HDAB Special Projects

The Historic Designation Advisory Board (HDAB) serves as the coordinating agency for the City of Detroit's Certified Local Government (CLG) Program. The CLG program is a preservation partnership between local, state, and national governments focused on promoting historic preservation at the grassroots level. The program is jointly administered by the National Park Service (NPS) and the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).

Grant Projects

HDAB has developed a broad, multi-year initiative to document and highlight underrepresented communities in Detroit. Part of this work is supported through grant funding.

Tell Us Your Story!

We want to hear more about you and your family’s (parents, grandparents, friends, etc.) cultural history and how it has impacted Detroit. We will use your responses to collect Detroit histories, help us research further underrepresented communities, and identify historic places important to different cultural communities.

We are looking for community input on the following current projects that are underway:

• Arab and Chaldean History Project
• Latinx History Project

Arab and Chaldean History Project

This project will document and record the histories of Detroit’s Arab and Chaldean communities, the first of whom immigrated here over a century ago. Detroit is the first city in the nation to receive a National Parks Service Underrepresented Communities grant recognizing Arab and Chaldean history! 

Through this project, HDAB will:  

• Connect with Arab and Chaldean community members to record local and family histories and photographs. 

• Identify and nominate at least (2) Detroit sites related to Arab and Chaldean community history for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).  

• Create a historic context report that outlines Arab and Chaldean histories in Detroit and identifies sites for potential listing in the NRHP. 

Historic Context of Latinx Communities in Detroit

HDAB’s ongoing Latinx History Project is documenting and recording Detroit’s Latinx histories, with a specific focus on Southwest Detroit. This project is supported in part by an Underrepresented Communities Grant. 

Project updates:  

• Phase 1:  A year of community consultation, historic research, and identifying important historic Latinx properties and sites. (Complete)  

• Phase 2:  Writing a National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) nomination for portions of the Vernor and Bagley Commercial Corridors, which recognizes their importance to local Latinx histories. (In progress) 

We need your help! We are looking for public feedback on the buildings within the proposed historic district. Generally, to be considered historic, it should be 50+ years old. We are looking for items from before 1980, such as:  

• Historic images of the buildings and the people, organizations, and events associated with them.  
• Flyers or programs linked to events that occurred in the area.  
• Personal histories of the establishments, businesses, and people who frequented these spaces. 

Access the interactive map and give your feedback here! 

Historic Context of Women in Detroit

This initiative will develop a historic context of women in Detroit as a Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPDF) and will include nominate a property to the National Register of Historic Places. HDAB will work with community partners and stakeholders to provide education and outreach opportunities regarding the history of women in Detroit. This project is being supported in part by an Underrepresented Communities Grant from the Historic Preservation Fund administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior. 

For more information about any of the grant projects listed above, please email [email protected] or call (313) 224-3487.