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 List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. It was located in the Brush Park section on the east side of

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

, author, and reformer. It was demolished in phases between 2003 and 2014. The complex was home to such notable figures as

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, Loni Love, and Etterlene DeBarge, during their early years.

History

Hastings Street

Hastings Street, originally the center of the Jewish community in Detroit, had become the center of Black culture in Detroit between the 1920s and the 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 one could fulfill any conceivable need. Hastings Street was most famously referenced in the John Lee Hooker song " Boogie Chillen'".

Brewster-Douglass Homes

The Brewster Project and Frederick Douglass Apartments were built between 1935 and 1955. They 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 longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

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. Apartment rows, two 6-story low-rises, and six 14-story high rises were 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 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 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 1998 had been replaced with 250 townhomes. This new public housing, administratively distinct from the Frederick Douglass Homes project, was dubbed the "Brewster Homes", and still exists today. 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 in September 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 List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
,
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
's
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
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.

Demolition

In March 2012,

Mayor of Detroit This is a list of mayors of Detroit, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The current mayor is Mike Duggan, who was sworn into office on January 1, 2014. History of Detroit's executive authority During the earliest part of its history, Detroit was a ...

Dave Bing 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 in November 2012 and began in September 2013.

Constituent buildings

The six concrete-framed towers were designed in the Modern movement

architectural style An architectural style is a classification of buildings (and nonbuilding structures) based on a set of characteristics and features, including overall appearance, arrangement of the components, method of construction, building materials used, for ...

and were faced in brick. They were virtually identical in look. Each rose to the height of 15 floors.

Schools

The buildings were zoned to the following Detroit Public Schools facilities: * Spain Elementary School (K–8) * Martin Luther King High School (9–12)High School Boundary Map
" Detroit Public Schools. Retrieved on October 20, 2009.

In popular culture

* The

claymation Claymation, sometimes called clay animation or 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 cl ...

animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

'' The PJs'' was based on the housing project. * It was seen in screenshots for the movie ''

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

'', as well as D12's debut music video. * Brewster-Douglass is mentioned in the first verse of singer/drag queen RuPaul's hit single " Supermodel (You Better Work)". * Rapper Elzhi shot the album cover for his 2011 album '' Elmatic'' at the Brewseter-Douglass basketball court. * It is the location for the copper scavenging scenes of '' Ryan Goslings 2014 surreal fantasy thriller, '' Lost River''. * It is the setting for the basketball court scene of the 2014 science fiction drama '' Monsters: Dark Continent''.

References

External links

Fredrick Douglass Projects at Detroiturbex.com

Google Maps location of Frederick Douglass Homes

SkyscraperPage.com's pages on Frederick Douglass Homes
* {{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 Urban decay in the United States