A I ITORS Ronald J. Horvath Michigan State Universi Edward J. VanderVelde Michigan State University EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Charles lpcar Laura Parks Sarah Snyder Correspondence should be addressed to: Editors, Field Notes Department of Geography Michigan State University East Lansl~g. Michigan 48823 it ion Detroit r No. THE FIRST YEARS OF THE DETROIT GEOGHAPHICAL EXPEDITION: A PERSONAL REPORT by H111 i am Bunge The Society for Human Exploration Detroit, Michigan July, 1969 PREFACE In the Summer of 1968, Dr. Wi I I iam Bunge founded the Society for Human Exploration (SHE) tor the purposes of providing formal recognition of the need to reorient geographical research in directions of direct human concern, initiating the exploration of the human regions of geography, and instituting a developme~tal rather than an extractive program of geographical exploration. It was Dr. Bunge's hope, shared by others, that two publications would emerge in connection with SHE, an occasional paper series and an international journal of human exploration. Field Notes is the result of a collective effort to establish the occasional paper series. Its format is, as the name suggests, informal and flexible; its contents, consistently dedicated to the theme of modern human exploration, wi I I typically include field notes and observations by contemporary explorers of the continents and islands of mankind. CONTENTS Title Page Preface Table of I. Phi Iosophy of Exploration II. Priorities . Ill. Log of Field Notes. 8 IV. Organization and Financing. 16 v. The Expedition. 20 VI. Publications . . • 28 VI I . Loca I i zing Comrr~i tments. . 4 28 Appendices !. The Barnesvl I le, Ohio Expedition. 31 II. Bunge Letter . . 36 I I!. The Society for Human Exploration 38 IV. Human Tour of Detroit 41 V. Essay on the Geography of WSU VI. Detroit Regional Maps • 43 45 THE FIRST YEARS OF THE PERS GEOGRAPHICAl EXPEDITION: RE rmous gor s mov ng frontiers s multaneously. thus reversing a long period to "the general geog as an sense geog were cosmolog sts and to know this impossible, not only all lea re was an over-reaction. From ng to master eve ing tuals over to ing to learn almost ing, the age skills are easily withi if the empirical is not. During peri of many skills were allowed to decline, instance: can navi and almost none r Wiillam Morris ique, for determining Jati No can invent ections, not even most simple ones in spite all that Waldo Tobler has tried to teach us. Field techniques have fallen into such disrepair that a no~-~eog r, Kevin is at least from as ia11y oriented discipline), is must reading for geographers; microgeog seemed to out way back wi Finchts work on Mon But most curious decline, considering our history, is that exploration. !~ PHilOSOPHY OF ION ski must constantly be perfec at its base or it series semi-conscious habits or techniques. What were characterist cs of explorat on ing the great loration? characteron socie must rank hi sties. al i es re a search state weal and power and were terribly expensive relative to resources available, at least as expensive exploration Similarly, deci ons to explore had to be the hi t power and were semi-m litary in nature. earlier exploration and space exploration inven{ on new space ship. The ocean going vessel is truly a marvelous and most imle invention, ta much too g ship upon the relative densities of two fluids, air and water. It sticks up into the floats in it as as in the water. It is first or in his a11 bioi ica1 evolution, where a species built, rather evolved, his entry. Oceans were a space den ed and rally, became , truly, quite most sudden revolution su land, that remote central. Timbuktu, crossroads, becomes mystery ci , remote interior. The new space ships s considerable and lost in simi lari including a new inversion space, resulting n rn i difficulties as Russia and the Un States being close nei geog any two countries in the world. a , it must constantly revo1utioni logy t rything vat in we feel today? Gradually, very, very gradually, r~t·nr•nize his provincia1ism: disasters are not rea11y , or plagues locusts, but ioactivity: r, the great polluter, is not a naturally occurring dust storm. Man is his own problem. But also, man is • place filled with people rai as well as fill horror. Finally, r centuries realizes adolescence to expiore himself. escapism~ He has the original explorers went slaves. But mapping to mountains, r are nearly g mri map. a region was 1y to conce ve even times. oceans than wi transient population, Paci fie. Even people e once has been a more appropr ate ible element it not be of people? most of permanently with been ngredient in their mental map. Even this newly ined map is not completee poor are almost invariably underesti are not l le. not count. 11 For instance, in my country, Un i States, It is est m 1 on Bl ks are uncounted i any census voting tion, or icare program, and so Similarly, the American Indian population-what is 1 of it,-is estimated, wi latest guess imes count Missionaries nese the popu1at "incident diseases and urate. not at till while the base map is ially classi and map at ( ional i and i at ly Certain data 5 1 enat on," Is totally issing but other data is part ally as "race mixi ( blood , that terrible one "in mortalpervasively effective one "income per capita•" We must bo1dl resulting maps our i th reliabili through a return to the t itional chalk white Perhaps more vividly exci imagination orers abject admission of total spatial blanks "unexp1 ." Admitting i to its cure. i If a11 this has a traditional smack, good. , like species t long survive, res 1 attention. are usual1y at least half true at \rJOrst. Being 11 los has biological roots. is, long man was , even he was a fish, being lost was ease. brain, strictly constructed the processes the purpose survival, would not have evolved al terizing ornamental reasons. Both 1itera1iy and f must find himself he ill perish from face s, the exploration is infinitely i total s i 11y to ask anti-war nuclear is' ounce st Everyone must enemy. No task is re 11 t me as man Hish," rialistic-spiritual • " ical-i with this program. sees an alterfinally, is no or any r human activi ously native direction insane, is, has contact with the world reali ranny rationally contro11 go into a state t compels the human ition. first pre isite any hi icat to the cause, purpose place career oriented. that have glory seekers or national chauvinism, less human nervous system have ie results, such as nat on planted the flag first at Who cares wi the broadest human commitment have been the most tive, or in cost accounting terms, given k to the species most return on great ition to America to settle the d • Cassinni and NevJton the ea , was hi ly r died on r re1atlve to planning" a reliance on experience, and 1d1y ling on sustai 1e. wi purpose have been species most direct It is not a geography. It is a geog that to the full range human experience on the ea 's recreation land, but blighted land; not just the poor; not just ifu1, but 1y. In America humans live in the cities, it implies the exploration though In rural areas it implies an addition to area. Rural India obviously needs geographic exploration too. It is also a democratic, as opposed to an elitist expedition. Local people are to be i and as sors. are not to be r exploited. view is given first place. It is cratic also results, and purposes to live in semblance to goes very first .. II. Granted (indeed human resource Total iy. on it's I ORI T1 many is same as (resource contri is character Priorities are totally reve world " concretize Is bold First, were exp1oitative 7 loitation,") ing instead exploration? i i his conscience down a him. question. i ti in ing quite useless in campus it turns out, i really specia11zi his own program his career. Now his r to lp serious , the out meant to say was defi so ings interest nothing to do with • communi II to final to the point f1atteri was in immanent rape ing slightly ti one lares I am, boys," and not an eyebrow in the barroom is rai • Professors and old maids are not as desirab1e as ir life style would indicate to themselves. To put it more reasonably, if Jess compellingly, you to work at ing 1 .. all r 1i But is this not a total denial of the intellectual strength of geography? If people off the street should te1t us what to do, if fifteen year old boys can sneak into our learned discussions, what about out vaunted "professional ism:€" Did anyone ever hear of a "professi·ona1" physicist? Only a group with a great inferiority· complex, like real estate salesmen, get excited about "profession a 1i sm. 11 Those that have it, know it. A good case can be made for the thought that "There is as much correlation between truth and academic life, as there is between health and the American Medical Association." A more traditionally geographic statement might be, it is good to polemicize against the 11 armchair geographer .. " The people of this world maps in map 1i ies did not s their lives in libraries but out in the. field, where geographic action has always . route in geography has nothing ive and personal career. 1i s is supposed to do a significant piece i , at last after starting in kindergarten total absorber instruction, ica1 geog He continues in h s trying to please his joint "real isrationalizes his sellout wl r I my union card., 11 Having conditi himself into seeing his resea his lack of Integrity, to say nothing of his manhood, Is, having sold hls thesis for his degree, he simply continues this pattern the rest of his life. publishes to keep from perishing. He sees next "union card .. " And eventually he sees retirement as existence. Along the way, he seeks out and finds a society servers discussing what is , 1 out less1y, dismal nature of Every 1s sting rs world arise; you have nothing to lose but your midd1 flab. It is not too late. If we can on 1y at least some sinners in to , they could resolve several academic contradictions. First a11, intellectuals are to be in trouble. They are charged with the responsibi iity come He11 or hi water. Secondly., other. is, i rd, not ice element it is in into our campuses and once we are re our ivory tower. is a most anti-intellectual elements society, the Hitlers or Wallaces or It is not easy to 1 to communi , to be sure, \•le must 1earn. Can we expect community to come forward with c ie·ariy resea programs in geography? If not, how are we to know what to It is up to the geographer to study a region and realize, from point of view of the people that live there, what is geographically out of whack. How does a geographer do that? By getting a nfeel" of the region. By talking, listening, arguing, befriending, and by making enemies of the humans in the region. He knows what the people in the region need geographically by becoming a person of that region. He lives there, works there, has his family there, his fate is their fate. It is his region. Now, it is not possible to totally undo one's past. That is, no matter how hard or long an adult tries to join a foreign-to-his-childhood group, no matter how empathetic, he cannot entirely do it. Big important gaps will exist. But against this ultimate provincialism of all our experiences exists the fact that among the thi.ngs that a geographer cannot stop being is a geographer. This ski 1 i is what separates him from the rest soci ~ knovJlng is he can apply it with confidence. the in it ion resea 1em reversal priorities from campus-career oriented to community-people oriented is the most basic notice it is a priori reversal reversal not only one. Fu truly becomes useless not priori elimination. ic li v• i 11 throw it al over a 1 riod money and you take choice.!! out. le k doing work you It is surprising, hate or can be on a hi ly pi income. Of course, poverty is not romantic at all, but geog rs are a ha breed and do not tend to even approach starvation before lexes save them .. nproblem 11 priority reversal has pointed the way to a second reversal: The necessity to 1ive off the land. Not only is academic 1i less supvigorous expiorers, not only is it necessary to become as much as possible, but if the explorer is community li , his power relations are exactly normal i c ones.. This is an emot iona 1 di i cu1 severa 1 levels. Perhaps worse is to find out that people are not stupid. In many ways colleges are designed to turn our who will enter the world of college • The ideal college is ei son of such professors or wealth. He than brings to his classroom the proper class language, manners, mannerisms, sense of humor so on. obviously ratern i , class dilemma in 1d in onrs r gree or outr m spronounc at ons even if they land's peculiar dialect. Similarly, languages and must learned in to rs they see. This universal law applies to kimos" and to peddlers on Chicago' 43rd Street. But to attempt to understand a region as humans that live 1eads to a 11 vu 1gar i zat ion, 11 and i ng down/' the soc i a 1 all aspects of college life. This emotional hysteria among academics II sorts of forms. The personally been being ' of trying to expose white girls to "rape," and most interestingly, be·cause II assumed power, of trying to "burn the university to Human explorers must discount this teria as nonsense inevitably encounter lt .. Pe most subtle emotional shock utter lack itude the explorer will encounter. ics have exploited peop1e and so long, have ied to death, s.lowly grown be first time in his had are up a measure as more modern Margaret rust trust early , display pect not normal priorities to ranking s a man completed under his tutelage is the opposite among the explorers. 11 outs among are more bri 11ant hi 1 1arsh i p k geogra taxi is had. Similarly, twen such structure One reason such big persona1i , attract exactly wrong ir eye on a persona buc reason is Tha ture his program so legal contract to cont to vigorously pursue every or ginally makes. To avoid ect propos 1s are watered down to s rd hack techn i some canned IBM real commitment to ition has more to do with determination its to see the thing than to its financi~l programm ng. ~ zest i s f i rs t. II I. lOG OF FIELD NOTES To come to grips with the concrete existence chron caled and "field notes" are ition a set loosely and I and the two children arrived in Detroit and put up ari1y in a 1. We vivid advice not to live in Dearborn where we originally planned. We thought it would be nice to be nearer to Tobiers and teuns. The years isolation in Iowa City had of us eager for friends. We finally decided on Northwest Detroit. Our civil ri work made us decide on a mixed neighborhood so Bets I in the car and began to make inquiries .. At one point we ended up in the City Hall St. Claire Shores asking if they "had any Negroes," of a11 things .. With a great flurry they produced some on a map. It was a back street slum Negro servants only and totally segregated. After this I decided to get a map of Negroes and find the biggest institution on the ing .! fioured out while in Seattle that residences turn to slums around instituti~ns and rmore if institutions are more valuable than slums tear down slums r the institut ons. I cited la colleges the marginal case and ins .. U1 1 1 told him my second had d slow income are next to (Sti J 1 lot ism on campus in .) Decided to locate near the Universi Detroit in with the above reasoning. I went down to 1 Board to f a map school district that contai up a big emotional but l 11ied my out ley School ined I pu1i out my third geog ic trick on West Coast, you can a find a rental if you do Bets, two girls and I piled into the car and went up street in the Fi r a 1d i d i s t r i c t wr i t i ng down a i 1 and settling on a rental on Woodi th square mile and be We settled down. Bets I JOI Fi ra1d Communi Council and my book with Warntz on abstract and Bets in nei were great years and we went to and gave ies with over a red people and lasting till late in the morning. It was only 11y my research interest turned to our ne then only to wri ect proposals. s -- Down at immediately to ield mapping slum .. (It is expressway whi at athl ic field.. We al1 tra square block i lately at fist at us, a very and very poor. r one man TV i n hi s i i i ng an old car seat Later it became clear that this could see his front s ly no s rban renewal 11 terri i s h. lr! as n' t first reaction to first just twist i Did I not it into a geog ic This "guilt" even intensi ing, unti 1 it finally is s 11 to used, I was practicing what r ca11 "relevance." The intuition plays a strong role in scientific progress. We do many ings long pe it is true that we always do ings 11ious student at an enormous them. This puts a is dis ive and angry long be he can himage since with any positive result. both these years civil rights traters on both the Fifth and police precincts. I saw Marne. around utheir slums .. u some peop1e~ , finally, best students was not to cart iic ted tt1e j Years 1ater such poor in we d d was send out s is, one student wi slum tenament. Evidently it told about risk in exploring. to save ir own hides. Using, no to themselves 11 1 ize with can te11 I li " s ncome map finally fi on p iona1 How simple.. But l"'i inning to s conscious I y. the several copies first to use is map 's ring applications. does. ci slums grow research interest were j I had traveled time ings were inni to come trations in civil ri movement. I was cruc i ai the next year in Jackson, Chi • I had one I went civil ri but came k wi never lived in a slum. Fitzgerald was still pretty midd1e class but in Chi Dr. King's demonstrations in Cicero I went to memChristian leadership Conference headquarters on 47th and as r where I should stay -- he said in the hotel at 67th and Stoney. was the only White man in one hundred thousand square people. Someone tried to my car by lighting a waste basket next to gas tank and the hundreds of people on the street no one told me except a passing White motorist. I got a bumper stic r quick and a button my coat. was really depressed. ds in the k the hotel were al1ey, playing on glass, garbage and gravel. It is just a scene in my mind In the barroom people were just plain v cious toward each r, were tearing r to pieces. ,I was lonely. In three ~tJeeks I ~r,ras streebvise. ~Jhat you had to do vJas to literally kill world then be all to walk across the street sandwich. At t was home sitting ki was rubbing my hands. 11 there, re, trying to was exp tion! In my marvelous small songs on the juke box the regions earth must During 11 time on started as a Federal aid in up, much to my initial surprise,as a geog else would a geog is was if the geog completely let go all would accomplish. We s ld evo 1 i lito an understanding, that an resea r from I meant it. is time I was a nigger is too finally gave way to a r level never be I could never be a three nigger a White l t fuil comes from a never rea 11y Fi ra1d. It Soci let 11 But then r native." Everyone one knows l t. IPJe understanding is everyone, not jus h s real name was ling sorry Herman I unders decided to 1ize the piled up over a year. my read ng "the llterat would read people not Porter l was whi di iculties with Administration at intensified. At is poi lack Power was being lt. the Revolution was on the way. 11>1ar so sobering Hard as we tried with ail our mi , we were just ab1e to nibble at opinion. The great weakness of individuals, no matte how ic, was clear. To change geography toward humanism was going to an organization not a book or series articles. re is not wil1 power in anyone to do much good a1one. As the commitment to the ci grew gap with grew. Several were fired. They did not fit in but Wayne did not fit into Detroit. It was a commuters' 1. I no longer perceived as ting itself from the slums and high crime ra r as pe ing them, as a bottle which would not allow the people of the slums out. It was a plug in volcanic core, an oppressor. This perception of ic li was vivid as my own rs grew up and the fight for 1s was so personalized. In add i t ion, I Counc i l been th some fi on al1 levels the young men women. simply had to into that 1! lngs become organic, animal lcally lean in direction will attac Just writing about see le map around to destroy It, but to possess it as their escape near leal This was also year n whi rd core explorers were inning to s up. was teaching in eastern Tennessee a bad bout at the id quiet with amazi tenac i , ta 1 i ve wi th no tenaci wi a humanist leaning him drifting i same direction. re was the ol ci il ri nAnn Arbor, tuen and the Kolars, the one time Turks 11 who had th the re~ solution in the Miami Beach geog meetings against meeting in discriminalocations. Civil Ri had not turned most them into activists but John tuen did march with me in Ann Arbor one time when CORE was pic ing his nei rhood. Gwen tuen kidded me that I could not s myself and she was ri John just came in the to be n ce me gave a g shot in the had been picket ng touch the hearts the months and suddenly th tives.") But is group Nei r did anyone in the middle generation at ';Jayne. Robert Nunley tried to sell his man and Richard ith I was to have a bad fi later, has protested back home. Goodman was a to Blacks on field tr ps in Northern Michigan. cal level. But it also turned out this modest level precisely lrJhat could also log stic base. That is, hard core were These were the rr bl rs ' which eventually would 1 to ives rising up .. s clear y " st , come, did not did not his , would in icago was pos Rights time, integration was as , and it was ration time, where were allied again. is, I knew that ali were i rs, 1' to 1d so 1 did not 1 i eve i t. Pe the precipitating factor, certainly one that made the rounds unsympathetically among faculty, was a typical s ious racism. pove as a source of gui the mistakes of the had co11 were not to be repeated so 1 devised the fo11owlng scheme. A car caravan would move down Mack Avenue and wouid deposit a team of only two students at each corner in both directions. They would take opposite sl of one block and interview children to try and determine the geography children, how they perceived space. is map wou1d compared to a similar one in Bloomfield Hills, an affluent suburb. The s1um field work was done at noon on Saturday to avoid the ni people. Interviewing children is the least pernicious In r words, safety was consi is, no big had some years still 1t now But ing on women" in s·i tuat ion .. own racism, course. A soci an inistration simi larl ick1 from i to fi , I was totally violates to expulsion and 1 turpi " making any down to using n completely missing poI n t • am not i ng which I 1 i rate continue am an Oliver Cromwell astoni ingi ously vice 1ying, so w111 not Instruct explorers .. r Groppi r man I had , and inc l ly learning some geog , precisely unders .. you t yourself Nigger lovers hi bound, r way -- in the language niggers rent language and value set. , n and i s i n hi heard. Vulgari s language you learn a vulgar I or not. If a vulgar point will run into an little in Facu1 Cl and from a11 the alums who want to see social 1 which would in forth. cut i is even most people, from ing on co 1i ege r i se them up on racist d and My contract would run for yet another year. Personally found this the most difficult year and sus it win 11ow into exploration. Having given up the , the of pay check, the position; are you in worth your salt? Wi11 community itse1f support your research? Do you know enough to live the land? This question takes an arrogance to say 11 yes 11 too. As on streets say, 11 1 donrt have no degrees or nothing, but ..... " In r words, is the academic really 17" Now to pick up fire me support. I had taken the big ir whole universi ink rs held nonsense was f a I know from I was i ca 11 y him was not to if re fa 11en f i rs t p 1ace. out d eise. At any too. Now we is more imporwhich contains tant only truely fanatical explorers. ind is field pa entire organization with many times field members and with essential tasks. The first breakth came when the staff at , to its eternal moral credit, added two new courses to the 1 Detroit the ci 1 tit 1o-Amerlcan. 11 re was the scene The courses I suggested and then someone burst out, we teach it? Who ing You know I hadn't ei r to cover up my 11, who iss to do the research, my fellow ..;;.;;_;...::...::;_;_:.;;::..=_;;:_;::c:::...::..;;_; my lip appropriately • I then promised it in the spring 1 map collection in our 1i agencies. no liaison with the were planning a Black universi geog area. program but idd1e age iona1 meetings did not seem to tained the 11: findings is so me some trus n 1y mos i His summary statement it simply must be in Pmerica is in cns1s. Times crisis ment. It is appropriate that geog sion reassess its position on matter of race relations in America. ldhy? we utterly fail to significant contribution to a solution to the racial dilemma ing America Most appalling is obvious that we are a seg community - only a fraction ro-American. Only two black su geog and in no disciplines in the American not difficult it mi 5 g terature is so scant than i ally rs documenting racial 't there? Where are loud in our textbooks. rica in our reg onal geog our recent ones. rus i paper on.... I guess one or two or even three to be wei against i t 1 te \kJhat is said I mean even in on inds on and s we were mainstream and had to lems success are assault people greatly lng out in In the spring \tJi 1bur Zel ns invited me out two to Col iege .-"'n""""lvania, State Universi Poor Wilbur. He smartest in the outrages early w went th Hell s including Kurt ing on whether you count r, Owen Lattimore. is invitation that 1 me count on making a living lng ling" over next year. Poor Wilbur. The minute I in anti College Park and up at Ni lion Inn, all places me, as Wilbur to me slums. Well, Wilbur took me to every new suburb in the joint, r trying to Krushchev to defect. Finaliy, ling, he showed me a street he had heard about but never seen. It was 1, b down trailers, , the I was ecstatic. was happy at this poe slum. Wilbur contained himself, all my very nicely just to say a little , you are chasing blue bird of unhappiness. 11 In a way I had just come out one numerous confrontations going and the flavor that is ha back alleys, hide people out, ion and you are sure ie inking it too you come directly from stance into College is too much. re ve. It is calm and peace rd ice, rs I had a similar experience at r than Louis experiences again completely. to11m of Co 11ege Pa is so street) sitting in middle I wanted to literally litter 1 , run way. itoona is a real half of rove ' nt I servants. 1 ve among servants restaurants, the servants are the hi t the bar maids. A smile from d a i Lion Inn dining in 1 t every humanist I could find down to ltoona r a i 1 road ri k 1 rn ing. Johnsrude , old, were bu11ied into exploring the town. in. He had a marvelous idea. The railroad s k on became will early summer r up, Peter Benz. He had joi this interest on to the computer center run by Warntz and exploring cities in at· very 1arge scale are a must must lost no one it attrac ly. So Exped i t·i on in spite persona1 i its 1 r .. ' Wi ' people, ra1 young or two and some much 1 1 lng to larship programs and so 1ectures around country and learning a great dea IV. Voluntary organizations 1 rsh p It icul j IZATI AND F! rect y lNG greatest loyalties: such organizations is not a available to anyone who can i a position is one moral suasion, not brute salaries. re are no salaries.. Communi control s too is backwa from usual inking. t grasping t ng to w Far from it.. It is a matter anyone t i ng or original st ree branches natural dri is just Black brains a to them. At 1y , mi 1e ciass, lower class. This is especia A White brain i a Black skin mask is ve Black community, a very i1iar figure, could Besl , geography Is so racist even wi every Bl , it stii1 would have almost no mPmnp ete. It mi be ib to continue as is ip of the Expedition going to the Black brains in the comice and gui • muni The classroom work has received considerable attention and this has been learned: everything must be done at once. For instance, there is need 11 to create new courses., Two have been mentioned "The ions Oetroit, and "Non-Anglo-America." In addition courses that are traditionally ori just never taught, such as "Black Historic Geog title of simply "American Historic Geography," need to be deve1 courses that are taught, such as Geography of Africa, 11 in many departments. But our fascination wi Biack America, ld not neglect r at Few is not a geog reservations are not the sole preserve anthropologists. Indians are not primitive tribesmen, are ican soc e a is the geog Indian sentiment in the State? What is l ian reservations? How mobile are Indians? What ? are questions we should ask our and ou rse 1ves .. On my trip Universi Minnesota in Minneapolis can I in that i slum with the 1 i ng and lems. Fred Vice-Presi in charge involvement we tri to work ing up during my short course 1istening to ians, one Harold started rapping on the White man., I an Indian sees a mountain, can I live wi it. If aWhite man sees mountain, he says several such examples mixing in r and and peop 1e Mr., Goods in genuine anger In thinking going to ki 11 r.. oid courses wou d one more examp 1 l nese r 1 is tener di rent per- same course' gives an entirely to bring tuen Michigan people, including most i ly Mrs. Urban League. At this meeting Berlin 11owing items: to admits to were 11 innocent till proven guilty." That is, they would take course work to see if they could take co11ege work. Berlin has been doing this with a fifty percent success rate. The successful students then transfer, mostly to • He a.1so agreed to get some the African courses taught in lansing at Michigan State, into the Extension, and al Street Academy could open a if it so desired. In One of the poor is universities like Wayne ich was as a poor man•s school, a way out of the slums the generation 1 1 s and s') ir tuition become commuter's tuen is can be seen neat1y a White Uni vers i Thi rcent now supp 1 i es feet but nar or \'~!omen obvious: t,. Still, a living .. worst which kind Jarship incentives .. So I Ber1 in says inning s rs and then courses lower than student he .D. no matter poor Horatio Alger~ six c it not free person an A, two courses; In it ion, courses is no student could is The ance to the it ion is that as we find s lk can get them i liege lly at lately into percentage will s In words, to increase geog base, in a minor league nori geog need to start at club system,. It is le the Black Extension route much on the lege s state and since geog to our vJork. in, mi even Human lorar as classroom work division of 1 solution tion has to a racially balanced facul , le bit, but the long term one, is to train undergraduates, g is is the vicious cycle agaln and how to break through that. Larry Sommers, s man has been irman at Michigan State, is a very quiet is unobtrusively working decency for some time. Among other things has wor up a liaison with Black raphy'Departments and students. It seems, believe it or not, that in the very recent past the few Black geographers that did receive M.A. or Ph.D. degrees in the North were ld South, is, only the Black Southern teachers colleges were open to them regardless of their Northern background and preferences. This is one the built-in t ies must be reversed because t rs colleges have teaching loads preclude research ( vicious cycle again) on. not grant M.A. or Ph.D. rees dead ending Black intellectual Southern institutions must not be rai the No God, if ll coaches can go scouting and recruiting, rs It is also very st to load up the Detro t region Black geog rs. Nationally we a break th t has ~m~''''nore on the map and akes a c i cal an interaction. Michigan has a grand Abolitionist tradition up nation's best, among the rs in recent years. other hard core anti-rae sts are scattered such as Dick Morrill at Washi , Saul at Clark. All the small schools are be ng asked too, such as John rson 1 s, cours , such a pump must not be in this corner world but f ow at least direct! to other America and Canada pe some r ite thinki places like Australia and land could use some fresh thinking blood: but Detroit first. In America re are 11 rules" there are ions.. rules" apply to everyone and i " apply to For ins Hen Fo to a course n ive executiveship, or whatever, at Michigan, would all over him,: a would be , and that is fine because he really s ect. One route the undergrad is the unct P sorship, r the Honorary which in a couple years everyone has ten was Honorary, r is the time appointment, or techn c an route. k God 1 les; otherwise sk lied people without degrees would be totally lost to us. The list is really endless: visiting lecturers, Board Governors, guest s r to Club. Where re is a wi 11 there is a way. Just to obtain balance, we need Black everything from secretaries in are there any map librarians to al janitors ( 1y i luential j , are r u1 way) to you such as his Historic t. Some people tra legitimately menti . as B I ack But greatest 1 i es in 1k the centuries, finding ir peers, and lewis " to 1 and not really discover Pacific instance. 11 are the modern counter-parts in urban America? Cab drivers. This 11 1ow1y and certainly vulgar ion combines several elements. driver lops a superb mental map. Sod o some other occupations such as mail sorters or cab dis rs. But cab driver actually into field and sees places. So do some other occupations such as express delivery men. to the people 1ive in the regions. So do But cab driver also tal some other people as milk men post men but they only cover a small area. The cab driver is the best. The Checker Cab Company employs a Mr. Lee to in charge of their hiring. He himself is a folk geographer. He gives an interesting geography quiz followed by a lesson filled with maps, schemes, spatial memory systems, street guides and pride in it a11. Here is the source for Adjunct Professor to teach "The Regions of Detroit" and negotiations are continuing. The cab drivers would make wonderful recruiters for students as well. s could use a card f purpose. ind him to traipsing around would to we were ei hl t on a cents, a previous is is r kind reasons much ioca1 tlers or contrary, to col iege incl not to be tal c 1asses, nO\t~ ition itself .. V. tion are THE EXPEDITION taxi cab driving seems Karlin is chi 1dren a lot a substitute r in re were several i- ist loner. He eve ing. He obtai and suggested I same this. 1st army must a ~2 - Karlin. ildren are receiving I s up so stra into an s." I had simi 1ar reexperience. my lecture series I wi11 try head of the Detroit School Board, Norman D ler, me i ve to f i t i tute i ng j i t ion until June lith when the schools close for the summer, another vious drawback at height out field season. Taxi driving seems t. ( only geog r 1 am aware drove cab is Art Geti the urban geographer now at Rutgers, who drove in Philadelphia during his student 1 more than is te11ing. He a real 1 for cities., He comes to 1 i t rave 1 i ng through them and sleeps appropriately through the countryside. I refer to Art as Bumpkin .. ") ion lin While lecturing at Sir town to ci re Williams in Montreal, some students from McGi1 One Dave Berber, drives a cab talked from taxi s point J MeG iii, we s evening the three Some arnaz ng ta1es regions on a c Mt. 1 at will not take the space,. ltJe ites, it later lt finally carne to me For instance, White middle c1ass college ust to move in t ny spaces, g n middle class. r spaces are evening we s riding in the cab, with the meter rea1ers tal 1aces." At first I talk was places that has a Jot sailors go, and it occurred were talking about a 11. But it were talking r to oy later in rom , while lecturing at Economics, In Montreal you must go to the Montreal Schoo examination to become a dri r. In extensive. Six is Knowl drivers to as an abreviation up to two years 11 times its extreme. One said, can go and vulgar laces. Pa i ace. I\ spaces as -22- marve ous pouring over h .. !ties. people and lr people and to please come me as 11 of Knowl ly the first cab hai 1 many years experience. While ions of dis inction most local place names Cast 1e but people Et t hi nk i t one of i s • 11 di i on s i cu 1t i es of po 1 it i ca 1 Drivers could find communities hi engineers to p1ace their in rnal expres regions r tearing neighborhoods into cab more than make money. It teaches geog r essential ingredient, had several conversations cellery; of 1 t trations ln we wl i 1 no t t rs t 1s not. occasional dinner ship, not full 11 nonstudent Dr ng money various men in 1lvedwithdur Je ry on lace Better that the facul ~tions to ta placed n C lie par earns a great deal of locat ona1 osmosis. t is also to place Altoona we back ise cracks field the ar an some soc i a 1 little location. is is one reason cover the who1e ci r people, 1 i historians, mi i t is i to 1 i the base camp in that se 1toona is lend- In or 1 i ze II cutt We mi must be location in as sure. is is one, the only one, in experimental field season at 1east we know we intend to \•!e be 1 i eve to from being lost to ing at least classes would consist rote memorization maps It s that several di rent can lee at Cab as main arteries. is streets. FIGURE 1. (Lee 1 s ) I I \ Downtown Source: Gordon, Detroit f pp. 15. itlon, 1, Mlmeogr (i . 3, 4 Mental Detroit Geographic ) FIGURE 4 FICURE 3 Source: 's mental For instance, outi nes .. re some it ion, 1968 seem to reveal and andmarks. interest, is mental map, r can be seen along izon, mostly r dull TV point is to be able to relate mental map to the actual 1 view no matter where in the ci a working geographer's landmark. In the third day, we would ask the "lasts t drawn mental map a clip get into the wagon driven the city tracing where pass, they graduate from "1osts" to n and i resi 1ty would have a dinner ni and rest members.. If they are sti t 1 11 1os s status until the next cycling the course JOt n i ng up. ltle expect the course to be t three or '68 field season. Banz did take a from Michigan State geographers on a field trip experimenta11y in '67. re are iculties with such trips besides gawking and that is balance. is l to go to poor ltlhite neighborhoods too, for instance, and perceptions must be watched .. For instance, Hindmi11 Point near Grosse Pointe can as an luent area (away from the canals), an area stable be vi i 1 ies, well and so • or it can be vi as the home ia members are sucking all - monies out the Black slums prostitution, numbers, juice, and so ice nei ml ting over be ng lost, rd explorer is set up driver (this work is strong cu1tura11 ved s g 1s i 11 see.) So is 1 continually improves but no longer 11 time, rigid, attention. work is semiis undergoing vast including at to set up tr ies at least ite racists to political control Black • Disenfrachisement, one way or the is, geog ic, has been an old American ition is given a lem the ionalize Detroit Politically." it on will do regionalization a is purpose. The technical a zing were solved ition leader last \'lias final iy c earl t ocat ons rea teams of reg onalists to wor n the whole job his regions never r had to someone e1 along water boundaries. This was era Ouija Board geog , ith all experts seem ngly in random all experts when their maps were superi on a 1i ld solving this dilemma was equally unsatis ies regions arbitrarily ahead t me iscons n. Now we knov4 what we are doing to the poi We can crank out regions on the IBM printout -· al is necessary Benz does and is going to try it. I lieve local-non-local land use map the IBM work will merely prove the in points are., to Could lack over people?) is h i s co l 1ec t i ve s least one ion us. He housing site. Considerable gerald which I 1 , my 1ast \1/ ' I Bob Sinclair's field c1asses love? Or has been done .. ,. . ,..,.,.,.,c i ous 1y, in paid me, Regions also turned out a set not entirely vol it ion .. ions a , a distinct r, we are not primarily interes in the s ing an interesting experience, 11 a "Junior Year in Europe,n or co11ecti "interesting people places." He is the servant the community general ng can serve best in a neighborhood similar to a ki was raised in. It seems silly to ask explorers to study exotic communities and know nothing his own kind. As for intearation b all aood wi11 come from ~ working together wi 11ow ~ h, at nl 1y seminars We are local government, anti regions ones , not a romantic nonsense. Pe Genera 11y, interesting one r him in a bull ring and Having said 11 Is time to say ing romantic. more romanti to me in a taxi driver•s suit common peop1 as manly seriousness, on Colonial times., young men mi ion, a young ladies can best men purposes., not s and that ls a at a 11, at young .. i p, knows more square only work up a set fi You to service wi 11 he 1p in can count on intellectual maps ri 1y consist ' the enough. On the Expedition you will begin to form the ties to populate map your 1 i i Enough on romance, besides romance and analysis it are inconsistent, that is, romance is surprise, which brings us to the last three things each ition r is to do. The first, is un1ost, is move into and start studying a region of Detroit ird most ruthless of them all, the member must do a special study a11 o•,m., studies can be of anything, no i because one always leans on the other. (All right, no partnerships past two.) Gordon's work on the old in Altoona, his perception of the rai1road yards as beautiful, are examples of independent work,. This should take the bulk of the exp1orerts time and might linger with him long after he has gone home. I persona11y have become . flow (into t to tot lots one square mi 1e c d scovery was is, in turn, to certain social latest which Biological C1asses It was while exploring streets not really the biological side will concentrate on mappings "killing spaces," actual biological uses rumor mi11; nei proximi iction techniques, so Karlin is up to is ears in s ing flows money out s1ums. For instance, he points out i you save money in a slum bank you can not borrow from to build a area so your s i di zes ing construction in would one Ul flow maps 1i rs out s1um 1 the s 1ums? discussion on 11y t 1 time field person. But as menti is more massive. ' For instance, 1ast summer last week 1ar summer field work in i rly rural areas or sma11 towns, was lng ions normal iy Detroit. A1 as mentioned a spring class mine, a seminar, was y to low ence its a certai ch not worst, not lack empirical is merely a ion but in lacking correction is a tion emotion. worst ir terical ld ite-racistto-Hell wi icism. breast milk ideolog es so Hell fire seriously-- in spite make a rational For instance, can turn on almost a11 questi istic tnut lum dwe11ers make slums," or work and backlash Ji a lamprey eel on • is, in nei you do not have to try out a11 people, just understand their various you can not· so lazy wi racist atti i t i on i s 1os t .. VI. ' addresses. receive all the substantive PUBli IONS structures, ns instance, not this rs wi 11 be ,, ":~ VII. ' it ta recruit one ng !ZING COMMI ironic Director ng people in our bac to s 1 sh s world, but the po is to bring around here and to j lt appea ld wri 1 lt cities are ingly same., Spiro is a bad you've seen one you've seen all." He should have sad · h you 1 ve seen them a 1',• 11 seen two an d t he var1ance is sma J 1, enoug, 11 is not a siona1 geog .. reactions also sJere articul in outline trai lman's ameni ts, regional conservation planning allies was drevm up incl i s rs as G 1 Waiter lsard ( ional sci newspaper itor lccal banker. to necks·~ n Conservationists, local r lves, the so-call a 11 • grit rr~untain people mos t v i c t i mi ng, seventeen s interes ical i i its monstrous size is It is a proper noun, rep1 i ed unl way yeste won 1 t let were ink cable ing .!! and Save ird was to interview the people is monster was so ruthlessly affecting, Mountain people in small ham of Henrysburg. s , i ded on by i t ion 1 r as ic pacifists 11 had to individually ask a townsperson about what he 1t about This took considerable courage. It always seems to take courage to interview on human expeditions, especially as it is equa11y important that the interview be done from the level position just plain ordinary human beings. is, 11 school is actively being threatened, so not as high horse, do-good, chari snobs, but as fe 1lo\>~-concerned and equally-threatened and, cons i derab 1y more ignorant neighbors, please give us your wisdom about this machine .. n Amazing things thing, 1 about from the interviews. The , would join with us to fi cemetery was 1 one ing to flowers on their and all pouring out 1dout al1 all pictures Back on out one point terrible up from s stories most prominent to estimate ting went to Detroit, June 1 Dear Friends, it seems I have been fi time, however, I amp co11eaques in rtment at ltJayne have me. colleagues in areas me as well but is pressure from the inistration won out and I am now without income. been positions a country t cer!'lost generously, I tain1y helps, not just on 1eveJ but because it shows a resistance to ism ( commitment to people Detro t been st ling for these past six years and see Wayne as role in escape from hellish slum 1ife that our people • took two of us, State Un i ve rs i and myse 1f ,- to ide to come to Wayne and it will take the two of us to decide to leave. When last fired I bared my soul to a11 those having political-philosophical questions about me. I consider such questions as fair and I have them about you as we11. Once again I have written down my thoughts and these are available in a booklet, which can be obtained· by writing to the 11owing address: AIMS, 20 East 30th Street, New York, N.. V. 10016. I believe it is scientists to tell the t come Hell or hi water. I do not recommend is stance many others. In a capsule I believe kind is in a biological crisis and we must do eve creating more sc ence, to save the world's spec esci ! I mus a curious talent i some money from royalties on my lectures I have been giving a country. se 11 my and my wi i 1 work too, but unl i to an atti n Kiel. wan money, want it to help provi ition, and I ish ng and some from to, I wi 11 "'li 11 not starve pos , minimal salary, to to Es abtheir ing a governmental not ful However, too related l:le iani I as a various and so seem 1 we are ntrins our recent spy work or humanism if only to ) several lectures, ical 11 an Go as e to ay dea of this tion stunn ng. Have map wi t upon your 1 ng out. , William Detroit ical 90 Hest ~·Jarren Detroit, Michigan it on, APPEND I THE S IETV FOR I I PLORJl,Ti ON c a stable and permanent sort arise ld Much geog has rs and among our needlessly lost arts a geog r mean statement a explored? Does mean the easy to led early traveler s as rivers and mountains, P If so the earth is certainly explored. Humans are g~eat signifiare extremely di icult, even rous, to map. ea ts s interest to mankind i 1 condition, vast st map are ractica in and s under intriguing chalk white is i as st man. But view from ich men's home? people that live in particular places on from of men in distant Bucki Palaces or ers .. ·For instance, "The seems to automatically South.'' Flori isnot Afro-Americans that 1 i ve in to i to have ampl • t i low tern ncl ng normally i ega1 11 children disorderly things? other iti regl actually such as, ions Detroit? rs discuss all sorts vital regions, Watts lr11h i 1 s ion a 111 i s s t i 11 c 1as rted farm 1 eons ago~ og cal activity rea11ybest ified as a iog ic ince? logic 1y l s environmentalism at its worst. It also nattent on provinces, especially urban regions. tuen suggested a u places with is on human in place cal To exploration urban planners ser es is urban lome i now in the field and completion ic rs we t ions where lac a World ive gui ong ith eve ing else, or Board Directors ing tourists are people from are , if a impermissible,. respec 1 attention, not taste is lacking, to compel an attitude rt will be to provide scholarship arrogance. A sional as geog money to train th enrich our own p sian Support will increasing ins but more interestingly, from from power structure rs, es pee i a 11 y the outs. power structure 1. frustration ir roles as planners, can directly planner is his dreams as a rational locator runs into the complacency ings the same. re rey well essentially wi to active cooperation with the outs, especially the poor, allows full creativi r implementation our and generates the necessary political power tion of rs to merely s maps." Afterall, it is not the , but to it. One interesting discovery so far is communication are to recapitulate the history ition is to place names, ions and then theoretical geog earth and most continue in ts task exploring I preparat classic itionary res are retained -- ca ement of ical ris and a scientific-scholasti commitment to human 1 The summer session is to out itions in r territories. considerable international involvement to humans. ic lications are a ber of maps and To take care special will be prepared. 1 the ' sensacontain a great nums due to a s 1 nature .;.....;,.~..:;;. maps to create rece ving Soci Un versi unique in that it is se i • . That is, ect grant ition starts with a geog r than Your comments and suggest ons are roost welcome. William it ion, Detroit, Michigan 48201 1- APPENDIX IV approval the fo lowing sugges ts Human Tour ttee nati u Detro t Possibly a world ic first, human condition in tour a middle class, inantly Black nei in t Detro1t is is a neighborhood of hope and vigour and considerable i ration. Buses leaving Ann Arbor at 8 a.m. will trans directly to a centrally located block in this district. The locational situation relative to Det it will ri • nei is intensely and will be displayed. Two Black neighborhood leaders, one young, one ri micro-social geog of the nei , will local mani tations July llion, police-community re1ations, schools and other problems. A twenty minute movie on neighborhood wi11 be shown.. 1c1 will walk rough neighborhood in small groups to individual homes where they will be ts and an opportunity to discuss the neighborhood with nei rs. noon the group will reassemble in an attractive local soul restaurant where will a chance to digest some soul and their morning experiences. a At 1 p.m. i second itself. A bri tour v-Ii 11 in which is to i orientation wi1 be given n the restaurant the ts starvation on In order to avoi geog rs Each driver and partici g ers inc1udi 12th rain, Arthur the i mpove r i s i de; ing on 1uent side. In addition, each taxi wi 1 be have agreed to have ve an individual poor i1y an To assure maximum flexibility, cabs will return the geog rs to the restaurant and will leave return r journey to Ann A r as t fill up. If some partici wish to seminar into the evening an ional evening extension wi11 available. nei contains several live jazz and rock and roll and the night geog is start1 ingly di rent from the content to s The pricing is also democratically a rexp ng single nei will guides ava lable in noon and an additional lecture. Their costs, including bus and noon i' w 1 less llars total. Those take ci ide tax to do so can afford it, should plan on taxi per person, while moving and one dollar imum total expense, ncluding bus meal ten doll rs. buses will s Ann Arbor at late back on Detroit exploration conducting immediate cal ition representative Detroit ica1 ition. reason not, been notified taken his dues out notified., Director the Di rector area over a year in many years, paid his dues. If event on the balance cou was not so somewhere, but Local Ar Committee irman Mi igan buses will still be available· , August 14th, whi is most generous. ing material, it it most possible size of the number of geographers "banned" and s 1 i 1y 11 underground" tour ings. necessary to poll our membership outsi regular channels. mi be interested please write individually to I lowing Bunge, Co-Director i ca 1 it ion of Universi Detroit, Michigan Universi in this is 1 rican politicians seem unable to solve s massive soc al Our clergymen are race of a morals revolution. ticians and clergy , is re a relevant role for If such a role exists, it must be of t un i vers i communi s to f i 11 such a a painful t about himself: doesn't te 11 e r, but 1f a r he must firs lng. is illegitimate pring of lplessly on its concrete umbilical and little Kentucky, red only by a carpark. but scorned, B 1ac }and From their sterile subdivisions, students, rs, and administrators drive UNDER inner ci to ir classes. The frightening world poor is cleverly concealed behind grassy banks. A hundred square miles reali locked from si l On occasional class assi , r to leave i r cars whi 1e doing "field" vJOrk in this hostile terri At last weeks renee of the Center Research on Conflict Resolution, 1d in a near West-side church, Professor Bude suggested that c an to social progress 1 ies in i 1 zati that Unli well-meaning pol tic an cl , the socially re1evant ac must be resh masses, rea i in How you become relevant to nei own 11 your consciousness other American?" st 1e soc l a 1 j us t ice? How you II existential experience ing out your car in a You probably have a classmate who lives elsewhere t your patch of urban sprawl. Did you ever think s ing to driving to school on sidestreets taking a irst big bui 1dlng where "owner 1 s rights 11 means ri to it intimi stints le into "Junior Year in could be institutionali ram patterned r the lily-white "Junior Year in Eu so popular. We mi eventually found a "Universl A lleye 11 Ridiculous. How is anything of social significance going to come from all ? It won 1 t, to make 1eaders" aware the r 1 ignorance. Then they can devote their resources to the solution soci S lems, not educating the hillbilly continually reproclaiming Negro 1 s emancipation, but in the only relevant way open to the white middle class can give all the money can to support communi action and groups rich communit es to arouse groups i means ng repa po ice bruta 1 i , discriml ntimidation powe while ignorance. you tions., 1C1an appreciates extent ion itself., Starting wi to learn a lot you nothing, you're You think you know something.. , in You in to act on , a politician or a clergyman -45- APPENDIX MAPS Source: VI !-14 Marc B. Anderson, Discrim nation is s, sity, Detroit, 1969. Univer- H -50- If) acknowledge the s assistance of African Studies Morri II in the Coli j NOTES