Conant Gardens

Conant Gardens is a historically Black neighborhood in northeast Detroit, Michigan. The neighborhood was once the most exclusive Black neighborhood in that city, and residents of Conant Gardens comprised the most highly educated Black enclave in Detroit.Sugrue, p
41

History

The land where Conant Gardens now lies was once owned by Shubael Conant, an abolitionist and the founder and first president of the Detroit Anti-Slavery Society in 1837. In his will, he stated that, "blacks could purchase or build new homes on his northeastern Detroit property." The area was not densely populated until around 1920, as growth of everything in and near Detroit related to the automobile industry soared. Conant Gardens' lack of restrictive covenants made it an appealing place for Black professionals to build homes. In 1942 and 1943, some in the primarily Black, middle-class community even protested against the construction of the Sojourner Truth Housing project, a federally funded public housing project, for fear that a public housing project near their neighborhood would bring down their 'exclusive' status. The residents of Conant Gardens allied with nearby white homeowners associations; Thomas J. Sugrue, author of ''The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit'', characterizes the alliance as "unlikely." Much like their white, middle-class counterparts, the Black residents of Conant Gardens created restrictive covenants to prevent multiple housing and other "undesirable" circumstances that could impact their status as the most exclusive Black neighborhood in Detroit. As late as 1966 the Krainz Woods Neighborhood Organization, a mostly-white organization posted, in an African-American newspaper, an advertisement asking for Conant Gardens residents to attend a meeting at an area church to protest proposed scattered-site housing and open occupancy. The white residents of Krainz Woods wanted to recruit middle-class Blacks in Conant Gardens to oppose public housing.

Conant Gardens was the childhood home of Slum Village founding members J Dilla, Baatin, and T3, as well as frequent collaborator Waajeed. The neighborhood is immortalized in the song "Conant Gardens," from '' Fantastic Vol. 2.''

In 2001 the Conant Gardeners Club wrote and published a book about the neighborhood.Conant Gardens produced talent
" ''The Detroit News''. June 20, 2001. Retrieved on November 6, 2012. "It's a little-known and inspiring story and it's going to be told in a book. The Conant Gardens neighborhood near Pershing High School never had restrictive deed covenants limiting land parcels to whites only. So, the neighborhood -- from its beginning -- was a tidy enclave of working-class blacks in comfortable homes. Conant Gardens is bounded by East Seven Mile, East Nevada, Ryan and Conant. The Conant Gardeners club is busy writing a book about .. - Also in
Conant Gardens' inspiring past comes alive
" ''The Detroit News''. June 28, 2001. Today, the median household income of the Conant Gardens neighborhood is $28,024, just over half of Michigan's median household income.

Cityscape

Conant Gardens is in northeast Detroit, Michigan located just west of Detroit's Krainz Woods neighborhood.Sugrue, p
40
Houses were built in a variety of architectural styles including Tudor Revival and the Craftsmen style. It is located between Conant Street and the City of Highland Park, north of the City of Hamtramck. Seven Mile Road served as the boundary between Conant Gardens and a white working class area.Bjorn and Gallert, p
68
The neighborhood boundaries are Conant Street, East Seven Mile, Ryan Road, and East Nevada Street. It is located almost from Paradise Valley. Due to its close proximity to Krainz Woods that neighboring community is sometimes mistaken as being within Conant Gardens. Pershing High School