We had Hamtramck in our hearts.
-Former Block Club President Vera Burk
This page is dedicated to the spirit of Hamtramck. Some of the stories consider the enduring characteristics that are unique to the city while others reflect on major changes, politically, economically and socially.
The Old Hamtramck: Community, Businesses & Jobs
Greg Kowalski explains why his time as a writer for and editor of The Citizen was a defining experience of his life because of the crime, chaos and variety in 1970s Hamtramck life.
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Greg: The Citizen was the greatest training ground in the world for a journalist it was absolutely amazing and I literally mean I think it’s better than the New York Times or anybody. Because the experience you got here was extremely varied and it was the baptism of fire because the politics of this town were insane...
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Lifetime Hamtramckan Frank Zacharias discusses small-scale gambling and customer trust in a time before credit cards.
Frank: Like that one across the street used to be a candy store. [Laughs]
Marge: Alright, tell them the story. Frank: He called it a candy store but it was a bookie joint. [Laughs] Years ago, before the casinos all this legalized gambling came in, they used to have these, lot of stores or lot of businesses would have, would take numbers. And you’d pay a penny, two cents, you know. You wouldn’t, you wouldn’t win a lot but you’d call up to say I want so and so number, they’d take the number and then the paper would be from some type of treasures, treasury number that came out in the paper somehow and that was the number they would, you’d hit on... |
Frank: Oh, movie theaters.
Marge: There used to be 4 of them, 5, 6? Frank: There used to be Martha Washington over next to the bakery. In fact, Martha Washington used to own that whole corner—the theater, the Montofel family used to own everything from Caniff and Joseph Campau to Joseph Campau and Trowbridge. There used to be the bar which is now Bank Suey, and the White Tower now they call it Campau tower. And then the bakery and the bakery is there. And then there was a place called, Nick’s little ice cream or something. Alright the show, in front of the show they had a whole bunch of little stores and the theater was—these were the stores on Joseph Campau and there was little firewall or fire exit, from the show to here that went out Trowbridge. The seating of the theater was behind the stores. The screen was like on Trowbridge. So you would—like I said the stores would be on the other side of the theater, it was like an exit, they had to have an exit for the show, so if you exit for an emergency you would walk between the show and the stores. And the screen would be up there. When they tore it down they thought they would never get it down. They had such a hard time tearing that show down, they had a big ball on a crane to knock down the wall and the ball was bouncing out like a rubber ball, because that’s how strong and supported where they had the screen. And a little ways down you had another called Campau Theater which is now Campau Clothes, now that was a theater. Then across Holbrook there used to be a show called Farnham, Farnham Theater. Then on the other side about a block this way, was called Star. And a little further south where the ring road used to be, Grand Boulevard and Joseph Campau, used to be a theater called Iris. And if you went down, going west, you’d run into the Fisher Theater. And then this way north of Carpenter there was a theater called Park. I never went to that one it was too far. The way the shows would go, the way the movies would go, they would go downtown first to the Fox, the Michigan, Adams, Madison, Palms. Anyway, they would all go downtown first. Then it would work its way to the Fisher, it would work its way to the Iris. And it used to work its way to Hamtramck and then they go out. So if you want to see a movie, well for example if the movies downtown cost two dollars, then when they got to the Iris it cost dollar and a half then when it got down to Hamtramck is was maybe 75 cents. So it all depends how much money you had to see the same movie, you know. If there’s a good movie you want to see it you used to always go the Fisher. Because it was a nice, it was a beautiful theater. Detroit had some beautiful theaters believe me. |
Frank Zacharias reminisces about Hamtramck and Detroit's many movie theaters.
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Abdul Kaed remembers his time working at the famous Dodge Main plant.
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Lifetime Hamtramckan Joan Barrios remembers the rumble of nearby factories.
Joan: It all started with the, the factories coming in. I believe that General Motors was here or Chevrolet Gear and Axle is what it used to be called and that was a place that was interesting because they had pneumatic hammers making whatever they were making over there and the houses nearby would shake. And my mother, my mother had a buffet and she had like little glass artifacts on there and you could hear them hitting each other, the house was shaking. [Laughs] And if you lived right across the street, while you were sitting in this chair, you could hear a— you could feel a little bit of a vibration if the hammers were on.
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Abdul: First thing, assembly plant, it's in Hamtramck— Dodge Main, it's called Dodge Main, I think. You know, if you go back to, you know whats the name of that plant over here, it's called Dodge Main. It was two line. Every one minute, two car they built. Yes, every minute. Two car because there are two line. Yeah, its lot of people and when anybody come because it was help wanted. That time, lot of, lot of factories they need people to work and they said the Yemeni people they are good worker, they hire them. It's easy to, to get job before in factories.
Growing Up in Hamtramck
Frank Zacharias recalls his childhood in Hamtramck: games, work, neighbors, and family.
Joan Barrios discusses her childhood home, family, neighborhood community, and early years spent away from Hamtramck at boarding school.
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Frank: Oh my name is Frank Zacharias. I was born October 28 1938. I was born and raised in this house and I still live here and I own it. [Laughs]
Frank: Fun? We had no fun. We had to go to work, we had to find a job. [Laughs] Your parents didn’t give you no money if you wanted to go someplace, you had to earn it. You had to go shovel snow, cut grass, wash windows. You had to do something. Well I played sports so, so usually we played— had games or played on the street here with the— at one time we had a lot of kids in the neighborhood, you know. We had maybe 15, 20 fellas around here, you know. So we used to play on the street or in the alley. We played softball and football and hockey and so. But everything was around here because we had the boys here. But they— your parents always had something for you to do around the house, keep you busy, you know. It’s— because your father usually stayed home on Saturday and, and they’d always find work around the house or do something so, so that was it. We all grew up together and so we just went, you know, hung, hung out, went to church together on Sunday and we’d play around here, so. But you know like I said there was like, like 12, 15 kids around here, all boys, very very— I think we had one or two girls I think, so. I went to school to St. Ladislaud’s grade school and high school on Caniff here that’s— now its a charter school, it closed as a charter school. So I went there for all my education. We had like maybe 600 kids in grade school and maybe 400 kids in high school so that was one of the larger schools around here so— but it was, at that time there was only two Catholic high schools, St. Lad’s and St. Florian. And then they had the Ukrainian school up on McDougle but mostly just three Catholic schools in Hamtramck, well they had Queen of Apostles but they’re closed. There’s no Catholic school in Hamtramck now. They’re all closed, so. By the time I was born, there was no Polish speaking in the— very little Polish was spoken in the house, it was mostly English because I was the 11th of 14 children. My mother was— she used to work at a cigar factory. Then when the children came she was a homemaker. And then my father, he worked for— as a dime maker, to a dime maker in his shop and he retired from Chrysler after Midland Steel closed he worked for Chrysler for about 8 years then he retired. |
Hamtramck Changes
Joan Barrios talks about the destruction and transformation of old Hamtramck buildings.
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Joan Barrios shares her memories of Hamtramck's history of racism and more recent changes in the ethnic makeup of the city.
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Joan Barrios explains why, after all these years, she still loves Hamtramck.
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Frank Zacharias remembers the days when Hamtramck's population was 50,000, factories employed local Hamtramckans, and street cars went up and down Joseph Campau.
Frank: At one time there was like 50,000 people in Hamtramck at one time and now there’s like maybe 20, 22,000. But that’s the way it was in those days. I, I, I’m just— I don’t know I just, just like it here. I get along with everybody. I live close to Joseph Campau. 40 minutes, you know, just so close to everything, expressway, you can go anyplace on expressway and I don’t know. Well one thing that kept me here was the idea of the property in Hamtramck. There was— my lot that I live on here is one of the longest lots in the city. Most lots are like 30 by 110 well mine is 30 by 178 feet so I got almost a lot and a half thick so, so I liked the idea I had a lot more space than a lot of other people and living close to Joseph Campau.
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Abdul Kaed reflects on his first impressions of Hamtramck and the changes that have taken place in the many years he has lived in the city. Later in the clip, he remembers the expense of phone calls to Yemen and reminds us how much easier long distance communication is today.
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Interviewer: So have you felt like— especially at the beginning living here— that there was resistance by the Polish people that were here towards buying buildings, developing the community, building mosques? Or were people open to it?
Abdul: The was good people, you know, because, you know, they knows, they knows where they come from and they knows where people come from. And they was good. [Speaks Yemeni]
Interpreter Omar Alkusari: He said the relationship between them was mutual respect and cooperation.
Abdul: But after that when we came over here and a lot of people, they start moving. Polish people, they like to move different place. Not from the— I don’t know it’s because the people but because they changed the area, they want a different place. Like they went to Sterling Heights.
[Islamic Center of Hamtramck member interjects: A lot of people moved from Hamtramck because they didn’t have like shopping centers, have malls, you know what I mean? That’s the main thing. I heard it from a lot of people.]
Abdul: Lot of, lot of people now is in Hamtra— Polish, they don't want to leave Hamtramck because they like Hamtramck. It’s called Polish Town.
[Islamic Center of Hamtramck member interjects: Polish city, yeah.]
Abdul: The time before 10 years, 15 years it was lot of business especially on Joseph Campau. Now it’s— I don’t know what’s wrong with the, Joseph Ca— especially to us big shopping worth, it’s in Joseph Campau, they close it down. Afghan people, they open in Conant, Arabic people open in Conant. It’s a lot of— you know, they move. Now I think, now it’s, it’s coming a little bit back, it’s coming back, the business is coming back. They, they, they make it bigger than Joseph Campau. It was the main thing is Joseph Campau. The restaurant, the— anything was in Joseph Campau. Now they move it to Conant.
Abdul: I like to stay in Hamtramck because there’s a lot of culture. My kids they learn more when they go in to some places else.
Abdul: 20 dollars it was long time, gets only 5 minutes.
Omar: Wow. Like you’re still talking, getting to the--
Abdul: Yeah.
Omar: —juicy parts of life, and the phone— the card just stops.
Abdul: Now, it’s you call free. You could stay 1 hour, 2 hour, whatever, every time, but if we got that’s long time, it’s better.
Omar: People used to spend hundreds of dollars on--
Abdul: Yeah!
Omar: —phone cards. Like people that were like getting married over there, they’re over here, they would like call their wives, like every day they would call their wives, like 20 dollars, 5 minutes but they would spend 40 dollars a day just to call and say “Hey, how’s everything going?”
Abdul: Yeah, I used— I used to call when I get home, you know, from work, I feel like to stay, and you call from the— dialing sometime— from the house, “Hello, hello?” But now you could call any time you want.
Abdul: The was good people, you know, because, you know, they knows, they knows where they come from and they knows where people come from. And they was good. [Speaks Yemeni]
Interpreter Omar Alkusari: He said the relationship between them was mutual respect and cooperation.
Abdul: But after that when we came over here and a lot of people, they start moving. Polish people, they like to move different place. Not from the— I don’t know it’s because the people but because they changed the area, they want a different place. Like they went to Sterling Heights.
[Islamic Center of Hamtramck member interjects: A lot of people moved from Hamtramck because they didn’t have like shopping centers, have malls, you know what I mean? That’s the main thing. I heard it from a lot of people.]
Abdul: Lot of, lot of people now is in Hamtra— Polish, they don't want to leave Hamtramck because they like Hamtramck. It’s called Polish Town.
[Islamic Center of Hamtramck member interjects: Polish city, yeah.]
Abdul: The time before 10 years, 15 years it was lot of business especially on Joseph Campau. Now it’s— I don’t know what’s wrong with the, Joseph Ca— especially to us big shopping worth, it’s in Joseph Campau, they close it down. Afghan people, they open in Conant, Arabic people open in Conant. It’s a lot of— you know, they move. Now I think, now it’s, it’s coming a little bit back, it’s coming back, the business is coming back. They, they, they make it bigger than Joseph Campau. It was the main thing is Joseph Campau. The restaurant, the— anything was in Joseph Campau. Now they move it to Conant.
Abdul: I like to stay in Hamtramck because there’s a lot of culture. My kids they learn more when they go in to some places else.
Abdul: 20 dollars it was long time, gets only 5 minutes.
Omar: Wow. Like you’re still talking, getting to the--
Abdul: Yeah.
Omar: —juicy parts of life, and the phone— the card just stops.
Abdul: Now, it’s you call free. You could stay 1 hour, 2 hour, whatever, every time, but if we got that’s long time, it’s better.
Omar: People used to spend hundreds of dollars on--
Abdul: Yeah!
Omar: —phone cards. Like people that were like getting married over there, they’re over here, they would like call their wives, like every day they would call their wives, like 20 dollars, 5 minutes but they would spend 40 dollars a day just to call and say “Hey, how’s everything going?”
Abdul: Yeah, I used— I used to call when I get home, you know, from work, I feel like to stay, and you call from the— dialing sometime— from the house, “Hello, hello?” But now you could call any time you want.
Interfaith Activities
In the first clip, Reverend and Social Activist Sharon Buttry describes the challenges she faced in attempting to pass the Human Rights Ordinance in Hamtramck in 2008 due to religious conservatism and a campaign of misinformation. In the second clip, she describes her experiences at the Hope Center running English language and citizenship classes for primarily Muslim women.
Sharon: And I told you about my involvement in the Call to Prayer and how that all came about, well that was 2004. In 2007— this was the year I went to India— in 2007 the Human Rights Ordinance came up into Hamtramck. And it was— it’s here somewhere— so I jumped in because I believe that people should have equal access to employment and housing and jobs. So I guess it was 2008, so I jumped in on this ordinance thing. Well, it was a thinly veiled effort to— I mean politically people saw it as bringing gay rights into the community. So I took a lot of heat for it.
Sharon: I also host a lot of volunteers and Christian service teams that come into the city. So the first weekend in March is Spring Break for Spring Arbor University and they always send a big team. So wherever I am in the world I come home for them because I love that group so much. So they come and we just blitz the city with all kinds of community service that week. And then I host other teams in April and May.
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Interfaith organizer Arif Huskic discusses his engagement in the community, the founding of the Islamic Association of Hamtramck and Detroit followed by Common Word Alliance, and the importance of cross-cultural communication.
Arif: Since I came to America, I, I couldn’t remain in the house and or just go to work, back, back to work, home, work, and so trying to make friendship and to be able to establish any friendship you have to communicate so that helps me as a Muslim going to the mosque. The Bosnian community back then didn’t have a mosque but we were able to, to go to the other mosques to, to like, the people from Bangladesh, they were earlier refugees or people from Yemen and they already has established their places of worship so many of Bosnians went in their places of worship so that help us to communicate with them in English and start to build friendships. Actually we did establish the organization which was Islamic Association of Hamtramck and Detroit. I was one of the founders. So we had several people from Bangladesh, from Yemen, I was from Bosnia, and we had also from African American community that we established some board and we were visiting different mosques and that led us to communicate with pastors from various Christian churches, you know Catholic churches in Hamtramck so, to establish better communication and work for the community to, to, to establish good community that people would respect each other and learn from each other and work together to live together peacefully in this community. We decide to work as interfaith, to invite Christians leaders to the mosques to just have dinner and conversation about the opportunity, how we can work together in Hamtramck and Detroit. So that led us to know more about each other from a neighboring of Hamtramck. So that made us to establish the organization Children of Abraham, which I was also was one of the founders. Later on, people was unauthorized from the places of worship just who someone know who ask to come to the meeting and I didn’t, I didn't see it growing properly because people are not authorized to speak in their places of worship and they were not able to convey the messages from the meetings, nor bring us to the meetings.
I tried to reborn some interfaith organization and went to several different place of worship leaders and the faith leaders like Imam, Pastors, and so on. I asked them about the interfaith activities, how we can work better, and we have a nice discussions and they ask me to call all others who I know they will come to the meeting so once I call, all of them came. Ever since we continue to have a monthly meeting, we have great events, we are this organization called Common Word Alliance, [?] interfaith organization, which is comprised now with over 30 places of worship from five counties in Michigan. So we have a great support and working together in Hamtramck in cleanliness and safety and that people talks about it more even than I how Hamtramck is now better view since we started five years ago and Hamtramck is clean and safe and people work together and people shopping together and people do not hesitate— Muslim to go to Christian stores, Christian come to Muslim stores and restaurants and we really have a good friendship like we are one family. And it should be one family under God. |