Gladys Mitchell House Collection

Authors/Creators

Dan Bonenberger, Eastern Michigan University
Jaclyn Panter, Eastern Michigan University
Katherine St. Amand, Eastern Michigan University
Ian Tomashik, Eastern Michigan University
Kate Zorn, Eastern Michigan University

Document Type

Project

Creation and/or Acquisition Date

9-4-2024

Institutional Repository Publication Date

2025

Description

This collection explores the life of Gladys Mitchell and the home she shared with her family on Detroit's Eastside. Gladys and her husband, Ossian Sweet, lived with her parents Benjamin and Rosella in a residence on 9322-24 Cairney Street from 1922 to 1925 before moving to the now-historic bungalow at 2905 Garland Street, located about a mile southeast. In 1925, when the Sweets moved into an all-white neighborhood, their experience led to a landmark Supreme Court case that affirmed African Americans' rights to homeownership, including the right to defend their private property.

Benjamin Mitchell and his wife, Rosella, rented the Cairney Street home until purchasing it in 1928, and they continued to live there for the remainder of their marriage. To supplement their income, they took in boarders and expanded the house from its original side-gable bungalow form, adding a second story and a full-width rear addition. By the 1930 census, two additional families lived with the Mitchells, and the home had two separate street addresses. Benjamin remained in the home until his passing in 1971. The modifications to the house reflect the resilience of this Black family as they navigated racial discrimination in housing and pursued their dream of homeownership. Furthermore, the loss of neighboring structures over the past century underscores the lasting impact of redlining and other discriminatory housing practices on the African American community in Detroit's Eastside and beyond.

The collection documents the Mitchell House through various media and analyses, including a Michigan State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) Architectural Identification Form, drone footage, field sketches, photography, and a LiDAR scan of the house conducted during on-site fieldwork. Together, these materials provide a record of the Mitchell House and its historical significance while highlighting the broader struggles and resilience of Black homeownership in 20th-century Detroit.

Format

Photographs: Captured in RAW and processed into TIFF. Drone Footage: Recorded in MP4 format. Matterport 3D Scan: Hosted on Matterport’s online platform with export options in E57, OBJ, and MatterPak formats.

Period of Significance

1911-1971

Instructions

To access the Matterport LiDar Scan, use the following URL: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=X4PxJmv1vPk

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

External URL

Matter Lidar Scan can be accessed through a web browser using the following URL: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=X4PxJmv1vPk

Institution of Origin

These materials were developed by graduate students at Eastern Michigan University in the Digital Heritage Preservation Lab (DHPL) and as part of the Documenting and Recording Historic Places course. The DHPL is directed by Dan Bonenberger and is located in the Department of Geography and Geology in 114 Strong Hall.

Source

Boyle, Kevin. Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age. Historical accounts of the Mitchell and Sweet families provided context for understanding the cultural and social significance of the property. National Archives and Records Administration: U.S. Census records and property deeds documented the ownership and rental history of the Mitchell House. National Park Service: Provided contextual information on Osssian Sweet and Gladys Mitchell and the broader landscape of Detroit. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps: Maps from the Library of Congress were utilized to document the house’s existence, and track structural alterations. Wayne County Register of Deeds: Tract book records verified land transactions and ownership history.

Paradata

The processes, decisions, methods, and limitations of the project are documented in the reports associated with the products.

Provenance

The Michigan State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) Architectural Identification Form for the Gladys Mitchell House was developed using a variety of sources. These included Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age by Kevin Boyle, primary source materials from the National Park Service, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps from the Library of Congress, Census records from the National Archives and Records Administration, and Tract Book records from the Wayne County Register of Deeds.

Digital File Type

.docx, .mp4, .pdf, .pdf, .pptx, .tiff, .url.

Sponsors

Eastern Michigan University, Digital Heritage Preservation Lab, Historic Preservation Program, Preservation Studies Program.

Recommended Citation

Bonenberger, Dan. Mitchell House, Facade and West Elevation. 2023. TIFF file, Eastern Michigan University. Bonenberger, Dan. Mitchell House, South and West Elevation. 2023. TIFF file, Eastern Michigan University. Bonenberger, Dan. Mitchell House, West Elevation. 2023. TIFF file, Eastern Michigan University. Bonenberger, Dan. The Gladys Mitchell Sweet House. Eastern Michigan University, April 4, 2024. Bonenberger, Dan, and Ian Tomashik. Michigan SHPO Architectural Identification Form: 9322-24 Cairney St., Detroit, Michigan. Eastern Michigan University, April 1, 2023. Eastern Michigan University. Digital Heritage Preservation Collection. Digital Commons @ EMU. https://commons.emich.edu/dhpc/ Eastern Michigan University. Matterport LiDAR Scan, 9322 Cairney, Mitchell House, Detroit, Mich. 2023. https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=X4PxJmv1vPk. Eastern Michigan University, Mitchell Family Home. PowerPoint presentation. Panter, Jaclyn, Katherine St. Amand, Ian Tomashik, and Kate Zorn. Field Sketches of the Mitchell House. Eastern Michigan University, April 1–2, 2023. Wascovich. Detroit Mitchell House Flyover. Drone video, September 4, 2024. MP4 file.