Coleman Young papers offer peek into mayor's reign

Not everyone is a fan, but there's no denying that Coleman Young was one of the most influential leaders Detroit has ever had, not to mention its longest-serving and first African-American mayor.

Now, after nearly two years of sorting and cataloging, the Detroit Public Library is making hundreds of thousands of Young's mayoral papers available to the public. The 328 boxes of documents and photos provide insight not only into his 20 years in office from 1974 to 1994, but also to some of the most game-changing decades in Detroit's history.

For those looking for information on how Young disbanded the controversial STRESS police unit -- which was targeted by civil rights leaders as a profiling program aimed at black youths -- or how he worked to bring diversity to city departments, you've found your gold mine.

"I wouldn't say there was anything necessarily surprising (among the documents), but interesting for sure," said Mark Bowden, coordinator of the library's special collections. "I didn't realize we had a couple boxes of photos with the papers."

Among the photos are candid shots of Young mixing with celebrities and dignitaries such as Nelson Mandela and Stevie Wonder.

Because there aren't any personal papers, you won't find anything about those infamous Krugerrands or any of that salty language that Young was known for. But then again, Bowden said, "with 328 boxes of the stuff, you never know what you might find."

As part of the celebration, a panel discussion -- Coleman A. Young: A Retrospective -- will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Detroit Public Library. The panel includes Dennis Archer, who succeeded Young as Detroit mayor; former Free Press journalist Bill McGraw; Chuck Stokes, the editorial/public affairs director for WXYZ-TV (Channel 7), and Bob Berg, Young's press secretary.

Young started donating his mayoral papers to the library back in the 1980s. In fact, the Burton has mayoral papers stretching all the way back to Detroit mayor numero uno: John R. Williams (yes, that John R), minus Jerome Cavanagh, whose papers are at the Reuther Library at Wayne State University.

So why did the library sit on the papers for so long? Because it didn't have the staff or funding to process a mountain of documents. In 2013, the library was awarded a $87,400 grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources for the project. That enabled the Burton to hire interns to go through box after box, page after page, sorting and filing, 20 hours a week from January 2013 until this past December.

Admittedly, the papers appeal to mostly scholars, students and historians, but they offer more than just info on Young. They also "could be used for insight into the city, American cities in general, black leadership in America, efforts to resuscitate Detroit or other cities," said McGraw, who covered Young in the 1980s and early '90s.

The papers covering the Poletown Plant controversy could prove particularly fascinating, McGraw said, providing a behind-the-scenes look into "a great drama that played out in the city … as Young tried to bring jobs to the city and revitalize it" but wiped out an entire neighborhood in the process.

McGraw, who counts himself among the late leader's defenders, admits that he wouldn't "defend everything he did, nor would you with someone in office for 20 years.

"He was secretive. He wasn't always a great manager. But the idea that Young ruined Detroit is a mindless thing to say. He took office a quarter century after Detroit started to decline. He took control of the city after whites didn't want it anymore, as Young said, and when the city was in free fall."

These papers provide a window into how Young met those challenges.

Contact Dan Austin: daustin99@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @HistoricDET.

How to see the papers yourself

Where: The Burton Historical Collection at the main branch of the Detroit Public Library, 5201 Woodward Ave., Detroit

When: The Burton's hours are noon-8 p.m. Tuesdays-Wednesdays and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. It is closed Sundays and Mondays.

How: Go to the Burton's reading room and ask a librarian there if you can see the Young manuscript file and tell him or her which topic you're looking for. For instance, if you're interested on information about the city airport during his time in office or about park closures, crime, STRESS, etc.