What did it take to not only survive the greatest economic challenge this country has ever faced but to rise up from that challenge and create a new industrial super power? What strategies did they learn? What hopes sustained them? And Still They Prospered: Living Through the Great Depression – a program series at Macomb Community College’s Lorenzo Cultural Center running Feb. 27-May 8. – examines the 1930s and the economic, social and cultural changes that took place during that decade, laying the groundwork for future prosperity in the Motor City and beyond.
The business and industry of the 1930s and the lasting legacy of that time period on the Detroit area of today will be the focus of many of the presentations and exhibits during the event.
The series will feature exhibits from the Smithsonian Institution and the Michigan State University Museum; more than 40 presentations providing a comprehensive look at the people and the times; and a performance of Forgotten, a “jazz-blues opera” that tells the story of a mysterious death at the Ford Rouge Plant during the effort to organize a labor union there.
“Many of the lessons that were first learned in the 1930s are being re-examined and reapplied today,” said Geary Maiuri, dean of Community & Student Enrichment at Macomb. “Through the And Still They Prospered series, we have an opportunity as a community to look back at not only the challenges of the 1930s and the Great Depression, but how those times became a springboard from which great things were launched.”
Presentations with a specific interest to the business and labor community include:
• When Cranes No Longer Rose, March 4.
• Working Detroit, March 10.
• Memories of the Great Depression & Detroit’s Recovery, March 11.
• New Technology, 1930 vs. 2010: It’s All Relative, March 12 and April 15.
• The “Detroit Industry” Murals and the Great Depression, March 21 and 31.
• Factory Workers in the 1930s and Today: This is Not Your Grandparents’ Depression, April 7.
• Compassion in Crisis: The Fords and Philanthropy in the 1930s, April 17.
• The New Deal and the Future of American Business, April 22.
• How Nash Motors and the Hudson Motor Car Company Survived the Great Depression, April 23.
• The Essential Henry Ford, April 24.
• Packard Motor Car Company, April 28.
• The Union’s Role During the 1930s, April 28.
• Legacies of the New Deal, April 29.
• The Story of Detroit, April 30.
The And Still They Prospered exhibit will feature The Way We Worked** traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution, which reveals the effects of industrialization, urbanization, immigration, labor unrest, wars, and economic depression on ordinary working Americans, whether they toiled in a coal mine, on a tractor, at a typewriter, or on an assembly line.
The Lorenzo Cultural Center is located on Macomb Community College’s Center Campus, Garfield & M-59, Clinton Township. The cultural center is open 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Wednesday – Saturday; and 1-4 p.m. Sundays. Additional information on the cultural center and on the And Still They Prospered program series is available at www.lorenzoculturalcenter.com.
**The Way We Worked is an exhibition created by the National Archives with the support of the Foundation for the National Archives and organized for travel by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.
About the Lorenzo Cultural Center
The Lorenzo Cultural Center (lorenzoculturalcenter.com) explores the influences and experiences that shape our community's heritage, examining topics from a variety of perspectives and creating interactive opportunities for learning, celebration and entertainment. Located on Macomb Community College's Center Campus, Hall and Garfield Roads in Clinton Township, the cultural center is adjacent to the Macomb Center for Performing Arts.
About Macomb Community College
Macomb Community College (www.macomb.edu) is one of the nation’s leading community colleges, providing learning experiences to more than 59,000 students annually. Macomb nationally ranks in the top two percent in the number of associate degrees awarded and as the largest grantor of associate degrees in Michigan. The college’s comprehensive educational programming includes pre-collegiate experiences, university transfer and career preparation programs, bachelor degree completion and graduate degree programs, workforce training, professional education and certification, and continuing education and enrichment opportunities.
Media contact:
Dan Heaton
586.445.7271
heatond@macomb.edu