Life in Michigan in 1966
Life in Michigan in 1966
The Detroit NewsClaudia Sand, center, was crowned the winner of the Miss Detroit Pagent at Masonic Temple. The newspaper report described her as "a tall and willowy brown-eyed beauty" and noted that she won the swimsuit competition. June Lorimer, left, was first runner-up, and Diane Michalke, left, second runner-up.The Detroit News ArchivesStudents in a Detroit Country Day classroom look less than enthralled with the lesson, but at least their eyes are open, which is more than can be said of Dr. William R. Keast, back center, then president of Wayne State University.The Detroit News ArchivesA 62-pound gray Hubbard squash is displayed by John S. Johnson of Michigan Center, part of a productive garden in 1966. He also grew extra large potatoes, and enough green Hubbard, buttercup and butternut squash to add up to two tons in weight.The Detroit News ArchivesThe Beatles performed two concerts at Detroit's Olympia Stadium on Aug. 13, 1966. (This photo is from their 1964 "Ed Sullivan Show" appearance.) Their 11-song set incuded hits such as "Day Tripper," "Yesterday" and "Nowhere Man." After the second show, they left by Greyhound bus for their next performance in Cleveland.TJL Productions, APThe tricycle gang is off to the races at Roeper City & Country Day School in Bloomfield Hills in 1966.The Detroit News ArchivesA crowd of demonstrators gathers before a march in downtown Detoit to protest against the war in Vietnam on March 26, 1966.The Detroit News ArchivesSen. Robert Kennedy visited Ypsilanti on Oct. 29; at left is former Michigan Gov. G. Mennen "Soapy" Williams, who unsuccessfully challenged Republican U.S. Senator Robert P. Griffin in 1966.The Detroit News ArchivesThe former Kern's Department Store was razed in 1966, leaving a Pentagon-shaped grassy field in its wake.The Detroit News ArchivesCarl Rosenfield, who opened Carl's Chop House in Detroit in 1923, brings a tray of of thick-cut chops from the meat locker on Nov. 16, 1966. The beloved restaurant served nearly 3,000 people a day in the 1960s.The Detroit News ArchivesJudy Jacob was named Miss Teenage Detroit in 1966.The Detroit News ArchivesCynthia Jo Tjapkes, 3 1/2 year old radio announcer, helps Michigan State Police Trooper Jack Hulsing create a public service broadcast for a police recruiting drive over WGHN in Grand Haven. The station was owned by her father, Douglas Tjapkes.UPIBob-Lo Park visitors are invited to "Be Your Own Pilot" on the "Super Satellite Jet Ride Direct from Germany."The Detroit News ArchivesMargaret Ann Goodwillie, 13, looks at the Zenith portable TV set which would go to the winner of The Detroit News Metropolitan Spelling Bee, held in the WWJ-Detroit News Auditorium in May.The Detroit News ArchivesWinners of the 1966 Detroit News Spelling Bee were, from left: Steven Kleene, 1st place; Karen Plume, 2nd place; Allen Dobrynden, 3rd place.The Detroit News ArchivesCivil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. speaks at a "We Rally for Freedom" gathering at Cobo Hall in Detroit on June 19, 1966.The Detroit News ArchivesFrancis Cardinal Spellman, center, exits the church in Detroit following the funeral of K.T. Keller, president of Chrysler Corp. from 1935-50, and Chrysler's chairman of the board from 1950-56. One of Keller's quirks was insisting on building high-roofed cars, so that people wouldn't have to take off their hats.The Detroit News ArchivesTeamsters President James R. Hoffa addresses a rally at Cobo Hall on Dec. 15, ordering wildcat strikers to go back to work. The following year, Hoffa entered Lewisburg Federal Prison to begin his 13-year sentence for conspiracy and fraud.The Detroit News ArchivesStokely Carmichael, the charismatic young leader of the black power movement, came to Detroit for a speech at Cobo Hall on July 30. He urged African Americans to refuse military induction. "You send a black man to Vietnam to fight for rights, and he doesn't have any rights in his homeland; he's a black mercenary," he said.The Detroit News ArchivesMarshall Hoffman of Kaleva, left, holds the first Coho salmon to be caught by a sport fisherman in Michigan. He caught it in Bear Creek, a tributary of the Manistee River, using a night crawler. Jack Hammond, right, Conservation Department fish biologist at Cadillac, verified the catch.The Detroit News ArchivesThe Detroit Tigers had a 88–74 record in 1966, finishing 10 games behind the Baltimore Orioles. Tragedy struck twice, with manager Chuck Dressen, left, suffering a heart attack in May. He was succeeded by third-base coach Bill Swift, right, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in July. Dressen died on Aug. 10, Swift on Oct. 17.The Detroit News ArchivesAuthor George Plimpton's book "Paper Lion," published in 1966, described his experience in the Detroit Lions' training camp in 1963. The coaches knew that Plimpton was posing as a quarterback, the players did not. Plimpton took just five snaps in an intra-squad scrimmage and lost yarage on every play.The Detroit News ArchivesThe NCAA's Indoor Track & Field Championships were held at Cobo Hall from 1965 to 1981. This is a race from 1966.The Detroit News ArchivesA pole vaulter goes up and over at the NCAA's Indoor Track & Field Championships at Cobo Hall.The Detroit News ArchivesPresident Lyndon Johnson spoke at Labor Day observances at Cobo Hall in 1966. Other notables included Detroit Mayor Jerry Cavanagh, Gov. George Romney, U.S. Sen. Phil Hart, U.S. Senator Robert Griffin,UAW President Walter Reuther and Msgr. Clement Kern.The Detroit News ArchivesLynn Townsend, president of Chrysler Corp., presides over a stockholder meeting on April 19, 1966. He also would become chairman of the board that year. Townsend built a reputation for cost cutting, pushing Chrysler into overseas markets, and brand building through performance cars and racing success.The Detroit News ArchivesPlum Street between Fourth and Fifth streets was a lively area of shops and restaurants in 1966. But merchants became upset after realizing loitering hippies were harassing customers for money; soon the area became known for drug dealing and later motorcycle gangs, which scared away customers. By 1969, only a handful of shops remained.The Detroit News ArchivesJerome P. Cavanagh, mayor of Detroit, left, appears with gubernatorial candidate Zolton Ferency, a human rights activist. Cavanagh ran for the U.S. Senate in 1966 but lost in the Democratic primary to former Gov. G. Mennen "Soapy" Williams.The Detroit News ArchivesEleanor "Nonie" Clay Ford, right, appears at a society event with her parents, Josephine Ford and Walter Buhl Ford II.The Detroit News ArchivesMonroe Avenue in Greektown in 1966.The Detroit News ArchivesReflections of downtown buildings are seen at night in December in a pool of water where the Kern's store once stood.The Detroit News ArchivesEntertainer Sammy Davis Jr. makes an appearance in Detroit in September 1966. He also had a TV variety show in 1966, "The Sammy Davis Jr. Show" on NBC. In 1970, he would briefly join the Motown Records label.The Detroit News ArchivesActor Bert Lahr, of Cowardly Lion fame, is seen with his wife at a Detroit restaurant in 1966.The Detroit News ArchivesDetroit priest Fr. Charles E. Coughlin, nationally known in the 1930s for his radio show speeches on political issues, was pastor of the Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak. Here he celebrates his 50th anniversary as a priest on May 18, 1966. He would retire later in the year.The Detroit News ArchivesA statue of General Casimir Pulaski, a much-honored Revolutionary war hero who established the young nation's first cavalry, was erected at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Michigan Avenue. A large crowd, many of them proud Polish-Americans, turned out for the dedication on Oct. 10, 1966.The Detroit News ArchivesBoys climb the Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula in 1966, a year in which the U.S. House Interior Committee voted against declaring the area a national lake shore park. Four years later in 1970, the 71,199-acre national park was established.The Detroit News ArchivesTourists in a dune buggy visit the Silver Lake Sand Dunes between Muskegon and Ludington in 1966.The Detroit News ArchivesGM was attempting to develop a viable electric vehicle in 1966, and came up with the Electrovair II experimental vehicle. A silver zinc battery was dropped into a Corvair, but the driving range was only 40-80 miles before recharging was needed, and the battery wore out after about 100 recharges. The car never went into production.The Detroit News ArchivesThe downtown Detroit riverfront in 1966: It would be another decade before the Renaissance Center towers would dominate the skyline.The Detroit News Archives