PLEASE NOTE: Due to a number of factors, this event has been postponed. We will keep you posted regarding future events. Thank you!

Calling All Auto History Enthusiasts! Register now for this first-ever event!  

Coming Sunday, September 19, 2021  

Join us for a fun way to explore region’s automotive history and visit some great attractions.

Here's how the #ExploreMotorCities Road Tour works:

1. Pick up your MotorCities Passport book at any participating attraction.

2. Get it stamped on the day of the event at any of our 11 southeast Michigan participating attractions, including the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, the Detroit Historical Museum, Ford Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit, The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Historic Fort Wayne in Detroit, Meadow Brook Hall in Rochester, Michigan Firehouse Museum in Ypsilanti, Michigan Military Technical & Historical Society in Eastpointe, Packard Proving Grounds in Shelby Township, Plymouth Historical Museum and Yankee Air Museum in Belleville. *Please note that registration for this event includes access to each attraction for the purpose of getting your stamp but does not necessarily guarantee free admission. More details are in the table below the map.

3. Bring your Passport to our final stop, the Automotive Hall of Fame, and get entries in our prize drawing for every stamp in your book! Our Grand Prize is four passes to the American Speed Festival at the M1 Concourse in Pontiac ($300 value).
   Other prizes include: 2 Suite Tickets + Parking for the Detroit Lions taking on the Arizona Cardinals at Ford Field on Sunday, December 19 (courtesy of the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau), 4 Passes to the either the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation or Greenfield Village in Dearborn (courtesy of The Henry Ford), 4 Admission Tickets for the Yankee Air Museum in Belleville, 5 TIckets to the Michigan Firehouse Museum in Ypsilanti and additional tickets and swag from our attraction partners

4. Enjoy music, a car show, refreshments and see if you win! 
5. Use this map of our participating sites to plan your trip:

$30/per car ($25 for MotorCities/Hagerty members)

Making Tracks chronicle the experience of African-Americans in the auto industry. As you explore the stories and support materials please take time to reflect on the significant contributions over the last century of auto heritage. The individual profiles will highlight stories of ingenuity, creativity, leadership, and perseverance. Utilize the timeline and additional support materials as tools to gain more context about the time in which these events occurred and how they align with the national landscape.

Many Voices, One Story

We seek to represent the shared stories of how this region put the world on wheels across a diverse and inclusive range of people with a wide variety of backgrounds, languages and cultures.

As construction of the page continues, look for more content that reflects the diversity of the 10,000 square miles of the MotorCities National Heritage Area.  

Making Tracks

The auto industry provided a new opportunity for those who lived in Michigan, as well as those who traveled from near and far. MakingTracks.org looks back at the African American experience in the auto industry. This culture represented the migration of workers and families to the Motor Cities. Their work was hard, and their paths were not smooth. The website talks about adjustment to the north, the climate in their communities and treatment at their jobs. It also highlights the triumphs and tragedies of a people who contributed to building the auto industry. 

This video serves as a preview of the Making Tracks website and how the project came together.

This part of the MotorCities website chronicles the auto legacy built by the diverse entrepreneurs, workers, businesses and unions of Southwest Detroit over more than a century. Learn more here.

10 Questions for UAW President Rory Gamble

MotorCities recently had the opportunity to interview Rory Gamble, the first African American president of the United Auto Workers International Union, about his life and career for Black History Month 2021. Thanks to MotorCities board member Sandra Engle, Assistant Director of the UAW National Education Department, for her assistance. See the article here.

A Q & A with the UAW's Cindy Estrada

For Women's History Month, MotorCities recently interviewed Cindy Estrada, a Vice President of the United Auto Workers International Union. Thanks again to MotorCities board member Sandra Engle for her assistance. See the article here.

Alexander Winton Made Bicycles (and then Cars!) in Cleveland

April is Scottish American History Month, so here is a feature on Alexander Winton, a Scottish immigrant and early automotive pioneer.

Arab Americans and the Automobile: Voices from the Factory

April is also Arab American Heritage Month. Ali Baleed Almaklani (pictured above) worked at Ford Motor Company in 1999 and 2000 when he was interviewed for an oral history project for the Cultural Arts Department of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) in Dearborn. The collected oral histories are now part of the collection of the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, as part of their "Arab Americans and the Automobile: Voices from the Factory" Collection. You can hear Almaklani's interview here. Thank you to Elizabeth Barrett-Sullivan and Matthew Stiffler of the Arab American National Museum for their assistance.

NASCAR's First Driver with Autism: Detroit's Own Armani Williams

April is Autism Awareness Month. Armani Williams (pictured above) is a Detroit-based NASCAR driver, the first openly diagnosed with autism. sHe is using his racing career as a platform to draw awareness to autism, promote research-based solutions, and create better life outcomes for families impacted by the disorder.  Armani has competed coast to coast in the United States and throughout Canada. You can hear his interview here. 

Jewish Contributions to the Auto Industry: Albert Kahn and More

May is Jewish American Heritage Month. Albert Kahn (pictured above), the Detroit-based architect, was highly influential in the design of auto manufacturing plants and other industrial and commercial buildings in the 20th Century. He is just one of the topics discussed in this interview recently conducted by MotorCities with Dr. Catherine Cangany, executive director of the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan, and author and historian Barbara Cohn. You can watch the interview here. 

Asian Americans and the Auto Industry

In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we are showcasing the story of some of the trailblazing Asian Americans in the auto industry. Please read an excerpt reprinted from Victor Jew's introduction to "Part II: Legacy Keeping and Memroy Keepers" from Asian Americans in Michigan: Voices from the Midwest edited by Sook Wilkinson and Victor Jew. Copyright (C) 2015 Wayne State University Press. Used with permission from the author. The excerpt is here. You can learn more about the book at www.wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/asian-americans-michigan.

An Interview with Ralph Gilles of Stellantis

In honor of June being National Caribbean-American Heritage Month, we are reprinting this article that originally appeared in the June 2021 edition of the Zanmi Detroit newsletter, published by the Haitian Network Group of Detroit (HNGD). You can find the newsletter at https://www.haitiannetworkdetroit.org/newsletter/. Article used with permission of the HNGD and the author. You can read the entire article featuring an interview with Ralph Gilles of Stellantis (pictured at right above with his family), a Haitian-American, here. 

Pride Month Profile: Sabin Blake of General Motors 

In honor of Pride Month, we would like to present the story of Sabin Blake, a recent addition to our board of directors. Blake, a Ferndale resident, is Manager of Business Planning & Heritage for General Motors Communications. He has been in the automotive industry for over 23 years with 20 of those spent at GM.

Blake is passionate about community service and giving back. He serves on the Community Foundation of Southeastern Michigan's LGBTQ-focused HOPE Fund Advisory Committee. He also volunteers with other community-based organizations focusing on hunger, community development and education. He is currently serving on the board of directors for the Ruth Ellis Center and as a board member of GMPLUS, the GM LGBTQ Employee Resource Group where he serves as the Community Outreach Chair. Our Director of Programs Brian Yopp recently sat down with Blake at the Automotive Hall of Fame to talk about his life and career. To watch an excerpt from Blake's interview, click here. 

French American Heritage Month Profile: Mary-France Oudin of Mahle-Behr USA 

July is French American Heritage Month, and July 24 marks the anniversary of the city of Detroit's founding by a Frenchman named Cadillac in 1701. In light of this, we are sharing this interview by our current MotorCities Research Fellow Louise-Helene Filion with Mary-France Oudin, who is a Senior Program Manager at local auto supplier Mahle-Behr USA in Troy.

To watch Oudin's interview, click here. 

Exiled to Motown: The Japanese American Experience in Detroit

In conjunction with a book and recent exhibit at the Detroit Historical Museum, our Brian Yopp sat down with Mika Kennedy and Celeste Goedert to discuss "Exiled to Motown: The History of Japanese Americans in Detroit." Japanese Americans have been hard at work and play in the Detroit area for over 100 years, finding ways to celebrate a distinctly Midwestern Japanese American culture while chasing American dreams. After being forcibly removed from the Pacific coast and imprisoned in the inland West during World War II, some Japanese Americans sought to begin life anew in cities far from home, like Detroit. There was a dark side to these Rustbelt refuges, however: the U.S. government felt that Japanese Americans would pose no threat to American society -- and perhaps even assimilate completely -- if they were scattered across the Midwest in numbers smaller than in the booming Japantowns of Seattle or California. Starting a new life in Detroit was supposed to mean starting life without a Japanese American community, and leaving that culture behind forever.

You can watch the interview here. 

Hispanic Heritage Month Profile: Mike Huerta of the UAW