caption, "DETROIT Celebrates Her 250th Birthday With A Huge PARADE." The footage from the event begins with a shot of the crowd and the banners along Woodward from a window of one of the buildings on the southwest side of Woodward Avenue between Clifford Street and Grand River Avenue. The camera pans along the northeast side of the street from the north corner of Woodward and Grand River to halfway along the block. Here, crowds are gathered in front of the storefronts of Virginia Dare, Carson's, Singer, and Wise Shoe. People are shown perched on several of the awnings above the storefronts.

Facing north toward Woodward and Clifford, the camera captures the parade's color guard--consisting of two firemen, a police officer, and a Department of Street Railways driver--carrying flags of the United States, Detroit, and Michigan. A large group of mounted police officers appear in the following shot, which in turn is followed by a view of police officers on motorcycles.

The camera zooms in for a view of an aqua 1951 Packard 250 convertible carrying Governor G. Mennen Williams and Mayor Albert Cobo. A group of Royal Canadian Mounted Police appear in the following shot. Brief shots of several Canadian military marching bands follow.

Next members of the 425th Infantry of the Michigan National Guard are filmed marching behind both an American flag, and a blue and yellow flag with the number 10 in the center, representing the 10 times the group has been called into service. The camera then turns back to the crowd for a shot of two African American women seated in the front of the crowd, before returning to more members of the 425h. A jeep carrying a sign that reads, "Queen of the 425th Infantry" is featured in one shot. The following shot shows three women in evening gowns holding bouquets while waving from the rear of a peach 1951 Cadillac convertible. In the next shot, soldiers carry a banner which reads, "Detroit's Own 425th Infantry Regiment The Light Guard."

The next four shots feature men in historical military costume--a man in a leather fur trapper costume with a coonskin cap and a rifle, a man in a colonial era green military uniform with a rifle, a man in a Civil War-era uniform, another in a Spanish-American War-era uniform, and a man in a World War I-era uniform. More columns of troops, a group of jeeps, and a group of tanks including an M4 Sherman follow behind them.

The next two shots feature a group of majorettes representing the American Legion's Charles Young Post. They are followed by a group clad in yellow and green from the Thomas A. Edison Post

A group of naval reservists is shown next, followed by a close-up of a DUKW amphibious vehicle being used by the U.S. Navy Recruiting Service as a parade float. "Operation Festival" is painted on the side of the vehicle.

A group of women in pink majorette uniforms are filmed marching in the following shot. After a pair of man in horseback in 18th century French costume, the first historical float appears. These initial four floats depict Cadillac in the court of Louis XIV, Native Americans, and a fort. The camera ventures above street level for a shot of people seated on the ledge of the roof of the A.S. Beck building. Additional historical themed floats following showing British colonial troop, more Native Americans, a horse-drawn wagon, the population and production of early Detroit, American independence, the WALK-IN-THE-WATER, the underground railroad, Michigan's involvement in the Civil War, Fort Wayne, and immigration. Following a trio of elephants in Pfeiffer's banners and a group of cyclists, more floats are featured. These represent, "Beginning of Mass Production," "Detroit's Bicentennial," the Liberty Loan Drive, World War I, and "The Roaring Twenties." A group of floats are shown with the themes of "Pride in Many Things Helps Make Detroit Great," "All Nationalities Work Together to Make Detroit Great," "The Wheels of Detroit Make the World Go Around," and "Dynamic Detroit, Defender of Freedom." Next a float containing a model of the new proposed Civic Center design passes.

The floats are followed by a marching band clad in green and yellow. Next a float with a giant birthday cake and Miss American 1951 winner Yolande Betbeze passes. Following another float decorated with a motif based on the city's flag, a group carrying the flags of multiple nations passes.

Shots of another marching band are interspersed with a shot of a woman and a baby at the front of the crowd.

A pair of railroad-themed floats pass next--the American Legion Oakland County Voiture 811's steam engine, and a 40 and 8 train. Following a shot of majorettes marching, the camera catches a woman being ushered by police in the back of a truck below. Additional shots follow of another marching band, horseback riders in Native American garb, horseback riders in cowboy dress, a stage coach, and majorettes in teal costume. More floats appear next, with the titles "They Came Seeking A Home and Built A City," "Education for Freedom," and "Corduroy Road Grand Circus Park Through Royal Oak Opened 1845," "Canada, More Than A Century of Progressive Friendship," as well as a floral train float,

Next on the reel is a Shriner marching band clad in yellow, gold, and red turbans, capes, billowy pants, and pointed shoes, and another Shriner group in fezzes and blue jackets. Next a group marches holding the Royal Banner of Scotland ahead of a convertible decorated with a plaid color scheme. A brief shot follows of a float presumably from the Armenian Community Center featuring men with spears helmets standing beside a model of Saint Hripsime Church. The reel ends with a brief shot of a group from a Chinese-American organization marching with drums.

The film is contained on a metal Compo Corporation reel, housed within a dark grey tin. A handwritten label marked, "250th Anniv. Parade '51," is affixed to the canister's lid.