Sweet had taken advanced studies in medicine, studying from marie curie among others. Ossian sweet decided to move his wife and baby daughter from the crowded lower east side black ghetto into an allwhite neighborhood at garland and charlevoix. If i thought any of you had any opinion about the guilt of my clients, i wouldnt worry, because that might be changed. American library association, notable book, 2005 washington irving, book selection, 2005 great lakes book award, 2004 phyllis vines latest book, one mans castle. One day in the summer of 1925, a doctor bought a house on the east side of detroit.
David oyelowo to star in movie about historic detroit civil rights case. Detroit exploded as a result, and a largely forgotten, yet pivotal, civil rights moment in modern american history unfolded. Ossian sweet, purchased a house on garland street at charlevoix, an attractive home where he and his wife and baby daughter could live. Ossian sweet, a model citizen who dared to move into a house the ku klux klan thought should be offlimits to an accomplished member of the black. Selected books from the ossian collection of 327 volumes, originally assembled by j. The lynching of black america arc of justice is one of the most engrossing books i have ever read. All or almost all of the books that focus upon the history of detroit between world war i and the 1960s, include a long chapter about the sweet litigation. Reports of the scopes antievolution case and the dr. Hayes a famous lawyer who was the legal adviser in the sweet s case. The amendment passed in the senate by voice vote on june 6, 2006. Ossian sweet along with ten family members and friends for murder after a mob attacked his detroit home caught the nations attention in 19251926. Jacqueline spotts of bartow, florida is the niece of dr.
October 30, 1895 march 20, 1960 was an africanamerican physician in detroit, michigan. The first trial concluded with a hung jury and a mistrial by judge frank murphy. A saga of race, civil rights, and murder in the jazz age by kevin boyle s. Sweet, ossian haven 30 october 189520 march 1960, physician, was born in orlando, florida, the son of henry sweet, a methodist minister and farmer, and dora devaughn.
Full text full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. The house was designed by maurice herman finkel, and in 1925 it was bought by its second owner, physician ossian sweet, an african american. Ossian sweet defended his family, and was arrested for it. In appearance, he is a well set up, broadshouldered, quiet, firmjawed, dignified man, with tired eyes, so dark that beside them his brown face seems considerably lighter than it really is. New film will depict the story of ossian sweet and the 1920s murder trial that put a spotlight on racism in the motor city. In the 94 years since the incident, there have been a countless number of books and articles written about dr. Ossian sweet by patricia zacharias the detroit news. Sweet s tinderbox, by brenda perryman, is a dramatization of the historic detroit murder trials involving dr.
Du bois term for the group of black professionals who. Ossian sweet, clarence darrow, and judge frank murphy that became an early and significant marker for civil rights efforts. He writes that the former owner of the house on garland street was a lightskinned black. Youngs book provides a look at life in a highly segregated city and another excellent book gives you the whole fascinating tale of dr. Reading the sweet trial national endowment for the humanities. Ossian sweet the main character who is a promising young doctor who purchases a home on garland avenue and is subsequently attacked, leading to the shooting that is the main plot line. He was the second of nine children one of whom, his older brother oscar, died in childhood. This is the story of ossian sweet, who stood his ground in his own home, bought with. Sweet was arrested and charged with murder after a member of a white mob attacked his home was shot and killed. Ossian sweet18951960 physician source for information on sweet, ossian. Although this was the leading civil rights trial of the 1920, there is no single book devoted to dr.
He is known for being charged with murder in 1925 after he and his friends used armed selfdefense against a hostile white crowd protesting after sweet moved into their neighborhood. When a white mob gathered to force sweet back to the ghetto, sweet gathered friends and acquaintances for protection. Interview with kevin boyle, winner of the national book award. Ossian sweet i n 1910 there were approximately 6,000 africanamericans living in detroit out of a population of 250,000. Before moving in, sweet prepared himself for the mob he expected to face. Arc of justice is the winner of the 2004 national book award for nonfiction. Philip dray, author of at the hands of persons unknown. An electrifying story of the trial that divided a city. Social, economic, and environmental justice for all families. Boyle, a professor of history at ohio state university, wrote of the life of dr. Ossian sweet purchased this detroit home on garland and charlevoix so he could bring up his daughter in good surroundings. It meant they could move out of their current living arrangement, with mrs. They come with your mothers milk and stick like the color of. Ossian sweet rose from humble beginnings and became a doctor who tried to help the poor.
The clarence darrow collection university of minnesota. Ossian sweet house being preserved to reflect civil rights struggle. Get a printable copy pdf file of the complete article 146k, or click on a page image below to browse page by page. Different editions and translations of james macphersons epic poem ossian, some with a map of the kingdom of connor. The ossian sweet trial a state bar of michigan site.
Ossian sweet, who defended his home against a raging mob. Ossian sweet, an africanamerican physician who moved his family to an allwhite neighborhood in 1920s detroit. Ossian sweet, a respected black medical doctor, purchased a modest home on the periphery of a white neighborhood in detroit. This black doctor faced down an angry white mob storming.
That said, and as much as i like this book, i still believe the authors metaphor missed an important if not a glaring part of the subtext. He has a small, black mustache, full firm but not thick lips, nice teeth, and a good forehead. The young ossian, named for a white governor of florida who supported integration, seeks a better life through education, attending the colleges available to blacks. In a better world, it would be fairly unremarkable. With these words, a mildmannered black detroit physician set in motion forces that would result in a dramatic milestone in americas civil rights movement, extending the. Boyle adapted his book as a play entitled the sweet trials, which dramatizes the history of the trials and their. Previous attempts to purchase homes in white neighborhoods had led to riots, violence, and death threats. Ossian sweet, a proud negro doctorgrandson of a slavehad made the long climb.
Arc of justice artfully captures a tumultuous period in american history as it tells a shocking story of violence and racial strife. It has been 90 years since ossian sweet tried to move into his new home. Ossian sweet, whose purchase of a house in an allwhite neighborhood in detroit in the early 1920s sparked a race. The main character who is a promising young doctor who purchases a home on garland avenue and is subsequently attacked, leading to the shooting that is the main plot line.
Ossian sweet selfdefense act apr, 2006 2006 bill which would allow an individual to use deadly force against an attacker with no duty to retreat under certain conditions. Sweet, for whom he did errands when he ws growing up in black bottom. Historian david levering lewis has called this tragic tale. Ossian sweet, a prominent african american physician, purchased a home in an allwhite detroit neighborhood. Ossian sweet was an africanamerican physician in detroit, michigan. Aug, 2018 detroit its a regular occurrence for curious people to stop by the home of dr. Ossian sweet explained his decision to his brother. Boyles book, arc of justice, won the national book award for nonfiction and was a finalist for the pulitzer prize and the. Inside was a young black doctor named ossian sweet who had. Soon after he moved in, the house was the site of a confrontation when a white mob of about 1,000.
Detroit fights to save home in deserted neighborhood. Ossian sweet home to open to the public the michigan. Sweet house is a privately owned house located at 2905 garland street in detroit, michigan. Arc of justice explores a sliver of its history, focusing on an incident in 1925 when black doctor ossian sweet purchased a house in a white neighborhood a. Dedicated and placed inside the frank murphy hall of justice in detroit on may 2, 1986. May 09, 2017 david oyelowo to star in movie about historic detroit civil rights case.
Social, economic, and environmental justice for all communities. The autobiography of coleman young, detroits first black mayor. Kevin boyle, a professor of history at ohio state university, recently won the national book award nonfiction for arc of justice. The confrontation ended in a murder indictment when a white man was killed. Ossian sweet home was added to the state of michigan register of historic places. Ossian sweet, a black detroit physician, moved to the city in 1924, after studying for a time in vienna and paris, where he had worked with marie curie. Sep 11, 2019 all 11 occupants in the sweet home the night of september 9, 1925 were put on trial that november. He convinced the realtor to let him buy a house on garland avenue which was an all white neighborhood. Having recently married and fathered a child, he wished to avoid the slums and find decent housing. The ossian sweet story is the jubject of kevin boyles national book. Clarence darrow in defense of the american dream is the dramatic story of dr. This extensively researched and beautifully presented tragedy of dr.
The home of black physician ossian sweet became the site of a racial incident that resulted in a nationally publicized murder trial. When his neighbors attempted to drive him out, sweet defended himselfresulting in the death of a white man and a murder trial for sweet. The result was a mob scene, a murder charge, and a landmark lawsuit that helped define detroit race relations. Ossian sweet, a black physician, shot and killed a person in a mob that was. Ossian sweet, whose purchase of a house in an allwhite neighborhood in detroit in the early 1920s sparked a.
David oyelowo to star in movie about historic detroit. Interview with kevin boyle, winner of the national book. He bought nine guns and enough ammunition for all of them. Clarence darrow in defense of the american dream, published by harpercollins. Linder, university of missourikansas city school of law. Ossian sweet s story, so richly and poignantly captured here, is an epic tale of one man trapped by the battles of his eras changing times.
Ossian sweet house being preserved to reflect civil rights. This black doctor faced down an angry white mob storming his house and was acquitted of murder. The sweets had a total of ten children and lived in a small farmhouse, on the little money they could earn through their farm. Ossian sweet, the site of a historic 1925 mob scene against a black family that had moved into the. In kevin boyles evocative account, the civil rights saga of gladys and ossian sweet finally has the home it has long deserved. During the retrial, henry sweet, was acquitted, along with dr. Ossian sweet moved his wife and daughter to the house knowing hed be crossing the color barrier. Ossian sweet bought a house in a white neighborhood in 1925. Sep 07, 2011 a short documentary focusing on african american physician ossian sweets decision to move into an allwhite neighborhood in 1920s detroit. Sweet decided to move his family into his garland avenue home on september 8. Born in 1895 in orlando, florida to tenant farmers, sweet earned a medical degree from howard university.
Sweet was african american in the 1920s, and his life tells the. Sweet was african american in the 1920s, and his life tells the story of race struggles in this countrythen and now. Kevin boyles vivid, deeply researched arc of justice is a powerful document that reads like a. Ossian sweet, a proud negro doctorgrandson of a slavehad made the long climb from. South america epic wins the national book award the new.
Ossian project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks read. Ossian sweet s house not only honors a landmark in civil right history. The amendment passed in the senate by voice vote on june 6. This book captured the cost of integration in the north. This trial and a retrial of ossian sweet s younger brother henry exposed racial tensions in northern cities in the years following the great migration born in bartow, florida in 1895, ossian sweet and his siblings grew up. Like most families, he wanted to live in a better neighborhood with better schools. Sweet, a graduate of howard university medical school, bought this twostory brick house in an allwhite detroit neighborhood in 1925. The ossian sweet story is the jubject of kevin boyles national book awardwinning arc of justice. At the groves conference on marriage and family in detroit, five actors presented a condensed version of arthur j. He is terrified of moving into an allwhite neighborhood in detroit, but knows his wife likes the house and he feels it is a house that fits his status as a physician. Now, for the first time, the home located at 2905 garland will be open to the public for educational purposes.
Ossian sweet, a model citizen who dared to move into a house the ku klux klan thought should be offlimits to an accomplished member of the black bourgeoisie. Ossian sweet sweet was born the second son to henry sweet and dora devaughn in bartow, florida, eight days before the death of his oldest brother oscar. A detroit news article on the sweet case by patricia zacharias. On september 9, 1925, two longstanding features of american lifeviolence by whites against blacks and the right of a homeowner to use force against intruderscollided in detroit, michigan, with deadly results.
Ossian sweet s effort to reside in a home he purchased in an allwhite detroit neighborhood in 1925 rings with racial ramifications for our time. Inside was a young black doctor named ossian sweet who had dared to. An electrifying story of the sensational murder trial that divided a city and ignited the civil rights strugglein 1925, detroit was a smoky swirl of jazz and. Ossian sweet photo courtesy of walter reuther library, wayne. Online shopping from a great selection at books store. Du bois term for the group of black professionals who would by leadership and example, improve the life for their people. Sweet received his doctor of medicine degree in 1921 and headed back. A saga of race, civil rights, and murder in the jazz age.
David oyelowo to star in movie about historic detroit civil. Reading the sweet trial national endowment for the. Artists are restoring the home on detroits east side to how it looked 94 years ago when the black doctor faced a mob trying to. October 30, 1895 march 20, 1960 was an american physician in detroit, michigan known for being charged with murder in 1925 after he and friends used armed selfdefense against a hostile white crowd protesting his moving into their neighborhood. Ossian sweet and the events leading up to the famous trial. There followed one of the most important and shockingly unknown cases in civil rights history. Ossian sweet moved his family to an allwhite detroit neighborhood in 1925. Sweet s personal history, growing up in florida, and a look back at his father and grandfather, who had been born a slave. The place where ossian sweet bought a house and was later attacked by a mob there and forced to defend himself. Ossian sweet aspired to be among the talented tenth, w. Arc of justice is one of the most engrossing books i have ever read.
Kevin boyles vivid, deeply researched arc of justice is a powerful document that reads like a greek tragedy in black and white. Jun 17, 2015 ossian sweet rose from humble beginnings and became a doctor who tried to help the poor. Ossian sweet, a proud negro doctorgrandson of a slavehad made the long. The sweet trials to an audience of family scholars from across the country as an illustration of the 2007 conference theme.
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