Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History is sharing the story of Dr. Ossian Sweet.

‘Sweet Trials’ returns for final performance at Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Acclaimed play and exhibition punctuates housing rights February 13, 2012

DETROIT, MI — The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and the Michigan Humanities Council host a return performance of the dramatization, Dr. Sweet’s Tinderbox, to take place Wed., Feb. 22, 2012 at 7 p.m. at the museum.

An accompanying exhibit detailing the history of housing segregation in Detroit is on display through the end of February.

Back by popular demand, the dramatization Dr. Sweet’s Tinderbox, written and directed by Brenda Perryman, provides historical context and powerful storytelling from which the audience can connect with Dr. Ossian Sweet’s story. 

The play, initially performed for a full house at the museum in January, is based on the 2011–12 Great Michigan Read book selection, Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights and Murder in the Jazz Age by Kevin Boyle, which tells the story of African American physician Ossian Sweet and the chain of events that occurred after he purchased a home for his family in an all-white Detroit neighborhood in 1925. 

The book won the 2004 National Book Award for nonfiction, was named a 2005 Michigan Notable Book and was selected for the Great Michigan Read by a group of nearly 50 librarians, teachers, students, professors, authors and more from across the state. 

By telling this story, Boyle illuminates other historical issues, including the building blocks of the Civil Rights movement, the Great Migration of African Americans to the north, the social and political climate of the 1920s and the boomtown years of Detroit.

This event takes place in the museum’s General Motors Theater and is free and open to the public.

Also at the museum during Black History Month is the exhibit, “We Don't Want Them: A History of Detroit's Housing Segregation.” This traveling exhibit provides a powerful backdrop for local dialog on issues of difference, structural discrimination and immigration. Through reproductions of historic documents and photographs, viewers will learn about the causes and effects of residential segregation. 

The exhibition focuses on the metropolitan Detroit region, and prominently features the Ossian Sweet trials. It also places Arc of Justice in a broader context of policies and practices that limited where some could live, thus impacting their quality of life. Families that read the book and view the exhibition together are guaranteed to enjoy a quality learning experience. 

The Wright Museum, located at 315 East Warren Avenue in Midtown Detroit’s Cultural Center, is open seven days a week during Black History Month, Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., and on Sundays from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m.

The exhibition, “We Don't Want Them: A History of Detroit's Housing Segregation,” is on display through February 27, and is free with museum admission, which is $8 for adults (ages 13–61), and $5 for seniors (62+) and youth (3–12).  Admission is free for museum members and children under 3.