Throughout February, the MotorCities National Heritage Area is paying tribute to Black History Month through special promotion of its educational project honoring African Americans in the history of the automotive industry – Making Tracks.
Making Tracks is a content-rich website that follows the lives of prominent African Americans in the evolution of the automotive industry in Detroit. The term “Making Tracks” refers to America’s “Great Migration,” when nearly 6 million African Americans moved from their southern, agricultural roots to the north seeking better jobs in industrialized areas such as Detroit, Chicago and New York City.
The population boom from The Great Migration was no greater felt than in Detroit and the automotive industry due to Henry Ford’s famed $5 per day workday. The population of the city increased by more than 1,000 times between 1820 and 1930.
Making Tracks highlights the stories of George Washington Carver, Ed Davis, C.R. Patterson, William Perry, The Rev. Charles Hill, each of whom had a unique and important role in our automotive heritage. Making Tracks also touches on stories on the working lives of African Americans and African American women working in the auto industry.
For more, visit the website at www.makingtracks.org.
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