Print, Photographic

Print. Black and white photographic print of a window display featuring Father Gabriel Richard and The Great Fire for the city of Detroit Sesquicentennial at The J.L. Hudson Company Department Store. A mannequin dressed as Father Richard carries a package and consoles a young girl, whom is also carrying a package and appears to have been rescued by Father Richard. Murals in the background and left and right sides of the display depict The Great Fire, its cause and rescue. Signage in the bottom left foreground reads, "Song of Our City, 1796…1946, June 11, 1805, John Harvey the village baker harnessed his pony to drive to the mill for the next day's supply of flour. As he mounted the cart, he stopped to knock the ashes from his pipe. The wind caught the ashes and whirled them back through the open door of the shed bard into a pile of hay. The fire alarm spread quickly, and men came down Sainte Anne Street with all the fire equipment they could muster. In three hours the fire fighters were driven back until they were forced to escape. All the labor, love and hope that had gone into the making of old Detroit were gone without leaving a trace. Father Gabriel Richard was quick to see the food crisis. With shouts, he called out the Frenchmen, and soon he had flotillas of canoes bringing food from farms along the shore. Petitions were sent down the lake to Montreal and even to Congress asking assistance for the stricken people. This interpretation of early Detroit's great tragedy was inspired by one of the episodes in 'Song of our City,' The Golden Jubilee's song and dance review, Friday, May 31, 3:30…Sunday 2, 3:30, at Olympia Stadium." The date, photographic sequence number, and photographer's name are printed on the bottom of the recto, "6-3-46; 22469-12x; Davis B. Hillmer."