Seminar Three Oral History Project

Dorothy J. Klenow was a young girl but remembers some of the significant events that took place in her era. Dorothy was born in Iosco County November 21, 1938 which makes her 77 years old now. She lived through many different historical events from 1938 until now in 2015. Some of these are World War II, the Detroit Riots, and Marriage & Child-Rearing. Throughout this essay I’m going to touch upon all three of these historical events with a lot of facts about them and also with Dorothy’s words of remembrance of the historical events. The Detroit Race Riots that were held in Detroit, Michigan in the summer of 1967 was one of the most violent riots since Dr. Martin Luther King in 1968. The Detroit Race Riots stood as the largest urban uprising of the 1960s. Dorothy briefly remembers that she was there in Detroit when the riots started. She then had packed up the kids and left the city before anything to serious happened. That she didn’t want her or her family to be involved in the riot at all. Starting on “Sunday evening, July 22, the Detroit Police Vice Squad officers raided an after hours “blind pig,” an unlicensed bar on the corner of 12th Street and Clairmount Avenue in the center of the city’s oldest and poorest black neighborhood”. (Wang, 2007) There was a party that was taking place inside this bar that happened to be for two black men who had just returned home from Vietnam. Although the police had prepared for a few people who would be inside they didn’t expect to see the 82 people that they arrested inside who were attending the party. As they were removing all of the 82 people who had been arrested a mob of about 200 people had formed outside angry because they heard rumors that the police used excessive force during the 12th street bar raid. Not long after at 5:00am an empty bottle was thrown through the back window of the police car and then to follow a garage can was thrown into a store front window. About 20 minutes later at 5:20am additional cops showed up to 12th street to help stop the violence. Now at 1:00pm police officers and firefighters were reporting being assaulted by stones, bottles and other objects. This riot was so out of control that “By 3:00 p.m. 360 police officers began to assemble at the Detroit Armory as the rioting spread from 12th Street to other areas of the city”. (Wang, 2007) Twelve hours later into this riot at 5:30pm the National Guard was brought in to try and control this out of control riot. A curfew was then set in place 9pm till 5am was the curfew that was set. Only 7 minutes into the curfew Seven minutes into the curfew “a 16-year-old African American boy was the first gunshot victim”. (Wang, 2007) Then four other people were shot for looting stores along with reports of there being snipers out there as well. Later Monday morning at 2am 800 State Police Officers and 8,000 National Guardsmen helped end the riot. Thursday July 27th the violence stopped and later Tuesday August 1st the curfew was lifted. “The five days and nights of violence 33 blacks and 10 whites were killed, 1,189 were injured and over 7,200 people were arrested. Approximately 2,500 stores were looted and the total property damage was estimated at about $32 million”. (Wang, 2007) This riot will never be forgotten and will always remain a large horrific historical event that took place here in Detroit, Michigan. Next is World War II and although Dorothy wasn’t in the war specifically she’s remembers experiencing the black outs that occurred during this time. Also, that her father was never drafted because he made parts for tanks and at this time he was too valuable to loose. Because of this and the lack of adults being around Dorothy’s house duties then increased immensely for a while. World War II took place from 1939-1945 this is a 6 year war that took place and it effected every man, woman, and child at that time. “The Second World War was arguably the most significant period of the 20th century. It brought about major leaps in technology and laid the groundwork that permitted post-war social changes including the end of European colonialism, the civil rights movement in the United States, and the modern women’s rights movement, as well as the programs for exploring outer space. The primary combatants were the Axis nations (Nazi Germany, Facist Italy, Imperial Japan and their smaller allies) and the Allied nations, led by Britain (and its Commonwealth nations), the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America. The Allies were the victors. Two superpowers, the USA and USSR, emerged from World War II to begin a Cold War with each other that would define much of the rest of the century”. (HistoryNet, 2015) This 6 year long war was the most destructive war with 50 million casualties. This number is not just for the men who were fighting in the war but this number includes all of the harmless civilians that were killed as well. Thankfully on “August 15, 1945, Japan formally surrendered. World War II was over. A new age of nuclear weapons had begun, and a cold war between the two superpowers that emerged from the war—the United States and the Soviet Union—would result in many "surrogate wars" in the decades to come, wars fought in and between nations backed by one side or the other”. (HistoryNet 2015) Now that the war is over people were able to get back to their lives and there way of living or so they thought. The war had done so much damage to the different countries that people were having a hard time trying to settle back in. Because the men were gone at War the women began to take over their jobs such as welding and proved that they could do it. As the men returned home though these jobs were then taken away from the women and given back to the men which later starts their own Civil War with gender discrimination.
The third and final historical event that Dorothy had endured was marriage and child-rearing. Although she had a wonderful marriage Dorothy did marry young at 18 years old and he was 20 years old. They were married in 1957 in an Episcopal church which was the religion she was brought up on. She was raised and taught by her parents and the church that divorce was never an option that you take your vows seriously. She later had 4 children Cheri Kay Klenow, Steven Mark Klenow, Diana Lyn Klenow and Barba Jean Klenow. Dorothy didn’t believe in women working outside of the home she believed that a woman /mother should stay home with her kids and raise them appropriately. She believed that there should have been some type of help to help keep mothers home with their children not out working. “By having one person specialize in domestic responsibilities (most often a wife as homemaker), while the other supports the spouse and children financially (typically a husband as breadwinner), couples are more efficient than singles”. (Isen, Stevenson, 2012) This was how Dorothy had run her home and she never had a problem with it. In fact she wouldn’t have changed it for anything in the world. Women who marred in that time and especially uneducated women were expected to be able to tend to all of the house needs and the children. As for the educated women back then most of them decided to wait on marriage until later in life and just concentrate on education. Now these women have found themselves in there 50’s and still not married with no kids rethinking there decision. As for Dorothy she knew since she was a little girl all she really wanted was a family to take care of and love. Now things are different in homes you almost have to have a two person income to be able to just scrape by and pay the bills. Children are going to daycares at 6 months old 5 days a week 8 hours a day. Pretty much someone else is raising your child while you are working. There is few stay at home moms left most women also have some type of job and the men are not just the bread winner anymore. Men are now looking for educated women to marry over women who are just domesticated cooking, cleaning and child-rearing women. Times have changed a lot over the years some changes good others not so good but life is always changing there is always room for improvement.
In conclusion Dorothy has really been able to experience many historical events from birth 1938 until now 2015. The three main historical events that we were able to touch upon where the Detroit Riots, World War II, and Marriage & Child-rearing. It truly is amazing for Dorothy to be able to be a part of these significant times and be here to tell us about them. Being able to look at those times and see them through her eyes and to add the facts in with it just makes it that much more interesting to be able to learn about.

References

Wang, T. (2007). Detroit Race Riot (1967). Retrieved from http://www.blackpast.org/aah/detroit-race-riot-1967

World War II. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii

Isen, A., & Stevenson, B. (2012, November 1). WOMEN’S EDUCATION AND FAMILY BEHAVIOR:. Retrieved from https://bepp.wharton.upenn.edu/bepp/assets/File/Women's Education and Family Behavior.pdf