The Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects (officially named the Frederick Douglass Homes, and alternately named Frederick Douglass Projects, Frederick Douglass Apartments, Brewster-Douglass Homes, and Brewster-Douglass Projects) were the largest residential housing project owned by the city of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, located in the

Brush Park The Brush Park Historic District, frequently referred to as simply Brush Park, is a 22-block neighborhood located within Midtown Detroit, Michigan and designated by the city.

section on the east side of

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, near the

Chrysler Freeway The Chrysler Freeway is the name given to a freeway in the Detroit area. It is composed of: *Interstate 375 (Michigan) south of the junction with the Fisher Freeway *Interstate 75 in Michigan Interstate 75 (I-75) is a part of the Intersta ...

, Mack Avenue and St. Antoine Street. The housing project is named after Brewster Street, which ran through the area, and

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

, author, and reformer. The complex was home to such notable figures as Diana Ross, Mary Wilson,

Florence Ballard Florence Glenda Chapman (''née'' Ballard; June 30, 1943 – February 22, 1976) was an American singer and a founding member of the Motown vocal female group the Supremes. She sang on 16 top 40 singles with the group, including ten number-o ...

Lily Tomlin Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the varie ...

Loni Love Loni Love (born July 14, 1971) is an American comedian, television host, actress, author, and former electrical engineer. While working as an electrical engineer in the early 2000s, she switched to music engineering, until later launching a caree ...

, and

Etterlene DeBarge Etterlene Louise Rodriguez (previously DeBarge, née Abney; born October 13, 1935) is an American gospel singer, songwriter, and matriarch of the American R&B/Soul vocal group DeBarge. She is also the author of ''Other Side of the Pain'', which ta ...

, during their early years. The

claymation Clay animation or claymation, sometimes plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay. Tra ...

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

The PJs ''The PJs'' is an American adult animated stop-motion black sitcom created by Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore, and Steve Tompkins. It portrayed life in an urban public housing project, modeled after the Cabrini–Green housing projects in Chicago. ...

'' was based on the housing project as well. It was also seen in screenshots for the movie ''

Dreamgirls ''Dreamgirls'' is a Broadway musical, with music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. Based on the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others,G ...

'', as well as

D12 D12 (an initialism for The Dirty Dozen) was an American hip hop collective from Detroit, Michigan. Formed in 1996, the group achieved mainstream success with its lineup of ''de facto'' leader Eminem, Proof, Bizarre, Mr. Porter, Kuniva and Swift ...

's debut music video. Brewster-Douglass is also mentioned in the first verse of singer/drag queen RuPaul's musical hit Supermodel (You Better Work).

History

Hastings Street

Hastings Street was the center of black culture in Detroit between the 1920s and 1950s.. Located at the southern edge of the future Brewster-Douglass Homes, the street was the home of innumerable salons and entertainment venues. With the addition of the high-rises and an influx of people moving into the housing, Hastings Street was billed as the place you could fulfill any conceivable need. Hastings Street was most famously referenced in the John Lee Hooker song "

Boogie Chillen' "Boogie Chillen'" or "Boogie Chillun" is a blues song first recorded by John Lee Hooker in 1948. It is a solo performance featuring Hooker's vocal, electric guitar, and rhythmic foot stomps. The lyrics are partly autobiographical and alternate ...

Brewster-Douglass Homes

The Brewster Project and Frederick Douglass Apartments were built between 1935 and 1955, and were designed by Harley, Ellington & Day of Detroit. The Brewster Project began construction in 1935, when First Lady

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

broke ground for the 701-unit development; the first phase, consisting of low-rise apartment blocks, was completed in 1938. An expansion of the project completed in 1941 brought the total number of housing units to 941. The Frederick Douglass Apartments, built immediately to the south of the Brewster Project, began construction in 1942 with the completion of apartment rows, two 6-story low-rises, and finally six 14-story high rises completed between 1952 and 1955. The combined Brewster-Douglass Project was five city blocks long, and three city blocks wide, and housed anywhere between 8,000 and 10,000 residents, at its peak capacity. The Brewster-Douglass Project were built for the "

working poor The working poor are working people whose incomes fall below a given poverty line due to low-income jobs and low familial household income. These are people who spend at least 27 weeks in a year working or looking for employment, but remain und ...

"; the Detroit Housing Commission required an employed parent for each family before establishing tenancy. As the Commission became less selective, crime became a problem in the 1960s and 1970s, and the projects eventually fell into disrepair. The Frederick Douglass Apartment towers were converted to senior housing. In 1991, the low-rise apartment blocks north of Wilkins Street (the original Brewster Project) were demolished, and by 1994 were replaced with 250 townhomes. This new public housing, administratively distinct from the Fredrick Douglass Homes project, was dubbed the "Brewster Homes", and still exists today. In the meantime, the remaining housing on the project site continued to deteriorate. Two of the six 14-story Frederick Douglass Apartments towers, 303 and 304, were demolished in 2003, in an effort to consolidate living space and reduce maintenance costs. By 2008, only 280 families remained in the Frederick Douglass Homes complex, and the decision was made to shut down the housing entirely. The buildings south of Wilkins street were left abandoned after that date. On July 29, 2013, 23-year-old French artist Bilal Berreni was found dead from a gunshot wound on the property of Brewster-Douglass, having last been seen the day before. Found without identification, Berreni's body was not identified for 7 months. Jasin Curtis and Drequone Rich each pled guilty to second degree murder and received 25-30 year prison sentences in 2015; Dionte Travis received a 60-year prison sentence in January 2016. Demolition of the remaining buildings of the Frederick Douglass Homes began on September 4, 2013. Demolition was substantially complete by the end of August, 2014. From historic marker on the site of Brewster Homes

Between 1910 and 1940
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
,
Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
's
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
population increased dramatically. In 1935, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt broke ground for the Brewster Homes, the nation’s first federally funded public housing development for African Americans. The homes opened in 1938 with 701 units. When completed in 1941 there were 941 units bounded by Beaubien, Hastings, Mack and Wilkins Streets. Residents were required to be employed and there were limits on what they could earn. Former residents described Brewster as 'community filled with families that displayed love, respect and concern for everyone in a beautiful, clean and secure neighborhood.' The original Brewster Homes were demolished in 1991 and replaced by 250 townhouses.

Future

On March 9, 2012,

Mayor of Detroit This is a list of mayors of Detroit, Michigan. See History of Detroit, Michigan, for more information about the history of the incorporation of the city. The current mayor is Mike Duggan, who was sworn into office on January 1, 2014. History ...

Dave Bing David Bing (born November 24, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player, businessman, and politician who served as the 74th mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 2009 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party. After starring a ...

announced that the Detroit Housing Commission planned to request funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to demolish all remaining housing on the Frederick Douglass Homes site, but redevelop the abandoned Brewster-Wheeler Recreation Center. The vacant land would then be developed as affordable housing and commercial space. The demolition was announced on November 15, 2012.

Constituent buildings

The six concrete-framed towers were designed in the

Modern movement Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

architectural style An architectural style is a set of characteristics and features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. It is a sub-class of style in the visual arts generally, and most styles in architecture relate closely ...

and faced in brick. They are virtually identical in look and each rise to the height of 15 floors.

Schools

The buildings were zoned to the following

Detroit Public Schools Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) is a school district that covers all of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States and high school students in the insular city of Highland Park. The district, which replaced the original Detr ...

facilities: * Spain Elementary School (K–8) * Martin Luther King High School (9–12)High School Boundary Map
"

. Retrieved on October 20, 2009.

References

External links

Fredrick Douglass Projects at Detroiturbex.com

Google Maps location of Frederick Douglass Homes

SkyscraperPage.com's pages on Frederick Douglass Homes

Frederick Douglass Homes at Emporis.com
{{Detroit African-American history in Detroit Public housing in Detroit Residential buildings completed in 1955 Demolished buildings and structures in Detroit 1955 establishments in Michigan 2014 disestablishments in Michigan Buildings and structures demolished in 2014