Old Redford History

Detroit: City on the Move

This 1965 promotional film was made for the City of Detroit in an unsuccessful bid for the Olympic Games. With a voiceover by Jerome Cavanagh, the mayor of Detroit from 1962 to 1970, the film stands in stark contrast to recent news about Detroit: its ruined buildings, its crime, its bankruptcy. The Detroit of this film is gleaming skyscrapers, efficient freeways, cozy neighborhoods, and peaceful diversity.

What political, economic, and social factors brought about these changes? How have our lives as current and former Detroiters affected by these changes? How does the history of Old Redford, and our memories of living there, fit within this broader history of Detroit? Of the United States?

Detroit: City on the Move