We’ve been charged with collecting, archiving and sharing stories about the North End
Photos Courtesy of North End residents, NEYIC (North End Youth Improvement Council) the Adopt-A-Child program, Yvonne Jones, and the Cassells Family.
Featured Stories
DJ/Producer of Funky Dance Music. Martial Artist. Lover of Life. North End family roots since late 1930s.
Website: www.mikeagentxclark.com | Instagram: @mikeagentxclark
Halima Cassells
Mother. Gardener. Community-Engaged Interdisciplinary Artist. North End family roots since the late 1930s.
Website: www.halimacassells.com | Instagram: @halima_afi
PHILLIS JUDKINS
Community Matriarch. Serial Entrepreneur. Founder of the Holbrook-King St. Block Club. City of Detroit Spirit Award Recipient. Musical family: Mother to bassist Grove “GT” Tigue and sister to the late jazz legend Rod Hicks. North Ender since 1978.
YOLANDA M. GREEN
Daughter of the late Marvelous and Charles Persell, former owners of Apex Bar. Legacy North End homeowner. North End family roots since 1947.
JERRY ANN HEBRON
Activist. Community developer. Cultivator of food, people and community. Daughter of the Rev. Bertha L. Carter. North Ender since the late 1950s.
Website: www.oaklandurbanfarm.org
Onyx Ashanti
Sound and light matrixor. Autonomous expressor. Neighbor to many dope beings. North Ender since 2017.
Website: https://onyxashanti.bandcamp.com
LADONNA LITTLE
Community activist. Neighborhood historian.
North End Family Roots since 1940s.
PADDY LYNCH
Proprietor of The Schvitz – the only historic bathhouse left in Detroit; open to members and guests. North End establishment since 1930.
Website: www.schvitzdetroit.com | Instagram @theschvitz
DEENA ALLEN
Author. Artist. Actress. Advocate. Family Roots in the North End Since 1930s.
ULYSSES NEWKIRK II AND RESHOUNN “SUN” FOSTER
Fictive Siblings. Imagineer/Troublemaker and Community Emissary/Wordsmith. Bubble Enthusiasts. Co-founders, Oakland Avenue Artists Coalition and Hip n Zen Northend. North Enders since 2011 and 2012.
ulysses newkirk and @hipnzennorthend
GABRIELLE KNOX
Curator and farm manager with The Joy Project. Co-Founder of The Detroit Poetry Society. North Ender since 2016.
Website: theJOYproject
DEE “Mayor of the North End” CASTELOW
“Mayor of the North End.” Owner/Baker of Ava’s World Famous Sweet Potato Cakes. Co-Founder of Men of the North End. President, North End Neighbors Block Club. Secretary, North End Safety Patrol. Protector, Delores Bennett Park. North End family roots since 1930s.
JOSH MACK
Executive Director of the M.O.O.R.E Community Council. North End Community and Education Activist since 1969.
BRYCE DETROIT
Founder, Detroit Recordings Company. Co-Founder, Oakland Avenue Artists Coalition. Afrofuturist Artist. Music Producer. The Garage and Apex Bar. North Ender since 2009, as Business Owner. North End Resident and property owner since 2011.
Website: www.brycedetroit.com
DR. AKOSUA BARTHWELL-EVANS AND WALTER J. EVANS
Daughter and grandson of Sydney Barthwell proprietor of the largest blackowned drugstore chain in the United States, Barthwell Drugs. Ice Cream factory store located in the North End, the first one established in 1933.
THE JUSTICE FAMILY
Owners of MJ’s North End Ice Cream Parlor, serving the best handpicked ice cream in Detroit. North Enders for 30 years.
Instagram: @mjsnorthendicecream
KIM AND CHRIS CASTEEL
Owners of Anew Life Prosthetics, serving the North End Prosthesis Community since 2009. North End Business Since 2012.
Website: https://anewlifepando.com
LYNN ROOSEVELT WIGGINS
Consultant/Business Liaison for cultural, economic and workforce development. Family members of St. Matthew’s & St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church for 112 years. North End roots since 1951.
Website: www.solomonconsultinggroup.com
DELORES BENNETT (1932-2017)
Mother of the North End. Wayne County Commissioner (8th District). Founder of North End Youth Improvement Council, Adopt-a-Child Program, Summer Work Program for Youth. 4H Club for Youth. Improved Smith Park (now called Delores Bennett Park). North Ender since the 1940s.
Archive of Oakland Avenue Artist Coalition Newsletters
Walking Tour
One of 20 plus murals created as part of Blk Out Mural Festival (2021). A creation by artist, Sydney James.
Russell Street Baptist Church
American Riad on Euclid and Oakland
Detroit’s Afro American Mission Inc.
MJs North End Ice Cream Parlor
W.F. Reynolds, taking care of North End Homes
Sign from Parks’ Old Style Bar-B-Q. A North End favorite.
Sculptures by artist Kef Parker. One of several sculptures in the North End.
Famous sign of the Apex Bar on the corner of Smith and Oakland.
Northern High School
Home of Moodymann (Kenny Dixon Jr.)
The Kenilworth Cafe
Seat Detroit co-working space
Formerly WCHB, one of Detroit’s first radio stations.
Dolores Bennett Park on Smith and John R.
Submerged Records/Underground Resistance
Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament on Woodward
Dedication to Eugene Bennett, husband of Delores Bennett.Dedication to Eugene Bennett, husband of Delores Bennett.
One of 20 plus murals created as part of Blk Out Mural Festival (2021). A creation by artist, Sydney James.